Johns Hopkins University researchers have released two follow-up papers to their fascinating 2006 study in Psychopharmacology, in which 36 healthy volunteers were given psilocybin (also known as “magic” or “sacred” mushrooms) under controlled laboratory conditions.
Subjects in the original study were screened to rule out any predisposition toward psychosis or other serious mental illnesses, which can […]

In a fascinating bit of research, Stanford University researchers have discovered that a vital part of brain functioning — our neural hubs — might be a key into understanding Alzheimer’s. Neural hubs connect neural paths, which our brains use to communicate. Anything adversely affecting either the paths or the hubs could result in problems with […]

This brief interview with MIT neurobiologist Matt Wilson, posted on the TIME website a few days ago, is an interesting addition to a long-standing debate about memory: do people recall good or bad events more easily?
Convincing research exists for both arguments, but according to Professor Wilson it’s much easier for people to recall negative occurrences:
“We […]

Earlier this month, PsyBlog wrote a brief summary and synopsis of the current research findings for cognitive enhancers — you know, those things that are supposed to help us improve our minds and our memories. He looked at the commonly cited brain aids: brain training games, drugs, vitamins, medication and physical exercise.
And his conclusion […]

Which came first, the beta-amyloid plaque or the Alzheimer’s? It’s the plaque, but only one subtype, according to a new report by Harvard researchers in the online journal Nature Medicine and profiled in this TIME article from Sunday.
Physicians and researchers have long noted the presence of these plaques, made up of “sticky” beta-amyloid proteins, in […]

Anybody who’s driven a car knows there’s been an instant or two where they’ve become distracted. The vast majority of the time such distractions don’t result in any problems. But once in awhile, the distraction can cause an accident, resulting in injury and even death.
We often think of distractions in terms of what’s distracting […]

I’m not real sure why this was making headlines yesterday, but apparently the fact that the FDA required a black box warning on older antipsychotic medications was news on a slow news day. Here’s why it wasn’t news:

Both conventional antipsychotics and atypical antipsychotics are not approved for use in elderly patients with dementia.

The risk of […]

“Baby u there? Need to tell somethin …” read the first message before it dissolved into gibberish. “U told me and i tell u … u harm …”
24-year-old Jessica Castillo of Italy, Texas found these messages to her boyfriend in her cell phone’s outbox one morning, according to this article by Yvonne Villarreal in today’s […]

How many times have you been in the middle of a conversation with someone and need to use a word or remember a name that just completely leaves you? You sit there are try and remember it for a few moments, but if it doesn’t come, you move on, frustrated by your brain’s seeming inability […]

How long does it take to achieve measurable mental health benefits with exercise?
Believe it or not, a mere 20 minutes per week will do the trick.
Researchers writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reached that conclusion after studying responses from 20,000 men and women in a study that examined the connection between physical […]

We’ve long heard that being overweight can put you at risk for a multitude of physical ailments such as heart disease and diabetes, however, a recent article in the NY Times reports that being overweight, especially in the midsection, puts a person at a greater risk for dementia.
The study, conducted by the research […]

Powerful antipsychotic medications have commonly been prescribed to people with Alzheimer’s disease and other serious cognitive dementias found amongst the elderly population, especially if they are in a nursing home or hospital environment. Why?

Almost all older dementia patients will experience, along with the cognitive and functional decline typical of the illness, some neuropsychiatric symptoms. These […]