Are you wooed by advertising? Of course you are. After all, it's one thing to go out and buy a new washing machine after the old one exploded, quite another to impulse-buy that 246-inch flat screen TV that just maybe, in hindsight, you didn't really need.  Advertisers come at you in two ways. There is the just-the-facts type of ad, called "logical persuasion," or LP ("This car gets 42 miles to the gallon"), and then there is the ad that circumvents conscious awareness, called "non-rational influence," or NI (a pretty woman, say, draped over a car). Despite research surrounding the notion of neuromarketing, which studies consumers' cognitive responses to marketing stimuli, the impact on brain function of these types of real-world advertisements was unknown.

Dr. George Bartzokis, professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute, was interviewed Sept. 7 on Fitness Radio, a web-based radio program. He discussed his myelin-focused brain model, which proposes that the development, maintenance and degeneration of myelin are central to acquiring cognitive and behavioral abilities as well as vulnerability to many common diseases.

Imagine if your brain lost its working memory — the ability to hold and manipulate information in your mind's eye. That's the plight faced by millions of people with neurofibromatosis type 1, or NF1. The genetic condition affects one in 3,500 people and is the most common cause of learning disabilities. Now a UCLA research team has uncovered new clues about how NF1 disrupts working memory. Published in the July 12 online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the findings suggest a potential drug target for correcting NF1-related learning disabilities.

Faculty campuswide will be participating in the new Staglin IMHRO (International Mental Health Research Organization) Center for Cognitive Neuroscience to probe how the human mind works, using state-of-the-science imaging technology. “The Staglin IMHRO Center for Cognitive Neuroscience is an exciting addition to UCLA,” said Scott Waugh, executive vice chancellor and provost. “It will advance scientific understanding, promote innovative teaching and host public programs that can inform the community about fascinating new developments in cognitive neuroscience. UCLA is on the cutting edge of the revolution in mental health, and this center will greatly enhance UCLA’s strengths in this vital area.”