Research News

Researchers develop a tiny wireless device that, once implanted in the brain, can be activated by remote control to deliver targeted drugs. Size of device is of the width of a human hair. It may be used to treat pain, depression, epilepsy and other neurological disorders in people by targeting therapies to specific brain areas. The researchers believe that similar, more flexible devices could have applications in other areas of the body too, including peripheral organs. The study is published in the Cell.

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A new study conducted at University of Adelaide shows that intelligence in humans can be estimated by the size of the holes in the skull through which the arteries pass. The study Published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Italian researchers have found a dental tool that led them to conclude that the first operation for toothache was performed 14,000 years ago. They were analyzing the skeleton of a caveman found in Italy's Dolomite Mountains in 1988. This  report published in Scientific Reports journal.

A new affordable, non-invasive test that detects electrical activity in the brain may predict the risk of Alzheimer's disease, scientists say. The research was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

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Scientists have for the first time explained the mechanisms that the dengue virus has developed to optimise its ability to cause outbreaks as it travels across the globe to new places and revisits old ones. Dengue virus has been spreading throughout warm regions of the world, prompting the virus to adapt to new environments.

India and China suffer over USD 1.89 trillion annually in terms of the value of lives lost and ill health caused from air pollution, according to a report. Quoting OECD estimates, a new study published in The Lancet says, "The cost of ambient air pollution in terms of the value of lives lost and ill health in OECD countries, plus India and China, to be more than USD 3·5 trillion annually (about 5 per cent gross world product [GWP]), with India and China combined accounting for 54 per cent of this total."

Prior knowledge impacts how the brain processes what we see, says a new study. From the smell of flowers to the taste of wine, our perception is strongly influenced by prior knowledge and expectations, a cognitive process known as 'top-down control'.  The study appears online in Nature Neuroscience.