Understanding Neuron Activity Related to Addiction

In order to successfully treat addiction problems, it is important to understand how the brain functions in response to the stimulus. For both therapy treatment and medication treatment, it is helpful to know how the brain reacts.

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Amount of Gray Matter in Brain Affects Self-Control and Decision-Making

According to a new study from the U.S. Dept. of Energy Laboratory in Brookhaven, the amount of gray matter in your brain affects its thought process and the ability to assess rewards or consequences. The study was the first of its kind to show the correlation between the brains of healthy people and the brains of those addicted to cocaine.

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Scientists Theorize that Chronic Depression Is Linked to Brain Inflammation

A new study from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests that chronic depression is an error in a neurobiological process that can be adapted and repaired. The researchers theorize that chronic depression comes from deep-rooted mechanisms the body uses to deal with physical injury.

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Ritalin Enhances Speed of Learning by Boosting Dopamine Levels

Doctors treat millions of children with Ritalin every year to improve their ability to focus on tasks, but scientists now report that Ritalin also directly enhances the speed of learning. In animal research, scientists showed for the first time that Ritalin boosts both of these cognitive abilities by increasing the activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine deep inside the brain.

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Critical Brain Chemical Plays Role in Severe Depression

The next advance in treating major depression may relate to a group of brain chemicals that are involved in virtually all our brain activity, according to a study published today in Biological Psychiatry. The study is co-authored by Drs. Andrea J. Levinson and Zafiris J. Daskalakis of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). This study shows that compared to healthy individuals, people who have major depressive disorder have altered functions of the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). In the study, individuals with the most treatment-resistant forms of illness demonstrated the greatest reductions of GABA levels in the brain.

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Alterations in Brain’s Reward System Related to ADHD

Until now, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was related to alterations in the brain affecting attention and cognitive processes. Researchers at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital have now discovered anomalies in the brain’s reward system related to the neural circuits of motivation and gratification.

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Stimulating the Brain’s Pleasure Center to Treat Depression

Even with the best of available treatments, over a third of patients with depression may not achieve a satisfactory antidepressant response. Deep brain stimulation (DBS), a form of targeted electrical stimulation in the brain via implanted electrodes, is now undergoing careful testing to determine whether it could play a role in the treatment of patients who have not sufficiently improved during more traditional forms of treatment.

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Study Finds Disconnect Between Brain Regions in ADHD

New research shows that two brain areas fail to connect when children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) attempt a task that measures attention. Researchers at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain and M.I.N.D. Institute made this discovery by analyzing the brain activity in children with ADHD, and their paper appears in the current online issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry.

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Eating Licorice While Pregnant May Affect Child’s IQ and Behavior

A study has shown that expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of licorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child’s intelligence and behavior.

The  study of eight-year-old children whose mothers ate large amounts of licorice when pregnant found that they did not perform as well as other youngsters on cognitive tests.

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New Magnetic Stimulation Offers Noninvasive Treatment for Major Depression

Rush University Medical Center has opened the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic to offer patients a safe, effective, non-drug treatment for major depression. TMS therapy is the first FDA-approved, non-invasive antidepressant device-based treatment clinically proven for treatment of depression.

Science Daily reports that psychiatrists at Rush University Medical Center were among the first to test the technique. Dr. Philip Janicak, professor of psychiatry and lead investigator at Rush for the clinical trials of TMS, helped develop the therapy.

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