Brain

The persistent nature of addiction is its most devastating feature. Understanding the mechanism underlying this phenomenon is the key for designing efficient therapy. Two separate studies published by Cell Press is the August 14 issue of the journal Neuron identify specific cocaine-induced changes in dopamine (DA) neurons that play a pivotal role in behaviors associated with drug addiction.

Like a deep-sea bloodhound, Sentry – the newest in an elite group of unmanned submersibles able to operate on their own in demanding and rugged environments – has helped scientists pinpoint optimal locations for two observation sites of a pioneering seafloor laboratory being planned off Washington and Oregon.

BOSTON— An estimated 15 million American children are diagnosed with a mental disorder, but only about a quarter of them are getting appropriate treatment based on scientific evidence. Many more children are at risk of developing behavioral disorders. And the problem is only going to get worse unless the health care system changes how it delivers services, according to a task force of the American Psychological Association.

Scientists working in the Academy-funded Research Programme on Neuroscience (NEURO) have discovered important changes in the way that infants react to another person's face at age 5-7 months.

Gaze direction is significant for the processing of visual information from the human face. Researchers in an Academy of Finland funded research project have discovered that the visual system of the brain processes another person's face more efficiently when the person's gaze is straight ahead than when the gaze is averted. The research is part of the Academy's Research Programme on Neuroscience (NEURO).

A team of UC Irvine cognitive researchers has been awarded a $4 million grant from the U.S. Army Research Office to study the neuroscientific and signal-processing foundations of synthetic telepathy - computer mediated mind reading.

The research could lead to a communication system that would benefit soldiers on the battlefield and paralysis and stroke patients, according to lead researcher Michael D’Zmura, chair of the UCI Department of Cognitive Sciences.

Watching Keanu Reeves walk along the ledge of a skyscraper and lose his footing in The Matrix can make us skip a heartbeat or sweat, as if we were risking our own life. This sharing of other people's emotions in movies has been shown to depend on the fact that observers the same brain regions are activated in the observers when they feel an emotion and when they see someone else experience a similar emotion. We all know, however, that reading a book describing the same scene can be similarly gripping.

While invasive electrode recordings in humans show long-term promise, non-invasive techniques can also provide effective brain-computer interfacing (BCI) and localization of motor activity in the brain for paralyzed patients with significantly reduced risks and costs as well as novel applications for healthy users. However, two issues hamper the ease of use of BCI systems based on non-invasive recording techniques, such as electroencephalography (EEG).

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Chronic hepatitis B infects 400 million people worldwide, many of them children. Even with three effective vaccines available, hepatitis B remains a stubborn, unrelenting health problem, especially in Africa and other developing areas. The disease and its complications cause an estimated 1 million deaths globally each year.

The contraceptive pill may disrupt women's natural ability to choose a partner genetically dissimilar to themselves, research at the University of Liverpool has found.

Disturbing a woman's instinctive attraction to genetically different men could result in difficulties when trying to conceive, an increased risk of miscarriage and long intervals between pregnancies. Passing on a lack of diverse genes to a child could also weaken their immune system.

Disrupting the brain's retrieval of drug-associated memories may prevent relapse in drug addiction, according to new research in the August 13 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers reduced drug-seeking behaviors in rats by blocking specific receptors in the brain during the recall of drug-associated memories. The NMDA-type glutamate receptor blocked in the study is important in learning and memory. The findings suggest potential new strategies to treat drug addiction in people.

Married women in India who experience physical and sexual violence from their husbands have an increased risk of HIV infection, compared with women who are not abused by their husbands, according to a study in the August 13 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights.

Medulloblastoma is one of the most common and most malignant brain tumours among children and teenagers. These tumours grow very rapidly, and fifty percent of patients in the long term die from the condition. The details of the processes that lead to the growth of these tumours have remained unknown until now. In two studies, working together with international scientific teams, LMU medical scientist Dr. Ulrich Schüller has now successfully revealed certain molecular mechanisms that lead to the development of these cerebellar tumours.

Reston, Va.—Researchers using positron emission tomography (PET) have validated a long-held theory that individual personality traits—particularly reward dependency—are connected to brain chemistry, a finding that has implications for better understanding and treating substance abuse and other addictive behaviors.

Cost savings, energy sources, appliances and more are all subjects for ongoing experimentation this summer in the University of Cincinnati solar house.

The house, constructed last year and ultimately displayed in Washington, D.C., received national attention from outlets like National Public Radio, BusinessWeek magazine and many others in 2007.