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Genetic analysis finds a neuroimmune view of schizophrenia
Posted on August 4, 2016 by Katherine Malanson | Categories: ND Final Project, ND Unit3, Neurological Disorders | | Add comment |

[describe image in words]Synapses in human neurons. Heather de Rivera, McCarroll lab

Genetic analysis, involving nearly 65,000 people, finds a surprising risk factor for schizophrenia — a variation in an immune molecule best known for its role in containing infection. The findings, published in the journal Nature, also support the emerging idea that schizophrenia is a disease of synaptic pruning, and could lead to new approaches to treating this devastating illness.

Read more at ChildrensHospital.org

News & Views: More evidence that music eases pain, anxiety after surgery
Posted on August 13, 2015 by Katherine Malanson | Categories: ND Final Project, ND Lesson3-1, ND Unit3, Neurological Disorders | | Add comment |

iStockphoto

Most studies of music’s ability to ease pain have been small. But an analysis pooling the best research, published Wednesday in the journal The Lancet, builds a strong case, doctors say that a dose of music reduces the need for painkillers.

Read more at NPR.org.

News & Views: Snail venom yields potent painkiller, but delivering the drug is tricky
Posted on August 4, 2015 by Katherine Malanson | Categories: ND Unit1, ND Unit3, Neurological Disorders | | Add comment |

Courtesy of Jeanette Johnson and Scott Johnson

The drug derived from the venom of cone snails must be injected into the spinal column to get beyond a patient’s blood-brain barrier and bring relief. But scientists think they may have a workaround. The scientists explain how in the journal Scientific Reports.

Read more at NPR.org.

News & Views: The placebo effect works even when you know you are taking a placebo
Posted on July 28, 2015 by Katherine Malanson | Categories: ND Final Project, ND Unit1, ND Unit3, Neurological Disorders | | Add comment |

Okawa Somchai/Shutterstock

The placebo effect is already known to be pretty bizarre, but a new study has ramped up the weirdness factor. Researchers have found that people can be trained to believe in a placebo so much, it still works even when they’re told it isn’t real medicine.

Read more at iflscience.com.

News & Views: To ease pain, reach for your playlist instead of popping a pill
Posted on June 22, 2015 by Katherine Malanson | Categories: ND Unit3, Neurological Disorders | | Add comment |

Maria Fabrizio for NPR

Music can energize, soothe or relax us. And it can also help reduce pain. Researchers found that listening to a favorite song or story helped children manage pain after major surgery.

Read more at NPR.org.

News & Views: Scientists investigate what makes us itch
Posted on June 15, 2015 by Katherine Malanson | Categories: ND Unit1, ND Unit3, Neurological Disorders | | Add comment |

Source

Scientists found a molecule crucial to perceiving the sensation of itching. It affects how the brain responds to serotonin, and may explain why anti-depressants that boost serotonin make some itch.

Read more at NPR.org.

News & Views: When it comes to depression, serotonin isn’t the whole story
Posted on by Katherine Malanson | Categories: ND Final Project, ND Unit1, ND Unit3, ND Unit5, Neurological Disorders | | Add comment |

Paul S. Howell/Getty Images

The antidepressant Prozac selectively targets the chemical serotonin. When the drug was introduced in the 1980s, it helped solidify the idea in many minds that depression was the result of a chemical imbalance. But the real story is far more complicated.

Read more at NPR.org.

News & Views: Pain really is all in your head
Posted on March 23, 2015 by Katherine Malanson | Categories: ND Lesson3-1, ND Lesson3-4, ND Unit3, Neurological Disorders | | Add comment |

x-ray of headiStockphoto

Humiliation, fear and unpredictability all turn up the volume of pain, research shows. And meditation can turn down pain’s intensity, according to scientists who are starting to figure out why.

Read more at NPR.org.

News & Views: And the Nobel Prize Goes to…
Posted on November 22, 2013 by Katherine Malanson | Categories: ND Lesson2-4, ND Lesson3-2, ND Unit2, ND Unit3, Neurological Disorders, News | | Add comment |

vitamins (1)

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine has been awarded to three scientists who helped us understand how our cells communicate. The research, conducted over the last 30 years, has broad reaching implications including links to neurodegenerative diseases, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophies and some autoimmune disorders.

Read more at NPR’s coverage: Nobel Winners Decoded How Neurons Talk to Each Other