Clinicians & therapists

AI tools that help detect strokes or seizures could worsen health disparities without safeguards, a new study warns. A report examining the technology’s growing role in brain disease diagnosis calls for safeguards to prevent vulnerable populations being left behind. While the technology has shown promise in helping doctors classify brain tumours faster and analyse stroke [...]

Children aged nine to 10 with longer screen time show more ADHD symptoms and altered brain development two years on, new research has revealed. A large US study of nearly 12,000 children reports what it says is the first developmental evidence that heavy screen use is linked to ADHD symptoms and structural brain changes. The [...]

A robot exoskeleton is revealing hidden sensory losses in stroke patients, helping explain why some survivors struggle to fully recover movement. The technology can identify proprioception problems, the body’s sense of limb position and movement, without requiring patients to move the affected arm, making assessments easier in clinics. Proprioception lets us know where our limbs [...]

Researchers are testing whether an mRNA vaccine targeting Epstein-Barr virus could offer a new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). The Phase 2 trial will examine how the investigational vaccine affects new MS disease activity, with scientists exploring this approach because EBV is present in almost all people with MS and is believed to play a [...]

Psilocybin could help reverse brain damage from domestic violence related injuries, a new rodent study suggests. The psychedelic compound reduced inflammation and anxiety while improving memory and learning after brain trauma that mimicked injuries seen in intimate partner violence (IPV). Victims who are physically attacked regularly can develop mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) and brain [...]

Researchers have discovered that irregular brain signals, previously dismissed as 'noise', track Parkinson's symptoms more accurately than traditional markers. The finding could help improve deep brain stimulation (DBS), a treatment that uses mild electrical pulses to ease symptoms by modulating abnormal brain activity. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, working with teams from [...]

Scientists say breakdown of perineuronal nets around brain cells may explain why people with Alzheimer's forget loved ones. The findings could lead to new treatments using drugs already available for other conditions, researchers said. A devastating consequence of the disease is that patients forget even close family and friends. Exactly which brain changes drive this [...]

Stroke patients at a Wakefield hospital are being encouraged to dance at weekly ward discos to aid recovery and socialise. Pinderfields Hospital introduced Disco in the Bay to support physical rehabilitation and encourage patients to socialise. Occupational therapist Louise Hewitt said music had a therapeutic power and could play a valuable role in stroke recovery. [...]

There was much excitement and anticipation at the inaugural ‘drum-off’ at Richardson Care in Northampton. Service users in two of the specialist neuro-rehab services for adults with acquired brain injury took part: The team from The Richardson Mews competed against the guys from 144 Boughton Green Road in a series of fun drumming games. Each [...]

By Rebekah Dawson, MSc Psychodynamics of Human Development, Birkbeck, University of London and assistant support manager, Brain Injury Service, Sweettree Homecare Services After a traumatic brain injury (TBI), many people describe feeling a profound loss of their sense of self. This study explores how individuals rebuild their sense of self after brain injury, through the [...]