Home » Archives by category » Psychology news (Page 232)

Study links thalamus inhibition in adolescence to long-lasting cortical abnormalities

Researchers have reported new evidence that cognitive abnormalities seen in neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia may be traceable to altered activity in the thalamus during adolescence, a time window of heightened vulnerability for schizoph…

Novel preclinical drug could have potential to combat depression, brain injury and cognitive disorders

Scientists have described a novel preclinical drug that could have the potential to combat depression, brain injury and diseases that impair cognition. The drug, which notably is brain-permeable, acts to inhibit the kinase enzyme Cdk5.

Uncovering new details of the brain’s first line of defense

A research team has mapped out the development and genetic trajectory of previously understudied macrophages associated with the central nervous system. Among other things, the team found that meningeal macrophages are formed during gestation and devel…

Epilepsy drug stops nervous system tumor growth in mice

People with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) develop tumors on nerves throughout their bodies. Researchers have discovered that nerve cells with the mutation that causes NF1 are hyperexcitable and that suppressing this hyperactivity with the epilepsy dru…

‘Sting’ protein’s efforts to clean up brain cell damage may speed Parkinson’s disease progress

In studies with mouse and human tissue, as well as live mice, researchers report that a snag in the normal process of cleaning up broken DNA in brain cells may hasten the progression of Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, the researchers found that a pr…

Brain capital: A new investment approach for late-life well-being

Within many societies and cultures around the world, older adults are too often undervalued and underappreciated, according to a new article. This exacerbates many key challenges that older adults may face. It also undermines the many positive aspects …

Women who embraced their partner subsequently had lower stress-induced cortisol response

Women instructed to embrace their romantic partner prior to undergoing a stressful experience had a lower biological stress response — as indicated by levels of the stress hormone cortisol in saliva — compared to women who did not embrace their partn…

Both nature and nurture contribute to signatures of socioeconomic status in the brain

Researchers found that a person’s genetics and the environment in which they live contribute to how socioeconomic status shapes the architecture of the brain.

New ALS ‘drug’ is more effective than existing ones

New preclinical research on the experimental drug, NU-9, to treat ALS shows it is more effective than existing FDA-approved drugs for the disease. More importantly, NU-9 has an enhanced effect when given in combination with those drugs.

Dopamine makes you feel happy, but we probably still have to rewrite the textbooks

Researchers have discovered a new piece in the puzzle of the brain’s ‘feel good’ substance, dopamine. According to one of the researchers behind the new study, the discovery may facilitate the development of drugs for i.e. cocaine addiction and ADHD an…