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Psychopharmacology
Psychopharmacology is the study of drug-induced changes in mood, thinking, and behavior. These drugs may originate from natural sources such as plants and animals, or from artificial sources such as chemical syntheses in the laboratory. These drugs interact with particular target sites or receptors found in the nervous system to induce widespread changes in physiological or psychological functions. The specific interaction between drugs and their target sites or receptors is referred to as drug action. The widespread changes in physiological or psychological function is referred to as drug effect. In psychopharmacology, researchers are interested in a wide range of drug classes such as antidepressants and stimulants. Drugs are researched for their pharmaceutical properties, physical side effects, and psychological side effects.
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Mind & Brain News
November 30, 2025
Nov. 28, 2025 Researchers found that repeated head impacts can disrupt a key system that helps the brain wash away waste. In professional fighters, this system initially seems to work harder after trauma, then declines over time. MRI scans revealed that these ...
Nov. 28, 2025 Princeton researchers found that the brain excels at learning because it reuses modular “cognitive blocks” across many tasks. Monkeys switching between visual categorization challenges revealed that the prefrontal cortex assembles these blocks ...
Nov. 28, 2025 Researchers identified a new, sticky form of mitochondrial DNA damage that builds up at dramatically higher levels than in nuclear DNA. These lesions disrupt energy production and activate stress-response pathways. Simulations show the damage makes ...
Nov. 27, 2025 Spermine, a small but powerful molecule in the body, helps neutralize harmful protein accumulations linked to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. It encourages these misfolded proteins to gather into manageable clumps that cells can more efficiently ...
Nov. 27, 2025 Scientists studying young adults with obesity discovered early indicators of brain stress that resemble patterns seen in cognitive impairment. The group showed higher inflammation, signs of liver strain and elevated neurofilament light chain, a ...
Nov. 27, 2025 A massive veteran study found a strong connection between untreated sleep apnea and a higher chance of Parkinson’s. CPAP users had much lower odds of developing the condition. Researchers believe that repeated dips in oxygen during sleep may ...
Nov. 26, 2025 Scientists discovered that lowered brain energy signaling in the hippocampus can lead to both depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in mice. Stress reduced ATP, a molecule important for cell energy and communication. Altering a protein called ...
Nov. 25, 2025 Scientists discovered that more muscle and less hidden abdominal fat are linked to a younger biological brain age. Deep visceral fat appeared to accelerate brain aging, while muscle mass offered a protective ...
Nov. 25, 2025 Scientists have found that a mutation tied to Alzheimer’s disrupts the production and quality of exosomes—tiny cell-made communication packets. Cells with the defective SORLA protein generate fewer exosomes and ones far less able to support ...
Nov. 24, 2025 Hypertension begins harming the brain surprisingly early, even before measurable blood pressure increases. Key cells related to blood vessels, signaling, and myelin maintenance begin aging prematurely and malfunctioning. These disruptions resemble ...
Nov. 23, 2025 Researchers have uncovered a surprising way the brain switches pain on, revealing that neurons can release an enzyme outside the cell that activates pain signals without disrupting normal movement or sensation. This enzyme, called VLK, modifies ...
Nov. 23, 2025 Researchers discovered that raising the protein Sox9 can help the brain’s astrocytes clear out toxic plaque buildup linked to Alzheimer’s. In mouse models that already showed memory problems, activating these cells improved cognitive ...
Latest Headlines
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Nov. 30, 2025 MIT scientists found that what we see is strongly influenced by how alert or active we are. Parts of the brain responsible for planning and control send specialized signals that either boost or quiet ...
Nov. 30, 2025 Scientists have uncovered a stepwise system that guides how the brain sorts and stabilizes lasting memories. By tracking brain activity during virtual reality learning tasks, researchers identified ...
Nov. 25, 2025 Personalized algorithms may quietly sabotage how people learn, nudging them into narrow tunnels of information even when they start with zero prior knowledge. In the study, participants using ...
Nov. 22, 2025 Scientists discovered that lowering a specific molecule helps microglia switch into a protective state that quiets brain inflammation in Alzheimer’s. A small group of these cells seems to have an ...
Nov. 22, 2025 A new nasal-delivered nanotherapy shows promise against aggressive glioblastoma tumors. By activating the STING immune pathway using gold-core spherical nucleic acids, researchers were able to reach ...
Nov. 21, 2025 Researchers uncovered how estrogen subtly reshapes learning by strengthening dopamine reward signals in the brain. Rats learned faster when estrogen levels were high and struggled when the ...
Nov. 21, 2025 Researchers discovered that the common amino acid arginine can block harmful Aβ aggregation and reduce its toxic effects in Alzheimer’s disease models. In flies and mice, oral arginine lowered ...
Nov. 19, 2025 Scientists have developed a new molecule that breaks down beta-amyloid plaques by binding to excess copper in the brain. The treatment restored memory and reduced inflammation in rats, while also ...
Nov. 18, 2025 Scientists are uncovering how GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy act on brain regions that control hunger, nausea, pleasure-based eating, and thirst. These discoveries may help create treatments ...
Nov. 18, 2025 Researchers have created one of the most detailed virtual mouse cortex simulations ever achieved by combining massive biological datasets with the extraordinary power of Japan’s Fugaku ...