A chance discovery could lead to the development of a drug that blocks prion diseases such as variant CJD. However, it would only be useful when combined with mass screening to identify infected people who have not yet developed any symptoms. Adriano Aguzzi's team at the Institute of Neuropathology in Zurich, Switzerland, discovered the effect by accident. The researchers engineered mice to produce a protein that would stick to the scrapie prion, so the team could retrieve the prion protein for testing. The engineered mice turned out to take twice as long as normal to develop the disease. Because the protein is soluble, it is ideal for use as a drug. Aguzzi now hopes to mass-produce the protein so he can test it on macaque monkeys that have been exposed to BSE. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Prions
Link ID: 4335 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Susan Milius The extent of a species' home range can be used to forecast how well members of the species will adapt to captivity, according to a controversial new survey of troubled behavior in zoo animals. "As far as I know, we're the first to test species vulnerability to welfare problems in captivity," says Ros Clubb of the University of Oxford in England. She spent 3 years examining carnivore-behavior studies from about 40 zoos. Animals with the biggest ranges, such as polar bears, tended to have the highest infant mortality and do a lot of repetitive pacing, report Clubb and her coauthor Georgia Mason. The results highlight a nasty problem for conservationists, says Clubb. Animals that need a lot of land often prove the hardest to conserve in the wild, yet her results show they could also be the most vulnerable in captivity. Copyright ©2003 Science Service.

Keyword: Animal Rights; Evolution
Link ID: 4334 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Study may influence how clinical assessments of brain injury are conducted in future Toronto, CANADA -- A new study sheds light on why brain injury patients have difficulty performing tasks consistently -- a necessary requirement for holding a job. The findings may influence how clinical assessments of brain injury are conducted in future, encouraging doctors to pay closer attention to 'variability' of performance as a marker for impairment. The study is published in the November issue of the journal BRAIN. It was led by Dr. Donald Stuss, Director of The Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, with Dr. Michael Alexander, Associate Clinical Professor, Neurology, Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Mass. "Our study has shown that damaging certain areas of the frontal lobes can impair our ability to perform consistently -- a key requisite for holding a job," says Dr. Stuss. "Many people who suffer brain injuries from an accident, tumor, or stroke for example, may make considerable progress in their rehabilitation, but somehow have difficulty in daily life. The one area that may give them trouble -- performing consistently on tasks, both within a task and at different times -- may be the most difficult and nuanced for doctors to pick up on with a 'single' clinical assessment. The patient may need to be assessed more than once over a period of time. Inconsistency over repeated assessments is an important measure of impairment."

Keyword: Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 4333 - Posted: 10.04.2003

A high fat diet, although linked to heart disease, does not increase the risk of a stroke, research suggests. Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health monitored the diets of almost 44,000 healthy middle-aged men for 14 years. Although 725 men had a stroke during the period of the study, the researchers found no link to dietary intake of any type of fat. The research is published in the British Medical Journal. The researchers also found no significant link between stroke and consumption of foods that are rich in both fat and cholesterol, such as red meat, nuts and eggs. Lead researcher Dr Ka He said: "Our study indicates that dietary fat may not be a strong predictor of stroke in men. Clearly, more research is needed." (C) BBC

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 4332 - Posted: 10.03.2003

What are your hidden prejudices? By Eric Haseltine Those who would like to be able to read minds—police, parents of teenagers, and lovers—have discovered the hard way that extrasensory perception and polygraphs aren't reliable. But psychologists have made some progress developing tests that can expose thoughts and attitudes buried so deep in the brain that they are hidden even from the person who holds them. Try these experiments to release your own secret proclivities. Experiment 1A Grab a watch with a second hand, then cover the two columns of words below with a sheet of paper. Beginning with the column on the left, uncover the words. Working as quickly as possible, place a check mark to the left of each word that represents an animal or is an adjective that has good associations for you. Place a check mark to the right of each word that represents a plant or is an adjective that has bad associations for you. Note how many seconds it took to finish the first column of words. Now repeat the procedure for the right column, except this time place a check on the left if the word is a plant and on the right if it is an animal. Review your responses, then add a second to each column's time for every erroneous classification you made. © Copyright 2003 The Walt Disney Company.

Keyword: Language; Attention
Link ID: 4331 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Male flies' eyes are specialized for hot pursuit. JOHN WHITFIELD Male flies have an eye for the ladies. Cells in their retina are specialized for spotting small, swift objects, giving them an edge in the pursuit of fleeing females. The 'lovespot' in the male's eye can detect another fast-moving fly from 76 centimetres away; female eyes can manage only 33 centimetres, Simon Laughlin and Brian Burton of the University of Cambridge have found1. "When you see two houseflies buzzing around a lampshade, one is chasing, and the other is trying to get away - but males are much better than females at chasing," says Laughlin. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Vision; Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 4330 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The "CEO" in your brain appears to be concerned more about the consequences of your actions than how hard they are to produce. That is the implication of a detailed study of the neuronal activity in a critical area of the brain, called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), published in the Oct. 3 issue of the journal Science. It is the latest in a series of experiments that are beginning to lift the veil on the brain's "executive function" – how it monitors its own performance so that it can regulate behavior. Many cognitive scientists feel that the ACC may be at the heart of this higher order system. Researchers found the ACC responds to discrepancies between a person's intentions and what actually occurs when actions are performed, providing new support for one popular theory on its function. But they did not find evidence of neural activity in the ACC when the brain is forced to change course in mid-action, as predicted by another popular theory.

Keyword: Attention
Link ID: 4329 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A pioneering research study using brain imaging has yielded new clues to help sufferers from severe depression who do not respond to conventional treatment Around 5 million people in the UK experience depression at any one time. Whilst a number of successful treatments, both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic, are available and many people make a full recovery about 30 – 40% of people are resistant to conventional therapies. For them their depression is an enduring, debilitating disease and for some, the only treatment options left include psychosurgery and ECT. Now an international team of researchers have discovered that brain activity differs significantly between healthy individuals and those suffering from treatment-resistant clinical depression. Announcing their results in Biological Psychiatry, (October 15, 2003) the researchers were led by consultant psychiatrist, Professor Tonmoy Sharma, Director of the Clinical Neuroscience Research Centre in Dartford. He says: "This is a significant step in unravelling the reasons why these people may not be responding to the antidepressant drugs currently available."

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 4328 - Posted: 06.24.2010

— The life or death of motor neurons in patients afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may rest with a somewhat overlooked group of support cells that helps guide, nourish and remove toxins from neurons. Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers and their colleagues have discovered that non-neuronal cells, called astrocytes and glia, can protect neurons containing ALS-causing mutations from degeneration. Their studies also show that if non-neuronal cells harbor ALS mutations, then damage can occur in neighboring motor neurons that are otherwise healthy. According to the researchers, their findings suggest that it may be possible to insert healthy astrocytes into ALS patients to reduce or prevent motor-neuron degeneration. Motor neurons control muscle action, and they are progressively weakened in ALS, leading to paralysis and death. ©2003 Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Keyword: ALS-Lou Gehrig's Disease
Link ID: 4327 - Posted: 06.24.2010

You tried it for Lent, as a New Year’s resolution and to shed some pounds before bikini season hit. Yet each time your ban on sweets was derailed by a desire for Ben and Jerry’s. Friends who regularly observe your weakness for desserts claim that you’re a sugar addict. Sugar addiction has long been joked about. Most researchers, however, believed you could not get hooked on sweets and lose control over consuming them, as if they were drugs. Now studies compiled over the years are making some scientists revisit the idea. The results do not indicate that donuts are in the same category as addictive drugs like heroin, alcohol or nicotine. They do suggest that some brain actions and characteristics associated with the intake of sweets and drug addiction may overlap. The findings are leading to: A better understanding of how the brain controls food intake and how this system may go awry. Copyright © 2003 Society for Neuroscience

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 4326 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Song birds hoping to attract a mate use no more effort in warbling a fancy tune than with a simple "cheep cheep", a study has revealed. Experts researching how much hard work winged lotharios put into wooing a partner made the discovery while observing canaries. They found that the birds were spending the same amount of energy no matter how elaborate their song. But amorous males who belt out any old tune risk becoming feathered flop idols because females can spot real talent, scientists say. A team of biologists at the University of St Andrews studied the songs of two breeds - the Fife canary and the Roller canary. The Fife canary has a loud and complex song while the Roller canary has a very simple and quiet one, Dr Sally Ward and Prof Peter Slater of the University's School of Biology, who led the research, observed. (C) BBC

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Animal Communication
Link ID: 4325 - Posted: 10.02.2003

By MARK DERR Polar bears, lions, tigers, cheetahs and other wide-ranging carnivores do so poorly in captivity that zoos should either drastically improve their conditions or stop keeping them altogether, biologists from Oxford University report today in the journal Nature. Zookeepers have long recognized that some species thrive in captivity while others languish. Today the researchers, Dr. Georgia Mason and Dr. Ros Clubb, say the problems — including high infant mortality and a tendency to pace around and around in the cage — are directly related to the size of the animal's home range in the wild. The typical zoo enclosure for a polar bear is one-millionth the size of its home range in the wild, which can reach 31,000 square miles, the authors said. Some captive polar bears spend 25 percent of their day in what scientists call stereotypic pacing, and infant mortality for captive animals is around 65 percent. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Animal Rights
Link ID: 4324 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By DAVID GONZALEZ CANCÚN, Mexico — Thousands of tourists come here every year to swim with dolphins, expecting mystical encounters or unmatched educational experiences. Whether at water parks or even at a mall, the price for an hour's swim is about $100 — not counting the videos, photographs, T-shirts or dolls to commemorate fleeting moments riding atop the snouts of two sleek creatures. But the real cost is much higher, according to a growing international protest movement of environmentalists and animal rights advocates who say there is nothing educational about turning wild animals into lucrative rides and who are outraged over the recent deaths of two captive dolphins at an amusement park. Their past protests led the Mexican government to ban the capture of local dolphins, and the legislature is considering prohibiting imports as well. Now the protesters have turned the tourist-rich Yucatán Peninsula, where there are now nine swim programs, into the front lines of the dolphin wars. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Animal Rights
Link ID: 4323 - Posted: 06.24.2010

More education and research needed to help all groups improve quality of life ANN ARBOR, MI – No matter what its cause, pain of any kind can place a serious burden on a person's ability to work, play and live life. But this burden of pain is heavier for some than for others – and a new research paper finds that members of racial and ethnic minorities often bear the worst of it. The paper, written by a panel of top pain experts and based on a survey of more than 180 pain-related studies from a broad range of specialties, documents a phenomenon that pain specialists have long suspected but don't fully understand. The authors pull together research on racial and ethnic disparities in the perception, diagnosis and treatment of pain in locations ranging from the emergency department to the cancer clinic, and in conditions ranging from chronic pain to acute pain induced in laboratory experiments.

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 4322 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NewScientist.com news service Carnivores with large home ranges have worse reactions to being caged than those that roam less widely in the wild, according to a major study of zoo animal welfare. The researchers conclude that wide-ranging carnivores should not be kept in captivity. "If we can't keep them well then don't keep them at all," says Ros Clubb at Oxford University, UK, who compiled the research. Scientists have suggested before that range size is important, but the new work is the first to show this with comprehensive data. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Animal Rights
Link ID: 4321 - Posted: 06.24.2010

ST. PAUL, MN – Treating Guillain-Barré syndrome early may speed up the recovery time, according to a guideline developed by the American Academy of Neurology. The guideline is published in the September 23 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Treatment should begin within two to four weeks after the first symptoms appear. Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) causes rapid onset of weakness and often paralysis of the legs, arms, face and breathing muscles. It is the most common cause of rapidly acquired paralysis in the United States, affecting between one and four people in every 100,000 each year. Guillain-Barré is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the nervous system. The human body produces proteins called antibodies to fight off infections. In GBS, the body produces extra antibodies that become misdirected and attack and damage the nerves.

Keyword: Movement Disorders
Link ID: 4320 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Of all the questions we ask about our minds, "why can't I remember?" is perhaps one of the most frequent. A new BBC television series, 'The Human Mind' sets out to find an answer - and for tips it turns to one man for whom forgetfulness is not a problem at all. Andi Bell has ten shuffled packs of playing cards placed in front of him and is given just 20 minutes to memorise the order of every single card - all 520. When he is tested, Andi - the 2002 world memory champion - correctly remembers the position in the packs and the value of every single card he is tested on. So how does he do it? Andi's technique is an unusual but simple one. Long before taking on any memory challenge he walks past a set of London landmarks, establishing the route firmly in his mind. He might start at the Houses of Parliament, before continuing to the London Eye via Westmister Bridge. (C) BBC

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 4319 - Posted: 10.01.2003

By MARK DERR The small Borneo elephant represents the last remnant of an ancient lineage, a team of international biologists has determined. The finding, based on DNA samples, overturns a long-held prevailing theory of the animals' origins: that they were descended from domesticated elephants that reverted to the wild. Instead, the elephant, isolated in the tropical rain forests of northeastern Borneo, has followed an independent evolutionary path for at least 18,000 years, and probably longer, the scientists conclude. In the process, it has become genetically distinct from other Asian elephants, the experts say, based on extensive comparisons of elephant DNA obtained across Asia. The report appears in the October issue of The Public Library of Science, Biology, a new peer-reviewed, online journal that was created as a free alternative to established journals that allow access only to subscribers. (Their paper was posted in advance of its publication at biology .plosjournals.org.) Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 4318 - Posted: 10.01.2003

-- Findings of a Dartmouth Medical School study may provide a step for treating as well as understanding an incurable debilitating eye disease that can eventually lead to blindness. The research targets the mutation of a specific gene that can trigger retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a hereditary disease that affects 1.5 million people worldwide, many of whom are legally blind by the age of 40. The study, appearing in the October 3 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, highlights research conducted on the gene rhodopsin, a protein located in the back of the eye that is credited with helping sight in dim or low-light conditions. It is one of several proteins in the retina that controls how light is detected. The mutation linked to RP can be traced to the photoreceptor, rhodopsin. A single mutation, state the researchers, can cause a cascade of retinal events that leads to retinitis pigmentosa and eventual blindness. "We wanted to concentrate on the reasons why rhodopsin is prone to misfold; that way we have the best chance of correcting that distortion before the disease can worsen," said lead author, John Hwa, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Dartmouth Medical School. Copyright © 1992-2003 Bio Online, Inc.

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 4317 - Posted: 06.24.2010

St. Louis-- A team led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, in collaboration with researchers at Eli Lilly and Co. in Indianapolis, have developed a new technique that, for the first time, provides a way to dynamically study proteins known to be related to Alzheimer's disease in the fluid between brain cells, called interstitial fluid. Using this new technique in mice, the team discovered that the relationship between levels of a key molecule involved in Alzheimer's disease, amyloid-beta (ABeta), in interstitial fluid and cerebrospinal fluid changes as the disease progresses. Cerebrospinal fluid -– the fluid that cushions and surrounds the brain – is a main focus in efforts to diagnose and possibly treat Alzheimer's disease. "The most exciting part of this study is that we now have a way to measure a pool of ABeta that previously could not be evaluated," says John R. Cirrito, a graduate student in neuroscience. "Using this new approach, we were able to identify another difference between young mice that have not yet developed Alzheimer's-like changes and those that have developed Alzheimer's-like brain changes, which provides a new opportunity to explore the development of this disease."

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 4316 - Posted: 06.24.2010