At UCLA’s Laboratory of Integrative Neuroimaging Technology, researchers use functional MRI brain scans to observe brain signal changes that take place during mental activity. They then employ computerized machine learning (ML) methods to study these [...]
Tag Archives | national institute on drug abuse
Helping your fellow rat: Rodents show empathy-driven behavior
The first evidence of empathy-driven helping behavior in rodents has been observed in laboratory rats that repeatedly free companions from a restraint, according to a new study by University of Chicago neuroscientists. The observation, published today…
Ecstasy drug produces lasting toxicity in the brain
Recreational use of Ecstasy — the illegal “rave” drug that produces feelings of euphoria and emotional warmth — is associated with chronic changes in the human brain, Vanderbilt University investigators have discovered.
The findings, reported onl…
New study finds no cognitive impairment among ecstasy users
The drug known as ecstasy has been used by 12 million people in the United States alone and millions more worldwide. Past research has suggested that ecstasy users perform worse than nonusers on some tests of mental ability.
But there are concerns…
Researchers lead search for better drug-addiction treatments
DALLAS — Feb. 3, 2011 — UT Southwestern Medical Center psychiatry researchers are leading the Texas arm of a national network that conducts clinical trials aimed at finding effective treatments for drug addiction.
More than 100 community treat…
NIH-funded study uses new technology to peek deep into the brain
Changes within deep regions of the brain can now be visualized at the cellular level, based on research on mice, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Published Sunday in Nature Medicine, the study used a groundbreaking technique to…
Vaccine blocks cocaine high in mice
NEW YORK (Jan. 4, 2011) — Researchers have produced a lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a safe vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine.
In their study, published Jan. 4 …
Latent HIV infection focus of NIDA’s 2010 Avant-Garde Award
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced today that Dr. Eric M. Verdin of the J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, Calif., has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the NIDA Avan…
Study links ecstasy use with changes in cardiovascular function
Researchers have demonstrated that binge use of MDMA (ecstasy) can significantly alter cardiovascular function, including inducing cardiac arrhythmia and myocarditis, inflammation of the heart wall. In rats injected with MDMA, the risk of cardiac arrhythmia increased and the pattern of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and fluctuations in heart rate changed after repeated MDMA binges.
Stimulant treatment of children with ADHD reduces subsequent substance abuse
A study by researchers at Harvard University has provided more evidence that using stimulant medications such as methylphenidate to treat children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may reduce their risk of developing drug and alcohol use disorders later in life.
Bidis, other smoking products no safer than conventional cigarettes
Studies published over the past several months disprove claims that products such as additive-free cigarettes, bidis, and novel cigarette-like devices are less toxic than conventional cigarettes. A study published in the December 2002 issue of the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research examined the effects of bidis–hand-rolled cigarettes from India–and additive-free American Spirit cigarettes. Bidis are popular with adolescents because many perceive them to be less of a risk to health than regular cigarettes, and because they are manufactured in a variety of flavors, such as chocolate or root beer.
Bupropion may help schizophrenic patients quit smoking
Smokers diagnosed with schizophrenia had higher smoking cessation rates when treated with bupropion than with a placebo, according to a study led by Dr. Tony George at Yale University. Bupropion is a medication used to help people quit smoking and to treat depression. Researchers randomly assigned 32 schizophrenic cigarette smokers, who were clinically stable on antipsychotic medications and with a strong desire to quit smoking, to receive bupropion or placebo for 10 weeks. During the study, participants were periodically evaluated for smoking urges, depression, and symptoms of schizophrenia. They also attended weekly smoking cessation group therapy that included motivational enhancement therapy, social skills training, and relapse-prevention strategies.
Scientists ID brain regions where nicotine affects attention, cognitive skills
Nicotine administration in humans is known to sharpen attention and to slightly enhance memory. Now scientists, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have identified those areas of the brain where nicotine exerts its effects on cognitive skills. Their findings suggest that nicotine improves attention in smokers by enhancing activation in the posterior cortical and subcortical regions of the brain–areas traditionally associated with visual attention, arousal, and motor activation. This study provides the first evidence that nicotine-induced enhancement of parietal cortex activation is associated with improved attention.
Teen drug use associated with psychiatric disorders later in life
Children who start to use alcohol, marijuana or other illicit drugs in their early teen years are more likely to experience psychiatric disorders, especially depression, in their late 20′s. Although teens who started smoking at an early age were at increased risk for alcohol dependence and substance use disorders in their late 20′s, they did not appear to be at an increased risk for depression or other psychiatric disorders. However, initiating tobacco use in late adolescence was associated with depression and other psychiatric disorders in the late 20s.