Stem Cell Update- exciting new results
I have written a previous post explaining why stem cells could be an important treatment for people with brain injury and disease.  In summary the brain cannot repair itself.  Stem cells are naturally occurring cells that turn into neurons but are only present in the embryo.  The Bush government vetoed research in this area on religious and ethical grounds but Obama has overturned this. Recently there have been two interesting studies that show the potential of stem cells for neurology a

Working memory training
Our rehabilitation company Recolo is now offering the Cogmed working memory training program. Working memory is the ability to hold information in mind for a short period of time and to be able to use this information in your thinking.  Problems with working memory are associated with a number of childhood conditions including ADHD, brain injury and poor academic achievement. We decided to provide the Cogmed working memory training in the UK because the research literature on it is impressive.  It is effect

Latest neuroscience on Twitter
I am a avid user of Twitter and find all sorts of interesting information on there.  As with the web, however it is difficult to sort out what is important.  It also moves so fast that it is hard to keep track.  This post highlights some important tweets I have seen regarding advances in neuroscience in the last two weeks. 1. Repairing brain cells- Researchers at the Montreal NeurologicaI Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) and McGill University group at Montral University have developed a new technique to help repair damaged nerve cells.  The study was in the October 7 issue of Journal of Neuroscience. They show that it is possible to use plastic

Computer games can improve reading and maths
I have just seen the preliminary findings of the first independent research study on Neurogames, the games I have developed to help reading and maths.  The study was undertaken on 20 children aged 4 to 6.   10 children were given the computer games to play for 20 mins twice a week for 13 weeks at school.  10 children were not given the game and received normal teaching in a different class.  Both groups were tested on standardized reading and maths tests (WIAT) before and after the intervention.   The results show that the computer game group had an average maths score of 102 (average) before using the games which