http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Thanks to a new method there is a reason for hope for patients with very severe depression. German physicians at the University Clinics of Bonn and Cologne have treated ten patients with deep brain stimulation. This involved implanting electrodes in the patients' nucleus accumbens. This centre has a key role in as the brains reward system, whose function may be impaired in depressive people. Subsequent to this treatment, the patients' depression improved significantly in half of the patients. All patients had suffered from very severe depression for many years and did not respond to any other therapies. The results of the study will be published in the journal Biological Psychiatry. http://www.physorg.com/news176377535.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:50:01 EST news176377535 A brain-imaging study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory provides the first definitive evidence that patients suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have lower-than-normal levels of certain proteins essential for experiencing reward and motivation. http://www.physorg.com/news171652613.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:17:27 EST news171652613 Rewards go further than punishment in building human cooperation and benefiting the common good, according to research published this week in the journal Science by researchers at Harvard University and the Stockholm School of Economics. While previous studies have focused almost exclusively on punishment for promoting public cooperation, here rewards are shown to be much more successful. http://www.physorg.com/news171206724.html Medicine & Health Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:25:58 EST news171206724 New research indicates that decreased cravings for pleasure may be at the root of a core symptom of major depressive disorder. The research is in contrast to the long-held notion that those suffering from depression lack the ability to enjoy rewards, rather than the desire to seek them. http://www.physorg.com/news169316755.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:30:04 EST news169316755 People who are rewarded for making correct decisions learn quickly. While the "carrot" approach may produce favourable results, little is understood about how rewards facilitate the learning process. http://www.physorg.com/news167988751.html Biology Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:50:01 EST news167988751 What would happen if credit card holders no longer received rewards? Not much - but it could cut consumer credit card debt, says a new study on the impact of rewards programs on credit and debit card use. http://www.physorg.com/news167311101.html Other Sciences Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:18:42 EST news167311101 New research demonstrates that single neurons in the reward center of the brain process not only primitive rewards but also more abstract, cognitive rewards related to the quest for information about the future. The study, published by Cell Press in the July 16 issue of the journal Neuron, enhances our understanding of learning and suggests that current theories of reward should be revised to include the effect of information seeking. http://www.physorg.com/news166882349.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:50:12 EST news166882349 Be careful what you promise people. You are not just obliging yourself to keep your promises; other people will hold you to account for them as well. Dutch-sponsored researcher Manuela Vieth investigated how the behaviour of other people and your own behaviour influences later behaviour. http://www.physorg.com/news165587159.html Other Sciences Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:27:02 EST news165587159 (PhysOrg.com) -- Monkeys playing a game similar to "Let's Make A Deal" have revealed that their brains register missed opportunities and learn from their mistakes. http://www.physorg.com/news161529375.html Biology Thu, 14 May 2009 14:16:47 EST news161529375 (PhysOrg.com) -- When asked to be on the lookout for a fugitive, only a small percentage of participants in University of Arkansas studies spotted the wanted man or woman, even with the promise of a financial reward. http://www.physorg.com/news159645133.html Medicine & Health Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:53:11 EST news159645133 A new study conducted at Mayo Clinic reports that one in six patients receiving therapeutic doses of certain drugs for Parkinson's disease develops new-onset, potentially destructive behaviors, notably compulsive gambling or hypersexuality. http://www.physorg.com/news158417143.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:46:06 EST news158417143 (PhysOrg.com) -- Changes in a person's eyes can show that they've seen something before, even when they're pretending they haven't, research by University of Sussex doctoral student Becky Heaver reveals. http://www.physorg.com/news157821563.html Medicine & Health Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:19:55 EST news157821563 (AP) -- Shopping on eBay just got a bit more rewarding, at least for some users of the online auction site. http://www.physorg.com/news157806065.html Technology Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:01:51 EST news157806065 Why do people gamble if they know that the house always wins? Researchers at the University of Cambridge argue that near-misses, where the gambler narrowly misses out on the jackpot, may provide part of the answer. http://www.physorg.com/news153577561.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:26:46 EST news153577561 Rewarding and stressful signals don't seem to have much in common. But researchers studying diseases ranging from drug addiction to anxiety disorders are finding that the brain's reward and stress signaling circuits are intertwined in complex ways. http://www.physorg.com/news148672373.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:52:53 EST news148672373 The melodious singing of birds has been long appreciated by humans, and has often been thought to reflect a particularly positive emotional state of the singer. In a new study published in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE on October 1, researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan have demonstrated that this can be true. When male birds sang to attract females, specific "reward" areas of their brain were strongly activated. Such strong brain activation resulted in a similar change in brain reward function to that which is caused by addictive drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news142245192.html Biology Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:33:12 EST news142245192 Researchers using positron emission tomography (PET) have validated a long-held theory that individual personality traits -particularly reward dependency -are connected to brain chemistry, a finding that has implications for better understanding and treating substance abuse and other addictive behaviors. http://www.physorg.com/news137770929.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:42:09 EST news137770929 Good things may come to those who wait, but research has proven that humans and animals actually prefer an immediate rather than a delayed reward. Now, a study published by Cell Press in the July 10 issue of the journal Neuron reveals how a decision-making region of the brain encodes information associated with the magnitude and delay of rewards. http://www.physorg.com/news134829035.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:30:35 EST news134829035 The cognitive strategies humans use to regulate emotions can determine both neurological and physiological responses to potential rewards, a team of New York University and Rutgers University neuroscientists has discovered. The findings, reported in the most recent issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, shed light on how the regulation of emotions may influence decision making. http://www.physorg.com/news133964263.html Technology Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:17:43 EST news133964263