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Research to date suggests that vacations are associated with a number of positive feelings. Jeroen Nawijn’s study sets out to answer four questions.
Ben Goldacre, (one of my faves) doctor and author of Bad Science, explains what the placebo effect is and describes its role in medical research and in the pharmaceutical industry.
So are doctors mis-using the placebo effect? Scientific American takes a stab at this in “Beyond the sugar pill: Are doctors misusing the placebo effect”?
Source: NHS Choices, Scientific American
A bride and groom turn their wedding into a science experiment by taking blood samples from guest to measure levels of the love hormone oxytocin.
Science writer Linda Geddes had decided her perfect day getting married to Nic Fleming should be part ceremony, part science experiment in a day dubbed their Big Fat Geek Wedding.
Source: New Scientist , Channel 4
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Researchers at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute have uncovered how antidepressants stimulate the brain to improve a person’s mood.
They have discovered the class of drugs that increase levels of a neurotransmitter known as ‘norepinephrine’ triggers neurogenesis – the growth of new neurons – in a brain region called the hippocampus.
“If you block hippocampus neurogenesis, antidepressants no longer work,” lead researcher Dr Dhanisha Jhaveri said.
“That suggests antidepressants must up-regulate neurogenesis in order for them to actually have any affect on behaviour.”
However, the neuroscientists also found not all antidepressants worked in the same way. [continue reading…]
