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 &...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri prosecutors say they believe a new state drunken driving law gives police the authority to take blood samples from reluctant suspects without a warrant. The guidance came during a presentation organized by the Missouri Office of Prosecution...

Researchers studying mice are getting closer to understanding how stress affects mood and motivation for drugs. According to the researchers, blocking the stress cascade in brain cells may help reduce the effects of stress, which can include anxiety, depression and the pursuit of addictive...

CHAPEL HILL – Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have discovered a gene variant that may protect against alcoholism. The variant, in a gene called CYP2E1, is associated with a person’s response to alcohol. For the ten to twenty percent...