Researchers have shed new light on dopamine’s role in the brain’s reward system, which could provide insight into impulse control problems associated with addiction and a number of psychiatric disorders.  A joint study by the University of Michigan and University of...

Image via Wikipedia Researchers have known for years that teens are less sensitive than adults to the motor-impairing effects of alcohol, but they do not know exactly what is happening in the brain that causes teens to be less sensitive than adults. But now, neuropsychologists at Baylor...

Large amounts of alcohol are known to shorten sleep latency, increase slow-wave sleep, and suppress rapid eye movement (REM) during the first half of sleep. During the second half of sleep, REM increases and sleep becomes shallower. A study of the acute effects of alcohol on the relationship...

Neuroscientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have developed a protein peptide that may be a novel type of highly targeted treatment for depression with a low side-effect profile. Depression affects one in ten Canadians at some time in their lives and is a leading...

In a long-running, prospective cohort study among people seeking help for alcohol-related problems, those with poor impulse control had an increased risk of dying, according to Daniel Blonigen, PhD, and colleagues at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif. The effect...

New research released today shows teenagers respond differently to drugs than adults and explores the long-lasting effects of drug use on brain development. One study shows people who start using drugs at a young age have greater cognitive shortfalls, including mental flexibility. Animal...

New research shows that people who start using marijuana at a young age and those who use the greatest amount of marijuana may be the most cognitively impaired.  The research was presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego. Marijuana...

Amphetamine abuse during adolescence permanently changes brain cells, according to new animal research. The study shows drug exposure during adolescence, but not young adulthood, altered electrical properties of brain cells in the cortex. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2010,...

Abuse of prescription pain relievers, such as morphine, during adolescence alters the brains of future offspring, a new animal study found.  The research was presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego. “Abuse of prescription...

Biologists and psychologists know that light affects mood, but a new University of Virginia study indicates that light may also play a role in modulating fear and anxiety.  Psychologist Brian Wiltgen and biologists Ignacio Provencio and Daniel Warthen of U.Va.’s College of Arts &...