NPP BrainPod

Springer Nature

BrainPod is the podcast from the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, produced in association with Nature Publishing Group. Join us as we delve into the latest basic and clinical research that advance our understanding of the brain and behavior, featuring highlighted content from a top journal in fields of neuroscience, psychiatry, and pharmacology. For complete access to the original papers and reviews featured in this podcast, subscribe to Neuropsychopharmacology. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 3 GG FA

    Oxytocin neurons in the anterior and posterior paraventricular nucleus have distinct behavioral functions and electrophysiological profiles

    Oxytocin has become known for having anti-anxiety and affiliative behavioral effects. That’s why clinicians and researchers are excited about using oxytocin as a potential therapeutic.  Brian Trainor is a professor at UC Davis, and his lab has been studying this complexity for the past decade. For an animal model, they work with a territorial, aggressive, monogamous rodent species called California mice. If the male is removed and the female is forced to defend their nest, she will experience what’s known as social defeat, and she will exhibit what’s called inhibited affiliative behavior, the type that can be affected by oxytocin — and this effect can be studied in a mouse’s brain. Read the full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-026-02352-y Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    10 min

  2. 7 GEN

    The genetics of cannabis lifetime use

    Cannabis, which is increasingly legally available, both for therapeutic and recreational use, is now one of the most commonly used drugs worldwide. Of people who have ever used cannabis, studies vary, but they estimate that about 10-25 percent of people who use cannabis go on to develop cannabis use disorder. Uri Bright is a postdoctoral associate at the Yale School of Medicine and is one of the authors of a recent study in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology on the genetics of cannabis lifetime use — which is anyone who has ever used cannabis even once. That’s a distinct population from people who have cannabis use disorder, as his colleagues had looked into in the previous study. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    10 min

  3. 27/10/2025

    Older and wiser? The neural correlates of worry induction and reappraisal in older adults

    Worry seems like something most people do from time to time, but for some people, severe worry can become an overwhelming sensation, and for older adults later in life, severe worry has been associated with an increased risk of stroke and coronary heart disease. Carmen Andreescu is a professor of psychiatry and bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She says mild worry is useful evolutionarily, to help us make plans or adapt behavior. Read the full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-025-02193-1 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    10 min

  4. 29/07/2025

    Grey matter morphometry in young adult e-cigarette users, tobacco cigarette users & non-using controls

    There’s been a fair amount of animal data suggesting that nicotine can affect the developing brain, but there hadn’t been the equivalent human studies done on people whose brains are still developing. And today there are two predominant forms of nicotine delivery - tobacco cigarettes, and e-cigarettes, or vaping. Laurie Zawertailo is a senior scientist at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto and an associate professor in the department of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Toronto. Kanwar Boparai recently completed her PhD, working with Dr. Zawertailo, and is now a postdoc. For their new study, they and some colleagues recruited young adults age 18-25, and these people fell into three groups: one that had only smoked cigarettes, one that had only ever vaped, and a third that functioned as a control, that had never used either. They ended up with 26 smokers, 27 vapers, and 25 controls. This is the first human study to separate cigarette smokers and vapers into distinct groups. Read the full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-025-02086-3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    9 min

  5. 04/06/2025

    Validation of L-type calcium channel blocker amlodipine as a novel ADHD treatment through cross-species analysis, drug-target Mendelian randomization, and clinical evidence from medical records

    Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a common condition that, for a lot of people, is difficult to treat. The drugs that exist have a number of adverse side effects, and about 25 percent of patients don’t respond to existing drugs. And so a team of researchers in Iceland, led by Karl Karlsson, professor of biomolecular engineering at Reykjavik University, undertook a number of different steps to narrow in on and then test what the team has determined to be a novel treatment for ADHD, using an existing drug, amlodipine.  Read the full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-025-02062-x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    10 min

  6. 18/04/2025

    Rapid and sustained antidepressant effects of vaporized N,N-Dimethyltryptamine: A Phase 2a clinical trial in Treatment-Resistant Depression.

    Draulio Araujo, professor at the Brain Institute in the University of Rio Grande Norte in Natal, Brazil, has been studying ayahuasca for more than 20 years. It’s a psychedelic plant used in rituals in South America that has also been researched for its potential to treat depression. The effects of ayahuasca can last for hours and also lead to side effects including vomiting and diarrhea. The active psychedelic drug in ayahuasca is DMT, and so Dr. Araujo and his colleagues decided to conduct the first test of DMT itself, which is also an endogenous chemical and has been demonstrated to be safe. Read the full article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-025-02091-6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    10 min

  7. 04/03/2025

    Endocannabinoid contributions to the perception of socially relevant, affective touch in humans

    New drugs that target the endocannabinoid system are being proposed for disorders that are usually characterized by the dysregulation of social processing, like social anxiety disorder and autism spectrum disorder. Researchers have been trying to understand the mechanisms for how these drugs work.  Leah Mayo is assistant professor at the University of Calgary, and she’s one of the authors of a new study in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology in which they examined two aspects of the system. One is the endocannabinoid system itself. And then there’s another aspect of social processing called the C tactile system.  Read the full study here: Endocannabinoid contributions to the perception of socially relevant, affective touch in humans | Neuropsychopharmacology Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    9 min

  8. 15/01/2025

    Sex differences in sensitivity to dopamine receptor manipulations of risk-based decision making in rats

    The scientific literature has shown that females demonstrate more aversion to risk-taking than males. Studies have also demonstrated that the basal lateral amygdala, or BLA, is a critical hub for processing risk and reward information. And yet further research has shown that activity in the amygdala differs between males and females, and that the expression of particular dopamine receptors called D2 receptors are greater in females than in males. The authors hypothesized that one mediating mechanism that leads to greater risk aversion in females is differential activity of dopamine in the basal lateral amygdala.  Caitlin Orsini is an assistant professor in the departments of psychology and neurology at UT Austin.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    10 min
Elenco completo (64)

Descrizione

BrainPod is the podcast from the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, produced in association with Nature Publishing Group. Join us as we delve into the latest basic and clinical research that advance our understanding of the brain and behavior, featuring highlighted content from a top journal in fields of neuroscience, psychiatry, and pharmacology. For complete access to the original papers and reviews featured in this podcast, subscribe to Neuropsychopharmacology. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Informazioni

  • Creatore
    Springer Nature
  • Anni di attività
    2011 - 2026
  • Puntate
    64
  • Classificazione
    Contenuti adatti a tutti
  • Copyright
    © American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
  • Sito web del podcast
    NPP BrainPod

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