Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system which can lead to blurred vision, balance issues, tremors and even paralysis amongst other issues.

An estimated 2.1 million people have MS but it is believed to be much higher because the CDC does not require U.S. physicians to report new cases.

In a study recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota neuroscientist Wensheng Lin, M.D., Ph.D., took a closer look at the relationship of myelin and oligodendrocytes (cells responsible for the formation of myelin in the central nervous system) in mice with MS.

In previous posts, Health Talk has pointed to a number of benefits quality sleep can have on your personal health.

Despite the fact quality sleep can reduce your risk of heart disease, decrease stress and alleviate high blood pressure, sleep is a valued commodity that many people struggle to obtain. Others simply underestimate the affects it can have on their quality of life.

University of Minnesota Physicians sleep expert Michael Howell, M.D., recently investigated the relationship between sleep and human performance, with a focus on athletics in particular.

Howell found that athletic performance is improved by optimizing sleep.

Cari Clark, Sc.D., M.P.H., never sought out to be a crusader for women’s health. However, her work has positioned her as a true champion for women’s health as she’s advanced an understanding around the public health impact that violence against women has on our society in the U.S. and abroad.

In early April, Clark, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and adjunct assistant professor in the School of Public Health, presented the public health impact of violence against women at a press conference convened by U.S. Senator Al Franken and Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau to support the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act.

The bill provides funding for victim services, law enforcement, and violence prevention. Importantly the bill also supports research on the health effects of violence against women, the impact of violence on the health sector, and improvements in the health sector’s response to violence victimization.

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Spring 2013 University of Minnesota Medical School magazine, Medical Bulletin. The complete article can be found here.

On a chilly Minnesota evening last December, 16-year-old Tiffany Cowan sat uncomplainingly in Room 242 of the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Memorial Building as two graduate students from the University’s Brain Plasticity Laboratory carefully attached a series of wires to her scalp and right arm.

Cowan, with the consent of her parents, had volunteered to participate in one of the lab’s studies, which was examining the safety of using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a treatment for children with congenital stroke. tDCS is a type of painless, noninvasive brain stimulation that delivers a low (battery-powered) and persistent current to specific areas of the brain through small electrodes. Experimental studies have suggested that it may help adult stroke victims regain some function of their limbs. This is among the first to investigate whether it may help children, too.

Alexander Graham Bell once said, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”

Whether you’re preparing for a big presentation, a job interview or about to run a big race, your level of preparation can dramatically influence your level of success.

But did you know that most of our movements are often prepared in the brain well in advance of the time we intend to initiate an action? In some instances, the planning process in the brain begins as much as two seconds ahead of time and slowly increases until the initiation of movement.

In a new study in PLOS ONE, University of Minnesota neurophysiologist Colum MacKinnon, Ph.D., demonstrates that if a loud sound occurs during the brain’s planning process, it can result in rapid and involuntary release of the intended action. In some cases, the complete movement is released as much as 1.5 seconds before the intended timing of movement initiation. The closer the timing of the loud sound got to the “go” signal, the more difficult it became to suppress the involuntary initiation.

In the first empirical study of the role supplemental insurance coverage might play in Medicare spending growth, researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School found that employer-sponsored and self-purchased supplemental coverage were associated with annual spending growth rates of 7.17 percent and 7.18 percent, respectively, compared to 6.08 percent for beneficiaries without supplemental coverage.

The study, “Supplemental Coverage Associated With More Rapid Spending Growth For Medicare Beneficiaries” examines trends in Medicare spending. The study, which appears in the May issue of Health Affairs, was led by Ezra Golberstein, Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.