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However, some patients can take a considerable amount of time to wake up, holding up the use of expensive operating rooms and occupying medical staff who must keep them under close observation. Now researchers at MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital have moved a step closer to a treatment to rapidly awaken patients after administration of a general anesthetic, following a study of the mechanism that allows people to regain consciousness. In a paper published in the journal  PNAS , the researchers demonstrate that activating dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain causes active emergence from general anesthesia. This is important because the mechanism by which we regain consciousness following general anesthetic has so far been poorly understood, according to Ken Solt, a research affiliate in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT and an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He led the research alongside Emery Brown, ...

"Our devotion to technology and social media has changed how we interact with others, and that's not necessarily a good thing," said James Roberts, Ph.D., The Ben H. Williams Professor of Marketing in Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business. "Yes, there are advantages to technology. But our obsession with smartphones and the lives we live via our social media channels can come at a cost to our real-life relationships." Roberts is known internationally for his research on smartphone addiction and how technology (smartphones, specifically) affects relationships and stress levels. He is the author of the book "Too Much of a Good Thing: Are you Addicted to your Smartphone?" Roberts explained that substance and behavioral addictions have six core components: salience, euphoria, tolerance, conflict, withdrawal symptoms and relapse. He provides six questions and statements people can use to gauge each of those components and help them unders...