A new meta-analysis of neuroimaging data reveals people with ASD process social and nonsocial rewards differently than those without an autism diagnosis.
A new study reveals how cocaine use alters gene expression and provides new insight into the molecular basis of cocaine addiction.
A new study could help researchers find ways to enhance overall memory and learning in both healthy people and those with neurological problems.
Researchers implanted pacemaker electrodes into the medial forebrain bundle of patients suffering from major depression and performed deep brain stimulation. In a matter of days, in six out of seven patients, symptoms such as anxiety, despondence, listlessness and joylessness had improved considerably.
Researchers examine the how fear responses are learned, controlled, and memorized. They show that a particular class of neurons in a subdivision of the amygdala plays an active role in these processes.
Have you ever wondered why some people find it so much easier to stop smoking than others? New research shows that vulnerability to smoking addiction is shaped by our genes.
Electrical brain stimulation targeting the “dysregulated reward circuitry” could make deep brain stimulation a new option for the difficult-to-treat problem of obesity.
Results of a new study offer compelling evidence for the first time that mephedrone, like cocaine, does have potential for abuse and addiction. “The effects of mephedrone on the brain’s reward circuits are comparable to similar doses of cocaine,” Dr. Malanga, a professor of neurology, pediatrics and psychology at UNC School of Medicine said. “As expected our research shows that mephedrone likely has significant abuse liability.”
Researchers recently localised and identified the most important types of nerve cells involved in forming positive and negative memories of a fruit fly. All four nerve cell types they discovered use dopamine to communicate with other nerve cells. Three of the nerve cell types assume various functions in mediating negative stimuli, while the fourth enables the fly to form positive memories.
Scientists have laid bare a novel molecular mechanism responsible for the major depression symptom, anhedonia, the loss of the ability to experience pleasure. The brain circuit involved in this newly elucidated pathway is largely identical between rodents and humans, upping the odds that the findings point toward new therapies for depression and other disorders. Additionally, opinion leaders hailed the study’s inventive methodology, saying it may offer a much sounder approach to testing new antidepressants.
