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Weakening or strengthening a synapse can have major implications both good and bad. Strengthening can sometimes be beneficial in treating Alzheimer's while at the same time causing drug addiction and contributing to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in other cases. For years, scientists believed that a special calcium permeable subtype of AMPA-type glutamate receptor only strengthened synapses, which send signals between brain cells. But Professor Mark Dell'Acqua, vice-chair of the Dept. of Pharmacology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and his team of researchers found that it also weakened synapses. "It is a major and unexpected finding," Dell'Acqua said. "If these receptors go to synapses for a short time they can promote weakening of those synapses. But if they stick around longer they can strengthen those synapses. In both cases, that strengthening or weakening can be undesirable if it goes too far in either direction such as in...

Conducted by researchers in Queen's School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, in conjunction with Forensic Science Northern Ireland, the project was funded by the Department of Justice's Asset Recovery Community Scheme which uses assets seized from criminals. Published in the Royal Society of Chemistry's journal, Analyst, the new approach will now enable statutory agencies to identify the actual substances contained within the legal highs more quickly, thereby enabling more prompt public health messages to be issued out to communities. In addition, as well as allowing agencies to build a comprehensive and 'live' picture of which drugs are currently in circulation , it is envisaged that the new rapid identification approach will also help speed up related criminal prosecutions. Background 'Legal highs' are substances used like illegal drugs , and have been responsible for a growing number of deaths in the UK over the last decade. Known as ...

The study, by researchers from University College London and the London School of Economics and Political Science, is the first to examine drinking behaviors in very early adolescence in relation to a wide range of factors that are associated with alcohol consumption in children, such as family, friends and the young person's views about alcohol. The researchers found that nearly 14% of 11 year olds had drunk more than a few sips of alcohol at least once. It is not possible to make statements regarding cause and effect with this sort of study, but the numbers do show a strong association between 11 year olds drinking and their friends' and mothers' behavior. Children whose mothers drank heavily were 80% more likely to drink than children whose mothers did not drink and boys were more likely to report drinking than girls. Children whose friends drank were five times more likely to drink than those whose friends did not drink. It was also found that friends' drinking ...

The research team, led by Psychology PhD student Kirsty Miller, surveyed more than 1000 high school pupils aged 13-17 from the Fife area. The results showed that group identification protects against adverse health behaviour, with levels of identification with family, school and friendship groups predicting the likelihood of teenagers having smoked cigarettes, drank to excess or smoked cannabis in the past month. The paper, published in the  British Journal of Developmental Psychology , looks at adolescent substance use from the perspective of social identity. The researchers asked participants to rate the ties they felt to the three groups. The more groups they strongly identified with, the less likely they were to use tobacco, alcohol or cannabis. The survey found that 14 per cent of respondents had smoked cigarettes, 31 per cent had binged on alcohol and 7.5 per cent had smoked cannabis in the previous month. The figures decreased from 24.1 per cent (for those who had zer...