News Releases

The nationally-recognized Penn Brain Tumor Center is extending the reach and accessibility of its team of dedicated physicians who are focused solely on the diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant brain tumors through the first phase of this new program.

The MIND Initiative, led by Alice Chen-Plotkin, MD, the Parker Family Associate Professor of Neurology, will collect medical information such as family history and personal symptoms of Parkinson’s as well as a blood sample from participants.

The National Institute on Aging Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease Data Storage Site (NIAGADS) will begin making large-scale DNA sequence data available to investigators. The goal is to make Alzheimer’s disease-relevant genetic data available to as many investigators as possible to accelerate research.

Stimulating the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for controlling complex ideas and behaviors, can reduce a person's intention to commit a violent act by more than 50 percent, according to research published in the Journal of Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania and Nanyang Technological University. What’s more, using such a minimally invasive technique, called transcranial direct-current stimulation, increased perception that acts of physical and sexual assault were morally wrong.