Kayt Sukel

Finding the key to open the blood brain barrier (The Dana Foundation Website - 5 December 2011)

Neuroscientists are finding novel ways to open the blood brain barrier--to potentially deliver much-needed drugs to individuals with Alzheimer's or other neurodegenerative disorders.

Excerpt:

Potential drugs for neurodegenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s disease have been stymied by their inability to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB), a system of unique blood vessels that acts as a natural barricade between the brain and the rest of the body. This barrier, designed to block potentially harmful substances from reaching neural tissue, also holds back the very agents designed to target disease. But two new techniques, one using endogenous adenosine receptors and another using ultrasound, may offer doctors the ability to not only open the BBB but also control the length of time it remains open...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

I had an orgasm in an MRI scanner (The Guardian's Notes and Theories Blog - 16 November 2011)

Barry Komisaruk's orgasm research was a hot topic at this year's Society for Neuroscience conference.  The Guardian asked me to blog about how one has an orgasm in an fMRI.

Excerpt:

The first question, invariably, is, "Excuse me? You had a what where?" It's not a surprise, really. People may not be shocked if you tell them you managed a wank on, say, the train or even in a public restroom. But when you announce that you took part in an orgasm study and managed to reach climax in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner as it recorded the blood flow in your brain? Well, that's not something one hears every day...

(To read the rest of the post, click here).

NOTE:  This piece was included in a round-up of the Guardian's best science stories of 2011.

 

It happened to me: I donated an orgasm to science (xojane.com - 28 November 2011)

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What happens when you donate an orgasm to science and it goes viral on the web?  Well, let me tell you.

Excerpt:

After donating one of my orgasms to neuroscience, I watched a scan of my brain at the moment of ecstasy go viral on the Internet. And as a result, I find myself being simultaneously accused of being a sinner, an exhibitionist, a pervert and a tease.

It all started as a purely research endeavor.  As part of my background research into the neurobiology of sex for my book, "Dirty Minds: How Our Brains Influence Love, Sex and Relationships,"  I interviewed Barry Komisaruk, a lovely and brilliant professor at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. While many researchers avoid sex and love experiments like the plague due to lack of funding and scientific prestige, Komisaruk and his lab have been studying what happens in the brain during orgasm for decades. He's a true pioneer...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

What neuroscience can teach us about love (Happen - November 2011)

Theo Pauline Nestor interviewed me for this Q&A about love and the brain. 

Excerpt:

When writer Kayt Sukel was perched to reenter the dating world, she was suddenly confronted with the fact that she could not answer what she thought of as the "relatively easy question" — namely, "what is love?"

"It was probably naïve of me to think of it as something 'easy,'" Sukel says, "but I had gotten some notion — probably from novels and sappy movies — that I should have a better handle on that dratted L-word by the time I got married and started a family. And then when my marriage fell apart, I felt like it was time to frame love-related questions in a different way — to see if maybe neuroscience might offer me some better insight than what I could find on the self-help shelves." With that in mind, Sukel set out on a quest to learn what answers neuroscientists could yield up in regards to the hard questions about love, lust, and monogamy. The results of her search can be found in her newly released book, Dirty Minds: How Our Brains Influence Love, Sex, and Relationships (Free Press, 2012), a thorough and lively investigation into the latest research on love and the brain...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

For first time, researchers describe molecular mechanism for a 'gateway drug'—nicotine (The Dana Foundation Website - 22 November 2011)

Nicotine has long been thought to be a "gateway drug."  For the first time, the biological underpinnings of that gateway mechanism have been explained.

Excerpt:

A few years ago, I attended an open Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to support a friend in recovery. During a brief break, it was impossible not to notice how many attendees rushed outside for a cigarette. Epidemiological studies have long linked smoking to other forms of addiction—but, to date, they have been unable to establish any direct biological connections. A study published in the Nov. 2 issue of Science Translational Medicine, however, has now demonstrated how nicotine may accelerate both the cellular and epigenetic processes underlying addiction, providing the first biological explanation of a “gateway” drug...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Reactive temperament in infancy linked to amygdala activity later in life (The Dana Foundation Website - 18 November 2011)

Jerome Kagan's lab at Harvard University is finding that early temperament is linked to later activation differences in the amygdala.

Excerpt:

My great-grandmother once told me that babies keep only one trait throughout the course of their lifetime—their temperament. It would seem her folk wisdom was not far off the mark. A study  published in the Sept. 6 issue of Molecular Psychiatry, demonstrates that a male infant’s reaction to unexpected stimuli, a biological measure of temperament, can predict amygdala activity later in adulthood...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Brain Receptors - A Primer (The Dana Foundation Website - 4 November 2011)

Neural receptors play an important role in several neuropsychiatric disorders.  Here is a basic primer on how they work.

Excerpt:

Synaptic transmission begins when one brain cell releases a neurochemical into the synapse. The transmission, however, is not complete until that neurochemical binds with a receptor on the postsynaptic, or receiving, neuron. Researchers have learned that receptors are equally as important as the neurochemicals they receive in maintaining healthy neurobiology. In fact, studies have demonstrated that receptors play a critical role in mood, learning, and the formation of social bonds. Many receptors are current targets for drug development for treatment of psychiatric disorders...

(To read the rest of the primer, click here).

At-risk alcoholism phenotype shows measureable brain changes (The Dana Foundation Website - 28 October 2011)

A new study may offer help in identifying those who are most at-risk for alcoholism.

Excerpt:

The National Institutes of Health estimate that nearly 18 million adults in the United States have an alcohol abuse disorder. Alcoholism is a disease that has great costs—to individuals, their families, and the public at large. While doctors are not currently able to predict who will become addicted to alcohol, research suggests that one’s level of sensitivity to it plays an important role. And a new study by scientists at the University of California, San Diego shows that this sensitivity changes how the brain processes information during a cognitive task—and may provide new information for prevention and education efforts...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Childhood trauma leaves lasting marks on the brain (The Dana Foundation Website - 24 October 2011)

New evidence suggests that physical and emotional trauma can make lasting changes to the brain. 

Excerpt:

"Common wisdom" has long linked childhood traumas such as physical and sexual abuse to psychopathology later in life. Now, an ongoing longitudinal study called the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study is providing strong evidence to back up that notion. Based on its results, researchers have added childhood abuse as a factor of interest in other studies, such as the Army’s ambitious suicide research program, the Study To Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (STARRS) project. ACE research results have also provided a foundation for researchers to examine how childhood abuse can cause physical changes to the brain and its development, putting the abused at greater risk for depression, addiction, and suicide in adulthood...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

 

Your brain and online dating (Happen Magazine - October 2011)

What did I learn as I researched DIRTY MINDS that may help in the dating world?  I spilled some of the details to Happen, Match.com's magazine.

Excerpt:

Kayt Sukel is the author of Dirty Minds: How Our Brains Influence Love, Sex, and Relationships (Free Press, 2012). Here are a few things she learned about the neurobiology of attraction as she researched and wrote her book — and how they might apply to your online dating life.

Read through a dozen online dating profiles and I guarantee that you'll come across words like "chemistry," "spark," and "connection." There's good reason for this: as I researched the neurobiology of attraction for Dirty Minds, I quickly learned that chemistry is far more than just a dating profile cliché. Chemistry is real — and it's important. It just may not be exactly what you think it is...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

 

Viral treatment may offer hope to brain tumor treatments (The Dana Foundation Website - 18 October 2011)

Scientists and clinicians at the Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston, Texas are re-engineering the herpes virus in order to treat a deadly form of brain tumor.

Excerpt:

People diagnosed with a particularly insidious form of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme, typically undergo invasive surgery to remove the malignant tumor, followed by intense courses of radiation and chemotherapy. Some find the treatment regimen is as debilitating as the cancer itself. Today, however, researchers at the Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston, Texas, and Massachusetts General Hospital are testing alternative treatments involving the herpes virus, immunosuppression and nanotechnology in hopes of providing both better outcomes—and quality of life—for people with this deadly form of brain cancer...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Genes, patients and psychiatric disorders (The Dana Foundation Website - 29 September 2011)

A Q&A with Huda Y. Zoghbi, winner of the 2011 Gruber Prize for Neuroscience. 

Excerpt:

Dr. Huda Y. Zoghbi, a professor in the departments of pediatrics, molecular and human genetics, and neurology at the Baylor College of Medicine, took home the 2011 Gruber Prize for Neuroscience for her pioneering work examining the genetic underpinnings of neuropsychiatric disorders. She speaks with the Dana Foundation about balancing clinical work with basic science, what we can learn from the study of rare disorders and her vision of the future study of genetics and neuropsychiatric disease...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

New Army risk and resilience project searches for signs of potential suicide (The Dana Foundation Website - 8 September 2011)

An ambitious new research project led by the U.S. Army and the National Institute of Mental Health hopes to find predictors of suicide for members of the military--and beyond.

Excerpt:

In the late 1940s, the National Heart Institute (now called the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) launched the Framingham Heart Study, a longitudinal research project to investigate the biological precursors of cardiovascular disease. This study, still going strong, has informed much of what we know about the underlying risks of heart disease and stroke, as well as what we can do to best prevent and treat it. Now the U.S. Army, partnered with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), is embarking on the Army Study To Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (STARRS), an ambitious series of research studies they hope will one day be considered the Framingham Heart Study of suicide and mental health. Its goal: To find reliable biomarkers for compromised mental health...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Is the neuroscientific study of pain lagging? (The Dana Foundation Website - 30 August 2011)

A remark at the One Mind for Research summit inspires the question, "Is the neuroscientific study of pain lagging?"

Excerpt:

Earlier this year, scientists, politicians and other healthcare advocates came together to share their hopes for the next decade of neuroscience research at the One Mind for Research (OMR) Summit in Boston. At a session highlighting the neurobiological consequences of war, Clifford J. Woolf, a pain researcher at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston, stated, “We have made enormous progress in promoting survival…but, in fact, an area that has really lagged behind relates to the pain associated with combat injury.”

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Neural network mimics schizophrenia-like dopamine release in the brain (The Dana Foundation Website - 3 August 2011)

A neural network suggests that "hyper-learning," or a heightened release of dopamine in the brain that muddles the way schizophrenics remember language and events, may give us a better understanding of the factors leading to psychosis.

Excerpt:

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder best known by its intense behavioral symptoms. Novels and television shows have well characterized the more obvious issues like auditory hallucinations, paranoid delusions, and disjointed patterns of thinking. To date, however, neuroscientists have been unable to fit this diverse group of symptoms—as well as others like lack of affect, disorganized speech, and cognitive decline—into a single, cohesive theory that can explain both the cause and the development of the disorder. Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and Yale University hope that the use of a neural network nicknamed DISCERN may offer better insight into how problems in learning and excess dopamine release can confuse the way schizophrenics remember language and events, eventually building up to psychosis...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Neuroanatomy--A primer (The Dana Foundation Website - 15 July 2011)

The brain boasts a complex architecture.  Here are the basics of its build and make-up.

Excerpt:

The human brain is a unique structure that boasts a complex three-dimensional architecture. Neuroscientists are only beginning to understand how the different parts of this intricate configuration work together to produce behavior. In the numerous neuroimaging studies that are published weekly, researchers use common neuroanatomical terms to denote location, organization, and, at times, implied function. Though a complete discussion of neuroanatomy is worthy of a thick textbook full of elaborate illustrations, common terminology used in neuroscientific research is highlighted below...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Depression: Not just for adults (The Dana Foundation Website - 2 June 2011)

New research suggests not only that depression may occur in children as young as 3 years of age but that it is predictive of later episodes.

Excerpt:

From a distance, Callie¹ appears to be a normal if quiet 5-year-old girl. But when faced with a toy that blows large soap bubbles—an activity that makes the vast majority of kindergarteners squeal and leap with delight—she is uninterested in popping the bubbles or taking a turn with the gun herself. When offered dolls or other toys, she is equally unmoved. When groups of children congregate to play, Callie does not join them. Even at home, she is quiet and withdrawn. While Callie’s mother explains this lack of interest in play as simple “shyness,” researchers are now discovering that children as young as 3 years of age can meet the clinical criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD). What’s more, they demonstrate patterns of brain activation very similar to those seen in adults diagnosed with the disorder...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Hearts and Minds (Houston Chronicle City Brights Blog)

I am now contributing a new weekly blog to the  Houston Chronicle City Brights collection:  Hearts and Minds. 

In it, I discuss new findings in life, love and science.  With the occasional personal story thrown in. 

Will neuroscience challenge the legal concept of criminal responsibility? (The Dana Foundation Website - 24 May 2011)

Advances in neuroscience may challenge many notions held dear in the American legal system.  Hear what the experts have to say about whether it will challenge the concept of criminal responsibility.

Excerpt:

Just before 10:00 a.m. on June 20, 2001, a uniformed police officer was dispatched to do what he thought was a routine welfare check at a home in Houston, Texas. When the officer met Andrea Yates at the door, she immediately told him, “I just killed my kids.” When Yates was later asked why she drowned her five children, she claimed she had to in order to save them from hell. The police would learn that Yates had been suffering from long-term post-partum depression and psychosis...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Biomarkers--A primer (The Dana Foundation Website - 2011)

Biological markers, or biomarkers, are changing the field of science and medicine by providing novel ways to predict, diagnoses and treat different diseases and disorders.

Excerpt:

Biological markers, or biomarkers, are substances that indicate a particular biological state. Today, neuroscientific researchers are using a vast array of biomarkers, ranging from neuroimaging results to genetic variations to levels of cell proteins, to help predict, diagnose, and treat a variety of brain-related disease states and neuropsychiatric disorders...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Sex on the brain: Orgasms unlock altered consciousness (New Scientist - 11 May 2011)

Can orgasms help neuroscientists understand consciousness?  Two researchers think so.

Excerpt:

With a click and a whirr, I am pulled into the scanner. My head is strapped down and I have been draped with a blanket so that I may touch my nether regions - my clitoris in particular - with a certain degree of modesty. I am here neither for a medical procedure nor an adult movie. Rather, I am about to stimulate myself to orgasm while an fMRI scanner tracks the blood flow in my brain...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

This piece was also picked up by several outlets across the globe including Andrew Sullivan/The Daily Beast, Gawker, Queerty and the Daily Mail, among others.

Spinal cord injury: Study offers new way to predict who will walk again (The Dana Foundation Website - 14 April 2011)

A new testing protocol may help neurologists predict which individuals with severe spinal injuries will walk again. 

Excerpt:

Each year, thousands of Americans come to trauma centers across the country with devastating spinal cord injuries, often as the result of an automobile accident. Many die before they reach the hospital; for the survivors, recovery can vary significantly. Once a patient is stabilized after injury, the next question is invariably whether he or she will walk again. A study published in the March 19 issue of The Lancet suggests four simple measures may help physicians predict ambulation outcomes in these individuals with greater than 95 percent accuracy...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Beyond cuddling: Oxytocin and the brain (The Dana Foundation Website - 14 February 2011)

Oxytocin is a neurochemical with significant reach.  So it's no surprise that it was well represented at the Society for Neuroscience's annual conference.

Excerpt:

Despite the variety of research topics one can find at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting, one word, oxytocin, kept popping up at this year’s conference. This small neuropeptide, produced in two specialized areas of the hypothalamus, was mentioned in nearly 100 abstracts published in the meeting program. Though oxytocin has long been linked to maternal and romantic bonds, giving it the nickname of the “cuddle chemical,” new research presented at Neuroscience 2010 suggests its reach goes far beyond cuddling. Oxytocin may have something to say about a variety of conditions and emotional states including autism, anxiety, happiness, and susceptibility to advertising messages. This research is still preliminary—researchers caution that they don't know what potential side-effects or long-term effects of taking the hormone may be...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

The brain signature of love (The Dana Foundation Website - 10 February 2011)

Want to know the latest research on the neurobiological basis of love?  Look no further.

Excerpt:

Study the literature of the world and you will find one theme that transcends both time and culture: that of love. Whether you are reading Shakespeare or Rumi, the manner in which love is described shows remarkable similarity. Those similarities go far beyond the page: Neuroscientists are now demonstrating that romantic love is also represented by a unique pattern of activation in the brain...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Model predicts neural inhibition's effects on anxiety (The Dana Foundation Website - 20 December 2010)

A better understanding of neural inhibition may provide new clues into the study of anxiety.

Excerpt:

Imagine the smallest decision –what part of the newspaper to read first, what time to leave work to avoid rush hour, what kind of cereal to buy at the market – had the power to stop you in your tracks. People with anxiety often have trouble with these types of seemingly inconsequential decisions. Research reported Sept. 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests this difficulty is due to a glitch in a process called neural inhibition...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Doing away with malaria (The Dana Foundation Website - 24 November 2010)

Scientists are taking different approaches in the fight against cerebral malaria, a devastating disease that affects millions in Africa and Asia.

Excerpt:

In July, pop singer and “X-Factor” judge Cheryl Cole made headlines not for her new record or impending divorce but for hospitalization due to malarial infection. This infectious disease, caused by the release of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite into the bloodstream from a mosquito bite, is both preventable and treatable. Yet it remains devastating to millions, particularly young children in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, who develop a form of the disease called cerebral malaria. This type of infection is characterized by severe damage to the blood vessels around the brain. And this damage results in coma, neurological damage and, too often, death (See also the Cerebrum story, Cerebral Malaria, a Wily Foe).

(To read the read of the article, click here).

Brain size linked to longevity (The Dana Foundation Website - 8 November 2010)

Does the size of your brain say something about how long you'll live?  New research suggests that's the case.

Excerpt:

Many mammals have proportionally large brains in comparison with their respective body sizes. Scientists have long hypothesized that those big brains, found in such animals as primates, cetaceans, and humans, must signify big intelligence. Now, researchers from the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), part of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, have found a strong correlation between brain size and long life—and that longevity may be related to enhanced cognitive abilities...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Conforming opinions activate the brain’s reward center (The Dana Foundation Website - 2 November 2010)

Consider yourself a non-conformist?  New research suggests when your opinions match those of an expert, your brain's reward centers are activated.

Excerpt:

Yesterday, I passed a teenager wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words, “Reject Conformity.” Conformity gets a bit of a bad rap these days—often, there seems to be more emphasis placed on being individuals, rebuffing peer pressure and challenging the status quo. But new research examining the neural correlates of social influence suggests that conforming behaviors may be a more innate process than previously imagined...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Effects of genomic imprinting are dynamic throughout life (The Dana Foundation Website - 8 October 2010)

Scientists at Harvard University show that genomic imprinting is a dynamic process, with some genes being affected at different points in the lifespan.

Excerpt:

Every cell in the human body, be it liver cell or blood cell or neuron, develops and runs on the same DNA. Mammals, for the most part, have two copies of every gene, a copy inherited from both the mother and the father, providing a handy backup in case one of the two is damaged. But nearly two decades ago, scientists discovered that for a limited number of genes, only one copy is active—the second is turned off by a regulatory process known as genomic imprinting...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Dopamine connections may link creativity, psychiatric disorders (The Dana Foundation Website - 27 July 2010)

Researchers across the country are uncovering new links between creativity and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Excerpt:

Roman philosopher Seneca once penned, “There is no great genius without a tincture of madness.” For centuries, philosophers and scientists have wondered about the nature of the relationship between creativity, a trait critical to genius, and psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Exercise offers direct benefit to the brain (The Dana Foundation Website - 2 July 2010)

Researchers are now showing that exercise makes actual physiological changes to the brain.

Excerpt:

Now there are even fewer reasons to skip your daily run or that trip to the gym. It’s been well established that regular physical activity can help tone your muscles, prevent cardiovascular disease, and even help alleviate depressive symptoms [see story, "Should Psychiatrists Prescribe Exercise for Depression?"]. But exercise also has direct benefit to the brain: Research suggests that it makes physiological changes to neurons resulting in improved cognitive performance...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Should psychiatrists prescribe exercise for depression? (The Dana Foundation Website - 30 June 2010)

Study after study is showing that exercise can lift mood.  But is there enough evidence so psychiatrists will start writing "exercise" on their prescription pads?

Excerpt:

After Joshua Berman, 39, was diagnosed with depression, he tried several different antidepressant medications to alleviate his symptoms. He finally found some success with one medication—but that success came with a price.

“I didn’t have a lot of energy. It hindered me from getting up in the morning,” says Berman. “[The medication] stabilized my mood better than anything else had but I still had affect issues and trouble sleeping most nights.”

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Simplifying the search for genetic risk in alcohol dependence (The Dana Foundation Website - 10 June 2010)

Just taking a few measures about drinking frequency and amount may help researchers uncover critical genes involved in alcohol dependence.

Excerpt:

Epidemiological studies have long suggested that alcohol dependence is an inherited disorder. As genome-wide surveys became available over the past decade, scientists have hoped to find the gene (or genes) behind this relationship. An analysis by the researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine published in the April 5 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests that simple measures of alcohol consumption may make that search a little easier...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Maternal flu infection may lead to increased risk of schizophrenia in child (The Dana Foundation Website - 27 May 2010)

The body's natural immune response to the flu vaccine may lead to changes in brain development - and an increased risk of schizophrenia in offspring.

Excerpt:

During my first prenatal-care appointment, my obstetrician cautioned me to avoid the flu at all costs. Influenza has long been linked to severe illness and respiratory complications during pregnancy. But a recent animal study published in the Jan. 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry suggests that the flu also may indirectly lead to increased risk of schizophrenia in offspring...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Maternal flu infection may lead to increased risk of schizophrenia in child (The Dana Foundation Website - 27 May 2010)

The body's natural immune response to the flu vaccine may lead to changes in brain development - and an increased risk of schizophrenia in offspring.

Excerpt:

During my first prenatal-care appointment, my obstetrician cautioned me to avoid the flu at all costs. Influenza has long been linked to severe illness and respiratory complications during pregnancy. But a recent animal study published in the Jan. 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry suggests that the flu also may indirectly lead to increased risk of schizophrenia in offspring...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Does the brain use the scientific method? (The Dana Foundation Website - 4 May 2010)

How do our brains make sense of the world around us?  New research suggests they make use of something like the scientific method.

Excerpt:

Our senses—sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell—are bombarded with input from the ever-changing world around us. For centuries, philosophers and scientists have tried to make sense of just how our brains make sense of our environments. A neuroimaging study in the Feb. 24 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience by researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Germany suggests that our brain does so by a process similar to the scientific method...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Breaches in blood-brain barrier might lead to later psychiatric illness (The Dana Foundation Website - 16 April 2010)

Individuals who suffer from traumatic brain injury may be at risk for later psychiatric illness due to "leaks" in the blood-brain barrier.

Excerpt:

In 2006, Matthew Stern, a 30-year-old soldier from Houston, Texas, was knocked unconscious for nearly four minutes when his military vehicle hit an improvised explosive device (IED) in Iraq.

“When I woke up in the hospital, the doctor said I had a bruise on my brain and we’d have to wait and see what the long term effects would be,” Stern says. Since the blast, he has developed epilepsy as well as dizziness, sleep problems, and recurring headaches and seizures. He expects to be on medication to control the seizures for the rest of his life...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Earlier bedtimes may protect teens from depression (The Dana Foundation Website - 6 April 2010)

A good night's sleep has long been known to have mood benefits.  But can enforcing earlier bedtimes help teens prevent depression?

Excerpt:

Parents, take note: Enforcing an earlier bedtime for your unruly teenager may be more than worth it. In the Jan. 1 issue of Sleep, researchers at Columbia University demonstrate a strong correlation between lack of sleep and depressive symptoms in adolescents. The study examined more than 15,000 adolescents and their parents...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

'Biosensors' may aid in drug development for brain diseases (The Dana Foundation Website - 23 March 2010)

Genetically engineered cells called bio-sensors are helping researchers find new treatments for brain disease.

Excerpt:

Psychiatric and neurological disorders such as schizophrenia can cause complex molecular changes in the brain that result in myriad behavioral symptoms. This has made creating a single, comprehensive pharmacological treatment for such diseases challenging...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Alzheimer's drug may also treat Huntington's (The Dana Foundation Website - 19 February 2010)

Can an FDA-approved Alzheimer's drug offer any relief for those who suffer Huntington's disease?  Some scientists believe so.

Excerpt:

A drug used to treat Alzheimer’s disease may help harness the protective pathways of brain cells to stay the deadly symptoms of Huntington’s disease, according to new research...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Renowned journal retracts controversial autism/vaccine paper (The Dana Foundation Website - 10 February 2010)

What do scientists think about the Lancet's decision to pull Andrew Wakefield's controversial case study suggesting there might be a link between the measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism?  Read about it here:

Excerpt:

On Feb. 2, renowned medical journal The Lancet retracted a controversial 1998 paper that hypothesized a link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. Citing ethics violations by the lead author, Andrew Wakefield, the journal’s decision set off a global media firestorm. Many scientists argue the paper’s retraction definitely debunks the premise that vaccines play any role in the development of autism. But advocacy groups, as well as many parents of children who have autism, argue that Wakefield’s work still has merit—and questions about why autism rates have risen so dramatically over the past few decades still need to be answered...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Parkinson's disease: A paradign shift (The 2010 Dana Foundation Annual Progress Report on Brain Research)

Once again, I contributed a chapter to the Dana Foundation's Annual Progress Report on Brain Research.  This year, I summarized the up and coming research into Parkinson's disease - and what that may mean for treating it in the future.

(To read the rest of the chapter, click here).

Cocaine vaccine may offer alternative therapy to addicts (The Dana Foundation Website - 4 January 2010)

Researchers are working on a vaccine for cocaine - a vaccine that may help addicts stay clean.

Excerpt:

Andrew Kent, 51, has been battling his addiction to cocaine for more than two decades. Though he has tried different recovery programs over the years, this Houston, Texas, native has relapsed time and time again...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Gene therapy offers hope for rare retinal condition (The Dana Foundation Website - 7 December 2009)

A one-shot gene therapy may offer sight to children with a rare retinal condition called Leber's congenital amaurosis.  A recent clinical trial of the therapy showed remarkable success.

Excerpt:

Three years ago, when nine-year-old Corey Haas was first diagnosed with Leber’s congenital amaurosis (LCA), a rare form of retinal degenerative disease, his parents weren’t given a hopeful prognosis regarding his vision...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Music training linked to better understanding of speech (The Dana Foundation Website - 30 October 2009)

New research suggests that music education may help individuals understand speech better - and may lead to new treatments for different speech-related disorders.

Excerpt:

French author Victor Hugo once wrote, “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent.” A new study suggests that musical skills can also help people understand spoken words buried in a noisy cacophony. This ability may help explain why music training seems to help some people with other forms of learning and could eventually lead to new therapies for children with autism and older people with hearing difficulty...

(To read the rest of this article, click here). 

Alzheimer's drugs may help treat brain injuries (The Dana Foundation Website - 11 September 2009)

How might Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injuries be related?  I discuss that in this article for the Dana Foundation Website.

Excerpt:

For decades, scientists have postulated a link between traumatic brain injuries and an increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease down the line. Now neuroscientists have uncovered a possible mechanism the two conditions shares—and identified a class of Alzheimer’s drugs in testing that may also help minimize the damage that occurs in TBI cases...

(To read the rest of the article, click here).

Post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury (The 2009 Dana Foundation Annual Progress Report on Brain Research)

For the 2009 edition of the Dana Foundation's Annual Progress Report on Brain Research, I contributed a chapter concerning new research directions in the study of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

Excerpt:

For decades, researchers have hoped to uncover the biological mechanisms behind post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), increasingly common afflictions among both soldiers and civilians. In 2008, researchers renewed their focus on these conditions and sought to identify the processes that will provide new avenues for prevention and treatment...

(To read the rest of the chapter, click here)

New drug target reduces seizures in mice (The Dana Foundation Website - 12 August 2009)

A neuroscientist at Carnegie Mellon University has stumbled on a neuronal membrane channel that may shows promise as a therapeutic target to control epileptic seizures.

Excerpt:

Despite a variety of available drug treatments, many people who have epilepsy still are unable to control their seizures with medication. New research suggests a molecular mechanism that seems to “reset” neurons may and offer another avenue for treatment...

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Immune gene evolution may be driven by parasites (The Dana Foundation Website - 22 July 2009)

Helminthes, or parasitic worms, may have helped shape the human immune system.  And that symbiotic relationship may be responsible for the rise of auto-immune disorders in developed countries.

Excerpt:

Soon after I brought my newborn son home from the hospital, my grandmother admonished me not to bathe him too often. If babies are too clean, they are more likely to get sick, she said. Now researchers are finding there may be something to that folk wisdom. A population genetics study published in the June 8 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine suggests that parasites have helped shape the human immune system—and that a lack of exposure to helminthes, or worms, may account for rising rates of autoimmune disorders such as irritable bowel disease (IBD), Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease...

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How stress affects the brain may depend on age (The Dana Foundation Website - 12 June 2009)

It's long been known that stress affects the brain.  But new research suggests that at what age you experience that stress may determine what kind of impact it has. 

Excerpt:

Researchers have long known that chronic stress can harm the brain. In particular, hormones called glucocorticoids, released by the adrenal gland in response to stress, have been linked to depression, reduced hippocampal volume and learning and memory deficits in some people. But new research suggests chronic stress alone does not cause the damage—instead, the stage of life in which one experiences that stress may be the key to understanding its potential lasting and detrimental effects...

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