Monthly Archives: May 2011

Reviewing neurogenesis, aging and disease Lazarov and colleagues review the evidence that a reduction in neurogenesis underlies aging-related cognitive deficits and impairments. The molecular and cellular alterations associated with impaired neurogenesis in the aging brain are discussed. Because factors such … Continue reading →

Resistance to forgetting Although it is well established that successful encoding of new episodic memories is dependent on the hippocampus, a variety of factors determine whether memories will ultimately be remembered or forgotten. The risk of forgetting is higher when … Continue reading →

Researchers find that monetary reward enhances memory consolidation – but only for boring material Monetary reward’s ability to improve memory has received considerable attention due to research indicating that the hippocampal memory system and the brain’s mesolimbic reward system are … Continue reading →

Quality of light modulates emotional brain responses in humans Light therapy can be an effective treatment for seasonal mood disorders, suggesting that light and mood may be connected. Researchers using functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain in human subjects … Continue reading →

Potential new therapeutic target for Alzheimer’s Disease: Cissé and coworkers provide evidence that increasing the tyrosine kinase receptor EphB2 can reverse memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s Disease. It is widely known that Amyloid-? peptide oligomers may cause … Continue reading →

Oxidative damage and Parkinson’s Disease Nucleolar dysfunction has been found in Parkinson’s Disease patients and in the Parkinson’s model induced by the neurotoxin 1,2,3,6-tetrahydro-1-methyl-4-phenylpyridine hydrochloride (MPTP). Nucleolar disruption restricted to dopaminergic neurons produces symptoms resembling Parkinson’s, such as progressive and … Continue reading →

Network anatomy and in vivo physiology of visual cortical neurons. In the cerebral cortex, local circuits consist of many thousands of neurons, each of which makes thousands of synaptic connections in turn. Perhaps the biggest impediment to understanding these networks … Continue reading →

Mood elevation with ketamine via rapid change in synaptic spines? Rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine (an NMDA receptor antagonist) have been observed in treatment-resistant depressed patients. The mechanism for this action is unknown. Li and coworkers now show that ketamine … Continue reading →

Moderating effects of moderate-intensity physical activity in the relationship between depressive symptoms and interleukin-6 in primary care patients. The authors examined whether the relationship between the inflammatory marker interleukin (IL)-6 and depressive symptoms is influenced by moderate physical activity. Primary … Continue reading →

Mathematically gifted adolescents use more extensive and more bilateral areas of the fronto-parietal network than controls during executive functioning and fluid reasoning tasks. Desco and colleagues studied the neural substrates of fluid reasoning and visuospatial working memory in children with … Continue reading →