Brain

Cambridge-based researchers provide new evidence that the human brain lives "on the edge of chaos", at a critical transition point between randomness and order. The study, published March 20 in PLoS Computational Biology, provides experimental data on an idea previously fraught with theoretical speculation.

Researchers have taken a step forward in understanding the genetics of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

The study, conducted by the University of Edinburgh, found that a gene called DISC1 – known to play a role in the development of mental illness – may control the way some patients respond to psychiatric medication.

They also identified seven proteins that are important to the development of mental illness and hope the research could help to create new medicines that target these proteins.

Naltrexone, an opioid antagonist approved in 1994 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for alcohol-dependence (AD) treatment, can reduce relapse rates among AD patients. Research on naltrexone's effectiveness on nicotine dependence is less clear, although researchers believe it may be helpful for specific smoker subgroups. A new study has found that naltrexone can help non-AD smokers who drink heavily on a social basis.

Results will be published in the June issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

Prior neuroimaging studies have shown alcoholism-related damage to the frontal lobes and cerebellum. Yet even though these regions are involved in language processing, alcoholics' language skills appear to be relatively spared from alcohol's damaging effects. A new study suggests that alcoholics develop "compensatory mechanisms" to maintain their language skills despite alcohol's damages… compensation which may, in turn, have a restrictive effect on other processes.

Scientists know that alcohol affects the brain, but the specifics remain unclear. One possibility is that alcohol may increase or decrease the release and the synthesis of endogenous opioid peptides – endorphins, enkephalins and dynorphins – in distinct brain regions important for drug addiction. For the first time, a rodent study has confirmed that low to moderate levels of alcohol alter beta-endorphin release in the midbrain/Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) region, producing the pleasant effects that likely reinforce alcohol consumption.

Kingston, ON – Improved technology, partnerships and collaboration across two provinces have allowed Queen's University scientists to dramatically expand the use of eye-movement tests that help identify and assess children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

PHILADELPHIA – Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have engineered transplantable living nerve tissue that encourages and guides regeneration in an animal model. Results were published this month in Tissue Engineering.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Want to know what will make you happy? Then ask a total stranger -- or so says a new study from Harvard University, which shows that another person's experience is often more informative than your own best guess.

The study, which appears in the current issue of Science, was led by Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard and author of the 2007 bestseller "Stumbling on Happiness," along with Matthew Killingsworth and Rebecca Eyre, also of Harvard, and Timothy Wilson of the University of Virginia.

STANFORD, Calif. — About the only thing doctors have understood about deep-brain stimulation, which is widely used to treat Parkinson's disease symptoms, is that somehow it works for many patients. In a new study that will be published March 19 in the online journal Science Express, Stanford University researchers used light to illuminate how the treatment works, generating surprising insights into the diseased circuitry and also suggesting new ideas to improve Parkinson's therapy.

DURHAM, NC – A novel stimulation method, the first potential therapy to target the spinal cord instead of the brain, may offer an effective and less invasive approach for Parkinson's disease treatment, according to pre-clinical data published in the journal Science by researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

All animals, including humans, have an internal 24-hour clock or circadian rhythm that creates a daily oscillation of body temperature, brain activity, hormone production and metabolism. Studying mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Northwestern University found how the biological circadian clock mechanism communicates with processes that govern aging and metabolism.

Leuven − VIB scientists connected to the K.U.Leuven have identified a molecule that can form the basis for a new therapy for Alzheimer's disease. This is the first step toward a medicine that could actually stop the progress of Alzheimer's. Existing medicines can at best limit the loss of memory during the first phases of the disease. The authoritative journal Science is publishing the results of this research. A first step, however, is still a long way from an approved drug − even if everything goes well, it will be another 15 years before the medicine becomes available.

Something strange is going on in the amygdala – an almond-shaped structure deep in the human brain – among people with autism.

Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered an increased pattern of brain activity in the amygdalas of adults with autism that may be linked to the social deficits that typically are associated with the disorder. Previous research at the UW and elsewhere has shown that abnormal growth patterns in the amygdala are commonly found among young children diagnosed with autism.

Native African people who have never even listened to the radio before can nonetheless pick up on happy, sad, and fearful emotions in Western music, according to a new report published online on March 19th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The result shows that the expression of those three basic emotions in music can be universally recognized, the researchers said.

When coral colonies meet one another on the reef, they have two options: merge into a single colony or reject each other and aggressively compete for space. Now, a report in the March 19th Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, has found a gene that may help to decide that fate.