Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis Information Page
... Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADE) is a neurological disorder characterized by inflammation of the brain and spinal cord caused by damage to the myelin sheath. The myelin sheath is the fatty c...

Pseudotumor Cerebri Information Page
... Pseudotumor cerebri literally means "false brain tumor." It is likely due to high pressure caused by the buildup or poor absorption of cerebrospinal fluid in the subarachnoid space surrounding the bra...

Cerebral Atrophy Information Page
... Cerebral atrophy is a common feature of many of the diseases that affect the brain. Atrophy of any tissue means loss of cells. In brain tissue, atrophy describes a loss of neurons and the connections ...

Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome Information Page
... Wernicke's encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disorder caused by the lack of thiamine (vitamin B1). It may result from alcohol abuse, dietary deficiencies, prolonged vomiting, eating disorders...

Corticobasal Degeneration Information Page
... Corticobasal degeneration is a progressive neurological disorder characterized by nerve cell loss and atrophy (shrinkage) of multiple areas of the brain including the cerebral cortex and the basal gan...

Encephalopathy Information Page
... Encephalopathy is a term for any diffuse disease of the brain that alters brain function or structure. Encephalopathy may be caused by infectious agent (bacteria, virus, or prion), metabolic or mitoch...

Kuru Information Page
... Kuru is a rare and fatal brain disorder that occurred at epidemic levels during the 1950s-60s among the Fore people in the highlands of New Guinea. The disease was the result of the practice of ritual...

Neuronal Migration Disorders Information Page
... Neuronal migration disorders (NMDs) are a group of birth defects caused by the abnormal migration of neurons in the developing brain and nervous system. In the developing brain, neurons must migrate f...

Periventricular Leukomalacia Information Page
... Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is characterized by the death of the white matter of the brain due to softening of the brain tissue. It can affect fetuses or newborns; premature babies are at the g...

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Information Page
... Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), also known as prion diseases, are a group of rare degenerative brain disorders characterized by tiny holes that give the brain a "spongy" appearance. ...

Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy Information Page
... Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is an infrequent disorder of the nervous system that primarily affects individuals with suppressed immune systems (including, allograft recipients such...

Imaging Study Shows Brain Maturing
... The brain's center of reasoning and problem solving is among the last to mature, a new study graphically reveals. The decade-long magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of normal brain development...

Synthetic Prion Causes Neurological Disease in Mice
... Scientists have produced a prion protein that can trigger the development of a neurological disorder in mice that is similar to "mad cow" disease, according to a new study supported by the National In...

Prion disease
... Prion diseases are a group of progressive conditions that affect the brain and nervous system of humans and animals. The disorders cause impairment of brain function, including memory changes, persona...

Chairs, Houses & Visual Clutter: Watching the Brain at Work
... Watching the Brain at Work Is the brain hard-wired for houses? When NIMH neuroscientists Dr. James Haxby and colleagues flashed pictures of faces, houses and chairs in front of subjects while their me...

Seeing Our Feelings
... Imaging Emotion in the Brain In the last few years, there has been a revolution in the study of emotions. Our emotions—love, fear, anger, desire—give coloration and meaning to everything in life. ...

What We Learned From Songbirds
... The Adult Brain Can Generate New Nerve Cells Once, neuroscientists believed that our complement of nerve cells was created prenatally and during the first years of life, and that no new neurons could ...