Scientists Spot Chemical Signs of Suicidal Thoughts in Brains of Those With PTSD

MONDAY, May 13, 2019 -- Imagine if brain scans could show whether someone with PTSD is on the verge of suicide. Sound too far-fetched to be true?

Now, a small, new study suggests it's possible simply by tracking the way a common brain chemical is distributed across the brain.

Brief EMS Training Saves Lives After Brain Injury

THURSDAY, May 9, 2019 -- All it takes is two hours of training to save a life after a severe head injury, researchers say.

A new study reports that training first responders in emergency treatment guidelines for severe head injuries does improve chances of survival.

Mind-Reading Tech Could Bring 'Synthetic Speech' to Brain-Damaged Patients

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 -- Reading the brain waves that control a person's vocal tract might be the best way to help return a voice to people who've lost their ability to speak, a new study suggests.

A brain-machine interface creates natural-sounding synthetic speech by using brain activity to control a "virtual" vocal tract -- an anatomically detailed computer simulation that reflects the movements of the lips, jaw, tongue and larynx that occur as a person talks.

Brain Sharpens the Hearing of the Blind, Study Finds

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 -- Researchers have long wondered why blind people seem to have a sharpened sense of hearing. Now a Seattle team has pinpointed specific brain adaptations that occur in folks without sight.

"There's this idea that blind people are good at auditory tasks, because they have to make their way in the world without visual information. We wanted to explore how this happens in the brain," said Ione Fine, a psychology professor at the University of Washington (UW).