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Hyperbaric chamber eases drug withdrawal symptoms

Raymond Quock
Raymond Quock

Washington State University researchers have found that treatments of pure oxygen in a high-pressure chamber can relieve the symptoms of opiate withdrawal.

Ray Quock – a pharmacologist and WSU psychology professor – gave morphine-addicted mice pure pressurized oxygen before they began withdrawal from the drug. The mice had far less severe withdrawal symptoms than addicted mice that did not receive the treatment.

Outwardly, said Quock, the treated mice appeared “much calmer. You can tell the difference.”

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WSU News

Medical Xpress

Health Medicine Network

Science Daily

 

$1.7M to counteract poor decision-making due to sleep loss

An interdisciplinary team of WSU researchers received a $1.7 million grant to develop and test cognitive flexibility training to combat the effects of sleep loss on decision-making under rapidly changing circumstances. Led by Hans Van Dongen, of the WSU Sleep and Performance Research Center, the team includes psychology researchers Paul Whitney and John Hinson.

John Hinson
John Hinson
Paul Whitney
Paul Whitney

The project aims to reduce decision-making errors that contribute to failed military missions, industrial accidents, workplace injuries, financial losses and other serious consequences.

Funding for the three-year project comes from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, a partnership between the U.S. Congress, military and public to fund groundbreaking, high-impact medical research.

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WSU News

Drug addiction: Dogma be damned

If the reaction one has to drugs is an issue worth considering, the reaction of the general public to drug addicts is of even greater significance. Public reactions often (sadly) determine public policy, regardless of whether logic and history support such decisions.

Arthur Blume
Arthur Blume

Arthur Blume, a professor at Washington State University in Vancouver and renowned psychologist in the field of addiction, wrote a book called Treating Drug Problems that is probably the best Drug Addiction and Treatment 101 course you can find. It’s not written for students of Addiction Science, nor for experts in the field. It is not a self-help book for those struggling to overcome addiction, and it’s not a guide for families of addicts.

It is a tool for just about anyone who wants an enlightened explanation of the nature of addiction, the biopsychological model as it applies to the topic (biology, environment, behavior as factors behind addiction), risk and protective factors, and theories behind recovery programs and relapse prevention.

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Los Angeles Post-Examiner

What Makes Donald Trump Such A Cranky Baby?

Maybe Donald Trump acts childish because no one tells him he needs to go to bed.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, brags about how little sleep he gets.

Paul Whitney
Paul Whitney

“Lack of sleep often affects mood in substantial ways,” Paul Whitney, professor of psychology at WSU, told HuffPost. “There is evidence that lack of sleep decreases the ability to regulate emotion, so sleep-deprived individuals may experience greater emotional reactivity and impulsivity.”

Whitney, who with colleagues has conducted research on the effects of sleep deprivation, explained that lack of sleep profoundly affects tasks that require quick decisions based on feedback from previous tasks. » More …

Eight CAS seniors among WSU’s Top 10 for 2016

Eight of the Top Ten Senior Awards presented recently by the WSU Student Alumni Ambassadors and Alumni Association went to students in the College of Arts and Sciences. Two graduating seniors were named award winners in each of five categories for 2016.   » More …