The brain releases painkillers to help cope with social rejection, scientists have discovered.  The team found the body’s opioid system can act to ease emotional pain as well as physical pain, suggesting that the hurt we feel when snubbed isn’t “all in our heads” as it provokes a chemical reaction. {read more here}

Researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia have developed a hologram-like display of a patient’s organs that surgeons can use to plan surgery. This approach uses molecular PET/CT images of a patient to rapidly create a 3D image of that patient, so that surgeons can see the detailed anatomical structure, peel away layers of tissue, and move around in space to see all sides of a tumor, before entering the operating room to excise it. {read more here}

PET scans show that elderly people with hardening of the arteries are more likely to have beta-amyloid plaque in the brain, even if they show no signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published online October 16 in Neurology.  {Read More Here}

Advanced imaging with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan shows great promise in predicting which patients with inoperable lung cancer have more aggressive tumors and need additional treatment following standard chemotherapy/radiation therapy, according to new research recently published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.  {read more here}