Neuroscience

The unexpected creates reward when listening to music

If you love it when a musician strikes that unexpected but perfect chord, you are not alone. New research shows the musically unexpected activates the reward centre of our brains, and makes us learn about the music as we ...

Neuroscience

Researchers discover clues to brain changes in depression

In new pre-clinical research, scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), led by Scott Thompson, Ph.D., Professor of Physiology, have identified changes in brain activity linked to the pleasure and ...

Neuroscience

Cocaine relapse is reversed with BDNF microinjections in the brain

Cocaine relapse was significantly reduced in a preclinical model when brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) was applied to the nucleus accumbens deep in the brain immediately before cocaine-seeking behavior, report investigators ...

Neuroscience

Researchers identify protein involved in cocaine addiction

Mount Sinai researchers have identified a protein produced by the immune system—granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF)—that could be responsible for the development of cocaine addiction.

Neuroscience

Brain zap saps destructive urges

A characteristic electrical-activity pattern in a key brain region predicts impulsive actions just before they occur. A brief electrical pulse at just the right time can prevent them, Stanford scientists have found.

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