Scientists have been debating for decades whether rapid-eye-movement sleep, the phase in which we dream, is directly involved in memory formation. A new study with mice offers evidence that REM sleep does in fact play this role. Sylvain Williams, a researcher at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and professor of psychiatry at McGill University,…
Fear Of Death Underlies Most Of Our Phobias
Awareness of our mortality is part of being human. As author and existential philosopher Irvin Yalom said, we are “forever shadowed by the knowledge that we will grow, blossom and, inevitably, diminish and die”. There is growing research exploring the overwhelming anxiety that the inevitability of death, and our uncertainty about when it will occur,…
IGF-2 Protective Against Neuron Death In ALS
Growth factor IGF-2 can prevent the death of human nerve cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a study from Karolinska Institutet and the University of Milan. ALS is a lethal disease characterised by progressive loss of motor neurons and subsequent muscle atrophy, weakness and paralysis. The study demonstrates that degeneration-resistant oculomotor neurons can…
How Neural Circuits Process Infinite Options
Choosing what hat to buy, what to order for brunch, or whether to go with the hearty lager or the lighter pale ale all involve assigning values to the options. A small brain structure helps regulate the many decisions like this we make each day. But how do a limited number of neural circuits in…
Can Raising Body Temperature Treat Depression Symptoms?
Raising the overall body temperature of depression sufferers to match a mild fever improved symptoms of major depression for up to six weeks after a single treatment, a new study shows. Led by Dr. Charles Raison of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, researchers conducted a small, double-blind trial to test whole-body hyperthermia as a novel treatment…
WHO Releases New Multi-drug Resistant TB Treatment Guidelines
Current treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) involves going through a punishing two-year regimen, taking up to 20 tablets daily in addition to months of daily painful injections. Side-effects of the treatment can include permanent hearing loss, with some developing suicidal depression and psychosis, and even after all that, only around half of patients with multi-drug…
Alternative Medicine Users More Likely To Delay Chemotherapy
Women with early stage breast cancer who resort to alternative medicine are more likely to delay recommended chemotherapy, a new study suggests. This is one of the first studies evaluating the impact of complementary and alternative medicine use on decisions about chemotherapy. The researchers pointed out that even though most of the 300 plus women…
Raised Protein Kinase C Levels Drive Neurodegeneration
The enzyme Protein Kinase C (PKC) alpha is necessary for amyloid beta to damage neuronal connections, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School have found. They have also identified genetic variations that enhance PKC alpha activity in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The findings may present a new therapeutic…
Melatonin Sensitivity And Diabetes Risk Link Found
A predisposition to have a pancreas that’s more sensitive to the insulin-inhibiting effects of melatonin, may be present in up to 30 percent of the population, a new study suggests. Individuals with this increased sensitivity carry a slightly altered melatonin receptor gene that is a known risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Large-scale studies have…