memory
Hijacking Hebb: Noninvasive Methods to Probe Plasticity in Psychiatric Disease
Among the most celebrated cellular mechanisms for learning and memory, long-term potentiation (LTP) has received enormous attention by neuroscientists for 40 years (). The basic phenomenon is elegant and simple: coincident pre- and postsynaptic activity induced typically by a high-frequency stimulus (HFS) produces a long-lasting enhancement of excitatory synaptic transmission.
COMT Val158Met Genotype Determines the Direction of Cognitive Effects Produced by Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Inhibition
Background:
Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) metabolizes dopamine. The COMT Val158Met polymorphism influences its activity, and multiple neural correlates of this genotype on dopaminergic phenotypes, especially working memory, have been reported. COMT activity can also be regulated pharmacologically by COMT inhibitors.
Intrusive memories and depression following recent non-traumatic negative life events in adolescents
Publication year: 2012Source:Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 137, Issues 1–3Richard Meiser-Stedman, Tim Dalgleish, William Yule, Patrick Smith
Pharmacologically-mediated reactivation and reconsolidation blockade of the psychostimulant-abuse circuit: A novel treatment strategy
Publication year: 2012Source:Drug and Alcohol DependenceTong H. Lee, Steven T. Szabo, J. Corey Fowler, Paolo Mannelli, O. Barry Mangum, Wayne F. Beyer, Ashwin Patkar, William C. Wetsel
How repeated stress impairs memory
Anyone who has ever been subject to chronic stress knows that it can take a toll on emotions and the ability to think clearly. Now, new research uncovers a neural mechanism that directly links repeated stress with impaired memory. The study also provides critical insight into why stress responses can act as a trigger for many mental illnesses.
Weekend smoking can damage your memory, study suggests
People who smoke only at weekends cause as much damage to their memory as those who smoke on a daily basis, according to new research.
Training can improve memory and increase brain activity in mild cognitive impairment
If someone has trouble remembering where the car keys or the cheese grater are, new research shows that a memory training strategy can help. Memory training can even re-engage the hippocampus, part of the brain critical for memory formation, the results suggest. The techniques used in the study were shown to work in people with mild cognitive impairment.
How marijuana impairs memory
A major downside of the medical use of marijuana is the drug's ill effects on working memory, the ability to transiently hold and process information for reasoning, comprehension and learning. Researchers provide new insight into the source of those memory lapses. The answer comes as quite a surprise: Marijuana's major psychoactive ingredient (THC) impairs memory independently of its direct effects on neurons.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging correlates of memory encoding in relation to achieving remission in first-episode schizophrenia.
Bodnar M, Achim AM, Malla AK, et al. | |
Reversing Alzheimer's gene 'blockade' can restore memory, other cognitive functions
Neuroscientists have shown that an enzyme overproduced in the brains of Alzheimer's patients creates a blockade that shuts off genes necessary to form new memories. Furthermore, by inhibiting that enzyme in mice, the researchers were able to reverse Alzheimer's symptoms.