http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. New genetic factors predisposing to schizophrenia have been uncovered in five families with several affected relatives. The psychiatric disorder can disrupt thinking, feeling, and acting, and blur the border between reality and imagination. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-brain-cell-network-genes-linked.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:00:01 EST news284215834 Since the 1960s, psychiatrists have been hunting for substances made by the body that might accumulate in abnormally high levels to produce the symptoms associated with schizophrenia. In particular, there was a search for chemicals that might be related to the hallucinogens phencyclidine (PCP) or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which could explain the emergence of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia. This "auto-intoxication" hypothesis led investigators on a wild goose chase where substances, including the "Pink Spot" and the "Frohman Factor", were isolated from people with schizophrenia and implicated in their illness, but these findings were later discredited. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-mysterious-grin3a-schizophrenia.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:14:07 EST news282464040 Good mental health and clear thinking depend upon our ability to store and manipulate thoughts on a sort of "mental sketch pad." In a new study, Yale School of Medicine researchers describe the molecular basis of this ability—the hallmark of human cognition—and describe how a breakdown of the system contributes to diseases such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-human-cognition-slow-firing-neurons.html Neuroscience Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:17:02 EST news280584997 Nitric oxide, a gaseous molecule produced in the brain, can damage neurons. When the brain produces too much nitric oxide, it contributes to the severity and progression of stroke and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute recently discovered that nitric oxide not only damages neurons, it also shuts down the brain's repair mechanisms. Their study was published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of February 4. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-chemical-reaction-stroke-damaged-brain.html Medical research Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:59:38 EST news279215970 In a promising finding for epileptic patients suffering from persistent seizures known as status epilepticus, researchers reported today that new medication could help halt these devastating seizures. To do so, it would have to work directly to antagonize NMDA receptors, the predominant molecular device for controlling synaptic activity and memory function in the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-therapies-persistent-seizures-epileptic-patients.html Neuroscience Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:04:46 EST news277563845