Recent news from The Johns Hopkins University
This section contains regularly updated highlights of the news from around The Johns Hopkins
University. Links to the complete news reports from the nine schools,
the Applied Physics Laboratory and other centers and institutes are to
the left, as are links to help news media contact the Johns Hopkins
communications offices.
Rats that responded to cues for sugar with the speed and excitement of binge-eaters were less motivated for the treat when certain neurons were suppressed, researchers discovered.
May 31, 2016 Tags: addiction, binge drinking, binge eating, binging, brain, Jocelyn M. Richard, Patricia H. Janak, psychological and brain sciences, sugar
| Category: Natural Sciences, Psychology
The human brain is wired to pay attention to previously pleasing things — a finding that could help explain why it’s hard to break bad habits or stick to New Year’s resolutions.
February 11, 2016 Tags: addiction, brain science, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, dieting, dopamine, Johns Hopkins University, Susan M. Courtney
| Category: Psychology
Led by neuroscientist Steve Yantis, a team from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the Krieger School has found that insignificant objects that have come to be associated with a “reward” of some kind inadvertently capture people’s attention. The research, published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may eventually contribute to the development of more effective treatments for addiction, obesity and ADHD.
June 7, 2011 Tags: addiction, attention, attention capture, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, distraction, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, rewards, Steven Yantis
| Category: Academic Disciplines, Homewood Campus News, Psychology, Public Health
Why some people can enjoy a glass of wine with dinner or a few beers at a ballgame with no ill effects and others escalate their drinking and become dependent remains one of medicine’s baffling mysteries and a major public health concern. Using a $1 million stimulus-funded grant from the National Institutes of Health, a team headed by Elise Weerts, associate professor of behavioral biology in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is using brain imaging techniques to explore whether individual differences in the brain’s opiate receptor system could contribute to a person’s future risk of developing problems with alcohol.
April 19, 2010 Tags: addiction, alcoholism, brain, drug dependency, Elise Weerts, Integrated Program of Substance Abuse Research, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, opioid receptors, PET scans, social drinkers
| Category: Medicine and Nursing, Psychology, Public Health
