Animal study reveals new target for antidepressants. University of Michigan scientists have provided the most detailed picture yet of a key receptor in the brain that influences the effectiveness of serotonin-related antidepressants, such as Prozac. The findings, which appear online Monday ahead of print in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, open the door to providing a more targeted treatment of depression and anxiety with fewer side effects. Depressive disorders change a person's mood, emotions and physical well-being and can co-occur with anxiety disorders and substance abuse.
"There are big drawbacks in the current therapies for depression," says senior author John Traynor, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology at the U-M Medical School and director of the U-M Substance Abuse Research Center. "Therapeutic benefits are delayed, there are unwanted side effects, and it's not unusual for depressive symptoms to return. " The best current treatments for depression are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. Brain Explorer. Atlas of Anatomy. Virtual Body. Golgi Apparatus: Simple Explanation For How Baffling Structure Works. A research team at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has provided a surprisingly simple explanation for the mechanism and features of the "Golgi apparatus" – a structure that has baffled generations of scientists.
The model developed by the UC San Diego scientists suggests that the Golgi's unusual shape is a direct consequence of the way it works. Their study will be published in the October 16 issue of the journal Cell. The Golgi apparatus serves as a processing center for the exportation of proteins, lipids and other large molecules to their final destinations outside of the cell. "Its primary function is to serve as a way station for extracellular protein traffic," said principal investigator Seth J. Golgi membranes, from yeast to human cells, rely on a particular type of lipid signaling molecule – phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate, or PtdIns(4)P – for normal trafficking. Additional contributors to the paper include Holly C.
10 Brilliant Social Psychology Studies | PsyBlog. Ten of the most influential social psychology experiments explain why we sometimes do dumb or irrational things. “I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures.Why do good people sometimes act evil?
Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?” –Philip Zimbardo Like famous social psychologist Professor Philip Zimbardo (author of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil), I’m also obsessed with why we do dumb or irrational things. The answer quite often is because of other people — something social psychologists have comprehensively shown. Each of the 10 brilliant social psychology experiments below tells a unique, insightful story relevant to all our lives, every day. Click the link in each social psychology experiment to get the full description and explanation of each phenomenon. 1. The halo effect is a finding from a famous social psychology experiment. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Technology | Artificial brain '10 years away' Professor Markram said he would send a hologram to talk at TED in 10 years A detailed, functional artificial human brain can be built within the next 10 years, a leading scientist has claimed.
Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain Project, has already simulated elements of a rat brain. He told the TED Global conference in Oxford that a synthetic human brain would be of particular use finding treatments for mental illnesses. Around two billion people are thought to suffer some kind of brain impairment, he said. "It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years," he said. "And if we do succeed, we will send a hologram to TED to talk. " 'Shared fabric' The Blue Brain project at Swizerland's EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) was launched in 2005 and aims to reverse engineer the mammalian brain from laboratory data. In particular, his team has focused on the neocortical column - repetitive units of the mammalian brain known as the neocortex. World view.