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Hamas fighters have reportedly been using an illicit substance, nicknamed 'the poor man's cocaine', to 'feel invincible' and numb themselves while murdering Israelis. Israeli news site, Channel 12, reported that Captagon pills had been seized from Hamas prisoners and found with the bodies of dead fighters. They claim that some of the terrorists had taken the drug to 'commit the inhuman murders' during the October 7 attack on Israel. ... Captagon is a highly addictive amphetamine-like drug that has plagued the Middle East in recent years - it has been taken by fighters who say it gives them a feeling...

Doctors treat millions of children with Ritalin every year to improve their ability to focus on tasks, but scientists now report that Ritalin also directly enhances the speed of learning. In animal research, the scientists showed for the first time that Ritalin boosts both of these cognitive abilities by increasing the activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine deep inside the brain. Neurotransmitters are the chemical messengers neurons use to communicate with each other. They release the molecule, which then docks onto receptors of other neurons. The research demonstrated that one type of dopamine receptor aids the ability to focus, and another...

A little pill called Captagon turns Jihadists into superhuman soldiers. They dont feel pain, they dont fear death and they dont get tired. They become killing machines. Bonus; it makes them murderously psychotic and causes brain damage after prolonged use. It is cheap, easy to produce and highly addictive. The Syrians take it as do the rebels. And from what I hear, ISIS loves the stuff. They laugh when they are beaten, they are high when they rape, they are jazzed when they behead infidels. During the raid in Paris, French police said they found needles used by the attackers...

Many people with Parkinson's disease eventually develop debilitating movements called dyskinesia, a side effect of their much-needed dopamine replacement medication. The mechanism underlying this unwanted side effect has been unknown, until now. An international collaboration led by Scripps Research, Florida has found a key cause, and with it, potentially, a new route to providing relief.

In a study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, Güler and his colleagues demonstrate that the pleasure center of the brain that produces the chemical dopamine, and the brain's separate biological clock that regulates daily physiological rhythms, are linked, and that high-calorie foods—which bring pleasure—disrupt normal feeding schedules, resulting in overconsumption. Using mice as study models, the researchers mimicked the 24/7 availability of a high-fat diet, and showed that anytime snacking eventually results in obesity and related health problems. Güler's team found that mice fed a diet comparable to a wild diet in calories and fats maintained normal eating...

They say the first step is admitting you have a problem. I think many readers of this article will respond with outrage, and many will see it says things they already knew to be true—and I think these two groups will largely overlap. The most powerful obstacle to confronting a destructive addiction is denial, and collectively we are in denial about pornography. Since it seems somehow relevant, let me state at the outset that I am French. Every fiber of my Latin, Catholic body recoils at puritanism of any sort, especially the bizarre, Anglo-Puritan kind so prevalent in America. I...

In the 1950s, researchers stumbled upon a new class of drugs that provided relief for those suffering from schizophrenia. These drugs were known as antipsychotics and, as the name suggests, they reduced symptoms like hallucinations and delusions — primarily by reducing the levels of dopamine in the brain. This led clinicians and scientists to argue that dopamine was linked to the experiences of psychotic symptoms, and a concerted research effort ensued, seeking to solve the puzzle of why excess dopamine might produce hallucinations. Although it was later shown that increasing dopamine could produce hallucinations, establishing a consistent link between them,...

Social media and video games are creating a generation of children with the mental and emotional immaturity of three-year-olds, one of Britain’s most eminent brain scientists has warned. Baroness Susan Greenfield, a senior research fellow at Oxford University and former director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, said she was concerned children were losing their ability to think for themselves, empathise and communicate with each other. Instead, they were being bombarded with instant gratification through social media and gaming which meant that like three-year-olds they would need “something every moment to distract them so they can’t have their own...

One of the more despicable Congress-critters is Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a man with utter contempt for Truth. He was on Tucker Carlson Tonight last evening pushing for confiscation of AR-type rifles and spinning like a dervish with rocket boosters. But let's forget that while Swalwell wrote an op-ed calling for gun confiscation, it's not really confiscation, according to Swalwell. Let's forget that what he labels "assault weapons" are just semi-automatic rifles that happen to have a military-style appearance (much like putting a Porsche body on a Yugo chassis). Let's forget that he claimed that his AR-species confiscation plan would...

Benjamin Franklin famously said, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Science has proved him correct … still. A team of German scientists examined more than 13,000 molecular food compounds, looking for substances that may activate dopamine receptors in the same way that actual dopamine does. In other words, food that makes you happy. They found one in beer, a drink so noble that it is thought that beer was the nectar of the gods sipped by the Greek god Zeus from his goblet. "Drink. Be merry," commanded Zeus, or at least that's what...

The next three weeks we will look at possibly the largest and most dangerous crisis facing America. Please join us in taking an in depth look at the challenge for America. If you were around in the 1980s, you’ll likely recall HIV/AIDS bursting on the scene with a vengeance. AIDS spread through the consciousness of America even faster than the disease. Who was exposed? Where did it come from? Today another epidemic has exploded into the minds of America that has everyone just as befuddled – opioids. People are dying in mass numbers and no one has totally wrapped their...

For years you've been telling your friends, family, co-workers and anyone who will listen that you're addicted to cheese. It's a part of every meal or snack, and you think about it constantly. According to a new study from the University of Michigan, cheese crack is a real thing. And so is your addiction. The study, published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine, examines why certain foods are more addictive than others. Researchers identified addictive foods from about 500 students who completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale, designed to measure if someone has a food addiction. Pizza, unsurprisingly, came...

Blocking D1 receptors in brain blocks alcohol cravings: study. Scientists say a cure for alcoholism could be on the horizon thanks to the remarkable discovery of neurons in the brain that play a role in whether one glass of wine turns into a bottle. Texas A&M researchers explain the part of your brain known as the dorsomedial striatum contains neurons with spiny protrusions, each with two types of dopamine receptors. One type, called D1, encourages action but is structurally altered when large amounts of alcohol are consumed. The alteration causes the neurons to activate with less stimulation and the result...

A cure for marijuana abuse could be on the horizon thanks to a new finding. Researchers found that increasing the levels of a naturally-occurring acid in the brain could stop addicts who are trying to give up from relapsing. The scientists discovered that kynurenic acid reduces the kick monkeys and rats get from THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. … Kynurenic acid, which can be produced from bananas and turkey, is thought to cause fewer side effects than other treatments that have been considered because it occurs naturally in the brain. …

Choosing diet drinks and artificial sweeteners instead of high-calorie treats may increase your craving for sugar, a study has found. It is because sugar substitutes tickle the taste buds, but can’t fool the brain. The pleasure we get from sweet treats is the result of a chemical called dopamine, which is released in the brain when sugar is consumed and is linked to a feeling of reward. Artificial sweeteners and other low-calorie options do not cause the same reaction, leaving dieters with their craving—and making them far more likely to binge on sugar later on. …

<p>I hope that not too many millions of dollars were spent to reach this conclusion.</p>

“I’m not really a creative person”, always struck me as an odd sentence. Could it really be that some of us are born to be more creatively gifted than others? If so, I thought at first, that’s definitely a downer. In school, what was considered “being creative”, like writing or drawing nice pictures was never my strength. (snip) Why do we have great ideas in the shower then? Alice Flaherty, one of the most renowned neuroscientists researching creativity has an answer for us. Another ingredient, that’s very important for us to be creative is dopamine: The more dopamine that is...

Patients suffering REM sleep behaviour disorders dream nightmares in which they are attacked and pursued, with the particularity that they express them by screaming, crying, punching and kicking while sleeping. Lancet Neurology has published the third consecutive work in five years about the relationship between this disorder and Parkinson’s disease. The first work showed in 2006 that 45% of patients who suffer this sleep disorder develop Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases caused by a lack of dopamine in the brain. The second article discovered that neuroimaging tests that measure dopamine in the brain, such as the brain SPECT, are...

The neurotransmitter dopamine is best known for its roles in the brain – in signaling pathways that control movement, motivation, reward, learning and memory. Now, Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have demonstrated that dopamine produced outside the brain – in the kidneys – is important for renal function, blood pressure regulation and life span. Their studies, published in the July Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggest that the kidney-specific dopamine system may be a therapeutic target for treating hypertension and kidney diseases such as diabetic nephropathy. Previous studies had suggested a role for dopamine in regulating kidney function and total body...

A study of the salamander brain has led researchers at Karolinska Institutet to discover a hitherto unknown function of the neurotransmitter dopamine. In an article published in the prestigious scientific journal Cell Stem Cell they show how in acting as a kind of switch for stem cells, dopamine controls the formation of new neurons in the adult brain. Their findings may one day contribute to new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's. The study was conducted using salamanders which unlike mammals recover fully from a Parkinson's-like condition within a four week period. Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease characterised...