Most individuals at some point of their life experience events that are stressful. While some people seem to crumble to the deleterious effects of stress, others sail through adverse situations. Chronic or acute stress is associated with a wide range of psychosocial disorders. So what are the factors and the possible neurobiological mechanisms associated with resilience? Read more →

Alcohol consumption is probably as old as human civilization, and so is its abuse. The social and physiological ill effects of alcoholism are well known. What is less clear is why certain individuals are more predisposed to it. Alcohol addiction is a multifactorial phenomenon where personality traits, individual and social influences interact with neurobiology, creating varied clinical results and manifestations. The effect of alcohol on the central nervous system has been established but the exact mechanisms of action remain obscure. Alcoholism has different facets, from habitual intake, to problematic abuse, to addiction resulting in severe physiological damage. Read more →

We at the Brain Blogger are privileged to host the 7th edition of the Synapse, “a neuroscience carnival devoted to all areas of neuroscience including neurobiology, psychology, psychiatry, and neural systems — healthy brains to perverse minds — neurotransmitters to theories of mind.” We are thrilled to see this immense public interest in neuroscience and related disciplines. Read more →

A few days ago a friend mentioned to me that I should take a peek at a certain video that had been published on the University of California’s website. I found it quite fascinating and appropriate to our theme of biopsychosocial science. The video chronicles an event titled “The Launching of the Sage Center for the Study of the Mind” and was recorded in November of 2005. It presents a sophisticated and increasingly popular theory supporting the merging of psychology, social science, neurobiology and neuroimaging as an approach for studying human behavior. Read more →