Brain

Many individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also experience depression. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University found that during PTSD treatments, rapid improvements in depression symptoms are associated with better outcomes.

Researchers at the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics and MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have discovered a new brain circuit that shapes memory formation by endowing neurons with the ability to connect two events separated in time into a single experience.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Suppose you heard the sound of skidding tires, followed by a car crash. The next time you heard such a skid, you might cringe in fear, expecting a crash to follow — suggesting that somehow, your brain had linked those two memories so that a fairly innocuous sound provokes dread.

TORONTO, ON – A University of Toronto report based on two neural imaging studies that monitored brain activity has found individuals are more satisfied to get a reward from telling the truth rather than getting the same reward through deceit. These studies were published recently in the neuroscience journals Neuropsychologia and NeuroImage.

"Our findings together show that people typically find truth-telling to be more rewarding than lying in different types of deceptive situations," says Prof. Kang Lee from the University of Toronto.

Obese mothers are more likely to have children with metabolic disorders such as diabetes compared with thin mothers, but the underlying molecular and cellular reasons for this effect have been unclear. A study published by Cell Press on January 23rd in the journal Cell reveals that the offspring of mouse mothers on a high-fat diet are predisposed to obesity and diabetes because of abnormal neuronal circuits in the hypothalamus—a key brain region that regulates metabolism.

The offspring of obese mothers consuming a high-fat diet during pregnancy are at a higher risk than the children of thin mothers for lifelong obesity, and related metabolic disorders. The molecular and cellular basis for these differences are clarified in a new study published in the Jan. 23 issue of Cell by researchers at Yale School of Medicine and the University of Cologne.

Setting the stage for possible advances in pain treatment, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland report they have pinpointed two molecules involved in perpetuating chronic pain in mice. The molecules, they say, also appear to have a role in the phenomenon that causes uninjured areas of the body to be more sensitive to pain when an area nearby has been hurt. A summary of the research will be published on Jan. 23 in the journal Neuron.

Neuroscientists from the University of Leicester, in collaboration with the Department of Neurosurgery at the University California Los Angeles (UCLA), are to reveal details of how the brain determines the timing at which neurons in specific areas fire to create new memories.

This research exploits the unique opportunity of recording multiple single-neurons in patients suffering from epilepsy refractory to medication that are implanted with intracranial electrodes for clinical reasons.

JUPITER, FL – January 23, 2014 – Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a critical regulator of a molecule deeply involved in the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

The new study, published in an advance, online edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, shows for the first time that levels of this regulating protein are decreased in the brains of Alzheimer's disease sufferers and that this decrease could be a significant factor in the advance of the disease.

Can last meals reveal more about individuals on death row than their taste preference? Some have argued there is significance embedded in death row last meal decisions. Famously, Ricky Ray Rector asked to save his untouched pecan pie for after his execution. This request sparked significant discussion about Rector's competency – on the basis of his food request. Similarly, in a documentary film about last suppers, artists Bigert and Bergstrom have claimed a connection between whether or not an individual choses to have a last meal and his or her guilt.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- A new systematic review of data published in more than 40 studies of freshman alcohol interventions finds that there are many effective ways for colleges to mitigate common drinking patterns and problems among new students.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers at Duke Medicine have shown that continuing spinal cord stimulation appears to produce improvements in symptoms of Parkinson's disease, and may protect critical neurons from injury or deterioration.

The study, performed in rats, is published online Jan. 23, 2014, in the journal Scientific Reports. It builds on earlier findings from the Duke team that stimulating the spinal cord with electrical signals temporarily eased symptoms of the neurological disorder in rodents.

WASHINGTON – People feel worse when they tell only part of the truth about a transgression compared to people who come completely clean, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

Cheaters who confessed just part of their wrongdoing were also judged more harshly by others than cheaters who didn't confess at all, according to five experiments involving 4,167 people from all over the United States. The article appears in the February issue of APA's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Dr. Stephen Salloway pulls no punches in describing the results of two clinical trials of the Alzheimer's drug bapineuzumab that he helped to lead. The antibody failed to produce cognitive improvement for volunteers compared to a placebo, he and colleagues report Jan. 23 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

AURORA, Colo. (Jan. 22, 2014) – The U.S. should prepare for more outbreaks of illness and possible deaths from designer drugs including synthetic marijuana, according to the new research from the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, illustrates a wide range of dangers associated with these increasingly popular drugs.