Researchers now identify separate neural pathways in the mouse brain that are active during the social transfer of fear and pain, offering a new look at the neurobiological roots of empathy.

Neurological Forces Make the Task Difficult

Treating the growing numbers of opioid addicts will require anti-addiction medications and coordinating treatment for people within criminal justice system, medical experts said.

The emerging ability to detect changes in the brain linked to Alzheimer’s disease gives scientists the prospect of developing preventive measures for the devastating disorder, a leading specialist on the disease told a recent gathering at AAAS.

Dr. Reisa A. Sperling, director of the Center for Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment at the Harvard Medical School, said there has been some “very exciting research” recently which suggests that the preclinical process of Alzheimer’s typically is underway for 10 or even 20 years before detectable symptoms.

Doctors could routinely use a new genetic test to screen couples for severe, recessively inherited diseases that they might pass to their offspring, says new research in Science Translational Medicine.

Combined with genetic counseling, this technology may reduce the incidence of severe recessive childhood diseases and help to speed up diagnosis of these disorders in newborns.