A small cluster of cells deep within our brains, called the locus coeruleus, affects how awake and attentive we are, how we respond to stress, how we cope with anxiety and fear, and how we create memories and learn.This blue spot is also involved in a range of neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer’s diseases. A new study in mice shows that a small group of cells next to the locus coeruleus, called peri-LC neurons, appear to play a key role in regulating and fine-tuning its information-processing.The findings help explain how we respond appropriately to different challenges, Besides advancing understanding of how our brains regulate arousal, attention and our reactions to distress, the findings open the possibility of new ways to treat neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, including opioid drug withdrawal symptoms. 

A team from MUSC Hollings Cancer Center has just published a paper in JAMA Network Open describing oral nicotine pouch usage – one of the first papers to look at how common this product is.

In a groundbreaking Genomic Press interview, Dr. Michael Wheeler of Harvard Medical School reveals how psychedelics like psilocybin can reverse stress-induced fear behaviors by modulating neuroimmune pathways. His recent Nature publication demonstrates that psychedelics reduce immune cell accumulation in brain meninges while simultaneously reducing fear behaviors, opening new therapeutic possibilities.