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A new study links molecular changes in the brain to behaviours that are central in addiction, such as choosing a drug over alternative rewards. The researchers have developed a method in which rats learn to get an alcohol solution by pressing a lever. In order to better capture how addiction makes the individual choose alcohol over other rewards, the researchers […]
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A hamster prion that replicated under conditions of low RNA levels in mouse brain material resulted in altered disease features when readapted and transmitted back to hamsters, according to new research presented in PLOS Pathogens by Elizaveta Katorcha of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, and colleagues. Prions are abnormal proteins that can induce normal versions of the […]
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Alzheimer’s disease could be better treated, thanks to a breakthrough discovery of the properties of the metals in the brain involved in the progression of the neurodegenerative condition, by an international research collaboration including the University of Warwick. Dr. Joanna Collingwood, from Warwick’s School of Engineering, was part of a research team which characterised iron species associated with the formation […]
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Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) – the relaxing ‘brain tingles’ experienced by some people in response to specific triggers, such as whispering, tapping and slow hand movements – may have benefits for both mental and physical health, according to new research. In the first study of its kind into the physiological underpinnings of ASMR, researchers from the University of Sheffield […]
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A surprising form of cell-to-cell communication in glioblastoma promotes global changes in recipient cells, including aggressiveness, motility, and resistance to radiation or chemotherapy. Paradoxically, the sending cells in this signaling are glioblastoma cells that are undergoing programmed cell death, or apoptosis, according to research by a team at institutes in the United States, Russia and South Korea. The dying cancer […]
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Vision is an important tool when creating a painted artwork. Vision is used to survey a scene, guide the artist’s movements over the canvas and provide feedback on the colour and form of the work. However, it’s possible for disease and disorders to alter an artist’s visual perception. There is a long history of scientists and clinicians arguing particular artists […]
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Rhesus macaque monkeys infected in utero with Zika virus develop similar brain pathology to human infants, according to a report by researchers at the California National Primate Research Center and School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, published June 20 in Nature Communications. Rhesus macaques may be a suitable model system to study how Zika virus infection […]
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Now that the world’s leading public health group says too much Minecraft can be an addiction, could overindulging in chocolate, exercise, even sex, be next? The short answer is probably not. The new “gaming disorder” classification from the World Health Organization revives a debate in the medical community about whether behaviors can cause the same kind of addictive illness as […]
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Survivors of opioid overdose are at great risk of dying in the year after overdose, but the deaths are not always caused by drug use, a new study reveals. In addition to succumbing to drug use, survivors were much more likely to die from respiratory diseases, viral hepatitis, and suicide. The study, which is the first to evaluate causes of […]
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Patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer can develop elevated blood sugar levels up to three years before their cancer diagnosis, according to the results of a study by Mayo Clinic researchers published the journal Gastroenterology. “Pancreatic cancer is rapidly fatal after its diagnosis, with average survival of six months,” says Suresh Chari, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic. “It has also […]
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