Brain

CHICAGO – Researchers have discovered that a primitive region of the brain responsible for sensorimotor control also has an important role in regulating emotional responses to threatening situations. This region appears to work in concert with another structure called the amygdala to regulate social and emotional behavior.

CHICAGO -- New research suggests a tailored approach to physical therapy after a neurological injury such as a stroke, traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury could help restore a wider variety of functions.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Too much light at night can lead to symptoms of depression, according to a new study in mice.

Researchers found that mice housed in a lighted room 24 hours a day exhibited more depressive symptoms than did similar mice that had a normal light-dark cycle.

However, mice that lived in constant light, but could escape into a dark, opaque tube when they wanted showed less evidence of depressive symptoms than did mice that had 24-hour light, but only a clear tube in their housing.

Philadelphia, PA – October 21, 2009 - There is ample evidence for the genetic influence of alcohol dependence, and ongoing studies are actively looking for specific genes that may confer this increased susceptibility. In addition, while it is well-known that individual risk is increased with the number of relatives with alcohol dependence, scientists have not been in a position to identify who among these individuals might have greater or lesser risk.

Experts at The University of Nottingham say our stress levels at work peak when we reach about 50 to 55 years of age and decrease as we head towards retirement.

In the first comprehensive report into age related stress and health at work to be carried out in Britain researchers from the Institute of Work, Health and Organisations also found that the effects of stress in our working lives can stay with us well into retirement.

Philadelphia, PA, October 21, 2009 - A new research study being published in the October 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry suggests that maternal smoking may increase the level of distress of newborns.

Drinking. Drugs. Caving into peer pressure. When parents expect their teenagers to conform to negative stereotypes, those teens are in fact more likely to do so, according to new research by Christy Buchanan, professor of psychology at Wake Forest University.

"Parents who believe they are simply being realistic might actually contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy," says Buchanan, who studies adolescent development and behavior. "Negative expectations on the part of both parents and children predict more negative behaviors later on."

CHICAGO — New research using animal models is enabling a deeper understanding of the neurobiology of compulsive drug addiction in humans — knowledge that may lead to more effective treatment options to weaken the powerful cravings that cause people to relapse. The findings were released today at Neuroscience 2009, the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.

It may take a village to raise a child, and apparently it takes at least two adult birds to teach a young song sparrow how and what to sing.

One of the many reasons to pick a low-calorie, low-fat diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and fish is that a host of epidemiological studies have suggested that such a diet may delay the onset or slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Now a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Molecular Neurodegeneration tests the effects of several diets, head-to-head, for their effects on AD pathology in a mouse model of the disease.

CHICAGO -- Growth factors. They are the proteins that trigger a countless number of actions in cells. Drugs that increase or decrease certain growth factors have lead to treatments for cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Georgetown University Medical Center researchers say a new understanding of a growth factor implicated in some mental retardation disorders could lead to a novel treatment.

Two experimental treatments, a retinal prosthesis and fetal tissue transplant, restored some vision to people with blinding eye diseases. The findings, presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health, may lead to new treatments for the blind. Researchers also reported that an engineered protein restored vision in an animal model and identified ways to improve stem cell treatments.

CHICAGO – Young animals treated with commonly-prescribed drugs develop behavioral abnormalities in adulthood say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center. The drugs tested include those used to treat epilepsy, mood disorders and pain.

Depression in older cancer patients can be effectively treated with collaborative approach in primary-care settings

Depression in older cancer patients is very common, and has debilitating effects on their quality of life both during and after treatment. University of Washington (UW) researchers are showing that there are ways to better this situation.

What's new: Researchers at MIT and San Camillo Hospital in Venice, Italy, have shown that motor impairments in stroke patients can be understood as impairments in specific combinations of muscle activity, known as synergies.