Brain

SALT LAKE CITY—University of Utah (U of U) medical researchers have made an important step in diagnosing autism through using MRI, an advance that eventually could help health care providers indentify the problem much earlier in children and lead to improved treatment and outcomes for those with the disorder.

Washington, DC — People's brains are more responsive to friends than to strangers, even if the stranger has more in common, according to a study in the Oct. 13 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers examined a brain region known to be involved in processing social information, and the results suggest that social alliances outweigh shared interests.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, led by Larry R. Squire, PhD, professor of psychiatry, psychology and neurosciences at UC San Diego and a scientist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System, report that working memory of relational information – where an object is located, for example – remains intact even if key brain structures like the hippocampus are damaged.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh today report a new experimental compound that can improve memory and cognitive function in ageing mice. The compound is being investigated with a view to developing a drug that could slow the natural decline in memory associated with ageing.

With support from a Wellcome Trust Seeding Drug Discovery award, the team has identified a preclinical candidate that they hope to take into human trials within a year.

South San Francisco, CA – October 12, 2010 – Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TTNP.OB) today announced that data from its previously completed and announced Phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of Probuphine were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are the first to use brain imaging to examine the effects of emotion on working memory function in children with pediatric bipolar disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The study is published in the October issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

PBD and ADHD are very severe developmental disorders that share behavioral characteristics such as impulsivity, irritability and attention problems.

Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have found that a gene associated with the onset of Type 2 diabetes also is found at lower-than-normal levels in people with Alzheimer's disease. The research, led by Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, The Saunder Family Professor in Neurology, and Professor of Psychiatry and Geriatrics and Adult Development at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, was published this month in Aging Cell.

A pregnant woman's immune response to viral infections may induce subtle neurological changes in the unborn child that can lead to an increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders including schizophrenia and autism. Research published in the online journal mBio® provides new insights into how this may happen and suggests potential strategies for reducing this risk.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Research led by a Michigan State University psychologist is playing a key role in the effort to change the way mental health clinicians classify personality disorders.

A new class of compounds identified by researchers at Emory University School of Medicine could be developed into drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia. The compounds enhance signaling by molecules in the brain called NMDA receptors, which scientists believe are functioning at low levels in people with schizophrenia.

Led by Stephen Traynelis, PhD, professor of pharmacology, a team of Emory researchers sifted through thousands of chemicals and found one, called CIQ, which could selectively enhance the function of certain NMDA receptors without affecting others.

Iowa City, IA—October 11, 2010— A new study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology finds that college-aged men are very likely to remember a woman's initial sexual interest (attraction or rejection), especially when the woman in question is thought to be attractive, is dressed more provocatively, and expresses positive sexual interest.

ATHENS, Ohio (October 11, 2010)—The combination of preventive medication and behavioral changes offered significant relief for 77 percent of the individuals enrolled in a study aimed at combating frequent, disabling migraine headaches, according to new Ohio University research published this week in the British Medical Journal.

For American students, spending a semester or two studying in a foreign country means the opportunity to improve foreign language skills and become immersed in a different culture. And for some of those students, studying abroad can involve greater alcohol consumption.

New results from University of Washington researchers point to why some students drink more alcohol while abroad and suggest ways to intervene.

In life, we're told, we must take the good with the bad, and how we view these life events determines our well-being and ability to adjust. But according to Prof. Dov Shmotkin of Tel Aviv University's Department of Psychology, you need more than the right attitude to successfully negotiate the vicissitudes of life.

(CHICAGO)–In a study to determine the durability and long-term effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), psychiatric researchers at Rush University Medical Center have found the non-invasive, non-drug therapy to be an effective, long-term treatment for major depression. Results of the study were published in the October 2010 issue of Brain Stimulation, a journal published by Elsevier.