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Depression

UCLA researchers find brain differences between people with genetic risk for schizophrenia, autism

People missing genetic material along the 22nd chromosome are at higher risk for schizophrenia, while those with excess genetic material there were more at risk for autism.
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UCLA researchers recently discovered how certain neuropsychiatric disorders, like schizophrenia and autism, are related to brain irregularities and genetic abnormalities. Carrie Bearden, lead author of the study and professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and of psychology at UCLA, explains that duplications found in sections of chromosome 22 can sometimes lead to autism, whereas missing genetic material Read more →

Depression

UCLA researchers study how a simple Google search can help your brain

Rosie Chapman works on Facebook at her home in Orlando, Florida.
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UCLA researchers discover that internet searching triggers key brain areas that control complex reasoning, among middle-aged and older adults. Gary Small, professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and principal investigator, reports that searching the internet may promote healthy brain function during aging. In the study, one group of the participants had no search engine experience, while the other group had some search engine experience. Read more →

Depression

Scientists identify brain cells involved in Pavlovian response

In his famous experiment, Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov rang a bell each time he fed his dogs. Soon, the dogs began drooling in anticipation when they heard the bell, even before food appeared.
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UCLA researchers have discovered the neural mechanisms behind the Pavlovian response, which is when an individual associates a sensory cue with a reward. Sotiris Masmanidis, the study’s senior author and assistant professor of neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, explains that the Pavlovian response is Read more →

Depression

UCLA researchers’ finding holds promise for treating children after brain injuries

In these images of children’s brains, red correlates with slower brain signaling speeds, while green and blue indicate normal brain signaling.
UCLA

Among children with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, some experience long-term brain degeneration following injury. However, not all children that experience traumatic brain injury (TBI) have progressive cognitive decline, and CT scans do not reliably predict the likelihood for recovery. UCLA researchers discovered a biomarker Read more →

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