Stress Trigger Processes Discovered in the Brain
An important factor for stress has been identified by scientists. The protein secretagogin that plays an important role in the release of the CRH stress hormone and which only then enables stress processes in the brain to be transmitted to the pituitary gland and then onwards to the organs. [More…]
Read MoreWatching Individual Neurons Respond During Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is used to treat refractory major depression. Until now, there was no way of knowing exactly what changes were taking place in the brain as a result of treatment. Duke University neuroscientists and engineers have developed a way to measure the response of an individual neuron to TMS. Measuring neural responses […]
Read MoreThe Myth of Schizophrenia as a Progressive Brain Disease
Schizophrenia has historically been considered to be a deteriorating disease, a view reinforced by recent MRI findings of progressive brain tissue loss over the early years of illness. Zipursky and colleagues challenge this concept. Schizophrenia Bulletin [More…]
Read MoreL-Dopa Improves Decision-Making In Older Adults
A study published online in Nature Neuroscience has demonstrated that a drug widely used to treat Parkinson’s Disease can help to reverse age-related impairments in decision making in some older people. Researchers from Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging describe the changes in the patterns of brain activity of adults in their seventies that help to […]
Read MoreWe Stlil Can Raed Words Wehn Teh Lettres Are Jmbuled Up?
Researchers have taken an important step towards understanding how the human brain ‘decodes’ letters on a page to read words. [More…]
Read MoreMagnetic Stimulation Can Improve Memory in Schizophrenia
A new study published in Biological Psychiatry provides new evidence that stimulating the brain using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may be an effective strategy to improve cognitive function. A randomized, 4-week controlled trial (n=27) evaluated whether rTMS can improve working memory in schizophrenia. Patients performed the verbal working memory n-back task before and after […]
Read MoreThe Nature of Relapse in Schizophrenia
Discontinuation of treatment in schizophrenia results in very high relapse rates, even after a single psychotic episode. A new review in BMC Psychiatry asserts that multiple relapses characterze the course of illness in most patients with schizophrenia, yet the nature of these episodes has not been extensively researched and clinicians may not always be aware […]
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