News
Pilot trial suggests anti-inflammatory drug could help difficult-to-treat depression
4+ week, 2+ day ago (366+ words) Immunotherapy could be a'promising new treatment'option'for patients with difficult-to-treat depression. This is a key finding from a University of Bristol-led pilot randomised controlled clinical trial, published in JAMA Psychiatry today [20 May].' Researchers investigated, for the first time, whether tocilizumab, an…...
Lower dopamine may drive teen risk-taking that fades with age
1+ week, 8+ hour ago (271+ words) image: Ashley Parr, Ph. D. view more PITTSBURGH, June 11, 2026 " Teenage risk-taking, such as experimentation with alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and other substances, may reflect a compensatory response to lower baseline dopamine, the brain chemical for reward activity, suggests a new University of…...
How does childhood trauma get embedded in the body? New study uncovers mechanisms linking fear learning, brain function and inflammation
1+ week, 1+ day ago (182+ words) image: Brain regions of interest involved in fear learning, including the amygdala, hippocampus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vm PFC), and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (d ACC). view more Credit: Yuanyuan Chen, Rushan Liu, and Jianjun Zhu Childhood maltreatment is known to…...
Millions in the US report past-year psilocybin use, study finds
1+ week, 1+ day ago (682+ words) Poly-substance use was also common image: Dried Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, one of more than 200 mushroom species with potential hallucinogenic properties. view more CHAMPAIGN, Ill. " A new look at data from a nationally representative survey finds that more than 8 million people, roughly…...
USC study maps brain network changes linked to bipolar disorder severity and treatment
1+ week, 2+ day ago (533+ words) The largest diffusion MRI network analysis of bipolar disorder to date reveals subtle but widespread differences in brain communication pathways involved in emotion, reward, and cognitive control. image: This brain graph maps connections between brain regions, formed by white matter…...
Activating specific neural circuits rescues autism-like behaviors in an ASD mouse model
2+ week, 2+ hour ago (223+ words) This breakthrough demonstrates that structural abnormalities in the axon initial segment are reversible, establishing a promising new therapeutic target for autism spectrum disorder. image: In the ASD mouse model, the axon initial segment (AIS) was shortened, leading to reduced neuronal…...
Research reveals link between stress hormone, brain plasticity in early life
2+ week, 23+ hour ago (662+ words) Cortisol kicks off cascade of brain changes that closes critical periods of learning in mice image: A microscope image of a specialized brain cell called an astrocyte. view more Researchers have discovered a new way that brain plasticity is controlled…...
Deep brain stimulation remodels brain wiring and alters functional changes to brain-wide networks, landmark depression study reveals
2+ week, 2+ day ago (399+ words) image: Mount Sinai Campus view more Credit: Mount Sinai Health System Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have uncovered the first direct evidence that deep brain stimulation (DBS) can remodel white matter pathways in the brain…...
Dopamine mediated persistence of sexual dysfunction due to confinement stress.
2+ week, 5+ day ago (138+ words) (IMAGE) Eurek Alert! Dopamine mediated persistence of sexual dysfunction due to confinement stress. Confinement stress leads to persistent reduced sexual motivation in male fruit flies through a pathway mediated by dopamine, a neurotransmitter known to be involved in the impact…...
$3 M NIH grant to support research on memory and exaggerated fear responses
2+ week, 5+ day ago (332+ words) Team from Penn State and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will study biological mechanisms behind fear responses and PTSD image: Janine Kwapis, left, and graduate student Chad Brunswick identify individual neurons, in green, in the mouse hippocampus, in blue, that were activated…...