HealthDay (2/15, Murez) reports that for a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers “used brain scans and challenging work to assess how kids and adults might work through…tough problems and whether or not their problem-solving processes were the same.” The team “found that while the multiple demand network is not fully developed in kids, it operates similarly to the way it does in adults, said” the senior study author who explained, “We found that the multiple demand network was a distinct network even in young children, and was separate from the language network, just as it is in adults.”

Related Links:

— “Young Kids, Adults Use Same Brain Areas to Solve Tough Problems “Cara Murez, HealthDay, February 15, 2023

The New York Times (2/15, Hoffman) reports two FDA “panels of addiction experts on Wednesday unanimously recommended that” naloxone (Narcan), “the overdose-reversing nasal spray, be made widely available without a prescription, a significant step in the effort to stem skyrocketing drug fatalities.”

The AP (2/15, Perrone) reports the “experts voted unanimously in favor of the switch after a full day of presentations and discussions centered on whether untrained users would be able to safely and effectively use the nasal spray in emergency situations.” The agency “will make a final decision on the drug in coming weeks.”

CNN (2/15, Christensen) reports the agency “has advised the industry to change the label to add simple directions for use and possibly instructions to call 911 after administering the drug.”

Bloomberg Law (2/15, Meghjani, Baumann, Subscription Publication) and NBC News (2/15, Lovelace) also report.

Related Links:

— “Panel backs moving opioid antidote Narcan over the counter “Matthew Perrone, AP, February 15, 2023

Healio (2/15, Rhoades) reports, “Despite ‘significant stressors’ that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, substance use decreased among adolescents and young adults in 2020 compared with pre-pandemic years,” investigators concluded. In fact, “results from the NIDA-supported Monitoring the Future” survey revealed that “the percentage of 8th-, 10th- and 12th-graders reporting drug use decreased significantly as the pandemic endured, consistent with…findings” that show “marked reduction in substance use among youth aged 13 to 20 years in 2020.” The study authors concluded that “the ‘massive shifts to social functioning’ early in the pandemic led to abrupt discontinuations of data collection on national substance use,” according to the findings published online Jan. 31 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Substance use decreased among youth, young adults during COVID-19 pandemic “Andrew Rhoades, Healio, February 15, 2023

Psychiatric News (2/15) reports, “As many as 7% of U.S. veterans were found to have a positive screen for prolonged grief disorder,” investigators concluded in a study that “analyzed data from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,441 U.S. veterans.” After adjusting for confounding factors, the study team found that “veterans with prolonged grief disorder were five to nine times more likely to screen positive for PTSD, major depressive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder,” and “after additional adjustment for current psychiatric and substance use disorders, veterans were two to three times more likely to endorse suicidal thoughts and behaviors.” The findings were published online Feb. 13 ahead of print in the American Journal Of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Prolonged Grief Disorder Among Veterans Linked to Risk of Other Psychiatric Disorders, Suicide, Psychiatric News, February 15, 2023

According to HealthDay (2/14, Mozes), after spending “decades tracking the onset of dementia among nearly 21,000 U.S. seniors,” investigators found that “seniors who, as kids, were educated in states that generally had shorter school years, larger classes, and lower attendance rates had a higher risk for dementia after age 65, compared with seniors raised in states offering a ‘high quality’ education, meaning more school days, smaller classes and better attendance.” The findings were published online in JAMA Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Poorer Schools Could Bring Higher Dementia Rates Many Decades Later “Alan Mozes, HealthDay, February 14, 2023