Fourteen men and women were asked to describe their social roles and support levels. Each was injected with a small amount of radiotracer, used to show how different tissues function in PET scans. Researchers, meanwhile, monitored dopamine activity in the brain.

"Low levels of dopamine receptors were associated with low social status and that high levels of dopamine receptors were associated with higher social status,” study leader Dr. Diana Martinez of the New York Psychiatric Institute said in a press release. “The same type of association was seen with the volunteer's reports of social support they experience from their friends, family or significant other."

Although human testing is still in its early stages, a similar correlation between dopamine receptors and social status has been identified in primates. This link may have something to do with the perks of being higher up on the social ladder.

“In monkeys, dominant and subordinate social rank are determined by physical and social triumph and defeat,” authors explain. Dopamine is partly responsible for motivation and reward. It is also thought to be a precursor to the release of adrenaline.

“In humans, social hierarchy is a more subtle phenomenon that can be approximated by measuring social status and social support,” they write.

While high social status was correlated with a higher number of dopamine receptors, healthy participants with social phobias had fewer receptors. This information could explain why some people are more anxious or socially detached than others. It could also pave the way toward a greater understanding of conditions such as social anxiety disorder.

While this study is merely suggestive, results support the idea that social status and encouragement from peers and loved ones may be related to dopamine receptors. Further research could provide insight to the complexity of dopamine’s role in social structure.

Read more on the study in February’s issue of Biological Psychiatry.

Communicating can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for someone left mute by paralysis. Although there are existing devices that help paralyzed individuals speak, they are often inefficient for communication and tiresome for the user. This is the first to translate brain waves at the rate of natural speech.

"The most significant thing is that this shows it would be possible for someone who is paralyzed to speak in real-time rather than going through a painful typing process," lead researcher Frank Guenther said in an interview with MSNBC. "This communication is very important because these people are completely locked out from the rest of the world."

Guenther and his team tested the electrode on a 26 year-old male volunteer with locked-in syndrome, the result of a brain stem stroke. Individuals with this disorder are aware of their surroundings and can understand and react mentally, but are physically unable to respond.

The device, designed for permanent implantation without the risk of infection, is a neurotrophic electrode. The electrode is implanted in the speech-related motor cortex, an area of the brain responsible for speech planning and synthesis. After 3—4 months neurites attach to a portion of the device, allowing signals to be transmitted from the brain into the electrode. These signals are then transmitted to a computer that translate brain waves into recognizable, audible speech.

Because it is extremely difficult to differentiate the neural fluff from intentional cognition, determining which frequencies represent which sounds is a very timely process. As of now, only vowel sounds have been quickly and accurately produced. The device used for the trial had just three wires, however, and researchers believe additional wires may result in greater speech recognition capabilities.

“Our results support the feasibility of neural prostheses that may have the potential to provide near-conversational synthetic speech output for individuals with severely impaired speech motor control. They also provide an initial glimpse into the functional properties of neurons in speech motor cortical areas.”

Visit Healia's Stroke Community, or read the full study online at PLoS ONE.

A study released this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that a technique called deep brain stimulation can offer new hope to people suffering with Parkinson’s Disease, an incurable brain disease that disrupts movement. In the largest study yet of deep brain stimulation, patients who received the treatment showed dramatic improvements in their movements compared to patients taking drugs, the standard Parkinson’s treatment.

The study, which followed about 250 Parkinson’s patients for six months, showed that for 71 percent of patients, deep brain stimulation reduced tremors, lessened rigidity, and gave patients an extra four and a half hours of good motor functioning each day. Their quality of life and emotional well-being also improved.

However, the study also found that deep brain stimulation is not without risks. The highly invasive technique, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2002 for advanced Parkinson's disease, involves implanting electrodes deep within the brain and connecting them to an electrical device implanted in the abdomen or chest. The device then produces a small current that flows through the electrodes and into the brain at regular intervals, kind of like a “brain pacemaker.” This current disables overactive brain cells that inhibit movement and cause tremors.

Parkinson’s disease occurs when, for unknown reasons, cells in a small part of the brain called the substantia nigra die. These cells normally release the neurotransmitter dopamine, which helps the body produce smooth movements. Parkinson’s patients face an inevitable decline in their ability to move, but symptoms can be improved by the use of drugs that help the brain produce more dopamine. Unfortunately, these drugs often lose their effectiveness over time, leaving patients desperate to find a new approach.

About 40 percent of the patients who received the implants suffered serious side effects, including infections, falls, and one patient who died of a ruptured blood vessel subsequent to the surgery. The falls may have been due to improved movement ability, as patients tried to do activities they may not have performed in years – one man fell off his roof while attempting repairs. A few surgery patients (about 3 percent) actually got worse.

While deep brain stimulation appears to improve movement for many patients, it does not cure the disease or prevent it from worsening over time. It also does not improve non-motor symptoms that often occur with Parkinson’s including problems with thinking, memory, or speech. Also, it is unclear if deep brain stimulation continues to benefit patients indefinitely or whether it, like Parkinson’s drugs, will lose its effectiveness over time.

Not everyone is a good candidate for the deep brain stimulation, but if you or a loved one has advanced Parkinson’s disease, talk to a healthcare professional to find out if the treatment is appropriate. The implantation procedure costs around $60,000 but it is covered by Medicare and also by some insurance companies.

For more information on Parkinson’s disease, join the Healia Health Community on Parkinson’s disease.


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Researchers have found that even people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol may have smaller brain volume than those who do not drink. In a study published in the October issue of the Archives of Neurology, researchers conducted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain on 1,839 healthy people. They found that any level of alcohol consumption resulted in a reduction in brain volume. That is, the more alcohol consumption that people reported, the smaller their brain volume. People who did not drink alcohol had the greatest brain volumes. Some brain shrinkage is normal as people age; brain volume decreases about 2 percent per decade.

It is not yet clear if alcohol consumption directly shrinks brain tissue in people but this study raises some concerns that even moderate levels of alcohol use may have harmful effects on the brain.

Ask what others think about this issue on Healia’s Alcohol Community.

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United States Senator Edward M. Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor today. The tumor was discovered by doctors after the 76-year old senator was hospitalized Saturday upon having a seizure at his home in Massachusetts. Sen. Kennedy has malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe, a region of the brain that helps govern sensation, movement, and language.