Are FGM and Male Circumcision Compa... Nov 19, 2009
Fine locations on the intact penis were found that were more sensitive than the most sensitive part of the circumcised penis the ventral surface of the circumcision scar. (Sorrells, M. et al., Fine-Touch Pressure Thresholds in the Adult Penis, BJU International 99 (2007): 864-869. (Suite101.com)
First Clear Idea Of How Rare Bone Disease Progresses Nov 18, 2009
" Enter the Zebrafish Mullins' participation in the study was serendipitous, says Shore. Mullins studies BMP signaling in zebrafish, and in these animals BMP plays many roles, including establishing an organism's basic body plan. Mullins' long time interest was a particular gene critical to this process, called Alk8. As it turns out, Alk8 is the zebrafish equivalent of human ACVR1. Importantly, Mullins had already established a zebrafish genetic line that fails to express Alk8. When the team... (Science Daily)
The Chemistry of Information Addiction Oct 14, 2009
Dopamine neurons in parts of the midbrain, such as the ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra pars compacta, play a vital role in the expectation of reward. Most of what is known about these neurons comes from electrode recording experiments with rhesus monkeys. (Scientific American)
9FOXSexpert: 9 Ways to Conquer Boredom in the Bedroom» Oct 8, 2009
The ventral tegmental area (VTA), the region related to feelings of reward and satisfaction, is involved with increasing levels of dopamine. So you want to activate the brain neurotransmitter dopamine by heightening your lover s sense of novelty. (Fox News)
Cholesterol Necessary For Brain Development, Study Finds Oct 5, 2009
Liver X Receptors and oxysterols promote ventral midbrain neurogenesis in vivo and in human embryonic stem cells. Cell Stem Cell, 2 October 2009. (Science Daily)
Man found in river known around town Sep 21, 2009
" Jacki C wrote on Sep 18, 2009 11:40 AM:" If the marks were on the forehead and also found along the dorsal surfaces of the arms and hands; ventral surfaces of the knees, toes, and lower legs, than it could just be from the body hitting the rocks and such on the bottom of the river. Floating bodies normally assume the same position which can expose certain parts to dragging in a shallow, swift moving water enviroment. (Klamath Falls Herald & News, OR)
Fat Hormone Influences Baseline Dopamine Levels And Our Motivation To Eat Aug 8, 2009
Those LHA neurons feed directly into the mesolimbic dopamine system seated in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain, which controls the rewarding properties we assign to things. "Dopaminergic neurons in the VTA and their downstream targets represent the site of action for drugs of abuse, and also control motivation for food, sex or a fancy car," explained Martin Myers, Jr., of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. (Science Daily)
Discovery Of Genetic Toggle Switch Inches Closer To Possible Diabetes Cure Jul 28, 2009
The study explains that Sox17 initially works in conjunction with two other genes (the transcription factors Pdx1 and Hes1) to decide which organ fate ventral foregut progenitor cells will take ... If Sox17 toggles one way, with its expression repressed by its interaction with Hes1, then Pdx1 more or less takes over to prompt formation of the ventral pancreas. (Science Daily)
Review provides new insights into the causes of anorexia Jul 22, 2009
Co-author Julie L. Fudge of the Department of Psychiatry biology and Anatomy at the University of Rochester Medical Center, notes that imaging studies suggest that individuals with anorexia have an imbalance between circuits in the brain that regulate reward and emotion (the ventral or limbic circuit) and circuits that are associated with consequences and planning ahead (the dorsal or cognitive circuit. . (EurekAlert!)
Brain Activation Can Predict Strategies People Use To Make Risky Decisions May 29, 2009
"What sort of strategy people tended to use could be predicted, surprisingly, by how their brain responded to rewards: if there were large responses to monetary reward in a brain area called the ventral striatum, that person tended to simplify decision problems to only consider winning or losing.". "Using studies like this to build a better understanding of how our brains represent our decision strategies may someday allow researchers to use someone's personal traits say, an adolescent with high... (Science Daily)
Flipping The Brain's Addiction Switch Without Drugs May 29, 2009
Chronic drug users, as noted by previous research, can experience an increase of a naturally-occurring protein called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) in the brain's reward circuitry, a region scientists call the ventral tegmental area ... Ventral Tegmental Area BDNF Induces an Opiate-Dependent%u2013Like Reward State in Na ve Rats. (Science Daily)
Dull days wreck a marriage May 22, 2009
Courtesy of Helen FisherAPET scan of person in love shows a brain region linked to feelings of reward, knownas the ventral tegmental area, lightingup ... Amazingly, Fisher says, the same area of the brain lit up in both groups: the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a brain region linked to feelings of reward and satisfaction. (MSNBC -- Health)
Area Of Brain That Makes A 'People Person' Discovered May 22, 2009
They found that the greater the concentration of tissue in the orbitofrontal cortex (the outer strip of the brain just above the eyes), and in the ventral striatum (a deep structure in the centre of the brain), the higher they tended to score on the social reward dependence measure ... Interestingly, the orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum have previously been shown to be important for the brain's processing of much simpler rewards like sweet tastes or sexual stimuli. (Science Daily)
'People person' brain area identified May 21, 2009
In the study on 41 male volunteers, who underwent a brain scan using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), it was found that the greater the concentration of tissue in the orbitofrontal cortex (the outer strip of the brain just above the eyes), and in the ventral striatum (a deep structure in the centre of the brain), the higher they tended to score on the social reward dependence measure. Text. (India Times, India)
Probing inside the brain of a sociable person May 20, 2009
The men who scored higher on questionnaire-based ratings of emotional warmth and sociability had more grey matter in two brain areas - the orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum. The researchers say it is not clear whether the men were born with these brain differences or whether the brain regions in question grew in response to personal experiences. (BBC News -- UK)
DRIP, DRIP, DRIP May 8, 2009
Perhaps all the years of plastic surgery have created excessive pressure on her ventral premotor complex where the brain melds together reality and perception (see from 2004) "The research shows how the mind creates its sense of order in the world and then adjusts on the fly to eliminate distortions.". In her mind's sense of order we are all holding hands all across the "globe" where everyone is so kind to one another and the "distortions" are the realities of warfare, the enemy and the need to... (The Drudge Report)
Mechanisms Of Self-control Pinpointed In Brain May 1, 2009
This 3-D projection of a transparent brain shows the regions of activation: the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is in red, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is in green. Activity in the vmPFC reflects the value assigned to foods during decision-making. (Science Daily)
The pain (and healing) of a broken heart Apr 20, 2009
When you're in love, your brain's ventral tegmental area churns out dopamine, the hormone that teaches junkies to crave crack ... Neuroimaging studies of men and women who are "madly in love" reveal significantly elevated activity in the brain area known as the ventral tegmental area, or VTA. "This is a very primitive part of the brain that appeared quite early in our evolution," says Lucy Brown, Ph. (MSNBC -- Health)
Out-of-sync brain cells trigger jet lag Apr 18, 2009
The ventral and the dorsal neurons are separate but linked in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, below the hypothalamus at the base of the brain. Text. (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
Jet Lag Disturbs Sleep By Upsetting Internal Clocks In Two Neural Centers Apr 18, 2009
The ventral, or bottom, neurons receive light information directly from the eyes and govern rhythms in tune with periods of light and dark ... It turns out that some of the body's rhythms are "more loyal" to the ventral neurons and others are much more in tune with the dorsal neurons, said Horacio de la Iglesia, a UW associate professor of biology ... "When we impose a 22-hour light-dark cycle on animals, the ventral center can catch up but the dorsal doesn't adapt and defaults to its own inner... (Science Daily)
Sleep May Help Clear Brain For New Learning Apr 3, 2009
"These sixteen are lateral ventral neurons, which are part of the circadian circuitry that let the fly brain perform certain behaviors at particular times of day.". When flies slept, the number of new synapses formed during social enrichment decreased. (Science Daily)
'Good Feelings' from Alcohol Only Come with Fewer Drinks Mar 21, 2009
"Our findings suggest that a more targeted approach may be developed by blocking the activity of beta-endorphin in the [brain's] ventral tegmental area.". But researchers say additional research is needed to better understand the relationship between alcohol and endorphins and to further develop treatments to treat the disease, beginning with studies involving human beings who actually consume alcohol. (MEDLINEplus)
Low To Moderate, Not Heavy, Drinking Releases 'Feel-good' Endorphins In The Brain Mar 21, 2009
For the first time, a rodent study has confirmed that low to moderate levels of alcohol alter beta-endorphin release in the midbrain/Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) region, producing the pleasant effects that likely reinforce alcohol consumption ... Samuel Jarjour et al. Effect of Acute Ethanol Administration on the Release of Opioid Peptides from the Midbrain Including the Ventral Tegmental Area. (Science Daily)
Keeping a Leopard Gecko as a Pet Mar 12, 2009
Males over the age of six months will have a V shaped line of visible pores on their underside positioned between the hind legs just above ventral sack. Females have pores, but they are much smaller and more difficult to see. (Suite101.com)
Addiction: Insights From Parkinson's Disease Mar 3, 2009
Studies show that that dopamine acts in an area of the brain known as the ventral striatum, which receives input from other areas such as the hippocampus and amygdala. It may be through this region that dopamine promotes addictive behaviours. (Science Daily)
Soldiers kill Guinea-Bissau president Mar 3, 2009
Guinea-Bissau's press agency also reported the killing of the ventral president after Zamura Induta, chief of external relations of the army, told a press conference that President Vieira had been killed. Witnesses told Xinhua that they had heard the firing of heavy weapons around the Presidential Residence. (Xinhuanet, China)
Hormone Disorder Drug Could Help Drinkers Stay Sober Feb 26, 2009
The research builds on an earlier, provocative finding by Ron and her colleagues regarding the protein GDNF (glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor), which they had injected into rats VTA (ventral tegmental area) brain region, associated with drug-seeking behavior. In this earlier study, the scientists had trained rats to consume alcohol. (Science Daily)
In pain and joy of envy, the brain may play a role Feb 17, 2009
Conversely, the researchers said, when subjects were given a chance to imagine the golden one's downfall, the brain's reward circuits were activated, again in proportion to the strength of envy's sting: the subjects who felt the greatest envy the first time around reacted to news of their rival's misfortune with a comparatively livelier response in the dopamine-rich pleasure centers of, for example, the ventral striatum ... "The ventral striatum is processing that 'honey.' ". (International Herald Tribune -- Health)
New insight into why gambling is so attractive to some Feb 16, 2009
Dr. Clark and colleagues focused on the ventral striatum and medial frontal cortex, which previous research had implicated in processing rewards and drugs of abuse ... Near-misses were associated with a significant activation of the ventral striatum and anterior insula, areas that were also activated by unpredictable monetary wins. (News-Medical.net)
Researchers shed new light on connection between brain and loneliness Feb 16, 2009
Researchers found that the ventral striatuma region of the brain associated with rewardsis much more activated in non-lonely people than in the lonely when they view pictures of people in pleasant settings ... The ventral striatum, which is critical to learning, is a key portion of the brain and is activated through primary rewards such as food and secondary rewards such as money ... The subjects who rated as lonely were least likely to have strong activity in their ventral striata when shown... (EurekAlert!)
Love is in the head, not heart Feb 13, 2009
Last Updated: Friday 13 February 2009 13:46 HRS. by - February 13, 2009 - 0 comments. (The Money Times)
This Valentine's Day, say it with brain chemicals Feb 13, 2009
Acevedo, who works at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, is part of a team that has isolated those regions with the unromantic names of ventral tegmental area (VTA), the nucleus accumbens, the ventral pallidum and raphe nucleus ... In these men and women, two more areas of the brain lit up, along with the VTA: the ventral pallidum and raphe nucleus ... The ventral pallidum is associated with attachment and hormones that decrease stress; the raphe nucleus pumps out serotonin,... (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
Brain's love circuit identified Feb 13, 2009
Acevedo, who works at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, is part of a team that has isolated those regions with the unromantic names of ventral tegmental area (VTA), the nucleus accumbens, the ventral pallidum and raphe nucleus. The hot spot is the teardrop-shaped VTA. When people newly in love were put in a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine and shown pictures of their beloved, the VTA lit up. (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
Some people may be hard-wired to overeat Feb 7, 2009
The data from the brain scans showed that the connectivity between regions of the brain related to eating, like the amygdala and the ventral striatum, was different in the subjects with high EFS.. Connectivity is a measure of synchrony between different brain regions, Calder explained. (MSNBC -- Health)
