Midroog Ltd., an Affiliate of Moody’s Investors Services, Rates Company Notes and Potential New Debt of Elbit Imaging

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

TEL AVIV, Israel, July 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Elbit Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq: EMITF) (“Elbit”) announced today that Midroog Ltd., an affiliate of Moody’s Investors Services, has given a rating of “A2/Negative,” on a local scale, to all of Elbit’s outstanding notes, as well as to an extension of the Series G Notes in an aggregate principal amount of up to NIS 200 million that Elbit may issue. The above mentioned credit rating was also ratified for additional Series G Notes in an aggregate principal amount of up to NIS 400 million that Elbit may issue in exchange for outstanding notes, subject to certain conditions, as previously announced by Elbit on March 17, 2010.

Elbit is examining the possibility of a future debt offering, but there is no certainty that any such debt offering will be executed.

Any future debt offering, if made, will be executed in Israel to residents of Israel only. Any debt instruments that may be offered will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration requirements.

About Elbit Imaging Ltd.

Elbit Imaging Ltd. operates in the following principal fields of business: (i) Commercial and Entertainment Centers – Initiation, construction, and sale of commercial and entertainment centers and other mixed-use real property projects, predominantly in the retail sector, located in Central and Eastern Europe and in India. In certain circumstances and depending on market conditions, Elbit may operate and manage a commercial and entertainment center prior to its sale; (ii) Hotels – Hotels operation and management, primarily in major European cities; (iii) Image Guided Treatment – Investments in the research and development, production and marketing of magnetic resonance imaging guided focused ultrasound treatment equipment; (iv) Residential Projects – Initiation, construction and sale of residential projects and other mixed-use real property projects, predominately residential, located primarily in India and in Eastern Europe; (v) Fashion Apparel – distribution and marketing of fashion apparel and accessories in Israel; and (vi) Other Activities – (a) venture capital investments; (b) investments in hospitals and farm and dairy plants in India, which are in preliminary stages; and (c) wholesale trade of home applications in India.

Any forward-looking statements in our releases include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Elbit Imaging Ltd. and our management about our business, financial condition, results of operations, and its relationship with its employees and the condition of our properties. Words such as “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected, expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including, without limitation, the factors set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without limitation, Item 3.D of our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009, under the caption “Risk Factors.” In addition, a potential offering would be subject to risks facing any public offering, including without limitation, general economic conditions, the conditions of the capital markets, the interest level of investment banks and investors in the offering and the performance of our businesses. Any forward-looking statements contained in our releases speak only as of the date of such release, and we caution existing and prospective investors not to place undue reliance on such statements. Such forward-looking statements do not purport to be predictions of future events or circumstances, and therefore, there can be no assurance that any forward-looking statement contained our releases will prove to be accurate. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

For Further Information:

Company Contact:

Investor Contact:

Dudi Machluf

Mor Dagan

Chief Executive Officer (Co-CEO)

Investor Relations

Tel: +972-3-608-6024

Tel: +972-3-516-7620

dudim@elbitimaging.com

mor@km-ir.co.il

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GE Healthcare Unveils Innovative Technology in Breast Cancer Imaging; Can Reduce Time from Detection to Diagnosis

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Helps increase accuracy of assessment, helps reduce patient anxiety
PARIS–(Business Wire)–
GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE), a pioneer in digital mammography, today announced the
introduction of an innovative technology to aid in breast cancer diagnosis. GE
Healthcare`s new SenoBright1 Contrast Enhanced Spectral Mammography (CESM)
technology reduces ambiguity in mammography results, enabling physicians to
detect and diagnose cancer with more confidence – even in the densest part of
the breast tissue more rapidly and accurately.

Working like the multiple-flash, red-eye reduction function in a digital camera,
SenoBright uses X-rays at multiple energies to create two separate exposures.
These resulting images specifically illuminate and highlight areas where there
is angiogenesis, growth of small blood vessels potentially related to the
presence of cancer.

“A CESM exam takes from 5 to 10 minutes,” said Dr. Clarisse Dromain, Gustave
Roussy Cancer Institute, France. “During my investigation of the use of CESM
with my own examinations of patients, I have been able to better define the
spread of a cancer compared to standard mammography and ultrasound, and
follow-up exams with an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) validated exactly the
same results. Moreover, in the majority of cases the confidence in the diagnosis
is high enough that the patient can be told the results that same day,” she
added.

The diagnostic challenge

SenoBright enables the digital mammography system to detect a whole new type of
diagnostic information. Standard mammography only sees the structure of breast
tissue. With SenoBright, doctors can also locate the proliferation of small
blood vessels, potentially associated with cancerous tumor growth. In addition,
it shows potential for measuring the extension of the lesion to help to plan
surgery and treatment. Patients receive an intravenous injection of standard
iodine contrast agent, and after two minutes undergo a five-minute digital
mammography exam. CESM images are acquired in familiar mammography views so that
that they can be quickly and easily correlated with standard results,
facilitating interpretation by other specialists like surgeons or oncologists.

“Worldwide, more than 1.2 million people annually are diagnosed with breast
cancer. Since 1965, GE Healthcare has made significant progress in providing
solutions for breast cancer detection and diagnosis that really bring a change
to people`s lives. Today through `healthymagination`, we continuously develop
innovations to reduce costs, increase access and improve quality and efficiency
of healthcare delivery around the globe,” said Reinaldo Garcia, President and
CEO of GE Healthcare for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). “GE Healthcare
is pleased to bring to market such advanced breast imaging technologies like
SenoBright, the result of over 10 years and $12 million investment of research
and clinical collaborations. This innovative technology will support the earlier
diagnosis of this prevalent disease, by providing access to new diagnostic
information at a lower cost.”

The product development was carried out in collaboration between GE Healthcare
and Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP). The goal of the joint research
program is to develop new and innovative technologies for aiding in the
diagnosis of breast cancer using the latest developments in digital mammography.

Dr. Tidu Maini, Science and Technology Advisor to Her Highness, Sheikha Mozah
bint Nasser Al Missned, and Executive Chairman of Qatar Science & Technology
Park, said, “Our collaboration with GE Healthcare is a step towards making Qatar
a global medical innovator while delivering real health benefits for the local
community.”

Same staff, same equipment- same day

SenoBright is an easy procedure that can be conducted by the same staff, using
the same mammography equipment, potentially on the same day as the exam-
allowing medical professionals to cut the critical time patients often have to
wait from detection to diagnosis.

“Given our proven history of breast imaging innovations, GE is proud to release
yet another innovative technology, soon to be available to much of our digital
installed base. We are one of the only companies today to engineer and
manufacture the entire mammography imaging chain from tube, and detector to
review workstation, coupled with integration of the comprehensive local
requirements for each customer, ” said David Caumartin, GE Healthcare`s General
Manager Mammography. “SenoBright is likely to be a key enabler of accelerated
patient workflow from diagnostics to treatment planning. It is enhancing the
widely accepted technology of digital mammography by adding the functional
information in order to detect angiogenesis.”

Clarity of results

Digital mammography is considered a relevant means of breast cancer screening,
delivering proven clinical outcomes. The sensitivity and specificity of images
can, however, be affected by a range of factors. Dense breast tissue can overlap
with lesions, which are not always visible on an X-ray, and radiologists`
interpretation of images can vary.

Inconclusive digital mammography presents a range of challenges to healthcare
professionals and patients. Ambiguity can result in diagnostic error, demanding
further tests that can include ultrasound, invasive biopsy and Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanning – all of which could delay the diagnostic
process, in some cases by weeks or even months.

SenoBright can remove this ambiguity, helping to ensure that those patients who
need to go into cancer treatment do so – and do so quickly. Whereas patients who
do not have malignant lesions have the potential to find out on the same day,
relieving their burden of uncertainty. Compared to mammography alone, clinical
studies show that SenoBright improves sensitivity and specificity:

* for every 100 cancers, there is the potential to find 13 more;
* 6 more benign lesions out of 100 can be correctly classified;
* 19 more patients out of 100 without cancer can be sent home.

“The addition of intravenous contrast to mammography gives us the possibility to
obtain information in the mammogram that was previously only obtained from MRI,”
said Dr. David Dershaw, Director of Breast Imaging at Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center, USA. “This has the potential to convey the advantages of MRI
imaging in screening and diagnosis to women for whom this test is indicated but
not currently available.”

The new CESM technology works with an upgrade to GE Healthcare`s Senographe DS
and Senographe Essential digital mammography equipment. GE`s Senographe
platforms are full-field digital mammography systems designed to meet clinical
needs, from screening to diagnostic and interventional procedures and designed
for future advanced applications.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The SenoBright option cannot be put into service until it has been made to
comply with CE marking. It may not be available in all regions. The SenoBright
option is not cleared or approved by U.S. FDA.

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that
are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging
and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems,
drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance
improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver
better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we
partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change
necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on
our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs,
increasing access and improving quality and efficiency around the world.
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $16 billion unit of
General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than
46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients
in more than 100 countries.

For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at

http://www.gehealthcare.com

For our latest news, please visit http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com

Media
GE Healthcare
Allison J. Cohen
+972 (4) 8579 290
allison.cohen@ge.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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Teens indulging in risky activities have a mature brain

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Teenagers who indulge in dangerous activities have a more mature brain as compared to their less adventurous peers, according to a new brain imaging study.

The study, which focused on teen behaviour, found that adolescents with risky behaviour have frontal white matter tracts that are more adult in form than their more conservative peers.

The brain goes through a course of maturation during adolescence, and does not reach its adult form until the mid-twenties.

According to a long-standing theory of adolescent behaviour, this delayed brain maturation is the cause of impulsive and dangerous decisions in adolescence.

But, the new study, which used a form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to measure structural changes in white matter in the brain, has questioned the above theory.

Emory University and Emory School of Medicine neuroscientists wanted to better understand the relationship between high risk-taking and the brain’s development.

“In the past, studies have focused on the pattern of gray matter density from childhood to early adulthood. With new technology, we were able to develop the first study looking at how development of white matter relates to activities in the real world,” said Dr. Gregory Berns.

Gray matter is the part of the brain made up of neurons, while white matter connects neurons to each other. As the brain matures, white matter becomes denser and more organized. Gray matter and white matter follow different trajectories. Both are important for understanding brain function.

The study enrolled 91adolescents ages 12 through 18 over a three-year period.

The researchers measured the levels of engagement in dangerous behaviours via a survey that included questions about the teens’ thrill seeking behaviours, reckless behaviours, rebellious behaviours and antisocial behaviours.

DTI was used to measure corresponding structural changes in white matter.

“We were surprised to discover that risk-taking was associated with more highly-developed white matter – a more mature brain. We were also surprised to learn that except for slightly higher scores in risk-taking, there was no significant difference in the maturity of the white matter between males and females,” said Berns.

Berns has suggested that doing adult-like activities requires sophisticated skills.

The study’s findings have been published in the journal PLoS ONE. (ANI)

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Brain scanners ”can be used as lie detectors”

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 11 (ANI): Brain scanners can also be used as lie detectors, according to US researchers.

Scientists at Stanford University claim it can help to know if a witness is lying when identifying a suspect in a crime investigation.

The experts could tell when a person recognised a mug shot by reading their brain waves.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to observe brain activity during the memory recall task, Proceedings journal reported.

As part of the study, 16 volunteers were asked to study hundreds of faces in an images database.

Later, they were shown a series of pictures that included some of the faces they had seen earlier.

They were asked to identify the mug shots they recognised, while rigged up to the brain-scanning fMRI device.

The researchers noted distinct patterns in the brain activity that reflected what the individual was thinking.

Specifically, from the scans alone, they were able to tell if the volunteers recognised the faces as old or new and whether this recognition was accompanied by recollection.

However, the test was unsuccessful in distinguishing between subjects who accurately reported recognising a face and those who mistakenly claimed to recognise a previously unseen face.

“It was only as good as a person”s memory and their memory may or may not be accurate,” the BBC News quoted lead researcher Dr Jesse Rissman, as saying.

He said for the technology to be of use in a court room, it would need to tell you not just that the person was recalling a memory but that the memory was accurate.

Rissman added: “We can”t tell from our data, because our participants were asked to make honest judgements, but if someone wanted to fool the test they might be able to.”

He claimed that to withhold the identity of a guilty suspect, a witness could fixate on a novel image or think of something new that they planned to do that day, for example.

Also, to incriminate someone, the witness could think of a strong image from their past or remember a recent event, he said.

He ended: “These are things that would need to be checked. We need to do more work and plan to look at more in-depth memories and witness accounts. So the practical application is far off yet.” (ANI)

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Fluctuating BP linked to cerebrovascular disease risk

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 11 (ANI): Individuals who have fluctuating blood pressure in addition to high blood pressure are at a higher risk for cerebrovascular diseases, according to a new study.

The study appears in the May issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Cerebrovascular disease, which includes stroke and other disorders affecting blood vessels in the brain, is associated with cognitive decline and disability in older adults, according to background information in the article.

Elevated blood pressure can cause cerebrovascular disease and has also been shown to be associated with poorer cognitive function and the risk for Alzheimer”s disease. Studies that examine associations between blood pressure and cerebrovascular disease generally consider blood pressure measurements at only one time point.

Adam M. Brickman, Ph.D., of Columbia University”s Taub Institute, New York, and colleagues studied 686 older adults without dementia who had blood pressure measurements taken during three study visits at 24-month intervals and underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect cerebrovascular disease. The researchers divided the participants into four groups depending on whether their blood pressure was high or low and whether they had high or low fluctuations in blood pressure between visits.

In general, persons in the two high blood pressure groups had either hypertension or prehypertension, whereas those in the other two groups had blood pressure that was considered normal. Those with the lowest fluctuations experienced changes of about 5.5 percent (among those with low blood pressure) and 5.2 percent (among those with high blood pressure), compared with 14.2 percent among those in the high-fluctuating groups.

Over the three-year period, elevated blood pressure and fluctuations in blood pressure were both associated with cerebrovascular disease. Either factor was independently associated with an increased risk, and those with higher average blood pressure and more fluctuation had proportionately more cerebrovascular disease than did those with either condition alone.

Participants who had the highest blood pressure and fluctuation levels were most likely to be treated with antihypertensive medications, suggesting that a lack of treatment compliance may be one source of fluctuation.

“Cerebrovascular disease is associated with a constellation of conditions that lead to disability, including cognitive impairment, mood and movement disorders,” the authors conclude. “Although the control of elevated blood pressure or the treatment of hypertension is an obvious and well-replicated conclusion, these findings suggest that management of blood pressure fluctuations, even in normotensive older adults, may be beneficial in reducing the risk of cerebrovascular disease and in maximizing healthy cognitive aging.” (ANI)

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”Near misses” provoke problem gamblers to gamble more

May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 5 (ANI): Problem gamblers’ brains react more intensely to “near misses” than casual gamblers, possibly prompting them to play more, says a new research.

The study has been published in the May 5 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

In the study, researchers found the brain region that responds to rewards by delivering a dose of the chemical dopamine was especially active in these individuals.

Studies have shown that pathological gambling is an addiction, similar in many ways to drug addiction. Now, U.K. researchers Luke Clark, PhD, of the University of Cambridge, and Henry Chase, PhD, of the University of Nottingham find that the degree to which a person”s brain responds to near misses may indicate the severity of addiction.

In the study, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of 20 gamblers. The participants” gambling habits ranged from buying the occasional lottery ticket to compulsive sports betting.

During the experiment, volunteers used an onscreen slot machine with two spinning wheels of icons. When the two icons matched, the volunteer won about 75 cents, and the brain”s reward pathways became active. An icon mismatch was a loss. However, when the wheels stopped within one icon of a match, the outcome was considered a near miss. Clark and his team found that near misses activated the same brain pathways that wins did, even though no reward was given.

“These findings are exciting because they suggest that near-miss outcomes may elicit a dopamine response in the more severe gamblers, despite the fact that no actual reward is delivered,” Clark said. “If these bursts of dopamine are driving addictive behavior, this may help to explain why problem gamblers find it so difficult to quit.” (ANI)

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Low vitamin D levels linked to multiple sclerosis brain atrophy

April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 30 (ANI): In a new study, neurologists at the University at Buffalo have shown that low vitamin D levels may be associated with more advanced physical disability and cognitive impairment in persons with multiple sclerosis.

The study results, reported at the American Academy of Neurology meeting, held earlier this month, indicated that: The majority of MS patients and healthy controls had insufficient vitamin D levels.

Clinical evaluation and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images show low blood levels of total vitamin D and certain active vitamin D byproducts are associated with increased disability, brain atrophy and brain lesion load in MS patients.

A potential association exists between cognitive impairment in MS patients and low vitamin D levels.

The MRI study involved 236 MS patients — 208 diagnosed with the relapsing-remitting type and 28 with secondary progressive, a more destructive form of MS — and 22 persons without MS.

All participants provided blood serum samples, which were analyzed for total vitamin D (D2 and D3) levels as well as levels of active vitamin D byproducts. MRI scans performed within three months of blood sampling were available for 163 of the MS patients.

Results showed that only seven percent of persons with secondary-progressive MS showed sufficient vitamin D, compared to 18.3 percent of patients with the less severe relapsing-remitting type.

Higher levels of vitamin D3 and vitamin D3 metabolism byproducts (analyzed as a ratio) also were associated with better scores on disability tests, results showed, and with less brain atrophy and fewer lesions on MRI scans.

Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, UB associate professor of neurology/Jacobs Neurological Institute and director of the Baird Multiple Sclerosis Center, is first author on the study. Commenting on these results, Weinstock-Guttman said: “Clinical studies are necessary to assess vitamin D supplementation and the underlying mechanism that contributes to MS disease progression.” (ANI)

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Neural mechanism that helps adapt to new situations discovered

April 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, April 29 (ANI): A new research has offered intriguing insight into the way humans approach novel situations.

The new study by David Badre, assistant professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences at Brown University, and colleagues at the University of California-Berkeley suggests that the brain””s frontal cortex may have a larger role in decision-making in unfamiliar situations than previously believed.

Scientists have long known that the brain””s frontal cortex supports concrete rule learning. Less clear is how the brain processes more complex and unfamiliar knowledge.

In the study new study, the research team tested whether the frontal lobe has the ability to process more abstract knowledge and how this ability could help navigate new situations and stimuli.

The researchers believed that the brain””s frontal cortex could be organized in a front-to-back hierarchy in which the neurons at the front of the frontal cortex have the ability to process more progressively abstract knowledge.

This part of the brain, therefore, would be more important in planning and deciding what to do when a person is faced with an unfamiliar problem.

To test this hypothesis, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study participants during two unfamiliar tasks, one with concrete rules and the other with more abstract rules.

“The average person can easily determine how to open a door by pulling a rope rather than turning a knob, even if they have not seen the rope handle previously,” said David Badre, assistant professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences at Brown.

“We wanted to investigate how the brain achieves this remarkable flexibility and test whether we use generalized forms of past knowledge to solve current problems,” he added.

The researchers found that the activity in an anterior part of the frontal cortex predicted individual differences in participants”” success at discovering abstract relationships.

Based on their observations, the researchers suggest that when faced with a new situation, people may search for relationships between context and action that involve multiple levels of abstraction simultaneously.

This capability could underlie the ability to adapt behaviours based on the generalization of separate, past learning.

“How we face new problems and the reasoning, decision-making and action that we take in an uncertain situation may have more to do with the functional organization of the frontal cortex than we previously realized,” said Badre.

The study appears in the current edition of Neuron. (ANI)

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Gurus can power off your brain

April 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The influence that religious gurus have on a person’s thinking power can be all-encompassing.

Areas of the brain responsible for scepticism and vigilance become less active when a person falls under the spell of a charismatic figure, concludes a new study.

The study, which looked at people”s response to prayers spoken by someone purportedly possessing divine healing powers, has been published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

To come up with the conclusion, Uffe Schjødt of Aarhus University in Denmark and colleagues turned to Pentecostal Christians, who believe that some people have divinely inspired powers of healing, wisdom and prophecy.

New Scientist reports, “using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Schjødt and his colleagues scanned the brains of 20 Pentecostalists and 20 non-believers while playing them recorded prayers. The volunteers were told that six of the prayers were read by a non-Christian, six by an ordinary Christian and six by a healer. In fact, all were read by ordinary Christians.

“Only in the devout volunteers did the brain activity monitored by the researchers change in response to the prayers. Parts of the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices, which play key roles in vigilance and scepticism when judging the truth and importance of what people say, were deactivated when the subjects listened to a supposed healer.

“Activity diminished to a lesser extent when the speaker was supposedly a normal Christian.”

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Gurus can power off your brain

April 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The influence that religious gurus have on a person’s thinking power can be all-encompassing.

Areas of the brain responsible for scepticism and vigilance become less active when a person falls under the spell of a charismatic figure, concludes a new study.

The study, which looked at people”s response to prayers spoken by someone purportedly possessing divine healing powers, has been published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

To come up with the conclusion, Uffe Schjødt of Aarhus University in Denmark and colleagues turned to Pentecostal Christians, who believe that some people have divinely inspired powers of healing, wisdom and prophecy.

New Scientist reports, “using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Schjødt and his colleagues scanned the brains of 20 Pentecostalists and 20 non-believers while playing them recorded prayers. The volunteers were told that six of the prayers were read by a non-Christian, six by an ordinary Christian and six by a healer. In fact, all were read by ordinary Christians.

“Only in the devout volunteers did the brain activity monitored by the researchers change in response to the prayers. Parts of the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices, which play key roles in vigilance and scepticism when judging the truth and importance of what people say, were deactivated when the subjects listened to a supposed healer.

“Activity diminished to a lesser extent when the speaker was supposedly a normal Christian.”

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Religious gurus have the power to switch off your brain

April 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 28 (ANI): Areas of the brain responsible for scepticism and vigilance become less active when a person falls under the spell of a charismatic figure, concludes a new study.

The study, which looked at people”s response to prayers spoken by someone purportedly possessing divine healing powers, has been published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

To come up with the conclusion, Uffe Schjødt of Aarhus University in Denmark and colleagues turned to Pentecostal Christians, who believe that some people have divinely inspired powers of healing, wisdom and prophecy.

New Scientist reports, “using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Schjødt and his colleagues scanned the brains of 20 Pentecostalists and 20 non-believers while playing them recorded prayers. The volunteers were told that six of the prayers were read by a non-Christian, six by an ordinary Christian and six by a healer. In fact, all were read by ordinary Christians.

“Only in the devout volunteers did the brain activity monitored by the researchers change in response to the prayers. Parts of the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices, which play key roles in vigilance and scepticism when judging the truth and importance of what people say, were deactivated when the subjects listened to a supposed healer.

“Activity diminished to a lesser extent when the speaker was supposedly a normal Christian.” (ANI)

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Reward-driven people win more, even when there”s no reward

April 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, April 27 (ANI): People more driven by rewards win most often, even when there is no reward at stake, according to a new study.

To reach the conclusion, neuroscientists at Washington University in St. Louis tested 31 randomly selected subjects with word games, some of which had monetary rewards of either 25 or 75 cents per correct answer, others of which had no money attached.

Subjects were given a short list of five words to memorize in a matter of seconds, then a 3.5-second interval or pause, then a few seconds to respond to a solitary word that either had been on the list or had not.

Test performance had no consequence in some trials, but in others, a computer graded the responses, providing an opportunity to win either 25 cent or 75 cents for quick and accurate answers.

Even during these periods, subjects were sometimes alerted that their performance would not be rewarded on that trial.

Prior to testing, subjects were submitted to a battery of personality tests that rated their degree of competitiveness and their sensitivity to monetary rewards.

The study was designed to test the hypothesis that excitement in the brains of the most monetary-reward-sensitive subjects would slacken during trials that did not pay.

However, the researchers found a paradoxical result: the performance of the most reward-driven individuals was actually most improved – relative to the less reward-driven – in the trials that paid nothing, not the ones in which there was money at stake.

Even more striking was that the brain scans taken using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) showed a change in the pattern of activity during the non-rewarded trials within the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), located right behind the outer corner of the eyebrow, an area that is strongly linked to intelligence, goal-driven behavior and cognitive strategies.

The change in lateral PFC activity was statistically linked to the extra behavioural benefits observed in the reward-driven individuals.

The researchers suggest that this change in lateral PFC activity patterns represents a flexible shift in response to the motivational importance of the task, translating this into a superior task strategy that the researchers term “proactive cognitive control.”

In other words, once the rewarding motivational context is established in the brain indicating there is a goal-driven contest at hand, the brain actually rallies its neuronal troops and readies itself for the next trial, whether it”s for money or not.

The results were published April 26 in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. (ANI)

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Obesity gene can shrink the brain

April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 20 (ANI): The obesity gene, which is carried by over half of all people in the US with European ancestry, is also associated with a loss of brain tissue, say researchers.

The discovery by senior study author Paul Thompson, a UCLA professor of neurology, and his team puts more than a third of the U.S. population at risk for a variety of diseases, such as Alzheimer”s.

Three years ago, geneticists reported that nearly half of all people in the U.S. with European ancestry carry a variant of the fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene, which causes them to gain weight — from three to seven pounds, on average — but worse, puts them at risk for obesity.

Using magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers generated three-dimensional “maps” of brain volume differences in 206 healthy elderly subjects drawn from 58 sites in the U.S. as part of the Alzheimer”s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative— a large, five-year study aimed at better understanding factors that help the brain resist disease as it ages.

They found that there was consistently less tissue in the brains of those who carry the FTO allele, compared with non-carriers.

Individuals with the “bad” version of the FTO gene had an average of 8 percent less tissue in the frontal lobes, the “command center” of the brain, and 12 percent less in the occipital lobes, areas in the back of the brain responsible for vision and perception.

Further, the brain differences could not be directly attributed to other obesity-related factors such as cholesterol levels, diabetes or high blood pressure.

Thompson called the findings worrying and mysterious.

“The results are curious. If you have the bad FTO gene, your weight affects your brain adversely in terms of tissue loss. If you don”t carry FTO, higher body weight doesn”t translate into brain deficits; in fact, it has nothing to do with it. This is a very mysterious, widespread gene,” he said.

People who carry this specific DNA sequence are heavier on average, and their waist circumference is half an inch bigger.

This is a large percentage of the population, said Thompson.

“This is a shocking finding. Any loss of brain tissue puts you at greater risk for functional decline. The risk gene divides the world into two camps ? those who have the FTO allele and those who don”t,” he said.

But Thompson said that the news is not necessarily completely negative, because “carriers of the risk gene can exercise and eat healthily to resist both obesity and brain decline.”

“The gene discovery will help to develop and fine tune the anti-dementia drugs being developed to combat brain aging,” he said

The study has been published in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)

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Could erectile dysfunction drugs help muscular dystrophy patients?

March 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 25 (ANI): Taking a step further from a recent rodent study, a Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute cardiologist is probing if drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction could also be used to improve muscle blood flow and reduce fatigue in muscular dystrophy patients.

A recent study showed beneficial effects of tadalafil (also known as Cialis) in mice with an animal version of Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy.

Only two doses of tadalafil improved muscle blood flow, allowing the dystrophic mice to perform more exercise with less muscle injury.

The new short-term clinical trial will move the testing from animals to human patients with Becker muscular dystrophy and examine the effects of acute tadalafil dosing on muscle blood flow during a bout of exercise.

Patients will take two doses of tadalafil prior to exercising. Then doctors will measure whether muscles receive increased blood flow and therefore are better protected during exercise.

“This is an exciting next step in the research I have been doing for 25 years, because we don’t need to create a new drug — the drug already exists. We now have the opportunity to find out if tadalafil can offer some hope for improving the lives of patients and allow them to do more exercise with less muscle injury,” said Victor.

The study is open to adult males 18 – 55 who have Becker muscular dystrophy as well as adult males who don’t have it.

And it includes includes hand grip exercise testing, measurements of muscle blood flow and oxygen delivery, and magnetic resonance imaging of the muscles. (ANI)

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Why older adults remember the past through a positive lens

March 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 25 (ANI): Many older adults maintain a positive outlook, remembering the positive experiences from their past. Now, a new study has revealed that older adults” ability to remember the past through a positive lens is linked to the way in which the brain processes emotional content.

The new study, reported in the April 2010 issue of Elsevier”s Cortex, reveals that in the older adult brain, there are strong connections between those regions that process emotions and those known to be important for successful formation of memories, particularly when processing positive information.

To reach the conclusion, Dr Donna Rose Addis from the University of Auckland, together with a team of researchers supervised by Dr. Elizabeth A. Kensinger of Boston College (Chestnut Hill, MA), asked young adults (ages 19-31) and older adults (ages 61-80) to view a series of photographs with positive and negative themes, such as a victorious skier or a wounded soldier. While participants viewed these images, a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan recorded the brain activity across a number of different regions. When participants had completed the fMRI scan, they were asked to remember as many of the photographs as they could.

Analyses revealed that aging did not affect the connectivity among regions engaged during memory formation for negative photographs. However, age differences did arise during the creation of memories for positive photographs. In older adult brains, two regions that are linked to the processing of emotional content – the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (a region located just behind the bridge of the nose) and the amygdala (a region embedded in the tissue between the ears) – were strongly connected to regions that are linked to memory formation. In young adults, there was not a strong connection between the emotion-processing regions and the memory-creation regions.

These findings suggest that older adults remember the good times well, because the brain regions that control the processing of emotions act in concert with those that control the processing of memory, when older adults experience positive events. Young adults lack these strong connections, making it harder for them to remember positive experiences over the long term. (ANI)

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Forgotten memories still exist in the brain

September 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): A new research by UC Irvine neuroscientists suggests that memories exist even when forgotten.

With the help of advanced brain imaging techniques, the study’s scientists discovered that a person’s brain activity while remembering an event is very similar to when it was first experienced, even if specifics can’t be recalled.

“If the details are still there, hopefully we can find a way to access them,” said Jeff Johnson, postdoctoral researcher at UCI’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and lead author of the study, appearing Sept. 10 in the journal Neuron.

“By understanding how this works in young, healthy adults, we can potentially gain insight into situations where our memories fail more noticeably, such as when we get older,” he said.

“It also might shed light on the fate of vivid memories of traumatic events that we may want to forget,” he added.

In collaboration with scientists at Princeton University, Johnson and colleague Michael Rugg, CNLM director, used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of students.

Inside an fMRI scanner, the students were shown words and asked to perform various tasks: imagine how an artist would draw the object named by the word, think about how the object is used, or pronounce the word backward in their minds. The scanner captured images of their brain activity during these exercises.

About 20 minutes later, the students viewed the words a second time and were asked to remember any details linked to them. Again, brain activity was recorded.

Utilizing a mathematical method called pattern analysis, the scientists associated the different tasks with distinct patterns of brain activity. When a student had a strong recollection of a word from a particular task, the pattern was very similar to the one generated during the task.

When recollection was weak or nonexistent, the pattern was not as prominent but still recognizable as belonging to that particular task.

“The pattern analyzer could accurately identify tasks based on the patterns generated, regardless of whether the subject remembered specific details,” Johnson said.

“This tells us the brain knew something about what had occurred, even though the subject was not aware of the information,” the expert added. (ANI)

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Eyes could be the window to stored memories

September 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 10 (ANI): By tracking patterns of eye movements, scientists can now get information about stored memories even when a person is unable or unwilling to report what they remember.

A new study has offered compelling insight into the relationship between activity in the hippocampus, eye movements, and both conscious and unconscious memory.

The hippocampus is a brain region that is critical for conscious recollection of past events but the precise role of this area in memory remains controversial.

According to one theory, even if explicit retrieval fails, the hippocampus might still support expressions of relational memory (e.g., memory for the co-occurrence of items in the context of some scene or event) when sensitive, indirect testing methods are used.

To test the above theory, Drs. Deborah Hannula and Charan Ranganath, both from the Center for Neuroscience at the University of California, Davis, used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine participants’ brain activity while they attempted to remember previously studied face-scene pairings.

During scanning, participants were shown a previously studied scene along with three previously studied faces and were asked to identify the face that had been paired with that scene earlier.

Eye movements were also monitored during the task and provided an indirect measure of memory.

The researchers observed that during each test trial, participants frequently spent more time viewing the face that had been previously paired with the scene-an eye-movement-based memory effect.

Surprisingly, the hippocampal activity was closely tied to participants’ tendency to view the associated face, even when they failed to identify it.

They found that the activity in the prefrontal cortex, an area required for decision making, was sensitive to whether or not participants had responded correctly and communication between the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus was increased during correct, but not incorrect, trials.

The findings may shed light on the role of the hippocampus in memory and awareness, as they suggest that even when people fail to recollect a past event, the hippocampus might still support an expression of memory through eye movements.

In addition, the results suggest that even when the hippocampus is doing its job, conscious memory may depend on interactions between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex.

One implication of the results is that eye movements might be used to indirectly assess memory and hippocampal function in cognitively impaired patients, children, or others who might have difficulty with conventional memory tests.

These measures might also track memory in uncooperative individuals.

“It is conceivable that eye-tracking could be used to obtain information about past events from participants who are unaware or attempting to withhold information. In other words, there may be circumstances in which eye movements provide a more robust account of past events or experiences than behavioural reports alone,” said Hannula.

The study has been published in the latest issue of the journal Neuron. (ANI)

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Brain defect behind early schizophrenia uncovered

September 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 8 (ANI): In a first of its kind functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, researchers at Columbia University have identified an area of the brain, called the CA1 subfield, which is involved in the earliest stages of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.

The researchers claim that activity in the CA1 subfield of the hippocampus may help predict the onset of the disease, offering opportunities for earlier diagnosis and for the development of drugs for schizophrenia prevention.

In the study, the researchers scanned the brains of 18 high-risk individuals with “prodromal” symptoms, and followed them for two years.

Among the individuals who went on to develop first-episode psychotic disorders like schizophrenia, 70 percent had unusually high activity in the CA1 subfield.

The study has shown that in the early stages of chronic schizophrenia, before symptoms are fully manifest, this increased activity is evident only in this one subregion and can distinguish who among high-risk individuals will go on to develop these disorders.

Mapping cerebral blood volume (CBV) is a method used in fMRI to measure this activity and it indicates increases or decreases in metabolism.

The researchers used a novel high-resolution application of fMRI, pioneered by lead study investigator Dr. Scott A. Small, and first compared 18 patients with schizophrenia to 18 healthy controls and observed abnormalities in multiple areas of the brains of the patients with schizophrenia.

Then, in order to learn which of those regions of the brain were targeted first in patients with first-episode psychotic disorders, like schizophrenia, the investigators imaged young people identified as at high risk for psychosis, who were then followed for two years to determine diagnostic outcome.

“By applying this imaging technology to a population of high-risk individuals, we wanted to see if we could find an area of the brain that is selectively targeted. In comparing those high-risk individuals who developed psychosis with those who did not, we found that only the CA1 subfield was abnormal in those young people who went on to develop schizophrenia. We believe that this may give us an early snapshot of disease,” said first author Dr. Scott A. Schobel.

“What many brain disorders have in common is that they are all relatively invisible to conventional imaging techniques. It is crucial to be able to visualize the most affected area of the brain and to pinpoint the region that is most vulnerable. This will give us clues into the causes of the disease,” said Small.

He added: “Our findings could help us improve diagnosis in the preclinical stage, which is most important because it is this stage of the disease that will be most amenable to treatment.”

The findings of the study have been detailed in the Archives of General Psychiatry. (ANI)

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Psoriasis patients less likely to react to disgusted faces

August 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 28 (ANI): A new study by University of Manchester scientists has shown that people with psoriasis – an often distressing dermatological condition that causes lesions and red scaly patches on the skin – are less likely to react to looks of disgust by others than people without the condition.

The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to compare the brains of 26 men, half of whom had chronic psoriasis.

The researchers looked at the insular cortex – a part of the brain triggered by both feelings and observations of disgust – to see how participants responded to images of disgusted faces.

They found that the volunteers with psoriasis had a much weaker response in their insular cortex than the healthy volunteers, suggesting they have developed a coping mechanism to protect themselves from adverse emotional responses to their condition by others.

“Psoriasis has a significant negative impact on the physical and psychological well-being of those affected but little is known about the neurocognitive mechanisms of how patients cope with the adverse social stigma associated with visible skin lesions,” said Dr Elise Kleyn, the dermatologist who carried out the research.

“We had previously shown that psoriasis patients commonly believe that they will be evaluated solely on the basis of their skin and so often avoid social situations they think will be stressful or humiliating as a coping mechanism.

“For this study we wanted to investigate whether the social impact of psoriasis is associated with altered cognitive processing in response to facial expressions of disgust by measuring brain activity in the insular cortex.

“We found a significantly reduced response in the insular cortex in the patients compared with the control volunteers when observing disgusted faces, but also that patients were half as likely to recognise that a face was expressing disgust. This was not the case for other facial expressions, such as fear,” Kleyn added.

The research team was headed by world-renowned dermatologist Professor Chris Griffiths.

The study has been published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. (ANI)

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Teens indulging in risky activities have a mature brain

August 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 26 (ANI): Teenagers who indulge in dangerous activities have a more mature brain as compared to their less adventurous peers, according to a new brain imaging study.

The study, which focused on teen behaviour, found that adolescents with risky behaviour have frontal white matter tracts that are more adult in form than their more conservative peers.

The brain goes through a course of maturation during adolescence, and does not reach its adult form until the mid-twenties.

According to a long-standing theory of adolescent behaviour, this delayed brain maturation is the cause of impulsive and dangerous decisions in adolescence.

But, the new study, which used a form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to measure structural changes in white matter in the brain, has questioned the above theory.

Emory University and Emory School of Medicine neuroscientists wanted to better understand the relationship between high risk-taking and the brain’s development.

“In the past, studies have focused on the pattern of gray matter density from childhood to early adulthood. With new technology, we were able to develop the first study looking at how development of white matter relates to activities in the real world,” said Dr. Gregory Berns.

Gray matter is the part of the brain made up of neurons, while white matter connects neurons to each other. As the brain matures, white matter becomes denser and more organized. Gray matter and white matter follow different trajectories. Both are important for understanding brain function.

The study enrolled 91adolescents ages 12 through 18 over a three-year period.

The researchers measured the levels of engagement in dangerous behaviours via a survey that included questions about the teens’ thrill seeking behaviours, reckless behaviours, rebellious behaviours and antisocial behaviours.

DTI was used to measure corresponding structural changes in white matter.

“We were surprised to discover that risk-taking was associated with more highly-developed white matter – a more mature brain. We were also surprised to learn that except for slightly higher scores in risk-taking, there was no significant difference in the maturity of the white matter between males and females,” said Berns.

Berns has suggested that doing adult-like activities requires sophisticated skills.

The study’s findings have been published in the journal PLoS ONE. (ANI)

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