Understanding the neurobiology of decision-making is a scientific challenge. The EU-funded project Select-and-Act , completed in 2012, used experimental and modelling approaches to better understand how the brain selects different patterns of motor behaviour.

In the battle against malaria researchers at the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland) have developed a new eco repellent that stops mosquitoes from attacking humans.

Global warming is leading to an increase in mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria . It is considered the plague of developing countries. According to the World Health Organisation , it is responsible for one child death every minute.

A major challenge in combatting malaria is to develop effective yet sustainable mosquito repellents.  Now, the ENAROMaTIC project, a European effort to reduce the spread of malaria completed in 2012, may have done just that.

European researchers have looked how the analysis of your genes could help to determine the dosage for patients who need to take blood thinners.

Coumarins— blood thinners against thrombosis, or blood clotting, are amongst the most widely used drugs worldwide. Millions of mostly elderly people depend on them. But finding the right dosage is a painstaking process.

Cost-effectiveness is paramount for any new medical technology. If pharmaceutical companies do not see a profit, new drugs will never see the light of day.

Nowadays, people do not expect to die as a result of a common infection like bacterial pneumonia. However, many do. Indeed, some bacteria have become resistant to all available antibiotics, due to overuse .

Fighting the onset of antibiotic resistance has involved making many modifications to antibiotics either via chemical synthesis or by natural procedures. But now a change in strategy is required.

New advances related to new uses of imaging technologies could help scientists uncover the brain’s mysteries.

Brain researchers have recently associated a technique called magnetoencephalography, or MEG, with magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, technology.

The combination of two brain scanning technologies, which were considered incompatible until recently, could revolutionize brain research and diagnostics.

Smoking is the largest single cause of preventable premature death and disease , accounting for some 650,000 premature deaths each year in the European Union, according to official EU statistics.

Juliet Ross is suffering from Huntington’s Disease, a rare neurological disorder that affects one in 10.000 people. Due to a genetic defect, her body produces a toxic protein that damages neurons in her brain .

A treatment to directly fight Huntington’s disease could finally be in sight . Until now, therapies for this severely debilitating genetic disorder have only focused on alleviating physical and psychiatric symptoms.

Scientists have long known that high levels of cholesterol around mid-life greatly increase the risk of developing dementia 30 years later.

This test evaluates the presence of certain proteins in blood samples of patients. Sabine Bahn from the University of Cambridge says that the new test is able to diagnose schizophrenia with a certainty of 83% and depression with a certainty of about 90% .

Sabine Bahn is a neurobiologist, psychiatrist and director of the Cambridge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Research at the University of Cambridge, UK.

With a drop of blood and some laboratory analyses, doctors have been able to tell patients whether they suffer from diabetes or some sort of cancer.

Konstantin has suffered permanent disabilities due to the lack of a proper analysis of his blood when he was treated in hospital ten years ago. A new device that revolutionizes lab analysis could soon prevent similar tragedies .