Neuroscience

  1. Neuroscience

    Heavy marijuana use may affect dopamine response

    People who regularly smoke five joints a day had dampened reactions to the chemical messenger dopamine.

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  2. Neuroscience

    Feedback

    Readers weigh in on marijuana legalization, twisted twists, high-kicking frogs and more.

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  3. Neuroscience

    MRI scans reveal how the brain tells the body to pee

    Scientists see heightened brain activity in men right before they urinate.

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  4. Neuroscience

    Autism may carry a benefit: a buffer against Alzheimer’s

    Brain plasticity of people with autism may protect them from Alzheimer’s disease, scientists propose.

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  5. Neuroscience

    A mutated bacterial enzyme gobbles up cocaine

    Cocaine is highly addictive, and those attempting to quit often relapse. Modifications to an enzyme that breaks down cocaine could help prevent abstinence setbacks.

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  6. Neuroscience

    Shaking up the body may improve attention

    Just two minutes of whole body vibrations improved young adults’ attention to detail.

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  7. Neuroscience

    Alzheimer’s disease may come in distinct forms

    Mouse experiments, if confirmed in people, imply that Alzheimer’s disease treatment should be personalized.

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  8. Neuroscience

    Busy brain hubs go awry in disorders, study suggests

    Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders may occur when the brain’s most active hubs are damaged.

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  9. Neuroscience

    The simplest form of learning is really quite complex

    Habituation, the ability to ignore irrelevant stimuli, is the simplest form of learning but may require a whole neural network.

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  10. Neuroscience

    Sunbathing may boost endorphins in the body and brain

    UV light makes mice churn out a molecule that is a cousin of morphine and heroin, a finding that may explain why some people seek out sunshine.

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  11. Neuroscience

    Stress hormone kicks brain cells into gear

    Norepinephrine, a stress hormone, wakes up cells called astroglia, possibly shifting brain into vigilant state.

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  12. Genetics

    How you bet is affected by your genes

    When betting, people's decisions are influenced by variations in a set of genes that regulate the brain chemical dopamine.

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