Long-term exposure to air pollution can lead to physical changes in the brain, learning and memory problems and even depression, according to scientists.

Studies with mice have revealed that pollution exposure can lead to changes in the hippocampus of the brain, which is responsible for learning and memory.  Mice that were exposed to pollution over a 10 month period took longer to learn information from their surroundings and were less likely to remember what they had learned.

The mice also showed higher levels of anxiety and more depressive-like behaviors than mice who had been kept in clean air.

Researchers speculate that this may be due to the fact that air pollution exposure can decrease the number of signal receptors in the brain and lead to reduced cell complexity.

The researchers expressed concern over what these findings could mean for humans.

“The results suggest prolonged exposure to polluted air can have visible, negative effects on the brain, which can lead to a variety of health problems,” said Laura Fonken, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in neuroscience at Ohio State University.

“This could have important and troubling implications for people who live and work in polluted urban areas around the world.”

Previous research has indicated that air pollution exposure similar in concentration to that found in urban areas causes widespread inflammation in the body and can be linked to high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.

The inflammation can even be observed in certain areas of the brain, such as the hippocampus, which is particularly susceptible to damage.

The study was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

In a case of technology going up against the human mind, researchers report that they can now predict a person’s future actions by using a brain scanner.

Canadian researchers are able to determine the action a person was planning, moments before that action is actually done, according to a new paper.

“This is a considerable step forward in our understanding of how the human brain plans actions,” said Jason Gallivan, a neuroscience PhD student and first author on the paper.

Over a year-long period, human participants had their brain activity scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they performed one of three hand movements: grasping the top of an object, grasping the bottom of the object, or simply reaching out and touching the object.

The researchers found that by using brain signals, they could predict, better than chance, which of the actions the volunteer was intending to perform seconds later.

“Neuroimaging allows us to look at how action planning unfolds within human brain areas without having to insert electrodes directly into the human brain. This is obviously far less intrusive,” said Jody Culham, a psychology professor and senior author on the paper.

The researchers said this breakthrough could have important clinical implications for the development of brain signal-controlled prosthetic limbs in movement-impaired populations, such as people who suffer from spinal-cord injuries or locked-in syndrome, a condition in which patients are aware of their surroundings but cannot move or speak.

The study was published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Scientists have found evidence of brain damage in adolescents and young adults who binge drink, according to a new study.

University of Cincinnati researchers conducted high-resolution brain scans on a sample of 29 people, aged 18 to 25, who reported binge drinking on the weekends.

They found that binge drinking – consuming four or more drinks for females and five or more drinks for males – was linked to cortical thinning of the pre-frontal cortex.

The pre-frontal cortex is the area of the brain related to executive functioning such as paying attention, planning and making decisions, processing emotions and controlling impulses that may otherwise lead to irrational behavior.

The greater the number of drinks a person drank in one sitting, the more likely a person was to have some cortical thinning in the brain, the researchers said.

“Alcohol might be neurotoxic to the neuron cells, or, since the brain is developing in one’s 20s, it could be interacting with developmental factors and possibly altering the ways in which the brain is still growing,” explained lead researcher Tim McQueeny, a doctoral student in the UC Department of Psychology.

Conversely, the researchers found that abstinence of drinking, or even less drinking, could lead to some recovery of brain matter.

The findings affect a significant population, the researchers said. Statistics from the National Institute on Drug Abuse indicate that 42 percent of young American adults between 18 and 25 have engaged in binge drinking.

McQueeny will present the findings this week at the 34^th annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism in Atlanta.

A new study warns consumers to beware: a number of common medications, such as Tylenol, Benadryl and Dramamine, may cause cognitive impairment and even increase the risk of death.

Medications with anticholinergic activity are frequently taken among the elderly adult population and include both over-the-counter drugs as well as prescription medicine.  Anticholinergics affect the brain by blocking acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter.

Most anticholinergic drugs contain diphenhydramine, which is sold over-the-counter under popular brand names, including Benadryl, Dramamine, Excedrin PM, Nytol, Sominex, Tylenol PM and Unisom. Prescription anticholinergic drugs include Paxil, Detrol, Demerol and Elavil.

Researchers studied the impact of these drugs on 13,000 men and women aged 65 or older over a period of two years.  They found that, even controlling for a variety of other factors, taking anticholinergic medications was linked to cognitive impairment and death in this population.

Generally, elderly people take the anticholinergics for various ailments and diseases, such as sleep disorders, incontinence, hypertension and congestive heart failure, according to researchers.

“Physicians should review with older patients all the over-the-counter and prescription drugs they are taking to determine exposure,” said study co-author Malaz Boustani, M.D., Regenstrief Institute investigator, Indiana University School of Medicine associate professor of medicine, and research scientist with the IU Center for Aging Research

The study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

An analysis of heart disease and stroke statistics collected from 192 countries by the World Health Organization shows that the relative burden of the two diseases is closely linked to national income.

University of California researchers found that developing countries tend to suffer more death and disability by stroke than heart disease.  Meanwhile, the United States and other countries with higher national incomes tend to experience the opposite.

This finding may help health officials design tailored interventions to best fit the needs of developing countries, the researchers say.

“In general, heart disease is still the number one cause of death worldwide, but there is quite a lot of variation across the globe,” said Anthony  Kim, MD, MAS, assistant professor of neurology at UCSF .

For instance, there was a wide variation in the mortality rate for stroke highlighted by the new research.  Rates ranged from a worldwide low of 25 deaths per 100,000 in the island nation of Seychelles to a high of 249 deaths per 100,000 in Kyrgyzstan – a rate nearly 10 times greater.

In the United States, there are approximately 45 deaths per 100,000 people due to stroke.

Heart disease and stroke are similar in that they are both are caused by reduced or restricted blood flow to vital organs and share many of the same common risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity and smoking.

However, because they affect very different tissues – the heart and the brain – they diverge in terms of symptoms, approaches to critical care, follow-up treatment and the duration and cost of recovery.

“There was a striking association with national income,” Kim said.

In the United States, for instance, heart disease is the number one killer and stroke the number four, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This also holds true for the Middle East, most of North America, Australia and much of Western Europe.

The opposite is true in many developing countries. Stroke  is more prevalent in China, many parts of Africa, Asia and South America.

Overall, nearly 40 percent of all nations have a greater burden of stroke compared to heart disease.

“This is significant,” said Kim, “because knowing that the burden of stroke is higher in some countries focuses attention on developing a better understanding of the reasons for this pattern of disease and may help public health officials to prioritize resources appropriately.”

The study was published in the journal Circulation.

Can electrical stimulation of the brain make you smarter?

The verdict’s not out yet, but a new study has found that stimulated a specific region of the brain appears to lead to the production of new brain cells that enhance memory.

The study, conducted in animals, looked at how deep brain stimulation (DBS) may work to improve cognition.

DBS is a clinical intervention that delivers electrical pulses to targeted areas of the brain. It has been used as an effective treatment for movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease.

Now, researchers have been exploring the potential of DBS as a possible treatment for a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions, such as memory disorders.

Throughout life, new cells are born in parts of the hippocampus of the brain, which is associated with learning and memory.

In this new study, Paul Frankland, PhD, and his colleagues found that one hour of electrical stimulation to a region of the brain that communicates with the hippocampus led to the birth of twice as many new cells in the hippocampus.

The boost only lasted for about a week, but the cells produced during this time developed normally and made connections with other brain cells.

Six weeks later, the researchers looked at whether the new cells produced changes in memory by testing how well the animals learned to navigate onto a landing submerged in a small pool of water.

Compared with mice that did not receive the therapy, DBS mice spent more time swimming near the landing, the treatment may have improved spatial learning.

Prior studies have suggested that DBS could delay cognitive decline in dementia patients.

The study was published in The Journal of Neuroscience.