A team of Penn State researchers is planning to create a new map of the brain that will establish a neural circuit diagram of oxytocin, a compound often associated with affection and emotional behavior. Researchers hope the map will give them insight into how oxytocin in the brain drives social behavior.

Different flavors of e-cigarettes produce different levels of free radicals, toxins often associated with cancer and other diseases, according to Penn State researchers. Many of the chemicals used to flavor e-cigarettes increased the production of free radicals, while a few actually lowered it.

Family medicine doctors and pediatricians are less confident than psychiatrists in their abilities to tell the difference between normal irritability and possibly bigger issues in children and adolescents, according to Penn State researchers. Primary care providers and pediatricians were also more likely to prescribe medications when they thought there was a problem, while psychiatrists were more likely to start with behavioral therapy.

Most of Pennsylvania’s high school and middle school students are tobacco-free, but the use of cigarettes, and their digital counterpart, e-cigarettes, is still a cause for concern, according to Penn State researchers.

GM-CSF, a protein that modifies the immune response to the flu, helped reduce lung inflammation and improve survival during influenza in mice in a lab, according to Penn State researchers.

An international team of researchers has found that for most women, using either fresh or frozen embryos have similar success rates when used for in vitro fertilization.

Melanoma patients who received immunotherapy while taking a specific type of beta blocker lived longer than patients who received immunotherapy alone, according to researchers.

Children that use technology -- cell phones, video games, computers, or TV -- right before bed may be at risk for sleep problems, according to researchers. In a study, kids that used these devices before bed were associated with less sleep and higher BMIs.

Penn State College of Medicine researchers found that the presence of certain microRNAs — tiny snippets of noncoding RNA — in saliva was able to better identify concussions and more accurately predict the length of concussion symptoms than relying solely on patient surveys.

Researchers from across Penn State gathered at University Park on Nov. 6 to discuss advances and challenges in women's healthcare research.