neuron

(Cell Press) Researchers have mapped the brain regions that process social standing and money rewards, yielding new insights that they said will aid understanding of the basis of social behaviors.

They published their findings in two papers in the April 24, 2008, issue of the journal Neuron.

Repeatedly stimulating the mouse brain with methamphetamine depresses important areas of the brain, and those changes can only be undone by reintroducing the drug, according to research at the University of Washington and other institutions.

The study, published in the journal Neuron, provides one of the most in-depth views of the mechanisms of methamphetamine addiction, and suggests that withdrawal from the drug may not undo the changes the stimulant can cause in the brain.

An increased number of neuron "hubs" in the epileptic brain may be the root cause for the seizures that characterize the disorder, according to a UC-Irvine study.