Neuroscience In The News On May 30

These are articles that I found of interest relating to news about Neuroscience.  In this issue, I have highlighted articles about fighting addictions through the gut-brain axis, information processing through the cannabinoid receptor in the hippocampus and the neuroscience secret to happiness.

Please check out the article links below and feel free to comment with other information related to these subjects.  I enjoy learning as much as I can about the brain and passing this information on to everyone else that shares these passions.

This is for the week beginning May 30, 2016.

Please come back each week and hopefully I will have some more highlights.  Feel free to share with me ones that you have found and I may highlight those as well.

Feel free to check out the highlighted articles from May 23, 2016

Addiction Through Gut-Brain Axis

“We are what we eat”. This piece of folk knowledge is true in more ways than one. In fact, it is well known that food, through action on the enteric system, has direct effects on the brain. The mechanisms underlying this exchange are no longer a mystery since a large body of scientific literature highlights the functional crosstalk between the periphery and the brain. In particular, the so-called gut-brain axis consists of bidirectional communication between the brain and the enteric system, linking the emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with peripheral intestinal functions (and vice versa). Insights into the gut-brain crosstalk have revealed an extremely fascinating communication system that is thought to be involved in many routine functions and systems within the healthy body, as well as in many diseases.

Article Link:

• Fighting addiction through the gut-brain axis…the future?
• Source:  www.eurekalert.org
• Plos Neuro Community Blog, Giuseppe Gangarossa

Information Processing in Cannabinoid Receptor

In the brain, there is a delicate interplay of signaling substances and cellular activity. Scientists of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin have now identified another key player within this ensemble. In a laboratory study they found that the “cannabinoid type 2 receptor” influences information processing inside the hippocampus. This area of the brain plays a crucial role in the generation of long-term memories.

Article Link:

• Neuroscientists discover previously unknown function of cannabinoid receptor
• Source:  www.healthcanal.com
• Professor Dietmar Schmitz, Neuroscience Research Center of the Charité.

Neuroscience Secret To Happiness

In his book, The Art of Happiness, the Dalai Lama wrote: “We need to learn how to want what we have, not to have what we want in order to get steady and stable happiness.” And the wise man might have been proved right by science.

According to neuroscientist Jaak Panskepp, it is the road to happiness, rather than the act of reaching the destination, which makes us happy. The neuroscientist claims that the fulfillment of desires may not cause happiness in the long run.

Article Link:

• Neuroscience’s secret to happiness
• Source:  www.deccanchronicle.com