Brain

Suicide is the result of a complex interaction among a whole host of factors among which "it is worth highlighting clinical factors such as a history of psychiatric and psychosocial disorders, the loss of the social support network, the loss of employment or acute stress", pointed out Jon García-Ormaza, lecturer in psychiatry at the UPV/EHU and medical psychiatrist at University Hospital Cruces.

Researchers have clarified important mechanisms involved in the formation of neural circuits in the brain. This group also discovered that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive substance also found in cannabis, causes disruption of neural circuits within the cortex. These results explain why cannabis may be harmful and have potential to find application in the functional recovery of brain injury and in cases of dementia.

Training the brain to treat itself is a promising therapy for traumatic stress. The training uses an auditory or visual signal that corresponds to the activity of a particular brain region, called neurofeedback, which can guide people to regulate their own brain activity.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Laser technology has revealed a common trait of Alzheimer's disease - a sticky situation that could lead to new targets for medicinal treatments.

Alzheimer's statistics are always staggering. The neurodegenerative disease affects an estimated 5 million Americans, one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer's or a form of dementia, it claims more lives than breast and prostate cancers combined, and its incidence is rising.

Los Angeles, CA (September 12, 2016) Why are some students, especially those who are first generation college students or from low-income households, not applying for or consistently receiving financial aid? According to new research out today, the aid system must be redesigned to earn the trust of students and their families and to help them believe that it can make college affordable.

Recent studies have examined the ways in which CEOs' political ideologies influence their firms' strategies, but new, first-of-its-kind research from the University of Notre Dame shows that corporate directors' conservative or liberal leanings influence their decisions about CEO pay and the extent to which CEOs should be rewarded and penalized for firm performance.

When it comes to hearing, precision is important. Because vertebrates, such as birds and humans, have two ears--and sounds from either side travel different distances to arrive at each one - localizing sound involves discerning subtle differences in when sounds arrive. The brain has to keep time better than a Swiss watch in order to locate where sound is coming from.

In fact, the quality of this sound processing precision is a limiting factor in how well one detects the location of sound and perceives speech.

BOSTON - A weight-loss drug dampened the response to food cues in regions of the brain associated with attention and emotion, leading to decreases in caloric intake, weight and body mass index (BMI), a team led by scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) reported. In the first study of the drug lorcaserin in the human brain, the research revealed the mechanism underlying the drug's efficacy and provides insight into which individuals may benefit most from the medication.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - What many have long suspected, has been scientifically confirmed - women's high stress reduces their probability of conception.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- While a prior history of suicide attempt is one of the strongest predictors of completed suicide, a Mayo Clinic study finds it is more lethal than previously known.

Researchers find that suicide risk was nearly 60 percent higher than previously reported when based on a population-based cohort focusing on individuals making first lifetime attempts and including those whose first attempts were fatal. This risk was dramatically higher for attempts using firearms. The population sample was identified through the Rochester Epidemiology Project.

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CHICAGO --- Pregnant women with bipolar disorder and their families and physicians should be aware of a significantly higher risk for developing postpartum psychosis, according to a new Northwestern Medicine review of literature on the rare and under-researched disorder.

A single injection of a new treatment has reduced the activity of the gene responsible for Huntington's disease for several months in a trial in mice.

Huntington's disease is a genetic disorder that affects around 1 in every 10,000 people and damages nerve cells in the brain. This causes neurological symptoms affecting movement, cognition and behaviour.

Huntington's usually only begins to show symptoms in adulthood. There is currently no cure and no way to slow the progression of the disease. Symptoms typically progress over 10-25 years until the person eventually dies.

Men's hidden fears about body fat are fuelling gym attendance motivated by feelings of guilt and shame rather than a desire to build muscle, new research has shown.

Psychology researchers from the UK and Australia discovered that while male attitudes towards muscle or body mass index (BMI) did not predict how frequently they would attend the gym, their perceptions of body fat did.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham have shed light onto the cognitive benefits of bilingualism, pointing to an enhanced ability to maintain attention and focus.

The results of the study, published in Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, suggest it is this improved attentional control that provides the 'bilingual advantage', rather than a better-than-average inhibitory control.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A tiny RNA appears to play a role in producing major depression, the mental disorder that affects as many as 250 million people a year worldwide.

Major depression, formally known as major depressive disorder, or MDD, brings increased risk of suicide and is reported to cause the second-most years of disability after low-back pain.