Aging brains on the jobUI neuroscientist Steven Anderson offers perspective on Iowa’s aging workforceBy: Mary Geraghty Kenyon | 2014.04.18 | 07:00 AMTwo demographic trends in Iowa—an aging population and workers staying on the job later in life—will have a significant impact for employers and employees in the years ahead. University of Iowa neuroscientist Steven Anderson will offer his perspective...

Protecting new neurons reduces depression caused by stressNew class of neuroprotective molecules may lead to improved treatments for depression.By: Jennifer Brown | 2014.04.22 | 11:54 AMScientists probing the link between depression and a hormone that controls hunger have found that the hormone's antidepressant activity is due to its ability to protect newborn neurons in a part of the brain that...

Study finds pigeons and other animals, like humans, can place everyday things in categoriesBy: Amy Mattson | 2014.04.02 | 12:00 AMPinecone or pine nut? Friend or foe? Distinguishing between the two requires that we pay special attention to the telltale characteristics of each. And as it turns out, us humans aren’t the only ones up to the task.According to researchers at the University of Iowa...

Arrested development: How brain damage impairs moral judgmentUI study suggests that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex is critical for moral competencyBy: John Riehl | 2014.03.28 | 07:00 AMWould you lie on your income tax return to save money for your struggling family? Moral judgment calls like this one help weave the fabric of a civilized society.Everyone knows you shouldn’t cheat on your taxes...

Study shows how changes in the organized cell membrane network of heart muscle leads to heart failureBy: Jennifer Brown | 2014.03.06 | 07:00 AMThe green areas in the images show the orderly nature of JP2 protein's distribution in normal human heart muscle (left panel) compared to the disorganized localization of the protein in unhealthy heart muscle (center and right panel). Images courtesy of...

Social networking helps UI graduate student raise money for researchBy: Jennifer Brown | 2013.10.02 | 10:43 AMMusic has been part of Amy Belfi's life for as long as she can remember. Now, she's using her other passion—for science—to explore the neurological basis of humans' deep connection with music. And, she's hoping that enough people will share her excitement to actually help finance her...

Matthew Rizzo, UI professor of neurology and mechanical and industrial engineering, is the 2013 recipient of the Bartimaeus Award from the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology. The award, presented at the 6th biennial World Congress on the Eye, the Brain, and the Auto 2013, recognizes research excellence in the area of vision and driving.Rizzo, an expert in the the role of vision and cognition in...

BY ROBERT CROZIER | JUNE 28, 2013 5:00 AMCollaborative research on the impact of brain injuries sustained during athletics competition announced last year may finally begin after a summit scheduled for mid-July.The project, announced June 19, 2012, in a Big Ten press release, aims to bring together athletic programs and research capabilities from the various institutions of the Big Ten and the Ivy...

By: UI Health Care Marketing and Communications | 2013.06.13 | 02:38 PM Qi Wu, assistant professor of pharmacology in the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, has been selected as a 2013 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences.Wu is one of just 22 scientists nationwide to receive the prestigious four-year, $240,000 award from the Pew Charitable Trusts.Pew's scholars...

By:Jennifer Brown | 2012.11.16 | 10:48 AM Nancy Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D., University of Iowa professor of psychiatry, who holds the Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry, has received the 2012 National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) Scientific Research Award, honoring her contributions to the understanding of schizophrenia. Nancy Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D.Andreasen, who also directs the Psychiatry Iowa...