News by Subject Social & Behavior

People who hear voices that other people can't hear may use unusual skills when their brains process new sounds, according to research led by Durham University and University College London (UCL).

A theory that has gained considerable attention in international media, including Newsweek and the CBS broadcast 60 minutes, suggest that antidepressant drugs, such as the SSRIs, do not exert any actual antidepressant effect. A research group at the Sahlgrenska Academy has now analyzed data from clinical trials and can rebut this theory.

Young people between the ages of 15 and 30 living with a chronic illness are three times more likely to attempt suicide than their healthy peers, according to a new study from the University of Waterloo.

Neuroscientists who study memory have long believed that when we recall an event, our brains turn on the same hippocampal circuit that was activated when the memory was originally formed. However, MIT neuroscientists have now shown, for the first time, that recalling a memory requires a 'detour' circuit that branches off from the original memory circuit.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have devised a method to selectively erase particular fear memories by weakening the connections between neurons involved in forming these memories. In their experiments, they found that fear memory can be manipulated in such a way that some beneficial memories are retained while others, detrimental to our daily life, are suppressed. The research, done using a mouse model, offers insights into how PTSD/specific phobias may be better treated.

The human brain has a region of cells responsible for linking sensory cues to actions and behaviors and cataloging the link as a memory. Cells that form these links have been deemed highly stable and fixed. Now, the findings of a Harvard Medical School study conducted in mice challenge that model, revealing that the neurons responsible for such tasks may be less stable, yet more flexible than previously believed.

In recent years, the Veterans Administration (VA) Healthcare System has expanded its efforts to target groups of veterans facing disparities in healthcare access and outcomes. An update on research toward advancing equitable healthcare for all veterans is presented in a September supplement to Medical Care, published by Wolters Kluwer.