Australian law may be on the cusp of a brain-based revolution that will reshape the way we deal with criminals. Some researchers, such as neuroscientist David Eagleman, have argued that neuroscience should radically change our practices of punishment. According to Eagleman, the courts should give up on the notion of punishment altogether and instead focus…
Multiple Personality Disorder May Stem From Traumatic Experience
The theory that multiple personality disorder is rooted in traumatic experiences such as neglect or abuse in childhood, rather than being related to suggestibility or proneness to fantasy, has gotten support by a new study from King’s College London. Multiple personality disorder, more recently known as dissociative identity disorder (DID), is thought to affect around…
FDA Revises Packaged Food Labels To Report Added Sugar
20 years after standardizing and making mandatory on nutritional labeling packaged food, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has unveiled new updated standards for required nutritional information label. This is its first update since 2006, with the addition of trans fats. Experts say the new label will make it easier for consumers to make informed…
Using Cannabis Can Alter Your DNA Structure, Claims Study
Using cannabis could alter a person’s DNA structure, and a mechanism has been identified by scientists from The University of Western Australia. The alterations may cause mutations, which can expose people to serious illnesses, and be passed on to their children and several future generations. Although a possible association between cannabis use and severe illnesses…
Y Chromosome Loss Hikes Alzheimer’s Risk In Men
Loss of the Y chromosome affects up to 1 in 5 men over the age of 80, and is the most common acquired genetic mutations in a man’s lifetime. A new study has found that men with blood cells that do not carry the Y chromosome are at higher risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s…
How The Brain Links Different Memories Over Time
UCLA neuroscientists, using a miniature microscope that opens a window into the brain, have identified how the brain connects different memories over time in mice. Although aging weakens these links, the team developed a way for the middle-aged brain to reconnect separate memories. The findings suggest a possible intervention for people suffering from age-related memory…
ANK3 Gene Linked To Mood, Stress And Longevity
The visible effects of depression and stress that can be seen in a person’s face, and contribute to shorter lives, can also be found in alterations in genetic activity, according to newly published research. In a series of studies involving both C. elegans worms and human cohorts, researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine…
Aliskiren: No Benefits In Heart Failure Patients With Diabetes
Hopes for the hypertension drug aliskiren to be beneficial for heart failure patients with diabetes ended with the announcement that it did not reduce the rate of patient death during a clinical trial. The results were reported in a presentation at the Heart Failure 2016 conference. The subgroup analysis in heart failure patients with diabetes…
Baby’s Crying Can Alter Parent’s Brain
A baby crying not only demands our attention, it also changes executive function in the brain, the very neural and cognitive processes we use to make everyday decisions. A new study looked at the effect infant vocalizations, in this case audio clips of a baby laughing or crying, had on adults completing a cognitive conflict…