News

Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Trib-Review: BrainPort device helps blind kids sense nearby shapes with tongue

Children's Hospital is testing "Braille for the mouth" -- a lollipop-type gadget, teamed with a video camera mounted to sunglasses, that sends visual information to the brain. Learn More

Monday, November 14, 2016
Using light makes for versatile brain scanner, especially for babies

Ted Huppert, PhD, assistant professor of radiology, uses functional near infrared spectroscopy, which can measure brain activity while subjects are moving around. Learn More

Friday, November 11, 2016
Study shows yoga improves focus, reduces stress for people with schizophrenia

Once skeptical, Vishwajit Nimgaonkar, MD, PhD, now works with colleagues at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic to turn yoga into a standard part of schizophrenia treatment. Learn More

Friday, November 11, 2016
Cuddling as medicine for newborns in opiate withdrawal

Between five to 10 percent of babies at Magee Hospital are born addicted to opioids. Rocking, singing softly and holding them tight help these struggling infants.  Learn More

Thursday, November 10, 2016
NBC Today: Is this headache serious?

Laurie Knepper, MD, associate professor of neurology, describes the differences in how brain aneurysms, migraines and tension headaches feel. Learn More

Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Team closes in on lab test for bipolar disorder

Mary Phillips, MD, and colleagues use statistical analysis of fMRI data to look for telling differences from normal interactions between certain brain regions. Learn More

Tuesday, November 8, 2016
PREVENTION: 10 things you might not know about circadian rhythm

Immunity is highest in the morning, which means you might consider getting a flu shot early in the day, says Colleen McClung, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry. Learn More

Saturday, November 5, 2016
$21.8M study to examine link between exercise and brain health in older adults

Kirk Erickson, PhD, director of Pitt’s Brain Aging and Cognitive Health Lab, will head the five-year, Phase III study with a grant from the National Institute on Aging. Learn More

Saturday, November 5, 2016
Stauffer uses optogenetics to activate reward circuits in primates

Researchers were able to alter animals' decisions by using the light-flashing technique to stimulate dopamine neurons in a region called the ventral tegmental area. Learn More

Thursday, November 3, 2016
Large postmortem brain study reveals clues to schizophrenia

Bernie Devlin, PhD, is co-lead investigator of a Nature Neuroscience study that ties 20 DNA variants to changes in expression of particular genes related to higher risk of schizophrenia. Learn More

Wednesday, November 2, 2016
New model holds promise for predicting brain dynamics

Mathematician Brent Doiron, PhD, vision scientist Matt Smith, PhD, and colleagues describe spatial structure of correlated neuronal variability in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Learn More

Friday, October 28, 2016
Tag teams of spinners to pedal for ALS treatment, cure

Live Like Lou has a new spin on its annual fundraising bike ride -- a spin-a-thon set for Saturday, Nov. 19, in O'Hara Township.  Proceeds go to ALS research at Pitt. Learn More

Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Washington Post: Why Zika leaves uneven path of damage

Virologist Ernesto Marques, MD, PhD, offers leading theories on why one region of Brazil has been hit so hard with microcephaly cases. Learn More

Tuesday, October 25, 2016
International team of engineers, neurosurgeons to predict cerebral aneurysms

The team, led by Anne Robertson, PhD, William Kepler Whiteford Professor of Engineering, includes bioengineer Spandan Maiti, PhD, and Simon Watkins, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology. Learn More

Monday, October 24, 2016
Psychiatrist honored for pioneering work in late-life depression

Charles F. Reynolds, III, MD, has received the Pardes Humanitarian Prize in Mental Health from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. Learn More

Monday, October 24, 2016
Team figures out how to induce visual hallucinations

Bard Ermentrout, PhD, reports that normal test subjects uniformly described the same visions. Objective studies of hallucinations might eventually lead to treatment for people with schizophrenia. Learn More

Sunday, October 23, 2016
World Polio Day honors Jonas Salk

World Polio Day commemorates the birth on Oct. 24 of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against polio. Key work took place in his Pittsburgh kitchen. Learn More

Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Trib-Review: Focus on José-Alain Sahel

“The real organ for vision is the brain,” says Sahel, the new chairman of Pitt's Department of Ophthalmology and director of UPMC Eye Center. Learn More

Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Expert consensus: Concussions treatable, but more research needed

Results of a national concussion conference, headed by Micky Collins, PhD, in PIttsburgh in October, are available on-line and will appear in the November issue of Neurosurgery. Learn More

Sunday, October 16, 2016
President Obama addresses Frontiers Conference with story about Pitt's latest BCI user

Hear President Obama talk about meeting Nathan Copeland, the latest volunteer in the development of a brain-computer interface that allows movement and sensation with a robotic arm. Learn More

Pages