Monthly Archives: March 2013

The authors of this paper show that exploration of a novel environment by mice, causes DNA double-strand breaks in multiple brain regions of these animals.  DNA double-strand breaks were most abundant in the dentate gyrus, which is involved in learning … Continue reading

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Fatigue is a common symptom in multiple sclerosis. To assess the frequency with which it precedes the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), patients diagnosed with fatigue within a three year period prior to newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis were identified from … Continue reading

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Affective cognitive control, defined as the ability to regulate emotions or manipulate emotional material in the service of task goals, is associated with professional and interpersonal success. Poor affective control, by contrast, characterizes many neuropsychiatric disorders. Since affective cognitive control … Continue reading

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Depression is thought to involve epigenetic mechanisms which are potential targets for therapeutic intervention. The acetylating agent L-acetylcarnitine behaves as an antidepressant by the epigenetic regulation of type 2 metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGlu2). It causes a rapid and long-lasting antidepressant … Continue reading

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This report examines whether cognitive enrichment protects against hippocampal impairment induced by amyloid-beta oligomers. The authors found that prolonged exposure to an enriched environment facilitated activation of β-adrenergic receptors and downstream cAMP/PKA signaling in the hippocampus of wild-type mice. This … Continue reading

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Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) is a noninvasive form of brain stimulation which has been used to enhance cognitive performance.  It may offer an alternative to pharmaceutical intervention in specific patient populations. The possibility of cognitive side effects has not been … Continue reading

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Prenatal infection and stress in puberty have each been associated with increased risk for neuropsychiatric disorders. However, evidence is lacking for the cumulative impact of such pre- and postnatal environmental challenges on brain function and vulnerability to psychiatric disease. The … Continue reading

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The authors of this study analyzed genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 33,332 cases and 27,888 controls of European ancestry for five disorders in the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium: autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and schizophrenia. … Continue reading

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