Everyone knows that scratching relieves an itch–but how? Neuroscientists now say they’ve found part of the answer in a new study of macaque monkeys. Previous research has suggested that a specific ...

Every dog and cat knows that scratching relieves an itch. But for ages, not even neuroscientists knew why. Now, a new study shows that scratching turns off activity in spinal cord nerves that transmit ...

Your brain only makes up about 2 percent of your body weight, but it uses more than 20 percent of your body’s total energy. Besides being the site of conscious thought, your brain controls most of ...

Scientists have shown scratching helps relieve an itch as it blocks activity in some spinal cord nerve cells that transmit the sensation to the brain. However, the effect only seems to occur during ...

All patients with back pain should have a screening neurologic evaluation including motor function, perineal and lower extremity sensation, deep tendon reflexes, and Babinski reflexes. This brief ...

Sites of action of opioids for pain relief include the brain (cortex, thalamus, hypothalamus, locus coeruleus, amygdala, and periaqueductal gray matter), spinal cord, and peripheral-nerve membrane.

Medical science has deciphered many of the body’s workings, down to the level of the gene, and isn’t too far from using stem cells to repair its hobbled organs. But in many ways, the human body ...