Brain | Page 1310 | Science Codex

Long-time cannabis use associated with psychosis

Young adults who have used cannabis or marijuana for a longer period of time appear more likely to have hallucinations or delusions or to meet criteria for psychosis, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Previous studies have identified an association between cannabis use and psychosis, according to background information in the article. However, concerns remain that this research has not adequately accounted for confounding variables.

Obesity associated with depression and vice versa

Obesity appears to be associated with an increased risk of depression, and depression also appears associated with an increased risk of developing obesity, according to a meta-analysis of previously published studies in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Brain holds early signs of glaucoma

Researchers at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute are now a step closer to deciphering a leading cause of blindness in the United States – glaucoma.

In a recent study, David Calkins, Ph.D., director of Research at the VEI, discovered that the first sign of injury in glaucoma actually occurs in the brain.

UMass Lowell researchers' findings suggest new ways to diagnose and treat Alzheimer's

LOWELL, Mass., March 1 – A team of researchers at UMass Lowell has found a new mechanism by which a key protein associated with Alzheimer's disease can spread within the human brain.

Consensus - violent video game play makes more aggressive kids

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University Distinguished Professor of Psychology Craig Anderson has made much of his life's work studying how violent video game play affects youth behavior. And he says a new study he led, analyzing 130 research reports on more than 130,000 subjects worldwide, proves conclusively that exposure to violent video games makes more aggressive, less caring kids -- regardless of their age, sex or culture.

A new generation of rapid-acting antidepressants?

Philadelphia, PA, 1 March 2010 - Conventional antidepressant treatments generally require three to four weeks to become effective, thus the discovery of treatments with a more rapid onset is a major goal of biological psychiatry. The first drug found to produce rapid improvement in mood was the NMDA glutamate receptor antagonist, ketamine.

Critical brain chemical shown to play role in severe depression

TORONTO, March 1 /CNW/ - The next advance in treating major depression may relate to a group of brain chemicals that are involved in virtually all our brain activity, according to a study published today in Biological Psychiatry. The study is co-authored by Drs. Andrea J. Levinson and Zafiris J. Daskalakis of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

UM School of Medicine finds prenatal cocaine exposure not severely damaging to growth, learning

Children exposed to cocaine in the womb face serious consequences from the drug, but fortunately not in certain critical physical and cognitive areas as previously believed, according to a new comprehensive review of research on the subject from scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. When a pregnant woman uses cocaine, it can interrupt the flow of nutrients and oxygen to the baby, putting such children at risk for premature birth, low birth weight and many other problems.

Drug dramatically reduces nausea and vomiting in bone marrow transplant patients

Bone marrow transplant patients say two of the most debilitating side effects of the treatment are nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy and radiation.

But a Loyola University Health System study has found the drug aprepitant can dramatically reduce both nausea and vomiting when combined with other anti-nausea drugs.

Stents as good as surgery for clogged carotid arteries

MAYWOOD, Il. -- The CREST trial that compared traditional surgery with less-invasive stenting to clear dangerously clogged carotid arteries in the neck is being called "seminal and robust."

The Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy vs. Stenting Trial (CREST) found that the safety and efficacy of both procedures are roughly equal. The trial, conducted throughout the United States and Canada, is one of the largest randomized stroke prevention trials ever.

Loyola University Medical Center is among the centers that participated in CREST.

Study: Choice between stroke-prevention procedures influenced by patient age

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Two stroke-prevention procedures are safe and equally beneficial for men and women at risk for stroke, but the effectiveness does vary by age, say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in collaboration with other North American stroke investigators.

Hypnosis can help control pain among women with metastatic breast cancer, UB Researcher finds

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Hypnosis can help alleviate the pain and suffering experienced by women being treated for breast cancer, according to a study by a University at Buffalo School of Social Work professor.

The randomized trial measured pain and suffering, frequency of pain and degree of constant pain among 124 women with metastatic breast cancer, according to Lisa D. Butler, associate professor in UB's School of Social Work, a faculty member in the Buffalo Center for Social Research and first author of the study.

Increasing neurogenesis might prevent drug addiction and relapse

DALLAS – March 2, 2010 – Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center hope they have begun paving a new pathway in the fight against drug dependence. Their hypothesis – that increasing the normally occurring process of making nerve cells might prevent addiction – is based on a rodent study demonstrating that blocking new growth of specific brain nerve cells increases vulnerability for cocaine addiction and relapse.

Know thyself? Sorry Socrates, others may actually know you better

Since at least the days of Socrates, humans have been advised to "know thyself."

And through all the years, many, including many personality and social psychologists, have believed the individual is the best judge of his or her own personality.

Now a psychologist at Washington University in St. Louis has shown that we are not the know-it-alls that we think we are.

Smoking significantly increases risk of aneurysm in people with certain genes

For people who carry common gene variants, cigarette smoking greatly increases the risk that a blood vessel in the brain will weaken and balloon out – called an aneurysm – which could be life-threatening if it ruptures, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2010.