Neurobiology | Addiction Treatment Strategies

Cortisol, the so-called stress hormone, seems to behave in contradictory ways in children. Some youngsters with behavioral problems have abnormally high levels of cortisol, while others with identical problems have abnormally low levels. What’s going on?
 Researchers at Concordia…

New Findings On How Rats Make Choices May Provide Insights Into Addiction And Impulse-driven Behavior
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…

Researchers already know that alcohol dependence (AD) is strongly associated with impaired impulse control or, more precisely, the inability to choose large, delayed rewards rather than smaller but more immediate rewards. Findings from a study using functional magnetic resonance imaging…

Posted By Barry Ritholtz
In Science,Weekend |
From the NYT, these electron microscopy photos are strangely beautiful:
The last few decades have produced an explosion of new techniques for probing the blobby, unprepossessing brain in search of the thinking, feeling, suffering, scheming…

How Alcohol Changes The Brain

A new clue to the genetics of bipolar disorder: Piccolo
 
Philadelphia, PA, 23 February 2011 – Understanding the genetics of bipolar disorder could lead to new treatments, but identifying specific genetic variations associated with this disorder has been challenging.
A new study…

NIH-funded study uses new technology to peek deep into the brain  
 
For Release January 18, 2011
Time-lapse technique can show cellular changes related to problems like  addiction and brain tumors.
Changes within deep regions of the brain can now be visualized at the …

First direct evidence that response to alcohol depends on genes: Dopamine receptor deficiency leads to significant brain changes in response to drinking
ScienceDaily– A study in mice provides the first experimental evidence to directly support the idea that genetic differences make…