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Social media use by adolescents associated with greater risk of internalizing problems

A new study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media are more likely to report high levels of internalizing behaviors compared to adolescents who do not use social media at all.

11 Sep 2019

Developing next generation treatment to counteract opioid addiction

There are many moments in the human experience when tragedy elicits not only compassion, but inspiration. When Mike Zhang heard the story of a mother whose son died of an opioid overdose just one month after the teenager's introduction to the drug at a party, the Virginia Tech researcher wanted to help.

11 Sep 2019

Teens growing up as minorities more likely to experience anxiety and depression

Puerto Rican teens growing up as minorities in the South Bronx are more likely to experience anxiety and depression than their peers growing up as a majority in Puerto Rico, even under similar conditions of poverty, says a new study in World Psychiatry.

10 Sep 2019

School districts double down on drug testing, targeting even middle schoolers

Thirteen-year-old Aura Brillhart and her 11-year-old sister, Morgan, will face a new sort of test in school this year: a drug test.

5 Sep 2019

Hardship during the Great Recession associated with long-lasting declines in mental health

People who suffered a financial, housing-related, or job-related hardship as a result of the Great Recession were more likely to show increases in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and problematic drug use, research shows.

3 Sep 2019

Study highlights the need for systematic improvements in care for intoxicated minors

Alcohol and other drug intoxication in minors is a public health challenge. European surveys reveal that schoolchildren start drinking alcohol at an average age of 12, and a third of Spanish 14 to 18 year-olds admit to binge drinking ─ consuming five or more drinks per occasion ─ within the last month.

28 Aug 2019

Front-line primary care providers given tools to play larger role in tackling opioid abuse

Buprenorphine and naltrexone can help break a person's addiction to life-threatening opioid use disorder, but they can be hard for front-line, primary care providers to prescribe, according to researchers at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center.

27 Aug 2019

Study explores obstacles to treating opioid use disorder with an effective medication

In an effort to find ways to improve long-term outcomes for people with opioid use disorder, University of Massachusetts Amherst epidemiology researcher Elizabeth Evans set out to study the obstacles to treating this chronic condition with an effective medication, buprenorphine-naloxone.

22 Aug 2019

UNM researchers find strong evidence that cannabis can significantly alleviate pain

Using the largest database of real-time recordings of the effects of common and commercially available cannabis products in the United States, researchers at The University of New Mexico found strong evidence that cannabis can significantly alleviate pain, with the average user experiencing a three-point drop in pain suffering on a 0-10 point scale immediately following cannabis consumption.

21 Aug 2019

Study explores motives, experiences of young people using New Psychoactive Substances

A research study into New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) - formerly referred to as 'legal highs' - provides new evidence about why young people were attracted to the drugs, and the health and social risks associated with taking them.

20 Aug 2019

Researchers find biological system that manages cells' response to opioid drug exposure

A team at Scripps Research in Florida has discovered a biological system that manages cells' response to opioid drug exposure. The unexpected discovery offers new ideas for improving the safety of the one of the most effective, and most abused, group of pain medications.

19 Aug 2019

Fatty foods increase CBD absorption, finds new research

With both marijuana and alcohol being legal in the US, researchers have found that an increasing proportion of people are using both drugs in combination. However, this is a risky thing to do, says a new study. The increased risk is largely due to the overlap of effects between the two separate drugs.

14 Aug 2019

New soft neural implant can be wirelessly controlled using a smartphone

Researchers have developed a soft neural implant that can be wirelessly controlled using a smartphone. It is the first wireless neural device capable of indefinitely delivering multiple drugs and multiple color lights, which neuroscientists believe can speed up efforts to uncover brain diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, addiction, depression, and pain.

9 Aug 2019

NIH awards $2.3 million for pilot project to develop opioid vaccine

The NIH has awarded $2.3M for a pilot project, led by Boston Children's Hospital, to develop a vaccine that would protect people with opioid use disorder against an accidental fentanyl overdose.

8 Aug 2019

Over $1.6 million grants to support research on opioid pain medication use during pregnancy

An interdisciplinary team of experts from Indiana University, along with other researchers across the U.S. and Sweden, have received grants totaling over $1.6 million to study the effects that opioid pain medications prescribed during pregnancy have on children.

8 Aug 2019

New initiative launched to support development and application of psychology research

In recent years, efforts to understand the workings of the mind have taken on new-found urgency. Not only are psychological and neurological disorders -- from Alzheimer's disease and strokes to autism and anxiety -- becoming more widespread, new tools and methods have emerged that allow scientists to explore the structure of, and activity within, the brain with greater granularity.

7 Aug 2019

Scientists can now control neural circuits using smartphone

A team of scientists in Korea and the United States have invented a device that can control neural circuits using a tiny brain implant controlled by a smartphone.

5 Aug 2019

Astrocytic MORs in the hippocampus responsible for conditioned place preference

If somebody asks me "are you a coffee addict?" I may say, "Yeah it seems like, but on the one condition, only in my office." I don't have that much craving for coffee at home, but just being in the office, where I used to drink coffee all the time seeking to get caffeine jitters, seems to trigger my caffeine-addicted brain.

31 Jul 2019

UChicago awarded $17 million grant to tackle opioid addiction in criminal justice settings

It's estimated that more than 130 people die every day from opioid-related drug overdoses. Particularly at risk are people transitioning through the criminal justice system, many of whom may already be struggling with complex issues spanning mental health, family instability and job and housing insecurity.

26 Jul 2019

Researchers receive $10 million grant to examine opioid addiction treatment for jail detainees

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Massachusetts Medical School are among the scientists at a dozen institutions nationwide that will form the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network, an ambitious, $155 million effort to improve opioid addiction treatment in criminal justice settings, the National Institutes of Health announced.

25 Jul 2019