Addiction and the Brain. How Science Is Unlocking the Secrets of Drug Addiction. This story appears in the September 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine. Patrick Perotti scoffed when his mother told him about a doctor who uses electromagnetic waves to treat drug addiction. “I thought he was a swindler,” Perotti says. Perotti, who is 38 and lives in Genoa, Italy, began snorting cocaine at 17, a rich kid who loved to party. His indulgence gradually turned into a daily habit and then an all-consuming compulsion. He did a three-month stint in rehab and relapsed 36 hours after he left. When his mother pressed him to call the doctor, Perotti gave in. Gallimberti, a gray-haired, bespectacled psychiatrist and toxicologist who has treated addiction for 30 years, runs a clinic in Padua. More than 200,000 people worldwide die every year from drug overdoses and drug-related illnesses, such as HIV, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and far more die from smoking and drinking.
Gallimberti thought TMS might offer a practical way to do that. Addiction and the Brain - How Drugs Affect the Brain. Understanding Addiction: How Addiction Hijacks the Brain. A Harvard Health article New Insights into the Causes of Addiction Addiction involves craving for something intensely, loss of control over its use, and continuing involvement with it despite adverse consequences.
Addiction changes the brain, first by subverting the way it registers pleasure and then by corrupting other normal drives such as learning and motivation. Although breaking an addiction is tough, it can be done. What causes addiction? The word “addiction” is derived from a Latin term for “enslaved by” or “bound to.” Anyone who has struggled to overcome an addiction—or has tried to help someone else to do so—understands why.
Addiction exerts a long and powerful influence on the brain that manifests in three distinct ways: craving for the object of addiction, loss of control over its use, and continuing involvement with it despite adverse consequences. For many years, experts believed that only alcohol and powerful drugs could cause addiction. New insights into a common problem. Preface. Skip to main content En español Home » Publications » Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction » Preface Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction Preface How Science Has Revolutionized the Understanding of Drug Addiction For much of the past century, scientists studying drugs and drug use labored in the shadows of powerful myths and misconceptions about the nature of addiction.
Today, thanks to science, our views and our responses to addiction and the broader spectrum of substance use disorders have changed dramatically. As a result of scientific research, we know that addiction is a medical disorder that affects the brain and changes behavior. Despite these advances, we still do not fully understand why some people become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug use. Nora D. Prev Index Next This page was last updated July 2018 Contents Get this Publication Ordering Publications Call 1-877-643-2644 or: Cite this article press ctrl+c to copy.
Drugs and the Brain. Introducing the Human Brain The human brain is the most complex organ in the body. This three-pound mass of gray and white matter sits at the center of all human activity—you need it to drive a car, to enjoy a meal, to breathe, to create an artistic masterpiece, and to enjoy everyday activities. The brain regulates your body's basic functions, enables you to interpret and respond to everything you experience, and shapes your behavior. In short, your brain is you—everything you think and feel, and who you are. How does the brain work? The brain is often likened to an incredibly complex and intricate computer. Instead of electrical circuits on the silicon chips that control our electronic devices, the brain consists of billions of cells, called neurons, which are organized into circuits and networks.
The brain is made up of many parts with interconnected circuits that all work together as a team. How do drugs work in the brain? What parts of the brain are affected by drug use? Neuroscience | Science. Neuroscience. MIT neuroscientists build case for new theory of memory formation Existence of “silent engrams” suggests that existing models of memory formation should be revised. October 23, 2017 Brain waves reflect different types of learning For the first time, researchers have identified neural signatures of explicit and implicit learning. October 11, 2017 Robotic system monitors specific neurons Success rate is comparable to that of highly trained scientists performing the process manually. August 30, 2017 How we recall the past Neuroscientists discover a brain circuit dedicated to retrieving memories. August 17, 2017 New tool offers snapshots of neuron activity FLARE technique can reveal which cells respond during different tasks.
June 26, 2017 New technique makes brain scans better Boosting quality of patient MRIs could enable large-scale studies of stroke outcome. Role of Thyroid Hormone in Brain Development. Summary: Researchers report a thyroid hormone is critical for the earliest stages of brain development. Source: SfN. A thyroid hormone transporter is essential for the earliest stages of brain development, according to a JNeurosci study of a region of the developing chicken brain with a layered structure similar to the human cerebral cortex. Monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8) deficiency in humans results in a rare neurological disorder called Allan-Herndon-Dudley Syndrome. The deficiency prevents thyroid hormones from facilitating proper development of the cortex.
Veerle Darras and colleagues studied the development of the optic tectum in chick embryos, a layered region that shares features with the mammalian cerebral cortex. About this neuroscience research article Funding: Funding provided by Research Foundation Flanders, Research Council of the KU Leuven. Source: David Barnstone – SfN Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com. Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article. Brain Treats Dialect As Language. Summary: A new study reports the brain treats language and different dialects in the same way.
Source: Abertay University. A distinctive Scots brogue is at the centre of new international research that shows the brain treats a dialect and a language in the same way. Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland partnered with RWTH Aachen University, Germany, to study how quickly the brain can react when asked to switch between standard speech and regional dialects. During research in Dundee, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, study participants were given a list of both English and Dundonian words which then appeared on a colour-coded screen in randomised order. Depending on the colour, they were asked to say that word in either English or Dundonian – for example they would respond ‘house’ if the image was coloured green or ‘hoose’ if the image was blue. Other words included in the survey were girl/lassie, armpit/oxter, heart/hert, sausages/sassages, ears/lugs, and children/bairns. Abstract. Blame Tired Brain Cells For Mental Lapses After Poor Sleep.
Summary: UCLA researchers report sleep deprivation prevents neurons from correctly connecting with each other, resulting in temporary cognitive lapses in visual perception and memory. Source: UCLA. Ever sleep poorly and then walk out of the house without your keys? Or space out on the highway and nearly hit a stalled car? A new study is the first to reveal how sleep deprivation disrupts our brain cells’ ability to communicate with each other, leading to temporary mental lapses that affect memory and visual perception. “We discovered that starving the body of sleep also robs neurons of the ability to function properly,” said senior author Dr. Fried led an international team in studying 12 UCLA epileptic patients who had electrodes implanted in their brains in order to pinpoint the origin of their seizures prior to surgery.
Performing the task grew more challenging as the patients grew sleepier. The study’s findings provoke questions for how society views sleep deprivation. Abstract. Robotics Archives. Log In Register Lost your password? A password will be e-mailed to you. Home Robotics Robotics Robotics articles will cover robotics research press releases.
Advanced Artificial Limbs Mapped in the Brain Neuroscience News Following targeted motor and sensory reinnervation, a procedure that reroutes residual limb nerves to intact muscles and skin in amputees, the brain remaps both motor and sensory pathways. FeaturedNeurologyNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesRobotics9 min read New RoboBee Flies, Dives, Swims and Explodes Out of the Water The latest generation of the RoboBee hybrid robot could help monitor the environment and provide essential search and rescue assistance, researchers report.... FeaturedNeuroscienceNeuroscience VideosRobotics8 min read Melding Mind and Machine: How Close Are We? Researchers investigate advances in BCI and consider the implications of linking our brains up to technology....
Artificial IntelligenceFeaturedNeuroscienceNeuroscience VideosRobotics10 min read. Progress in Building Europe's New Platform For Understanding the Brain. Summary: Neuroscientists recently converged on Glasgow to discuss advances in the quest toward building a unified platform for brain research. Source: Human Brain Project. Over 500 scientists and engineers from 19 countries met in Glasgow at the 5th Summit of the Human Brain Project (October 17-20, 2017) to discuss results and perspectives on their quest towards building a unified platform for a comprehensive understanding of the human brain and its diseases.
Since the previous 2016 Summit in Florence the project has come a long way – further advancing its mission to build the enabling infrastructure for a 21st century science of the brain. The growing burden of brain disease (EBC report) makes the need for such an understanding especially evident: Despite of massive investments, far too many therapeutic approaches in this area routinely fail in clinical trials. The HBP has spearheaded a new approach in basic and clinical brain research. About this neuroscience research article Abstract. Lithium in tap water may cut dementia. Image copyright Getty Images People with higher levels of lithium in their drinking water appear to have a lower risk of developing dementia, say researchers in Denmark.
Lithium is naturally found in tap water, although the amount varies. The findings, based on a study of 800,000 people, are not clear-cut. The highest levels cut risk, but moderate levels were worse than low ones. Experts said it was an intriguing and encouraging study that hinted at a way of preventing the disease. The study, at the University of Copenhagen, looked at the medical records of 73,731 Danish people with dementia and 733,653 without the disease.
Tap water was then tested in 151 areas of the country. The results, published in JAMA Psychiatry, showed moderate lithium levels (between 5.1 and 10 micrograms per litre) increased the risk of dementia by 22% compared with low levels (below five micrograms per litre). Brain-altering However, the lithium in tap water is at much lower levels than is used medicinally. No therapy. Virtual reality game takes on dementia. Image copyright Deutsche Telekom Scientists have developed a virtual reality computer game as part of the world's biggest dementia research experiment. It is designed to test one of the first things to go with dementia - the ability to navigate. The original smartphone app had 3 million players, but the move to virtual reality should allow scientists to investigate in greater detail. Alzheimer's Research UK says the goal is a new way of diagnosing the disease. In the virtual world of Sea Hero Quest VR you captain a boat.
The challenge is to use your sense of direction to chart a course through complex waterways, desert islands and icy oceans. And even feed hotdog-loving sea monsters. But it is not only a game. Max Scott-Slade, from the computer game developers Glitchers, worked with research scientists at University College London, University of East Anglia and ETH Zurich. The findings of the first game were presented at an international meeting of neuroscientists in 2016. Image copyright UCL. Future - The geniuses who invented prosthetic limbs. Easton LaChappelle's brainwave for building a new prosthetic arm came after he was bored in class. He stumbled across a cheaper alternative to the expensive prosthetic limbs currently available, as the video below shows.
The history of prosthetic limbs is littered with such masterstrokes. The world’s earliest functional prosthetic body parts are thought to be two examples of artificial toes from Ancient Egypt. These toes predate the previously earliest known prosthesis – the Roman Capula Leg – by several hundred years. What makes them unique is their functionality. Early prostheses were mostly decorative, but these Egyptian toes are an early example of a true prosthetic device.
“The big toe is thought to carry some 40% of the bodyweight and is responsible for forward propulsion,” said Dr Jacky Finch, then at the University of Manchester. Dark Age design In general, artificial limbs moved forward little up to this point. Modern methods It wasn’t all work, however. A Brief History of Prosthetics - Amputee Coalition. Volume 17 · Issue 7 · November/December 2007 | Download PDF by Kim M. Norton From the ancient pyramids to World War I, the prosthetic field has morphed into a sophisticated example of man’s determination to do better. The evolution of prosthetics is a long and storied history, from its primitive beginnings to its sophisticated present, to the exciting visions of the future. As in the development of any other field, some ideas and inventions have worked and been expanded upon, such as the fixed-position foot, while others have fallen by the wayside or become obsolete, such as the use of iron in a prosthesis.
The long and winding road to the computerized leg began about 1500 B.C. and has been evolving ever since. For every plight, man seeks solutions The Egyptians were the early pioneers of prosthetic technology. 424 B.C. to 1 B.C. An artificial leg dating to about 300 B.C. was unearthed at Capua, Italy, in 1858. The Dark Ages (476 to 1000) The Renaissance (1400s to 1800s) Early 1500s As the U. 3D-printed prosthetic limbs: the next revolution in medicine | Technology. John Nhial was barely a teenager when he was grabbed by a Sudanese guerrilla army and forced to become a child soldier. He spent four years fighting, blasting away on guns almost too heavy to hold, until one day the inevitable happened: he was seriously injured, treading on a landmine while he was on morning patrol.
“I stepped on it and it exploded,” he recalled. “It threw me up and down again – and then I tried to look for my leg and found that there was no foot.” His comrades carried him back to base camp, but there was hardly any medical care available. Now, a decade later, he lives in a Juba refugee camp, having suffered further troubles in the conflict that has engulfed the struggling new nation of South Sudan. Such stories of lives devastated by conflict or disease are all too common in developing countries. Prosthetics can involve a lot of work and expertise to produce and fit and the WHO says there is currently a shortage of 40,000 trained prosthetists in poorer countries. Prosthetics: A simple introduction to artificial limbs.
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When Brain Damage Unlocks The Genius Within. Stories of recovery - Bipolar Disorder | Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (Formerly NARSAD) 27 Oddest Medical Case Reports | Weird Medical Cases. Inspirational Stories of Stroke Survivors. Revolutionary New Technologies To Understand The Brain | Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (Formerly NARSAD) The BRAIN Initiative: developing technology to catalyse neuroscience discovery. Brain Mapping - MIT Technology Review. World's first prosthetic which is controlled by thought.
Mind-controlled prosthetic allows movement of individual fingers. Brain scans 'may spot teen drug problems' Humans have shorter attention span than goldfish, thanks to smartphones. Brain waves can be used to detect potentially harmful personal information -- ScienceDaily. Mind & Brain News -- ScienceDaily. Former England players to help major brain study. Research finds how the brain decides between effort and reward. The Myth of Mirror Neurons. Dementia and the brain - Alzheimer's Society. Daphne Bavelier: Your brain on video games. Gray Matters: Too Much Screen Time Damages the Brain. Henry Markram: A brain in a supercomputer. Iain McGilchrist: The divided brain. The complexity of memory | Playlist. The Human Brain Project. Earth - Why would an animal lose its brain?
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