Attention Bias Modification Treatment For Depressed Teens

A new study reports that adolescents with major depression who performed a computer-based task designed to shift attention from sad to neutral to positive word associations showed reductions in negative attention biases and clinician-rated depressive symptoms. 11% of American adolescents suffer from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Facing a broad range of psychosocial and health problems,…

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Low-dose Chemotherapy Keeps Cancer Under Control

Rather than try to wipe out cancer with powerful doses of chemotherapy, researchers say an experimental approach using lower amounts of medication may work better to keep tumors under control. The study was done on mice with breast cancer, according to the report in Science Translational Medicine, and is part of a growing movement in…

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How Much Junk Is In Our DNA?

Only a small fraction of our DNA contains genes that encode the proteins that go on to build who we are. So why do we have the rest of our genome? Over many decades, the moniker “junk” has been broadly used to refer to non-coding sequences in our DNA that appear to lack any function.…

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Longer Intense Rehabilitation Boosts Brain Injury Recovery

Cognitive and functional recovery after a stroke or traumatic injury requires intense rehabilitative therapy to help the brain repair and restructure itself. New findings by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that not only is rehabilitation vital – in an animal model, rats with cortical injury that did not receive…

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Seeking Similarity In Relationships Is Hard-wired

Credit: Lee Nachtigal CC-BY

A groundbreaking new study on how we seek similarity in relationships refutes the idea that “opposites attract,” instead suggesting we’re drawn to people who are like-minded. The study could lead to a fundamental change in understanding relationship formation, and sounds a warning for the idea that couples can change each other over time. Assistant Professor…

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Tracking Prejudices With Electrical Neuroimaging

We do not always say what we think: we like to hide certain prejudices, sometimes even from ourselves. But unconscious prejudices become visible with tests, because we need a longer time if we must associate unpleasant things with positive terms. Researchers in Bern now show that additional processes in the brain are not responsible for…

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MicroRNA MiR-148a Potential Target For Autoimmune Disease Treatment

A molecule that appears to be a cause of autoimmune diseases such as lupus has been identified by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). Elevated levels of the molecule allow self-reactive immune cells to escape into the blood stream and attack the body’s own tissues. Said TSRI Associate Professor Changchun Xiao, who was co-senior…

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Blood Epigenetic Age May Predict Cancer Risk And Mortality

Epigenetic age is a new way to measure your biological age. When your biological (epigenetic) age is older than your chronological age, you are at increased risk for getting and dying of cancer. And the bigger the difference between the two ages, the higher your risk of dying of cancer. “This could become a new…

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What Is The Placebo Effect And Are Doctors Allowed To Prescribe Them?

Suppose you discovered that some past prescription a GP gave you was actually a placebo. The treatment made you feel better, but now you know that the perceived benefit was really a placebo effect. Would you be upset at the deception, or pleased the doctor had found a way to help you? There is little…

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