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A new brain-imaging study at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory reveals that, compared with people who don't use drugs, people who abuse methamphetamine have fewer receptors for dopamine, a brain chemical associated with feelings of reward and pleasure. Furthermore, in the drug abusers, low dopamine receptor levels were linked with reduced metabolic activity in a brain region that regulates motivation and "drive." This mechanism may knock out the brain’s ability to "just say no" to the drug.

A new brain-imaging study at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory indicates that some of the damage caused by methamphetamine -- a drug abused by ever-increasing numbers of Americans -- can be reversed by prolonged abstinence from the drug. The results appear in the December 1, 2001 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

Nicotine is widely believed to trigger dependence by elevating certain brain chemicals associated with pleasure and reward. Now, a study in rats at Brookhaven National Laboratory shows that topiramate -- a new anticonvulsant drug used for the treatment of epilepsy -- can block some of the nicotine-triggered changes in brain chemistry, and may have potential for the treatment of nicotine addiction in humans.

William Marciano, a theoretical physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been named a winner of the J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics for 2002 for his "pioneering work" on calculations necessary for testing the Standard Model.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and DuPont’s Central Research and Development Department in Wilmington, Delaware, have developed a new class of catalysts that could someday convert plant-derived feedstocks, or raw materials, into industrially useful materials, such as chemicals and synthetic fibers. This research is described in the October 12 issue of the German journal Angewandte Chemie.

As part of an ongoing effort to understand how viruses infect cells, scientists at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory have deciphered the molecular-level interaction between coxsackievirus—which infects the heart, brain, pancreas, and other organs—and the human cell protein to which it attaches. This work may lead to improved ways to thwart viral infections, and may help scientists design virus-based vehicles for gene therapy.

As part of an ongoing effort to understand how viruses infect cells, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have deciphered the molecular-level interaction between coxsackievirus -- which infects the heart, brain, pancreas, and other organs -- and the human cell protein to which it attaches. This work, published in the October issue of Nature Structural Biology, may lead to improved ways to thwart viral infections, and may help scientists design virus-based vehicles for gene therapy.

If you're tired of cell phones and laptops that quickly lose their charge—or worse, their ability to be recharged—help may be on the way. Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists James Reilly, Gordana Adzic, John Johnson, Thomas Vogt, and James McBreen have developed a new metal alloy that could greatly improve the performance of rechargeable batteries.

Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have shown that increasing the level of a brain protein important for transmitting pleasure signals can turn rats that prefer alcohol into light drinkers, and those with no preference into near teetotalers.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have shown that using gene therapy to increase the level of dopamine D2 receptors -- a brain protein important for transmitting pleasure signals -- can turn rats that prefer alcohol into light drinkers, and those with no preference into near teetotalers. The findings may have implications for the prevention and treatment of alcoholism in humans.