I stood in the office kitchen and read a flyer that had been posted on the refrigerator. “Talent Show” was printed at the top with a list of candy and their prices: Tootsie rolls- 15 cents, cookies- 25 cents, lemonade- 10 cents. No date, no time and no location. All I could think was “wow where is this place with the cheap candy, I want to go.” Little did I know that Kailyn Timme had more planned than an economy friendly concession stand. More

How do drugs work in the brain?

Drugs are chemicals. They work in the brain by tapping into the brain’s communication system and interfering with the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. Some drugs, such as marijuana and heroin, can activate neurons because their chemical structure mimics that of a natural neurotransmitter. This similarity in structure “fools” receptors and allows the drugs to lock onto and activate the nerve cells. Although these drugs mimic brain chemicals, they don’t activate nerve cells in the same way as a natural neurotransmitter, and they lead to abnormal messages being transmitted through the network. More

Finally, developments in the field of addiction medicine has allowed clinicians to effectively treat once deadly addictions such as alcoholism, heroin and pain pill addiction, and nicotine dependence. Better understanding of the brain and its circuits help us understand that addiction is really what we have been saying for decades, “Addiction is a medical illness”. It only makes sense to offer medical options to help reduce the risk of dying from these addictions. Now, there are several medical options available to help eliminate cravings and disarm the effects of illicit drugs by blocking their euphoric effects.  More

Scientists know that Alzheimer’s disease begins to take root decades before its initial symptoms appear. One of the great challenges for researchers is to pinpoint the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s before it can start to devastate a person’s brain structure, memories, and reasoning. After years of collecting data, the NIA-supported Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) is yielding promising results about the structural and biochemical changes in the brain and the genetic variations that mark the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. More