By Robin Nixon LONDON — A seemingly trivial task – playing a particular video game – may lessen flashbacks and other psychological symptoms following a traumatic event, according to research presented here at the British Psychology Society Annual Conference. Researchers are now corroborating what some trauma sufferers have happened upon by chance: Focusing on a highly engaging visual-spatial task, such as playing video games, may significantly reduce the occurrence of flashbacks, the mental images concerning the trauma that intrude on the sufferer afterward. Flashbacks are considered by some to be the central hub of symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), researchers Lalitha Iyadurai and Ella James of Oxford University explained to LiveScience. They are invasive, unpredictable distress signals that can make everyday activities difficult. The jarring mental images also may trigger or exacerbate other symptoms associated with PTSD, including irritability, anger, poor concentration and sleep disorders. [Top 10 Spooky Sleep Disorders] Reducing the occurrence of flashbacks is therefore likely to relieve post-traumatic suffering while leaving the actual memories of the trauma in place, they said. Iyadurai stressed the new research does not suggest a video game can instantly cure PTSD, but that it does suggests alternative treatments for the symptoms. © 2012 Scientific American

Keyword: Stress
Link ID: 16711 - Posted: 04.26.2012

by Elizabeth Norton Add this to the list of reasons not to take cocaine: Chronic use of the drug may speed up the aging process. According to a new imaging study, cocaine abusers in their 30s and 40s show brain changes more commonly seen in people over 60. The finding also calls attention to the special medical needs of older drug users—a group that, until now, hasn't garnered much notice. "Drug abuse is typically considered a young people's problem," says behavioral neuroscientist Karen Ersche at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. But baby boomers, many of whom began experimenting with drugs when they were young, are getting older. And according to Ersche's research, some of them may be getting older faster. Studies show that middle-aged drug abusers often have problems more commonly seen in the elderly, such as memory loss, increased susceptibility to infection, and higher rates of cardiovascular disease. Rates of premature death among drug abusers are up to eight times higher than in the general population, according to some estimates. People addicted to cocaine also perform poorly on tasks that involve an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, such as memory, attention, and reaction time. Because elderly people can have similar mental impairments, Ersche wondered if chronic exposure to cocaine accelerates these changes in the brain. To investigate, she and colleagues studied 120 people between the ages of 18 and 50. About half met criteria for cocaine addiction: They had used cocaine for an average of 10 years and had the drug in their systems on the day of the scan, according to urine tests. © 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 16710 - Posted: 04.25.2012

by Katherine Rowland Traumatic experiences in early life can leave emotional scars. But a new study suggests that violence in childhood may leave a genetic mark as well. Researchers have found that children who are physically abused and bullied tend to have shorter telomeres—structures at the tips of chromosomes whose shrinkage has been linked to aging and disease. Telomeres prevent DNA strands from unravelling, much like the plastic aglets on a shoelace. When cells divide, these structures grow shorter, limiting the number of times a cell can reproduce. For this reason, telomeres may reflect biological age. Research has found associations between stress and accelerated telomere loss, and shortened telomeres correlate with several health problems, including diabetes, dementia, and fatigue. But the connection between telomere length and health and longevity is far from clear. "There's a lot of doubt in the field," notes Joao Passos, a cellular aging specialist at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom who was not involved in the research. "For as many studies that show telomere length as a good predictor of health outcomes, there are as many that find no relationship." Also unclear is whether childhood stress can affect telomere length. Almost all recent work on the topic has used retrospective data—that is, adults' recollections about their past. The new study examined children who were under stress to determine if they have shorter telomeres. © 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science

Keyword: Stress; Epigenetics
Link ID: 16709 - Posted: 04.25.2012

By STEPHANIE STROM The Department of Agriculture announced that it had identified a case of mad cow disease, the first in six years, in a dairy cow in central California. The cow “was never presented for human consumption, so it at no time presented a risk to the food supply or human health,” John Clifford, chief veterinary officer at the department, said in a statement. Dr. Clifford noted that milk did not transmit bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the scientific name for mad cow disease. He expressed confidence in the health of the nation’s cattle and the safety of beef during a press briefing in Washington. The animal had been picked up from the farm and taken to a rendering plant, which noticed some of the signs of B.S.E., such as unsteadiness and aggression, and notified U.S.D.A. inspectors, Dr. Clifford said in a brief interview. The body will remain at the rendering facility and will be disposed of once the agency completes its investigation, probably by incineration or some other method that ensures the destruction of its tissues. It was the fourth reported case of mad cow disease, a degenerative disease that affects the brains and spinal cords of cattle, in the United States. Humans can contract the disease by eating meat from an infected cow. Only one case of mad cow disease in the United States was of the type derived from feed. That case set off a panic in 2003 when a Canadian-born cow in Washington state tested positive. © 2012 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Prions
Link ID: 16708 - Posted: 04.25.2012

By JOHN TAGLIABUE WEESP, the Netherlands — The sparkling-new 23-unit Hogewey complex here is virtually indistinguishable from other residential developments in the area. The apartments open onto a courtyard with benches, ponds and fountains, with beds of flowers in season (this is the Netherlands, after all). One kidney-shaped pond planted with reeds and other vegetation occasionally attracts wild ducks. There are plenty of amenities: a small supermarket, a theater and a restaurant and cafe that attract people from around the area. Again, nice, but nothing out of the ordinary. The residents can also participate in a variety of activities, like clubs for music, baking, painting and gardening. Yet, if Hogewey does not sound all that different from a typical residential complex, that is exactly the point. The residents are older men and women suffering from severe dementia, but instead of being constrained in a typical nursing home, they live here for $6,555 a month, six to eight to an apartment, where they are cared for by two or more trained professionals. The residents are confined to Hogewey for their own safety. But within the complex they are allowed to move around freely, to the extent that they are able. On a recent unseasonably chilly afternoon, the residents of one apartment, designated as “urban” to reflect its residents’ tastes, gathered around a dining room table for tea. Most sat quietly, smiling, some in wheelchairs. Jo Verhoef, a woman known as Aunt Jo, sat upright in a comfortable armchair. © 2012 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 16707 - Posted: 04.25.2012

By TIMOTHY PRATT LAS VEGAS — One of the questions Dr. Charles Bernick and his colleagues ask boxers who come to the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health here is, “How many times have you been knocked out cold or gotten a concussion?” Most say, “never.” Then the doctors ask, “How many times have you felt dazed and stunned?” Most say, “many times.” This is part of the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study, now a year old and with results from 109 fighters — more than have ever been compiled in a single research project. The principal finding: “There are detectable changes in the brain even before symptoms appear,” like memory loss or other changes in cognitive function resulting from repeated blows to the head, Dr. Bernick said. The physical changes, detected by M.R.I. scans, are a reduction in size in the hippocampus and thalamus of the brains of fighters with more than six years in the ring. These parts of the brain deal with such functions as memory and alertness. While those who had fought for more than six years did not exhibit any declines in cognitive function, fighters with more than 12 years in the ring did. Thus, Dr. Bernick’s group concluded, the lag between detectability and physical symptoms probably occurs sometime during those six years. © 2012 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 16706 - Posted: 04.25.2012

by Helen Thomson G marks the spot. Or does it? One researcher claims to have pinpointed and described the anatomy of the elusive G spot, an area of the vagina reputed to produce intense orgasms when stimulated. Many others are not so sure, saying that the G spot is unlikely to be a single structure. "It's akin to concluding that the Empire State Building is New York City," says Barry Komisaruk at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. The G spot refers to an area on the front of the vaginal wall, a few centimetres from the entrance of the vagina. Stimulating this area is said to cause swelling and create an orgasm without stimulating the clitoris. As far back as the 11th century, ancient Indian texts described a sensitive area in the vagina inducing sexual pleasure. In 2008, Emmanuele Jannini at the University of L'Aquila in Italy discovered anatomical differences in the thickness of tissue in the region between the vagina and urethra in women who claimed to have vaginal orgasms compared with those who did not. However, a recent review of G spot research published since 1950 concluded that objective measures "have failed to provide strong and consistent evidence for the existence of an anatomical site related to the G spot" (The Journal of Sexual Medicine, DOI: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02623.x). © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 16705 - Posted: 04.25.2012

By Janelle Weaver A micrograph view of crystallized oxytocin. Image: Alfred Pasieka/Photo Researchers, Inc. When we meet new people, we assess their character by watching their gestures and facial expressions. Now a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA suggests that those nonverbal cues are communicating the presence of a specific form of a gene that makes us more or less responsive to others’ needs. The gene determines which type of receptor a person has for the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin has been implicated in a variety of positive traits, such as trust, empathy and generosity. The hormone is detected by our body’s cells via their oxytocin receptors. In a past study, psychologist Sarina Rodrigues Saturn of Oregon State University and her collaborators found that people who have a certain variation of the receptor gene are more empathetic than those with the alternative form of the gene. In the new study, Saturn and her team showed volunteers 20-second silent video clips of individuals who were listening to their romantic partner recount an upsetting experience. The study participants watched for nonverbal behaviors, such as head nods and smiles, and rated every individual on a number of character traits. Those with the form of the oxytocin receptor gene associated with empathy were judged by the volunteers as being more trustworthy, compassionate and kind than those with the alternative form of the gene. “These slight genetic variations do have a big impact on not only how you feel internally but also how people perceive you,” Saturn says, adding that impressions based on nonverbal cues can help individuals quickly choose compatible friends or romantic partners. © 2012 Scientific American,

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 16704 - Posted: 04.25.2012

By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff With a social network of friends who are parents of school-age children like me, I’m amazed that I’ve never had a conversation about bedwetting. One of my friends alluded to it once, I think, when telling me why her 11-year-old never went to sleepovers. Unlike other topics that friends frequently ask me for information about as a health reporter, I’ve never been asked about bedwetting: what causes it, how to prevent it, and whether it ever resolves on its own. Perhaps it’s just too embarrassing to broach or seen as some sort of failure on the part of the child or parent. Yet bedwetting -- which becomes a medical condition called nocturnal enuresis after kids reach the age of five -- is far more common that you might think. About 6 percent of boys and 3 percent of girls ages 8 to 11 experience it at least two nights a week, and boys have more severe bedwetting than girls. Genetics also plays a role: A study published last year in the Journal of Urology found that the odds of a child being a severe bedwetter were nearly four times higher than average if the mother also had a history of bedwetting as a child. The reasons for why it occurs are usually physiological, not psychological: excessive urine production at night, overactive bladder, and failure to awaken in response to bladder sensations. “Each mechanism can be supported by various studies, and no one theory is likely to explain bedwetting in all children,” wrote Dr. Darcie Kiddoo, a pediatric urologist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, in a review paper published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. © 2012 NY Times Co.

Keyword: Sleep
Link ID: 16703 - Posted: 04.25.2012

By Laura Sanders Brewer’s yeast cells don’t have the brain chemical serotonin — or brains, for that matter — but that doesn’t stop the single-celled fungus from responding to an antidepressant in unexpected ways. A new study finds that the antidepressant piles up in yeast cells, distorting normally curved membranes and triggering the cells to start eating themselves. These single cells are far removed from the vastly more complex human brain. But studying how drugs affect yeast might help scientists better understand how antidepressants work, says study coauthor and evolutionary pharmacologist Ethan Perlstein of Princeton University. Perlstein and his colleagues focused on sertraline, sold as Zoloft, part of a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. These drugs are thought to boost mood by increasing the levels of serotonin floating around between nerve cells. Sertraline latches on to a molecule called the serotonin transporter, part of which sits on the outside of nerve cells and slurps up serotonin. By gumming up the serotonin transporter, sertraline leaves more free serotonin. Yeast have none of this. “A molecule like Zoloft should be completely innocuous to a yeast cell, in the way that an antibiotic would be innocuous to a viral infection,” Perlstein says. © Society for Science & the Public 2000 - 2012

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 16702 - Posted: 04.25.2012

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR Researchers have succeeded in predicting eating behavior and levels of sexual desire. Forty-eight female students at Dartmouth underwent functional magnetic resonance brain scans while looking at pictures of food, animals, nature scenes and people in sexual and nonsexual activities. The scientists measured activity in the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain thought to play a role in reward and pleasure. The women were asked to press a key if a picture included a person, but this was only as a distraction — they were unaware of the experiment’s purpose. Women whose brains demonstrated greater activity in response to pictures of food were more likely to have gained weight six months later than those whose brains did not respond to the pictures. Greater brain activity in response to sexual images was linked to higher levels of sexual desire, as described by the women. Brain activity was also significantly higher in the 22 women who reported having sex in the following six months, compared with the 26 who did not. There was no correlation of these behaviors with responses to any other pictures. “What’s novel here is that we can actually make predictions about behavior based on brain activity,” said Kathryn E. Demos, the lead author and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Brown. With undesirable behaviors, she added, “these individual differences could give us clues to work on in developing treatments.” The study was in the Journal of Neuroscience last week. © 2012 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Obesity; Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 16701 - Posted: 04.24.2012

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR The prevailing view of people with Alzheimer’s is often a depressing one: the patient slumped in a chair or parked in front of a television set. But a new book and photo exhibition this month in New York show another side of the disease, one in which people with dementia can still be engaged, lead active lives and experience love and joy. The book, “Love, Loss and Laughter: Seeing Alzheimer’s Differently,” was written by Cathy Greenblat, a professor emerita of sociology at Rutgers University who found a second career as a photographer. The exhibition has toured the world and is currently on display at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University in Manhattan. “I wanted to show what many people don’t know about Alzheimer’s,” Ms. Greenblat said, “that there are ways we can take care of people that build on their remaining capacities instead of just protecting them from danger.” In one of the many vivid photographs in her book, Ms. Greenblat shows an elderly Houston woman named Luleene, a former musician who played the organ, sang and loved animals, with her husband, Joe. To help her feel connected to her past, the hospice that assists her includes sessions with a music therapist in her weekly program as well as visits with pets. In India, a former math teacher, now with dementia, is shown dutifully scribbling numbers on a blackboard purchased by the staff at her day care center to help her experience old pleasures. Each line, perhaps inscrutable to the staff, is nonetheless a victory for the former teacher. Copyright 2012 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 16700 - Posted: 04.24.2012

By SINDYA N. BHANOO Studies have suggested that older adults are better off letting go of regrets, while younger adults, with more time left to make life changes, may benefit more from holding on to them. Now, German researchers are studying brain activity to understand the biological mechanism behind this phenomenon; they report their findings in the journal Science. Using functional M.R.I. scans, the researchers found that after facing a missed opportunity, young adults (average age 25) and depressed older adults (average age 65) had similar brain activity in a region called the ventral striatum, which is associated with feelings of regret. Healthy older individuals displayed a different brain pattern, suggesting that they were able to regulate their emotions more effectively. “It seems that we have a lifelong ability to use our brain to regulate our emotions, even when we are old,” said the study’s first author, Stefanie Brassen, a neuroscientist at University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. She and her colleagues asked individuals to play a computer game designed to induce regret at a missed opportunity. Players could open boxes that contained either gold or a devil; if they reached the devil, the game ended and they lost all their loot. Players could decide at the end of each round whether they wanted to continue playing. © 2012 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Emotions; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 16699 - Posted: 04.24.2012

By Erin Johnson As a woman scientist in the beginning of my career I’m always interested in the journey of more established female scientists: how their interest in science developed, how they’ve overcome challenges to be successful, and how they’ve balanced their goals of establishing a successful career with the desire to have a family. So when I had the opportunity to speak with and interview the Nobel Laureate Dr. Linda Buck during the Frontiers in the Life Sciences symposium, I was immediately intimidated but ultimately excited about speaking to someone who has obtained what many consider to be the most prestigious award in science. What I learned, however, is that Dr. Buck is extremely approachable and an ardent proponent for increasing the representation of women in the life sciences. Additionally, she is a passionate spokeswoman for basic research and gets her motivation and drive, which led to her notable successes, from a true passion for discovery. Dr. Linda Buck was born in Seattle, Washington where at an early age her parents instilled in her a “can-do” attitude, which she credits as a major factor in her road to success. “They taught me to think independently and to be critical of my own ideas, and they urged me to do something worthwhile with my life, to not settle for something mediocre,” says Dr. Buck. She never felt that as a woman she couldn’t achieve the things she set out to do. © 2012 Scientific American,

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste); Emotions
Link ID: 16698 - Posted: 04.24.2012

Jeannine Stamatakis We often feel rejected when faced with the popular clique at school or the office bully. Learning to protect yourself against such social assaults can prove quite difficult, but new research shows a common painkiller may reduce the impact of these upsetting interactions. A recent study published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, may buffer against social pain. The lead investigator, psychologist C. Nathan DeWall of the University of Kentucky, hypothesized that the neural overlap between physical and emotional pain might enable a drug designed to alleviate physical pain to cushion emotional pain. In one experiment, DeWall and his team examined 62 healthy volunteers who took 1,000 milligrams of either acet­aminophen or a placebo daily for three weeks. In the evening the participants described to what extent they experienced social disappointment or felt upset during the day using a version of the Hurt Feelings Scale, a social pain measurement tool. Participants who took acet­­amin­o­phen reported fewer hurt feelings and more resilience to social pain than the subjects receiving the placebo. In a second experiment, the investigators looked at 25 healthy volunteers who ingested 2,000 milligrams of either acet­aminophen or a placebo every day over the course of three weeks. During the investigation, subjects played a computer game geared to evoke feelings of social rejection while lying in a functional MRI machine. The resulting brain scans revealed that the participants who received the drug exhibited reduced neural responses to social rejection in brain regions associated with interpreting emotional and physical pain. In contrast, the regions associated with physical pain became more active in the placebo subjects when they were rebuffed in the video game. Overall, these results indicate that acetaminophen may decrease self-reported social pain over time. © 2012 Scientific American

Keyword: Emotions; Pain & Touch
Link ID: 16697 - Posted: 04.24.2012

By Sandra G. Boodman, Liisa Ecola lay on the sofa in the living room of her Capitol Hill home counting the hours until she could see a specialist who, she fervently hoped, would tell her why she could no longer keep her eyes open. For several months, the 42-year-old transportation policy researcher for Rand had been squinting, even in the dark. Her puzzled optometrist had suggested she consult a neuro-ophthalmologist, a doctor who specializes in diseases of the eye originating in the central nervous system. Ecola had waited weeks to get an appointment, which was scheduled for Dec. 15, 2010. But the day before, Ecola recalled, “I opened my laptop and my eyes snapped shut.” To her horror, she discovered that her eyes would stay open only for a few minutes at a time. Panicked, she called the specialist to confirm the appointment, only to discover that she wouldn’t be seeing him at all. The office had no record of her. “I was really scared,” said Ecola, who called it the lowest moment in her quest for a diagnosis. “I was convinced I had a brain tumor.” Her problem turned out to be far less serious and far more easily treated. The following day she lucked into an appointment with another specialist, who explained the odd constellation of symptoms that had left her unable to leave her house. For several years, Ecola had suffered an unexplained, intermittent facial tic, in which she scrunched up her face as if she were tasting something awful. Because it seemed linked to stress, Ecola consulted a behavioral therapist in an effort to banish it through habit reversal training — using relaxation exercises and making a conscious effort to stop the tic. Until early 2010, the treatment usually worked, and Ecola seemed able to control it. © 1996-2012 The Washington Post

Keyword: Movement Disorders; Vision
Link ID: 16696 - Posted: 04.24.2012

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK — Doctors' belief that certain antidepressants can help to treat repetitive behaviors in kids with autism may be based on incomplete information, according to a new review of published and unpublished research. The drugs, which include popular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are sometimes used to treat repetitive behaviors in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). "The main issue to emphasize is that SSRIs are perhaps not as effective at treating repetitive behaviors as previously thought. Further research will help confirm these findings in the long run," said Melisa Carrasco, the study's lead author, in an email. For their analysis, Carrasco, a researcher at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and her colleagues examined PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov for randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled trials -- considered the gold standard in medical research -- supporting the use of SSRIs and similar antidepressants in children with autism. Their search yielded 15 trials. Five studies were excluded because they did not meet the researchers' criteria. Another five were listed as completed but never published. © 2012 msnbc.com

Keyword: Autism; Depression
Link ID: 16695 - Posted: 04.24.2012

By Katherine Harmon Eager eaters know that gulping a Slurpee or inhaling a sundae can cause that brief seizing sensation known in the not-so-technical literature as “brain freeze” or “ice cream headache.” Just what causes this common cautionary condition has remained mysterious to sufferers and scientists alike (not that the two categories need remain mutually exclusive). A new study, presented April 22 at the Experimental Biology 2012 annual meeting in San Diego, proposes a probable answer. And it’s one that could also suggest new treatments for more serious conditions, such as migraines and traumatic brain injuries. The findings were not easy to obtain and required 17 courageous volunteers to submit themselves to brain freeze. These healthy, self-sacrificing adults took sips of extra-cold water through a straw, which they aimed at the roof of their mouths. While their lips were sipping away, subjects’ brains were monitored via transcranial Doppler, which can sense changes in arterial blood flow. As soon as volunteers achieved and then emerged from a freeze, they alerted the researchers. Researchers then were able to pinpoint changes in brain activity at those precise moments, comparing those signals with measurements taken under control conditions when subject sipped on room temperature water. © 2012 Scientific American

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 16694 - Posted: 04.23.2012

A "miniature honeycomb" - or scaffold - could one day be used to encourage damaged nerves to grow and recover, according to an international group of researchers. The scaffold can channel clusters of nerves through its honeycomb of holes, eventually healing a severed nerve. The findings of their study on mouse nerves are published in the journal Biofabrication. Academics hope to one day treat spinal cord injuries with the scaffold. When nerves are severed, such as in car accidents, it can result in a loss of feeling and movement. Repairing this damage can be a challenge - but nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord can repair themselves, if only over short distances. One technique to improve this repair is to use tubes. Either end of the severed nerve is placed in a tube and the two ends of the nerve should grow and join in the middle. Researchers at the University of Sheffield and Laser Zentrum Hannover, Germany, investigated using a honeycomb structure. Dr Frederik Claeyssens, from the department of materials science and engineering at Sheffield, told the BBC: "That is much more like the structure of the nerve itself. BBC © 2012

Keyword: Regeneration
Link ID: 16693 - Posted: 04.23.2012

By Scicurious Drug addiction is a vicious cycle, but the original high is not the problem. What is the problem are the changes in our brains and behavior that drive us to seek the next high, and the next. The relationship between drug-taking and the resulting high is what behavioral pharmacologists refer to as “reinforcement”. And if we are able to alter the reinforcing value of a drug, how much we desire to get that next hit, we might be able to help addicts overcome their addictions. There are various methods that pharmacologists have tried over the years to decrease the reinforcing value of drugs in experimental situations. You can accompany a drug with an antagonist that blocks the drug effects, like combining heroin with naltrexone so that an addict attempting to take the drug cannot get high. This blocks the high, but people can always try to take more drug to overcome the antagonist effects. Another method is using long-acting, low dose drugs as replacements, such as methadone, to block the withdrawal of from drugs such as heroin or morphine. But again, people can always take more drug on top of it. Finally, there is the idea of using drug punishment. In this paradigm, you use a drug that induces nasty effects, like nausea or pain, in conjunction with the abused drug, to make people stop taking the drug. We call this paradigm a “drug punisher”. This is the idea that Kevin Freeman, Brian McMaster, and William Woolverton, in their presentation at the Experimental Biology 2012 Behavioral Pharmacology meeting, have decided to work with in cocaine using rhesus monkeys. They trained the monkeys to self-administer cocaine by pressing a lever, which delivered a shot of cocaine into the monkey’s veins. © 2012 Scientific American

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 16692 - Posted: 04.23.2012