New neuroimaging analysis technique identifies impact of Alzheimer's disease gene in healthy brains
Brain imaging can offer a window into risk for diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). A study conducted at the University of Kansas School of Medicine demonstrated that genetic risk is expressed in the brains of even those who are healthy, but carry some risk for AD. view more (2009-11-18)
Scripps team shows diet switching can activate brain's stress system, lead to 'withdrawal' symptoms
In research that sheds light on the perils of yo-yo dieting and repeated bouts of sugar-bingeing, researchers from The Scripps Research Institute have shown in animal models that cycling between periods of eating sweet and regular-tasting food can activate the brain's stress system and generate overeating, anxiety, and withdrawal-like symptoms. view more (2009-11-10)
Changes in brain chemicals mark shifts in infant learning
When do you first leave the nest? Early in development infants of many species experience important transitions-such as learning when to leave the protective presence of their mother to start exploring the wider world. view more (2009-10-27)
Why antidepressants don't work for so many
More than half the people who take antidepressants for depression never get relief. view more (2009-10-26)
Getting on 'the GABA receptor shuttle' to treat anxiety disorders
There are increasingly precise molecular insights into ways that stress exposure leads to fear and through which fear extinction resolves these fear states. view more (2009-10-22)
Scary Music Is Scarier with Your Eyes Shut
The power of the imagination is well-known: it's no surprise that scary music is scarier with your eyes closed. But now neuroscientist and psychiatrist Prof. Talma Hendler of Tel Aviv University's Functional Brain Center says that this phenomenon may open the door to a new way of treating people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological... view more... (2009-09-16)
Rats Move Toward the Food but Do Not Eat
Scientists led a rat to the fatty food, but they couldn't make it eat. Using an animal model of binge eating, University of Missouri researchers discovered that deactivating the basolateral amygdala, a brain region involved in regulating emotion, specifically blocked consumption of a fatty diet. Surprisingly, it had no effect on the rat wanting... view more... (2009-09-09)
Researchers find alcoholics display abnormal brain activity when processing facial expressions
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that individuals who have a long history of alcoholism, but who have been abstinent for at least a month up to many years, showed abnormal brain activity when looking at facial expressions of others. view more (2009-08-11)
Chinese acupuncture affects brain's ability to regulate pain, UM study shows
Acupuncture has been used in East-Asian medicine for thousands of years to treat pain, possibly by activating the body's natural painkillers. But how it works at the cellular level is largely unknown. view more (2009-08-10)
Brain difference in psychopaths identified
Professor Declan Murphy and colleagues Dr Michael Craig and Dr Marco Catani from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London have found differences in the brain which may provide a biological explanation for psychopathy. view more (2009-08-04)
In adolescence, girls react differently than boys to peers' judgments
Teenagers yearn to fit in and be accepted by their friends. A new study suggests that girls and boys think differently about being judged by their peers as they move through adolescence. view more (2009-07-15)
Measuring brain atrophy in patients with mild cognitive impairment
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that a fully automated procedure called Volumetric MRI - which measures the "memory centers" of the brain and compares them to expected size - is effective in predicting the progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease. view more (2009-06-17)
Genetic variant impairs communication within the brain
For some time now it has been known that certain hereditary factors enhance the risk of schizophrenia or a manic-depressive disorder. view more (2009-05-01)
Study suggests new target for treatment of depression
A brain protein involved in fear behavior and anxiety may represent a new target for depression therapies. view more (2009-04-29)
Dietary fats trigger long-term memory formation
Having strong memories of that rich, delicious dessert you ate last night? If so, you shouldn't feel like a glutton. It's only natural. view more (2009-04-28)
A mother's criticism causes distinctive neural activity among formerly depressed
Formerly depressed women show patterns of brain activity when they are criticized by their mothers that are distinctly different from the patterns shown by never depressed controls, according to a new study from Harvard University. view more (2009-04-01)
Heightened level of amygdala activity may cause social deficits in autism
Something strange is going on in the amygdala - an almond-shaped structure deep in the human brain - among people with autism. view more (2009-03-20)
Children's National scientists uncover key developmental mechanisms of the amygdala
For the first time, scientists at Children's National Medical Center have successfully identified a key developmental program for the amygdala-the part of the limbic system that impacts how the brain creates emotional memories and responses. view more (2009-01-13)
Expectant brains help predict anxiety treatment success
A network of emotion-regulating brain regions implicated in the pathological worry that can grip patients with anxiety disorders may also be useful for predicting the benefits of treatment. view more (2009-01-05)
Aging brains allow negative memories to fade
It turns out there's a scientific reason why older people tend to see the past through rose-coloured glasses. A University of Alberta medical researcher, in collaboration with colleagues at Duke University, identified brain activity that causes older adults to remember fewer negative events than their younger counterparts. view more (2008-12-17)
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