From the perspective of neuroscientists, Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome have at least one thing in common: patients with both diseases have an accumulation of ²-amyloid protein in their brains. Scientists now provide evidence that drugs which help reduce the level of ²-amyloid in the brains of Alzheimer's patients may also work to treat mental retardation in Down syndrome.
9 Vote(s)
June 12, 2010
June 1, 2010
New Target For Antidepressants Revealed By Animal Study
University of Michigan scientists have provided the most detailed picture yet of a key receptor in the brain that influences the effectiveness of serotonin-related antidepressants, such as Prozac...
7 Vote(s)
7 Vote(s)
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Animal study reveals new target for antidepressants
Antidepressants such as Prozac are not instant mood-lifters. But researchers have found clues to the delayed response and common return of depressive symptoms when taking serotonin-related antidepressants. Rather than activating all of the brain's serotonin receptors, as current drugs do, their study suggests there's just one critical serotonin receptor important to relieving depression and anxie
14 Vote(s)
14 Vote(s)
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February 26, 2010
Psychiatry Remains a Science, Whether or Not You Like DSM5
Quick-which screening test or instrument has greater specificity for the target condition: the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test for prostate cancer, or the BSDS (Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale), for bipolar disorders?
10 Vote(s)
10 Vote(s)
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December 11, 2009
Key Target Of Clinical Depression Missed By Most Antidepressants
A key brain protein called monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) - is highly elevated during clinical depression yet is unaffected by treatment with commonly used antidepressants, according to an important study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The study has important implications for our understanding of why antidepressants don't always work...
9 Vote(s)
9 Vote(s)
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November 20, 2009
Shifting blame is socially contagious
Merely observing someone publicly blame an individual in an organization for a problem -- even when the target is innocent -- greatly increases the odds that the practice of blaming others will spread with the tenacity of the H1N1 flu.
11 Vote(s)
11 Vote(s)
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October 23, 2009
What does it take to get kids to eat healthy foods?
When Jim and Nora were in elementary school, both Greta and I worked challenging jobs, so we did whatever we could to save time. Instead of bringing lunches made by their parents, the kids bought hot meals at school. The school was proud of its cafeteria. Kids had credit accounts, which meant they didn't have to carry lunch money to school (thus making them less of a target for bullies). The chil
10 Vote(s)
10 Vote(s)
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October 19, 2009
Fine-Tuning Treatments For Depression
New research clarifies how neurotransmitters like norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine, are regulated - a finding that may help fine-tune therapies for depression. Current drugs for depression target the regulatory process for neurotransmitters, and while effective in some cases, do not appear to work in other cases.
5 Vote(s)
5 Vote(s)
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August 11, 2009
Traffic Jam In Brain Causes Schizophrenia Symptoms; First Mouse To Develop Disease As Teenager, Just Like Humans
Northwestern researchers have discovered that schizophrenia symptoms -- which begin to develop in adolescents -- are caused by a low level of a brain protein necessary to build pathways between neurons. Without enough of the protein, there are too few roads for information to flow between neurons -- causing a traffic jam in the brain. This discovery provides a fresh target for treatment.
8 Vote(s)
8 Vote(s)
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May 22, 2009
Protein Identified As Critical To Insulating The Body’s Wiring Could Also Become Treatment Target
A new protein identified as critical to insulating the wiring that connects the brain and body could one day be a treatment target for divergent diseases, from rare ones that lower the pain threshold to cancer, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.
10 Vote(s)
10 Vote(s)
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