Neuroscience

Addiction Sensitizes Brain's Reward and Motivation Centers. Mindfulness Writes New Neuropathways.

Why do addicts seek their drug? Why can’t they stop? The 21 st century view is that an addict’s brain becomes literally hardwired to crave the drug. ...

Blog Post - Richard Taite - Jul 29 2014 - 11:12am

Sugary Beverages In Adolescence Impair Memory

Some critics go after sucrose, and some go after fructose, but new research at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB) says it's all bad; daily consumption of beverages sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup or s ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 29 2014 - 9:00pm

Mouse Models Of Autism Show Insular Cortex Alterations

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and by restricted and repetitive behaviors. Diagnosis is solely based on behavioral analysis, biological markers and neurological un ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 31 2014 - 2:52pm

PPARgamma Receptor In The Brain May Curb Obesity

A new study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) found that preventing weight gain, obesity, and ultimately diabetes could be as simple as keeping a nuclear receptor, PPARgamma, from being activated in a small part of the brain. When researchers ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 2 2014 - 10:30am

Being Pre-Term Is Not A Risk Factor For Inability To Do Math

Dyscalculia is a broad term for difficulty in understanding numbers, arithmetic and mathematics. It is different than 'I am not good at math', people with dyscalculia have difficulty with counting and adding, understanding patterns- when you shou ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 2 2014 - 4:31pm

Implanted Neurons Made From Adult Stem Cells Become Part Of The Brain

Scientists have grafted neurons reprogrammed from skin cells into the brains of mice with long-term stability for the first time. Six months after implantation, the neurons had become fully functionally integrated into the brain.  That's equivalent t ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 5 2014 - 2:53pm

Oxytocin Does Not Cause Autism

Autism is not caused by a deficiency of oxytocin,  according to new findings from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford. ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 4 2014 - 4:05pm

Altered Brain Metabolism Boosts Aggression

Scientists report that they can crank up insect aggression simply by interfering with a basic metabolic pathway. Their study of fruit flies and honey bees shows a direct, causal link between brain metabolism (how the brain generates the energy it needs to ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 8 2014 - 3:45pm

Why Using 100% Of Your Brain Would Make You 0% Smarter

If you've ever been on the freeway and saw the guy next to you holding his coffee with one hand, texting with the other, and steering with his kneecap while doing 80, you might find it quite plausible that humans only use 10% of their brain. This is ...

Article - Ariana Anderson - Aug 6 2014 - 11:44am

This Will Quadruple Your Dementia Risk

A long-term, large-scale population-based study of individuals aged 55 years or older in the general population researchers has found a four-fold increased risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer's disease (AD) if they were diagnosed even with mild ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 9 2014 - 12:00pm