If Ariel Sharon wakes up from his coma, he could still face a long and hard recovery from his stroke. With the help of extensive therapy, stroke sufferers can sometimes regain lost speech and movement. But research led by neurologist Wendy Kartje could spur stroke recovery by blocking a natural inhibitor of nerve cell re-growth. When a stroke occurs, blood flow to part of the brain is interrupted when a blood vessel becomes damaged or blocked. The blood normally brings oxygen and nutrients that the brain cells in the immediate area need to survive. Without the blood the brain cells begin to die and stroke victims lose the functions that were controlled by those brain cells. About 80 percent of all strokes are ischemic, caused by a blood clot that blocks a blood vessel or artery in the brain. The other 20 percent are caused by a weakened blood vessel that breaks and bleeds into the brain. This is known as hemorrhagic stroke, and is often fatal. Around 600,000 new strokes, or "brain attacks" are reported each year. © ScienCentral, 2000-2006.

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 8429 - Posted: 06.24.2010

— It's been said that laughter is the best medicine, but no one has yet to prove it. Now a Japanese scientist is unlocking the secrets of the funny bone, which he believes can cheer up people's genes. Geneticist Kazuo Murakami has teamed up on the study with an unlikely research partner: stand-up comedians, who he hopes can turn their one-liners into efficient, low-cost medical treatment. Genes are usually regarded as immutable, but in reality more than 90 percent of them are dormant or less active in producing protein, so some types of stimulation can wake them up. Murakami's tentative theory is that laughter is one such stimulant, which can trigger energy inside a person's DNA potentially helping cure disease. "If we prove people can switch genes on and off by an emotion like laughter, it may be the finding of the century which should be worth the Nobel Prize or even go beyond that," said Murakami, 70, director of Japan's Foundation for Advancement of International Science. Copyright © 2006 Discovery Communications Inc.

Keyword: Emotions; Neuroimmunology
Link ID: 8428 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Ben Harder Exposure to small amounts of an ingredient in polycarbonate plastic may increase a person's risk of diabetes, according to a new study in mice. The synthetic chemical called bisphenol-A is used to make dental sealants, sturdy microwavable plastics, linings for metal food-and-beverage containers, baby bottles, and numerous other products. When consumed, the chemical can mimic the effects of estrogen. Previous tests had found that bisphenol-A can leach into food and water and that it's widely prevalent in human blood. The newfound contribution of the chemical to insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes, might partially explain the global epidemic of that disease, says Angel Nadal of Miguel Hernández University of Elche in Spain, who led the new study. The finding is a "wake-up call" for public health researchers who are concerned by the prevalence of diabetes, comments developmental biologist Frederick vom Saal of the University of Missouri–Columbia. Earlier test-tube studies had suggested that bisphenol-A makes pancreatic cells secrete the glucose-regulating hormone insulin. To investigate this effect in live animals, Nadal and his colleagues injected adult male mice with pure corn oil or with oil containing either bisphenol-A or an equal amount of the natural female sex hormone estradiol. Animals received as many as eight shots over 4 days. Copyright ©2006 Science Service.

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior; Obesity
Link ID: 8427 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Coffee could help boost a woman's sex drive, a US study says. Scientists from Southwestern University found it increased the female libido in experiments on rats. The Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behaviour journal study said the effect was caused by coffee stimulating the part of the brain regulating arousal. But researchers said a similar effect was only likely to be repeated in humans who do not drink coffee regularly. Previous research has looked into both the health benefits and consequences of coffee consumption. The hot drink is linked to improving memory and reducing the risk of cancer, but studies have also suggested it increases the risk of heart disease. In the latest research, scientists gave 108 female rats a moderate dose of caffeine before a mating test to determine if the caffeine had any effect on female behaviour. They found that administration of caffeine shortened the amount of time it took the females to return to the males after sex for another mating session. The study said the effects appeared to go beyond a simple boost of energy for socialising, but researchers said the effect may not be repeated in all humans. Lead researcher Dr Fay Guarraci said: "These rats had never had caffeine before. In humans, it might enhance the sexual experience only among people who are not habitual users." But she added the study should help improve understanding about the relationship between the brain and behaviour. (C)BBC

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Drug Abuse
Link ID: 8426 - Posted: 01.20.2006

Take a sprinkling of scientists and mix with a frisson of philosophers. Do lots of stirring; add train guards, artists, accountants and school teachers... and what do you get? A soggy mess of lay people confused by brain-science jargon, such as neurotransmission and voxel-based morphometry? This was the recipe for the Meeting of Minds, a project thought to be the biggest-ever science consultation with the public. The organiser, the King Baudouin Foundation of Brussels, randomly plucked people from across Europe (including 12 from Britain, managed by the Science Museum's Dana Centre) and immersed them in brain science. The 126 chosen people have risen to the challenge. They have been on a 12-month roller-coaster, immersed in ideas and discoveries about the brain. They have challenged the experts and quizzed the pressure groups. With the help of 48 interpreters, they have kept their discussions flowing in nine languages, while a high-tech infrastructure has followed them around and processed their ideas. © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 8425 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Drug discovery researchers at Northwestern University have developed a novel orally administered compound specifically targeted to suppress brain cell inflammation and neuron loss associated with Alzheimer's disease. The compound is also rapidly absorbed by the brain and is non-toxic – important considerations for a central nervous system drug that might need to be taken for extended periods. As described in the Jan. 11 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, the compound, called MW01-5-188WH, selectively inhibits production of pro-inflammatory proteins called cytokines by glia, important cells of the central nervous system that normally help the body mount a response, but are overactivated in certain neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke and traumatic brain injury. The compound was designed and synthesized in the laboratory of D. Martin Watterson at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, using a synthetic chemistry platform developed in his lab by researchers at the Northwestern University Center for Drug Discovery and Chemical Biology (CDDCB) for the rapid discovery of new potential therapeutic compounds.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 8424 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Sybil A trawl through the journal Addiction this week comes up with this startling find: a hangover makes you feel out of sorts, and affects your cognitive performance. Well, quite. I might be fairly wet behind the ears as a columnist, but I know the effect that getting sloshed the night before can have. Did someone really need to prove this? According to lead researcher Frances Finnigan of Glasgow Caledonian University, UK, we apparently lacked hard scientific facts to back up this subjective experience. "Ok, it's common sense," she tells me on the phone, "but there have not been studies, only anecdotal evidence." Let's be clear. People have tried to quantify the effects of hangovers in the lab, and work out what properties of a night out are most likely to create nasty feelings in the morning. People have tested hangover cures. And alcohol itself has been studied ad nauseam. Literally. But Finnigan says there is a dearth of studies done with 'real' hangovers. ©2006 Nature Publishing Group

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 8423 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The largest study so far has found no evidence of a link between cellphone use and brain tumours. UK researchers interviewed 966 people from across Britain diagnosed with brain tumours, as well as 1716 apparently healthy controls between December 2000 and February 2004. The epidemiological survey found no evidence that using a cellphone increased the risk of developing a tumour or that prolonged usage increased risk either. The study did find an association between the location of a tumour and side of the head that patients said they most often used to make calls. But when the team considered handedness – which correlates to the side of the head to which cellphones are most commonly held – there was no link. In light of the overall study results the researchers believe the association was an anomaly – they suggest these patients most probably misremembered their cellphone usage, in an effort to explain the tumour. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 8422 - Posted: 06.24.2010

PHILADELPHIA -- We might not be able to resist a pretty face after all, according to a report from the University of Pennsylvania. Experiments in which subjects were given a fraction of a second to judge "attractiveness" offered further evidence that our preference for beauty might be hard-wired. People who participated in the studies were also more likely to associate pretty faces with positive traits. "We're able to judge attractiveness with surprising speed and on the basis of very little information," said Ingrid Olson, a professor in Penn's Department of Psychology and researcher at Penn's Center for Cognitive Neurosciece. "It seems that pretty faces 'prime' our minds to make us more likely to associate the pretty face with a positive emotion." Olson, along with co-author Christy Marshuetz, of Yale University recently published their findings in the journal Emotion, a publication of the American Psychological Association. The researchers set out to study cognitive processes behind a very real phenomenon: physically attractive people have advantages that unattractive people do not. Copyright © 2005, University of Pennsylvania

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Emotions
Link ID: 8421 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Sights and sounds fill the world, presenting a panoply of possible foci for the brain. Yet most animals can hone in on whatever sight most demands interest. Then the sounds associated with that sight--be it a loved one talking or a tasty meal skittering through the undergrowth--become all the clearer. This is attention and new research shows how an owl's brain establishes the state. It also provides tantalizing evidence that brains from across the animal kingdom work the same way. Neurologists Daniel Winkowski and Eric Knudsen of Stanford University wired 12 owls with electrodes in the areas of their brains that process either visual or auditory input. Each region literally maps the world of sound or sight, determining whether it comes from up or down, left or right. Sending a small electrical charge into the owl's visual brain region--the so-called arcopallial gaze fields--caused it to move its head and eyes in a particular direction. When a simultaneous audio stimulus matched that direction, the owl's brain responded more strongly to that noise. It also blocked out competing noises from other directions. Owls are already extremely gifted at tuning in a particular sound, the authors note in their paper published in the current issue of Nature, but pairing a sound with a sight enhanced that ability even further. "The ability to hear and the direction of gaze aren't necessarily linked," Winkowski says. But "the circuits in the brain that control gaze direction affect how the brain processes auditory information." © 1996-2006 Scientific American, Inc

Keyword: ADHD; Hearing
Link ID: 8420 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Maybe you wanted to quit smoking. Or you vowed to get off the couch and cut back on your fast food intake. Whatever your New Year's resolution was, you're not alone if it's already broken. Take Paige Barr. The New York City actress says she carries her list of resolutions around with her "so I can know exactly how bad I'm doing." But maybe you shouldn't be too hard on yourself: Neuroscientists say you can pin part of the blame on your brain. Massachusetts Institute of Technology neuroscientist Ann Graybiel's research is beginning to explain why many of us fall back into bad habits, even after years of being good. "We all hear stories of smokers who try so hard to quit smoking cigarettes and they finally quit," she says. " They haven't smoked in years, and then one day, they're in that very situation where they used to smoke, and a flood of who knows what, memory or something, triggers off the pattern and all of a sudden the habit is back." Learning to perform a task to the point that it becomes second nature can take time, but "We all know intuitively that once we do things repetitively and get a habit, we can reel them off without thinking about it," says Graybiel. "If we learn something by chance or trial and error… that starts what scientists call the 'exploit' phase of things. You start doing the same thing again and again because it pays off." © ScienCentral, 2000-2006.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 8419 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Elizabeth Pennisi Whether a heart, a toe, or a nose, evolutionary biologists are keen to know where our body parts came from. Now they're getting a better idea of how our ears formed thanks to a 370-million-year-old fish, whose jawbone was beginning to resemble a bone found in our middle ear. Before we used the middle ear to amplify and transmit sound, fish used its components to breathe. Over time, a tube called a spiracle, which connects the gills to the water outside, evolved into a chamber behind the eardrum. And a bony strut that connects a fish's jaw hinge to the brain case became one of three tiny bones in this chamber. The early stages of this transition have now been studied by Martin Brazeau, a graduate student in evolutionary biology at Uppsala University, Sweden, and his advisor, paleontologist Per Ahlberg. The researchers analyzed a skull of Panderichthys--an ancient fish that evolved at about the same time as tetrapods (early four-legged land-dwellers) from a common ancestor. The team compared the fish's bones and head structure to fossils of a more primitive fish and an early tetrapod. © 2006 American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Hearing; Evolution
Link ID: 8418 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A new study in mice suggests that Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be triggered when adult neurons try to divide. The finding helps researchers understand what goes wrong in the disease and may lead to new ways of treating it. The study was funded in part by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health, and appears in the January 18, 2006 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.[1] For unknown reasons, nerve cells (neurons) affected by AD and many other neurodegenerative diseases often start to divide before they die. The new study shows that, in animal models of AD, this abnormal cell division starts long before amyloid plaques or other other markers of the disease appear. Cell division occurs through a process called the cell cycle. “If you could stop cell cycling, you might be able to stop neurons from dying prematurely. This could be a fresh approach to therapy for Alzheimer's and other diseases, including stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [also known as Lou Gehrig's disease], and HIV dementia,” says Karl Herrup, Ph.D., of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, who led the study. The researchers compared the brains of three different mouse models of AD to brains from normal mice, looking specifically for markers of cell cycling. They found that, in the AD mouse models, cell cycle-related proteins appeared in neurons 6 months before the first amyloid plaques or disease-related immune reactions developed in the brain. Many of the neurons also had increased numbers of chromosomes, which is typical of cells that have begun to divide. These changes were not seen in normal mice.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 8417 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By JANE E. BRODY There's no question that the amount of lead in children's blood has dropped significantly in recent decades, much to the benefit of their brains and bodies. There's also no question that children who are still being permanently damaged by excessive lead levels live mainly at the poverty level or near it, in neighborhoods where they can be poisoned by lead from contaminated paint, water, soil and dust. More Personal Health Columns However, no one at any level of society, not even those with seven-figure incomes, can afford to be complacent about the exposure of children to lead in home and play environments. Here are some disturbing facts important to everyone concerned about the damage lead can cause and its individual and societal costs. About a quarter of the nation's children are exposed to lead at home, and more than 400,000 children are found each year to harbor amounts of lead deemed hazardous to normal mental and physical development. Environmental exposure to lead in early childhood is a prelude to a host of societal ills. It is associated with an increased risk of reading problems, school failure, delinquency and criminal behavior. Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Neurotoxins; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 8416 - Posted: 01.19.2006

By IAN FISHER and CORNELIA DEAN ROME, - The official Vatican newspaper published an article this week labeling as "correct" the recent decision by a judge in Pennsylvania that intelligent design should not be taught as a scientific alternative to evolution. "If the model proposed by Darwin is not considered sufficient, one should search for another," Fiorenzo Facchini, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Bologna, wrote in the Jan. 16-17 edition of the paper, L'Osservatore Romano. "But it is not correct from a methodological point of view to stray from the field of science while pretending to do science," he wrote, calling intelligent design unscientific. "It only creates confusion between the scientific plane and those that are philosophical or religious." The article was not presented as an official church position. But in the subtle and purposely ambiguous world of the Vatican, the comments seemed notable, given their strength on a delicate question much debated under the new pope, Benedict XVI. Advocates for teaching evolution hailed the article. "He is emphasizing that there is no need to see a contradiction between Catholic teachings and evolution," said Dr. Francisco J. Ayala, professor of biology at the University of California, Irvine, and a former Dominican priest. "Good for him." Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 8415 - Posted: 01.19.2006

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL ROME, - In "Don Juan" Lord Byron wrote, "Sweet is revenge - especially to women." But a study released Wednesday, bolstered by magnetic resonance imaging, suggests that men may be the more natural avengers. In the study, when male subjects witnessed people they perceived as bad guys being zapped by a mild electrical shock, their M.R.I. scans lit up in primitive brain areas associated with reward. Their brains' empathy centers remained dull. Women watching the punishment, in contrast, showed no response in centers associated with pleasure. Even though they also said they did not like the bad guys, their empathy centers still quietly glowed. The study seems to show for the first time in physical terms what many people probably assume they already know: that women are generally more empathetic than men, and that men take great pleasure in seeing revenge exacted. Men "expressed more desire for revenge and seemed to feel satisfaction when unfair people were given what they perceived as deserved physical punishment," said Dr. Tania Singer, the lead researcher, of the Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience at University College London. Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Emotions
Link ID: 8414 - Posted: 01.19.2006

Antipsychotic drugs can limit the behavioural abnormalities associated with a parasitic infection called toxoplasmosis in some rats – the condition causes them to become “suicidally” attracted to cats. The findings provide insight into a possible cause of schizophrenia, say the researchers behind the new study. The results also hint that anti-psychotic medications such as haloperidol – used to control the symptoms of schizophrenia – could serve as much-needed treatments against the dormant stage of toxoplasmosis in humans, says Joanne Webster of Imperial College London, UK, and one of the study team. She adds, however, that “it’s still very much a black box as to how these drugs work” to fight the parasitic infection. A latent toxoplasmosis infection might produce schizophrenia in humans, according to a theory by Fuller Torrey of the Stanley Medical Research Institute in Maryland, US, and a co-author on the study. But other experts stress the possibility that genes or even marijuana abuse may predispose a person to this type of disorder. The idea that toxoplasmosis triggers schizophrenia remains “on the fringes”, according to Paul Corry, a spokesperson for the mental illness charity Rethink in London, UK. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd

Keyword: Schizophrenia
Link ID: 8413 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By KATE ZERNIKE A sharp increase in the number of people arriving in emergency rooms with methamphetamine-related problems is straining local hospital budgets and treatment facilities across the country, particularly in the Midwest, according to two surveys to be released in Washington today. The studies, conducted late last year by the National Association of Counties, are another indicator of the toll the drug has taken on local communities, particularly in rural areas where social service networks are ill-equipped to deal with the consequences. In July, the association reported that an overwhelming number of sheriffs polled nationwide declared methamphetamine their No. 1 law enforcement problem. In the most recent survey, conducted late last year, 73 percent of the 200 county and regional hospitals polled said they had seen an increase in the number of people visiting emergency rooms for methamphetamine-related problems over the last five years; 68 percent reported a continued increase in the last three years, and 45 percent in the last year. The problem was particularly intense in the middle of the country: 70 percent of hospitals in the Midwest and 80 percent in the Upper Midwest said methamphetamine accounted for 10 percent of their patients. Nationwide, 14 percent of the hospitals said such cases made up 20 percent of their emergency room visits. Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 8412 - Posted: 01.18.2006

Female rats appear to be affected more than males by stress early in life, leading to a higher likelihood of cocaine addiction and eating disorders as adults, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine researchers in Neuropsychopharmacology. "These results differ somewhat from our previous study conducted with male rats," said Therese Kosten, research scientist, Department of Psychiatry, and lead author of the study. "Early life stress produces a greater increase in cocaine self-administration in female versus male rats." In addition, the neonatal stress enhances responding for food treats in female, but not male, rats, she said. "We believe this may suggest that women with early life stress have an enhanced risk of developing drug addiction, as well as eating disorders," Kosten said. Of the rats in the research, some were isolated from their mothers as "infants." The rats were studied as adults who had learned to self-administer cocaine and food treats. The researchers found the rats that had been kept in isolation worked harder to obtain food and drug rewards. © 2003-2006 Medical News Today

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Stress
Link ID: 8411 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Lacking a sense of humor might not just be bad for your social life, it might also be harming your cardiovascular health. A new study shows that laughter actually increases blood flow in the body, proving the old adage laughter is the best medicine right, at least when it comes to the heart. Cardiologist Michael Miller and colleagues at the University of Maryland tested blood flow in 20 healthy men and women after they watched 15 to 30 minute clips of funny movies--Kingpin and There's Something About Mary--and a stressful film--the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan. The researchers measured blood flow both before each viewing began and one minute after it ended. "We wanted to see whether laughter induced a vascular response," Miller explains. Prior research inspired the team to conduct the experiment. A series of questionnaires administered to sufferers of coronary heart disease by the cardiologists revealed that patients who suffered a heart attack failed to find the humor in a situation like wearing the same outfit to a party 40 percent more often than their healthy counterparts. "We didn't know whether that was cause and effect or just part and parcel of having the disease," Miller says. © 1996-2006 Scientific American, Inc.

Keyword: Emotions
Link ID: 8410 - Posted: 06.24.2010