Archive for the ‘Psychopharmacology’ Category
Risk of marijuana’s ‘gateway effect’ overblown
New research from the University of New Hampshire shows that the gateway effect of marijuana, that teenagers who use marijuana are more likely to move on to harder illicit drugs as young adults, is overblown.
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Cannabis may offer relief from chronic neuropathic pain
A new study by McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and McGill University researchers provides evidence that cannabis may offer relief to patients suffering from chronic neuropathic pain. The results of the groundbreaking study are published in the latest issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
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Oxytocin makes people trusting, but not gullible
Oxytocin (OT) is a hormone that plays an important role in social behavior—it has even been nicknamed “the love hormone” and “liquid trust.” Increased levels of OT have been associated with greater caring, generosity, and trust. But does OT increase people’s trust in just anybody or does it act more selectively?
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Body clock drugs could ease psychiatric disorders and jet lag
Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) have successfully used a drug to reset and restart the natural 24 hour body clock of mice in the lab. The ability to do this in a mammal opens up the possibility of dealing with a range of human difficulties including some psychiatric disorders, jet lag and the health impacts of shift work.
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Ketamine restores connections between brain cells damaged by chronic stress
Yale researchers have discovered how a novel anti-depressant can take effect in hours, rather than the weeks or months usually required for most drugs currently on the market. The findings, described in the August 20 issue of the journal Science, should speed development of a safe and easy-to-administer form of the anti-depressant ketamine, which has already proven remarkably effective in treating severely depressed patients.
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Amphetamine use in adolescence may impair adult working memory
Rats exposed to high doses of amphetamines at an age that corresponds to the later years of human adolescence display significant memory deficits as adults – long after the exposure ends, researchers report.
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Ketamine Lifts Depression Symptoms in Bipolar Disorder Within an Hour
People with treatment-resistant bipolar disorder experienced relief from symptoms of depression in as little as 40 minutes after an intravenous dose of the anesthetic medication ketamine in a preliminary study; while the patient group was small, this work adds to evidence that compounds in the class to which ketamine belongs have potential as rapid and effective medications for depression, including bipolar depression. The potential for side-effects makes ketamine an impractical drug for standard use, but it provides a way to test this approach for developing novel treatments that act more rapidly than existing ones.
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Endocannabinoid Blockers Improve Obesity-Related Health Complications
An experimental compound appears to improve metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity, according to a preliminary study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. A report of the study, which was conducted with obese mice, appears online today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
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Ecstasy-Assisted Psychotherapy May Be a Viable Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Psychiatric research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology in 2010 has found that the use of MDMA (more commonly known as ecstasy) during psychotherapy could aid in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
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Recreational Use of Ecstasy Does Not Cause Long-Term Increase in Aggressive Behavior
The use of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), better known as the club drug ecstasy, does not appear to cause any long-term increases in aggressive behavior, according to research published in Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology.
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