http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A multicenter study led by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine shows that mild traumatic brain injury after blast exposure produces inflammation, oxidative stress and gene activation patterns akin to disorders of memory processing such as Alzheimer's disease. Their findings were recently reported in the online version of the Journal of Neurotrauma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-mild-blast-injury-molecular-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:55:08 EST news286019674 Setting a mouse free to roam might alarm most people, but not so for nuclear imaging researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Medical School and the University of Maryland who have developed a new imaging system for mouse brain studies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-brain-scans-unrestrained-mice.html Neuroscience Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:03:26 EST news284727797 (Medical Xpress)—What makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide? The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown. Now though, for the first time in humans, scientists at UCLA have measured the release of a specific peptide, a neurotransmitter called hypocretin, that greatly increased when subjects were happy but decreased when they were sad. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-peptide-key-happiness.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 07 Mar 2013 06:57:23 EST news281861834 (Medical Xpress)—A new study in a mouse model has shown that neuropsychiatric disorders in adults were more likely to develop if the mice had suffered immune challenges before birth and stresses after birth. The study also demonstrated that there are interactions between environmental factors that increase the likelihood of brain disorders developing. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-combination-stresses-brain-disorders.html Medical research Fri, 01 Mar 2013 05:45:33 EST news281339107 As the National Football League braces for lawsuits by 4000 former players alleging the league failed to protect them from the long-term consequences of concussions, game-changing research by a leading Canadian researcher shows damage to the brain can persist for decades after the original head trauma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-evidence-concussions-require-long-term-follow-up.html Health Sun, 17 Feb 2013 08:06:15 EST news280310762 University of Florida researchers have found changes in the behavior and in the brains of mice in withdrawal from methamphetamine addiction. These findings may affect the way physicians treat recovering methamphetamine addicts, the researchers write in the current issue of the journal Synapse. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-methamphetamine-brain-related-recovering-addicts.html Medical research Thu, 14 Feb 2013 10:30:05 EST news280057065 Susan Harvell's daughter, Claire, can't list specific moments when her mother, a longtime human resources executive in her early 50s, seemed to be off her game. "It wasn't anything drastic," she said. "She could tell you a million stories about when I was 3 years old, but if I told her I was going to do something, she'd ask me five minutes later if I was going to do something." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-earlier-memories.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Nov 2012 07:51:08 EST news272533600 Mother rats respond much differently to cocaine than female rats that have never given birth, according to new University of Michigan research that looks at both behavior and brain chemistry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-motherhood-dampen-cocaine-effects.html Neuroscience Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:30:02 EST news269513061 Science finally has the answers to questions such as, "Why does love make us do crazy things?" http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-brain-chemsitry-human-behavior-major.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 14 Sep 2012 08:19:06 EST news266829531 Drugs used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) do not appear to have long-term effects on the brain, according to new animal research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-long-term-adhd-drug-safe-brain.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 18 Jul 2012 09:42:58 EST news261823367 Researchers at Duke University and the National Institutes of Health have found a way to calm the fears of anxious mice with a drug that alters their brain chemistry. They've also found that human genetic differences related to the same brain chemistry influence how well people cope with fear and stress. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-brain-chemistry-easily.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 12 Jun 2012 04:00:06 EST news258658375 (AP) -- Count your blessings this Thanksgiving. It's good for you. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-psychological-outlook.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:50:01 EST news241198492 (Medical Xpress) -- Amphetamine use in adolescence can cause neurobiological imbalances and increase risk-taking behaviour, and these effects can persist into adulthood, even when subjects are drug free. These are the conclusions of a new study using animal models conducted by McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) researcher Dr. Gabriella Gobbi and her colleagues. The study, published today in The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, is one of the first to shed light on how long-term amphetamine use in adolescence affects brain chemistry and behaviour. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-adolescent-amphetamine-linked-permanent-brain.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:00:13 EST news239535778 A research team led by investigators at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute has demonstrated the first rapid measurements of dopamine release in a human brain and provided preliminary evidence that the neurotransmitter can be tracked in its movement between brain cells while a subject expresses decision-making behavior. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-dopamine-human-brain-tracked-microsecond.html Neuroscience Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:05:37 EST news239047506 Toxoplasma gondii parasites can invade your bloodstream, break into your brain and prompt behavioral changes from recklessness to neuroticism. These highly contagious protozoa infect more than half the world's population, and most people's immune systems never purge the intruders. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-promiscuous-parasites-hijack-host-immune.html Medical research Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:50:01 EST news235749844 If you've been trying to lose weight and suspect your body's working against you, you may be right, according to a University of Illinois study published in Obesity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-obese-dieters-brain-chemistry-weight-loss.html Medical research Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:05:33 EST news228049516 For the first time, researchers at McMaster University have conclusive evidence that bacteria residing in the gut influence brain chemistry and behaviour. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-anxiety-gut.html Medical research Tue, 17 May 2011 10:59:07 EST news224848724 The brain chemistry that underlies depression is incompletely understood, but research suggests that aberrant signaling by a chemical called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor through its receptor TrkB, may contribute to anxiety and depression. Here, researchers describe a screen for stable small molecules that could specifically inhibit TrkB action. They identified one they dubbed ANA-12, which had potent behavioral effects when administered to mice that suggest it will have antidepressant and anti-anxiety activity in humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-prozac-drug-depression.html Medications Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:50:01 EST news222348763