http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—Deep brain stimulation (DBS) in a precise region of the brain appears to reduce caloric intake and prompt weight loss in obese animal models, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. The study, reported in the Journal of Neuroscience, reinforces the involvement of dopamine deficits in increasing obesity-related behaviors such as binge eating, and demonstrates that DBS can reverse this response via activation of the dopamine type-2 receptor. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-binge-curbed-deep-brain-animal.html Neuroscience Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:57:42 EST news286012049 By stimulating one part of the brain with laser light, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at UC San Francisco (UCSF) have shown that they can wipe away addictive behavior in rats – or conversely turn non-addicted rats into compulsive cocaine seekers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-laser-zaps-cocaine-addiction.html Neuroscience Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:24:07 EST news284214213 Smokeless tobacco users who said they didn't want to quit changed their minds or significantly cut back when given nicotine lozenges or tobacco-free snuff in a Mayo Clinic study. The findings are published in the February issue of Addictive Behaviors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-nicotine-lozenges-tobacco-free-snuff-smokeless.html Addiction Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:04:29 EST news280497848 Research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) reveals that sons of male rats exposed to cocaine are resistant to the rewarding effects of the drug, suggesting that cocaine-induced changes in physiology are passed down from father to son. The findings are published in the latest edition of Nature Neuroscience. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-resistance-cocaine-addiction-father-son.html Neuroscience Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:00:29 EST news274882209 (HealthDay)—High cognitive functioning enhances one's readiness to change addictive behavior, according to a study published in the September issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-cognitive-ability-tied-addictive-behavior.html Addiction Tue, 18 Sep 2012 14:20:01 EST news267192710 Everybody is talking about Internet addiction. Medically, this phenomenon has not yet been as clearly described as nicotine or alcohol dependency. But a study conducted by researchers from the University of Bonn and the Central Institute of Mental Health (ZI) in Mannheim now provides indications that there are molecular-genetic connections in Internet addiction, too. The results is reported in the Journal of Addiction Medicine. The print version appears in the September issue. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-internet-addictioncauses-molecular.html Addiction Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:10:25 EST news265457420 (HealthDay) -- Prescription drug abuse among American college students is linked to depression and suicidal thoughts, a new study finds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-mental-health-woes-college-kids.html Addiction Tue, 19 Jun 2012 18:12:43 EST news259348358 In preclinical studies, researchers at SRI International and Astraea Therapeutics have recently evaluated the role of a new drug receptor target that shows promise for the treatment of drug addiction. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-collaborative-preclinical-efficacy-drug-addiction.html Addiction Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:50:15 EST news250937399 (Medical Xpress) -- The dangers of cigarette smoking are common knowledge. And when it comes to smoking while pregnant, life-threatening health hazards extend to the fetus and newborn. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-developmental-problems-kids.html Addiction Thu, 08 Mar 2012 06:20:01 EST news250409181 On any given weekend, at least 10 percent of students at a single college could be hosting a party, and on average, party hosts who live off campus are drinking more and engaging in more alcohol-related problem behaviors than are the students attending their bashes, research suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-off-campus-college-party-hosts-attendees.html Health Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:21:15 EST news246640863 Fourteen-year-olds who were frequent video gamers had more gray matter in the rewards center of the brain than peers who didn't play video games as much - suggesting that gaming may be correlated to changes in the brain, much as addictions are. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-frequent-gamers-brain-differences.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:49:03 EST news240598129 During the past 10 years two Colorado professors have collected the widest available base of knowledge about people who practice self-injury and now are offering new insights into people who deliberately injure themselves by cutting, burning, branding and bone-breaking. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-decade-insights-world-self-injurers.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:40:01 EST news234694738 Dozens of studies on whether moderate exercise can curb the nicotine cravings of women smokers have added up to an apparent contradiction: it seems to work in short-term, well controlled lab experiments, but then fizzles out in treatment trials. A new study may explain why and help researchers devise a practical therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-women-cravings-effect-short-lived.html Health Thu, 19 May 2011 10:53:46 EST news225021209 Teenagers who drink alcohol spend more time on their computers for recreational use, including social networking and downloading and listening to music, compared with their peers who don't drink. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-teenage-alcohol-consumption.html Health Mon, 09 May 2011 16:26:09 EST news224177134