Researchers at the University of Sheffield have identified a new pathway that is disrupted in motor neurone disease (MND), a discovery which could pave the way for new treatments. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The ground breaking findings were discovered by converting skin cells to brain cells called astrocytes, and comparing the energy metabolism of cells...
Category: <span>Neuroscience</span>
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Heartbeats and memory suppression – the new tools for controlling fear
Most of us feel afraid when faced with a threat or danger, but people with phobias and anxiety feel overwhelming levels of fear in situations that are relatively harmless. Scientists want to moderate this response by using drugs to wipe out scary memories or by harnessing the power of heartbeats to improve therapy. Horizon: the...
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Cannabis use in teens raises risk of depression in young adults
While there has been a lot of focus on the role of cannabis use in psychosis, there has been less attention on whether cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of common mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety. University of Oxford Researchers from McGill University and the University of Oxford carried out...
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New molecules reverse memory loss linked to depression, aging
New therapeutic molecules developed at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) show promise in reversing the memory loss linked to depression and aging. Credit: Medibulletin These molecules not only rapidly improve symptoms, but remarkably, also appear to renew the underlying brain impairments causing memory loss in preclinical models. These findings were presented today...
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Neural processing during trauma and lifetime adversity interact to increase core symptom of PTSD
Lifetime adversity and increased neural processing during a traumatic event combine to increase the frequency of intrusive traumatic memories and the distress they cause, according to a new study in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. The increased neural processing was found in brain regions important for emotion and memory. The involuntary recollection of traumatic...
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Tumours use a metabolic twist to make lipids
To survive and divide, cancer cells need a constant supply of lipid molecules called monounsaturated fatty acids. Tumours can achieve this by an unsuspected route that harnesses a metabolic pathway also used in hair follicles. Abnormal cellular metabolism is a hallmark of cancer cells, from alterations in the pathways that use glucose to aberrant activation...
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Women twice as likely to suffer from severe depression after a stroke
New research today published in the European Journal of Neurology has found that women are twice as likely to suffer from severe depression following a stroke than men. The team of researchers from King’s College London followed the progress of symptoms over five years after stroke onset in 2,313 people (1,275 men and 1,038 women)....
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New strategy expands the benefits of Internet-delivered CBT
Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have experimented with a new adaptive treatment strategy for Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) that identifies patients within the first month who face a major risk of treatment failure. Published in the scientific journal American Journal of Psychiatry, the results also suggest that such patients may nevertheless benefit if...
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Proving Painsomnia is Real: A Case Study
Living with Painsomnia It doesn’t matter if it is 11pm or 2am. Anyone seeking solidarity during a long night awake with pain can find a virtual friend on the Twitter #Painsomnia hashtag or by mentioning it on other tags frequented by people living with a chronic disease. Painsomnia is a patient-generated term for the vicious...
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Emerging evidence of an impending Parkinson’s disease pandemic identified
Amsterdam, NL, January 29, 2019 – For most of human history Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been a rare disorder. However, demography and the by-products of industrialization are now contributing to an impending Parkinson’s pandemic, according to experts writing in a supplement to the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease. They say that this pandemic can be addressed...