Category Health/Medical

Marijuana appears to hamper blood flow to the brain, which theoretically could affect your memory and ability to reason, a new study suggests.

Marijuana appears to hamper blood flow to the brain, which theoretically could affect your memory and ability to reason, a new study suggests. Brain scans of nearly 1,000 past and present marijuana users revealed abnormally low blood flow throughout their brains, compared with a smaller control group of 92 people who’d never used pot. “The differences were astonishing,” said Dr. Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist and founder of the U.S.-based Amen Clinics. “Virtually every area of the brain we measured was lower in blood flow and activity in the marijuana smokers than in the healthy group.”

Blood flow was lowest in the hippocampus of marijuana users, which...

Image1: Serotonin transporter expression (marked in brown) in human colon. Image2: TLR2 mRNA and protein expression in 5-HT treated cells.

Scientists at the University of Exeter Medical School and University of Zaragoza in Spain studied a protein TLR2, a critical detector of the microbiota found in the intestine. They found that it regulates levels of serotonin – a neurotransmitter of the brain and also found in the gut, where it regulates our bowel routines. The research in cell cultures and verified in mice, provides strong evidence that microbiota can interfere with human physiology by modulating the serotonin transporter activity...

360 degree imaging of human brain organoids using lightsheet microscope, showing smooth appearance of normal organoid (left) and surface folding in PTEN mutant organoid (right) — as well as the mutant organoid’s large size. Credit: Yun Li and Julien Muffat

Implications also for understanding Zika virus-caused microencephaly. Whitehead Institute provide insight into a specific gene pathway that appears to regulate the growth, structure, and organization of the human cortex. They also demonstrate that 3D human cerebral organoids – miniature, lab-grown versions of specific brain structures – can be effective in modeling the molecular, cellular, and anatomical processes of human brain development. And they suggest a new path for identifying the cells affected by Zika virus.

“We found that incr...

Micrograph showing prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma (the most common form of prostate cancer) Credit: Wikipedia

A new study led by scientists from TSRI, Florida sheds light on a signaling circuit in cells that drives therapy resistance in prostate cancer. Targeting the components of this circuit suppresses advanced prostate cancer development. Prostate cancer—which, according to the American Cancer Society, affects 1 in 6 American men—is the second-leading cause of death after lung cancer in American men.

Currently, the most effective treatment of advanced prostate cancer is to deprive the cancer of what feeds it—androgen hormones such as testosterone...