ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News

Exploring the use of alcohol-interactive prescription medication among US drinkers Posted: 17 Jan 2015 07:43 AM PST Approximately 71 percent of American adults drink alcohol. While alcohol interacts negatively with a number of commonly prescribed medications, little is known on a population level about the use of alcohol-interactive prescription medication among US drinkers. A new study has found that almost 42 percent of drinkers in the US population have used one or more alcohol-interactive prescription medications.

Adolescents who sleep poorly, insufficiently may develop alcohol, drug problems Posted: 17 Jan 2015 07:43 AM PST Sleep difficulties and insufficient sleep are common among American youth. New research has found that sleep difficulties can predict specific substance-related problems.Problems include binge drinking, driving under the influence of alcohol, and risky sexual behavior.

Genes, environment contribute to personal, peer drinking during adolescence and beyond Posted: 17 Jan 2015 07:43 AM PST Alcohol use typically begins during adolescence, in social settings, and is influenced by peer drinking. New findings indicate that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the correlation between one's own drinking and peer drinking.The influence of genetic factors increases as an individual moves from adolescence into adulthood.

Pre-sleep drinking disrupts sleep Posted: 17 Jan 2015 07:43 AM PST For individuals who drink before sleeping, alcohol initially acts as a sedative -- marked by the delta frequency electroencephalogram (EEG) activity of Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) -- but is later associated with sleep disruption. A study of the effects of alcohol on sleep EEG power spectra in college students has found that pre-sleep drinking not only causes an initial increase in SWS-related delta power but also causes an increase in frontal alpha power, which is thought to reflect disturbed sleep.

Good things come to those who wait? Posted: 15 Jan 2015 10:47 AM PST A team of scientists has found a causal link between the activation of serotonin neurons and the amount of time mice are willing to wait, and rejected a possible link between increased serotonin neuron activation and reward.

Novel precursor to neurodegeneration identified Posted: 15 Jan 2015 10:47 AM PST Alteration of lipid metabolism in brain cells promotes the formation of lipid droplets that presage the loss of neurons, report researchers. "There may be a better chance to interfere with disease progression by identifying these diseases at an early stage," researchers said. They are currently working to identify lipid droplets in live animals before the animals become sick.

Mutations linked to repair of chromosome ends may make emphysema more likely in smokers Posted: 14 Jan 2015 05:27 PM PST Mutations in a gene that helps repair damaged chromosome ends may make smokers — especially female smokers — more susceptible to emphysema, according to results of a new study. The mutations are one of a few genetic factors directly linked to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including emphysema, since the 1960s, researchers say.

Love, marriage and town-gown relationships Posted: 14 Jan 2015 12:29 PM PST A new study assesses a town-gown relationship as if it were a marriage: asking community members just how much comfort they felt with people from the campus community and how much effort they put into getting along. "A town-gown relationship is a lot like an arranged marriage that neither partner can end," said a co-author. This marriage model hypothesized that the success of marriages was largely determined by two factors: how much effort the couple put into their marriage, and how comfortable each partner felt with each other.