From the monthly archives:

January 2010

Blueberry Juice May Boost Memory

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 27, 2010)

Blueberry Juice May Boost Memory (Via WebMD Health.) ———- Blueberry Supplementation Improves Memory in Older Adults J Agric Food Chem. 2010 Jan 4. [Epub ahead of print] Krikorian R, Shidler MD, Nash TA, Kalt W, Vinqvist-Tymchuk MR, Shukitt-Hale B, Joseph JA. The prevalence of dementia is increasing with expansion of the older adult population. In [...]

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Inability to sustain positive emotion in Major Depression reflects failure to maintain Nucleus Accumbens activity

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 27, 2010)

Reduced capacity to sustain positive emotion in major depression reflects diminished maintenance of fronto-striatal brain activation.: “ Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Dec 29;106(52):22445-50 Authors: Heller AS, Johnstone T, Shackman AJ, Light SN, Peterson MJ, Kolden GG, Kalin NH, Davidson RJ Anhedonia, the loss of pleasure or interest in previously rewarding stimuli, [...]

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Brain Scan for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 27, 2010)

Brain Scan Offers First Biological Test in Diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Scientific American – Psychiatry 1/22/10 Carina Storrs The synchronous neural interactions test as a functional neuromarker for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): a robust classification method based on the bootstrap. J Neural Eng. 2010 Feb;7(1):16011. Epub 2010 Jan 20. Georgopoulos AP, Tan HR, Lewis [...]

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Reduction in CRF Receptor type 1 expression in the Amygdala reduces Anxiety

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 22, 2010)

The anxiolytic effect of environmental enrichment is mediated via amygdalar CRF receptor type 1. Mol Psychiatry. 2010 Jan 19; Authors: Sztainberg Y, Kuperman Y, Tsoory M, Lebow M, Chen A Environmental enrichment (EE) is known to have an anxiolytic effect in several animal models; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying these behavioral changes are not understood. [...]

CRF stimulates Pancreatic Beta Cell Insulin Secretion and Beta Cell Proliferation

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 22, 2010)

CRFR1 is expressed on pancreatic beta cells, promotes beta cell proliferation, and potentiates insulin secretion in a glucose-dependent manner. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jan 12;107(2):912-7 Authors: Huising MO, van der Meulen T, Vaughan JM, Matsumoto M, Donaldson CJ, Park H, Billestrup N, Vale WW Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), originally characterized as the [...]

Levetiracetam inhibits interleukin-1beta inflammatory responses in the hippocampus and piriform cortex

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 20, 2010)

Levetiracetam inhibits interleukin-1beta inflammatory responses in the hippocampus and piriform cortex of epileptic rats. Neurosci Lett. 2010 Jan 14; Authors: Kim JE, Choi HC, Song HK, Jo SM, Kim DS, Choi SY, Kim YI, Kang TC Levetiracetam (LEV, 2S-(oxo-1-pyrrolidinyl)butanamide, Keppra(R), UCB Pharma) is a new antiepileptic drug used to treat certain types of seizures in [...]

BDNF variant from Val66Met polymorphism reduces HPA-axis reactivity to acute stress.

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 19, 2010)

The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism affects HPA-axis reactivity to acute stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Jan 13; Authors: Alexander N, Osinsky R, Schmitz A, Mueller E, Kuepper Y, Hennig J BACKGROUND: Growing evidence suggests that individual differences in HPA-axis reactivity to psychosocial stress are partly due to heritable influences. However, knowledge about the role of specific genetic variants [...]

The major mood disorders have significant genetic overlap

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 19, 2010)

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association data identifies a risk locus for major mood disorders on 3p21.1 Nature Genetics Published online: 17 January 2010 | doi:10.1038/ng.523 Francis J McMahon1, Nirmala Akula1, Thomas G Schulze1,2, Pierandrea Muglia3,4, Federica Tozzi3, Sevilla D Detera-Wadleigh1, C J M Steele1, René Breuer2, Jana Strohmaier2, Jens R Wendland1, Manuel Mattheisen5,6,7, Thomas W Mühleisen5,6, [...]

Methylprednisolone reduces nitric oxide formation in cytokine-stimulated oligodendroglial cells

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 18, 2010)

Effects of methylprednisolone and glatiramer acetate on nitric oxide formation of cytokine-stimulated cells from the rat oligodendroglial cell line OLN-93. Neuroimmunomodulation. 2010;17(1):23-30 Authors: Holzknecht C, Röhl C OBJECTIVES: In multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune inflammatory disease, oligodendroglia are primarily affected and play an important role in the onset and process of the degeneration of neuronal axons. [...]

Activated microglia increase excitability of rat hippocampal neurons by producing interleukin-1beta.

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 18, 2010)

Kainic acid-activated microglia mediate increased excitability of rat hippocampal neurons in vitro and in vivo: crucial role of interleukin-1beta. Neuroimmunomodulation. 2010;17(1):31-8 Authors: Zheng H, Zhu W, Zhao H, Wang X, Wang W, Li Z OBJECTIVE: It is known that highly activated microglia and the consequent production of inflammatory cytokines were associated with neuroexcitotoxic injuries. The [...]

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