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Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·September 20, 2019·6 min read

Common antidepressant may not reduce depression symptoms, but does reduce anxiety

Sertraline (Zoloft), a commonly prescribed SSRI antidepressant, may not be as effective at treating depression within 6 weeks as previously thought. However, the drug is effective for treating anxiety symptoms.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·September 16, 2019·4 min read

Brain activity intensity drives need for sleep

Galanin expressing neurons are selectively active during rebound sleep. The expression of galanin increases after neuronal activity and sleep deprivation. The neuropeptide plays a critical role in sleep homeostasis.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·September 13, 2019·2 min read

Dietary supplement may help with schizophrenia

The dietary supplement sarcosine taken in combination with antipsychotic medications may be beneficial for the treatment of schizophrenia.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·August 26, 2019·3 min read

Spontaneous brain fluctuations influence risk-taking

Fluctuations in the dopaminergic midbrain play a critical role in risky decision making.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 12, 2019·4 min read

Teenage eating disorders linked to early childhood eating habits

Children who are picky eaters are at an increased risk of developing anorexia during their teen years. Those who overeat as children are at higher risk of binge eating disorders. Persistent undereating during childhood increased the risk of developing anorexia in teen years by 6% for girls.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·August 4, 2019·3 min read

Understanding ’radicalizing environments’ key to tackling extremism

Vulnerability to extremism isn't just a matter of being psychologically susceptible to moral influence. It is also a matter of being susceptible to sustained exposure to settings that enable extremist socialization. A new study sets five categories of determinants which generate, or suppress, the risk of individuals acquiring extremist beliefs and engaging in extremist behaviors. The study proposes a framework for tackling lone-actor terrorist risks and the emergence of radicalizing environments.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 3, 2019·4 min read

People who eat dark chocolate less likely to be depressed

Eating dark chocolate can help reduce anxiety and improve symptoms of clinical depression. People who ate dark chocolate in two 24-hour periods had 70% reduced odds of reporting depressive symptoms than those who did not eat chocolate. However, milk chocolate did not produce the same effect. Dark chocolate contains phenylethylamine, a neuromodulator implicated in mood regulation.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·August 3, 2019·7 min read

Socially active 60-year-olds face lower dementia risk

Being socially active in early old age can help to prevent against dementia later on. Researchers found those engaged in social activities almost daily at 60 were 12% less likely to develop dementia than those who were socially active only once or twice a month.

Autism Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·July 22, 2019·3 min read

Canned laughter works and makes ‘dad jokes’ funny

Canned laughter tracks increase how funny we find a joke and how much we laugh, even when the jokes are groan-worthy. Testing the hypothesis on both neurotypical people and those on the autism spectrum, researchers found the effect was universal.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·June 23, 2019·2 min read

Squeezing of blood vessels may contribute to cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s

Capillary constriction caused by amyloid beta restricts cerebral blood flow in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. Inhibiting the capillary constriction may potentially reduce some of the neurodegenerative features of Alzheimer's.

This shows a brain scan of a person with RRMS

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·June 12, 2019·3 min read

AI used to detect brain’s response to multiple sclerosis treatment

Combining artificial intelligence technology with MRI brain scans, researchers are able to detect the brain's response to Natalizumab treatment for those with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·June 5, 2019·3 min read

Sleeping for too little or too long linked to poorer memory

Sleep duration can have a negative impact on memory skills and reaction time. While the effects of sleep deprivation are well documented, researchers report sleeping for longer than the recommended 7 to 8 hours per night is associated with more errors in memory recall and slower reaction times, with each additional hour of sleep impacting performance more.