By Katharine Arney Clever canines can do something which not even our closest relative, the chimp, can manage. They can follow the human gaze or a pointing hand, figure out what it is we are looking at and seek out the target. Dogs have spent thousands of years living with humans so a Hungarian research team set out to investigate whether this cunning ability came from wolves, the genetic ancestors of today's dogs, or developed during domestication. Dr Adam Miklosi, at Eotvos University in Budapest, compared the abilities of dogs with hand-reared wolves to find hidden food from human cues, such as pointing. These experiments are the first ever performed with such highly "humanised" wolves, brought up with round-the-clock care from volunteers in Dr Miklosi's department. (C) BBC

Keyword: Animal Communication; Intelligence
Link ID: 3880 - Posted: 06.03.2003

By RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN, M.D. We humans take our feelings very seriously. How else to explain the theatrical dread most of us have of boredom? After all, who among us hasn't threatened to die of it at some time or another? Recently faced with a long trans-Atlantic flight, I naïvely assumed I could trot out an assortment of diversions to beat the tedium of cramped confinement, airplane food and wailing infants. Shortly after takeoff, I pulled out a stack of magazines and books, feeling impervious to the ennui that would soon overtake my fellow passengers. Dead wrong. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Depression; Drug Abuse
Link ID: 3879 - Posted: 06.03.2003

Paralysed patients are looking to scientists working on spinal-cord regeneration to help them walk again. HELEN PEARSON It was a miracle of almost biblical proportions. In 1998, scientists in Israel revealed that rats whose spinal cords had been severed had walked again after an injection of healing immune cells called macrophages1. Their hopes buoyed by enthusiastic media coverage, paralysed patients began to dream of taking their own tentative steps. Five years on, the status of those dreams remains unclear. Proneuron Biotechnologies, a Los Angeles-based company founded on the back of the research of lead investigator Michal Schwartz at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, is expected soon to release the results of an initial trial of the procedure on eight patients with spinal injuries. Media reports have indicated that some patients have recovered some feeling and movement, but many researchers do not expect a repeat of the rodent miracle. Indeed, they claim that at least one group has since tried, and failed, to reproduce Schwartz's original animal results. Schwartz's study is not alone in this regard. Over the past few years, scientists working on spinal-cord repair have revealed encouraging results on several occasions, only to find that other groups have struggled to recreate the same outcome. Three papers published in Neuron2-4 last month underline the point, reporting contradictory findings in parallel studies of 'knockout' mice lacking proteins that are believed to be among the main inhibitors of nerve growth in the spinal cord. "Reproducibility has been a major problem in spinal-cord injury," says Oswald Steward, director of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Regeneration; Movement Disorders
Link ID: 3878 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A group of researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) have identified a small chemical molecule that controls the fate of embryonic stem cells. "We found molecules that can direct the embryonic stem cells to [become] neurons," says Sheng Ding, who recently completed his Ph.D. work at TSRI and is becoming an assistant professor in the chemistry department. Ding is the lead author on the study, which is described in an upcoming issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "This is an important step in our efforts to understand how to modulate stem cell proliferation and fate," says Peter Schultz, Ph.D., TSRI professor of chemistry and Scripps Family Chair of TSRI's Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology.

Keyword: Stem Cells
Link ID: 3877 - Posted: 06.03.2003

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Stroke victims may retain more motor coordination than previously thought, according to research led by Purdue University. The findings challenge current understanding of brain function and open new possibilities for aiding the physically challenged. The research team, which included faculty from Purdue and University of California-Berkeley, was led by Purdue professor Howard Zelaznik. The team found that the cerebellum may not be as fully responsible for the timing of "continuous" motions, such as drawing circles repeatedly on paper, as it is for "discontinuous" motions that have a more start-stop nature, such as tapping your finger rhythmically on a table. Patients with cerebellum damage who participated in the study had difficulty tapping a steady beat, but no such trouble with drawing circles in rhythm. The study indicates that stroke victims may retain some motor skills thought to have been lost to cerebellar damage.

Keyword: Stroke; Movement Disorders
Link ID: 3876 - Posted: 06.24.2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- How infants respond to their mother's touches and smiles influences their development in a manner much like what young birds experience when learning to sing, according to a research project involving the Department of Psychology at Indiana University Bloomington and the Biological Foundations of Behavior program at Franklin and Marshall College. An article on the research, titled "Social interaction shapes babbling: Testing parallels between birdsong and speech," will be published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Web site for the journal is http://www.pnas.org/misc/highlights.shtml. The academy's Web site is http://www4.nationalacademies.org/nas/nashome.nsf. "The main point of our research is how the reaction of the babies to their mother's touches and smiles changes how they talk, and this corresponds to what birds do when learning to sing," said Meredith West, a professor of psychology and biology at IU. She collaborated on the article with Andrew King, a senior scientist at IU, and Michael Goldstein, an assistant professor of psychology at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. Copyright 2002, the Trustees of Indiana University

Keyword: Language; Animal Communication
Link ID: 3875 - Posted: 06.03.2003

Even casual smoking during pregnancy produces behavioural changes in newborn babies similar to those induced by illegal drugs, research has found. Scientists found that women who smoked just six to seven cigarettes per day gave birth to babies who more jittery, more excitable, stiffer and more difficult to console than newborns of non-smokers. And the higher the dose of nicotine measured in a mother, the greater the signs of stress in her new baby. The behavioural changes were similar to those found in newborns of women who use crack cocaine or heroin while pregnant - and were strong enough to suggest that babies go through a "nicotine withdrawal" response. Researcher Karen Law, from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, said: "We have a legal drug in nicotine that may have the same toxic effect as illegal drugs. "It is a huge public health concern that so many people are suffering the costs of smoking, including newborns." (C) BBC

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 3874 - Posted: 06.02.2003

Evidence links free radicals generated from iron accumulation to this disorder By Mark Greener Patients with Parkinson disease endure a progressive loss of neurons, especially dopaminergic, in the substantia nigra and other subcortical nuclei. Hallmarks of PD also include intracytoplasmic Lewy bodies and abnormal neurites, especially in the subcortical nuclei and hippocampus of affected patients. Recent research shows that iron is associated with several of these hallmarks, as the evidence links PD with free radicals generated from iron accumulation in the midbrain. Lewy bodies, for example, include redox-active iron in patients with PD, and postmortem analyses reveal elevated iron levels in the substantia nigra. Iron, however, is a cofactor for tyrosine hydroxylase, the enzyme responsible for dopamine synthesis. The precise mechanism through which iron could lead to PD's symptoms is not fully characterized; researchers need to determine if it is a primary phenomenon or a secondary issue, notes Jack Sipe, adjunct professor and senior consultant in neurology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.1 "However, there are tantalizing clues that iron accumulation in specific brain areas, such as the substantia nigra in PD or hippocampus in Alzheimer's, may play a role in promoting neurodegeneration through the formation of highly destructive oxygen free radicals," he says. ©2003, The Scientist Inc.

Keyword: Parkinsons
Link ID: 3873 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Swallowing that broccoli and cauliflower is more difficult for some By Ricki Lewis Asking students to taste PTC-soaked paper is a classic classroom exercise to demonstrate a simple inherited trait. Some grimace, others look puzzled. "PTC perception is arguably one of the most studied human traits," says Sun-Wei Guo, a professor of pediatrics and biostatistics at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. A new investigation reveals more to chew on: Rare individuals who are not quite sure whether they taste phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) have provided a hint that the inheritance might not be straightforward. "PTC tasting was considered a Mendelian trait for 50 years. Only in the past 25 years has this model begun to fray," says Dennis Drayna, special expert at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Drayna and colleagues from Stanford University and the University of Utah identified a major gene controlling PTC taste sensitivity. They described haplotypes that account for the differing proportions of tasters and nontasters in human populations.1 This new way of looking at inheritance of PTC-tasting ability also provides a tool to follow the trait in the primate cousins. In 1931 DuPont chemist A.L. Fox synthesized phenylthiocarbamide (similar compounds are in cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower) while researching artificial sweeteners. "He discovered accidentally that some people found the chemical intensely bitter, although he himself found it tasteless as chalk," relates Guo. "This taste dimorphism later was found to be hereditary." Danielle R. Reed, an associate member of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, investigates the inheritance of PTC tasting with Guo.2 "PTC is a member of a large class of compounds characterized by their antithyroid properties and chemical structure, which includes an N-C=S group," she explains. The aforementioned veggies share this chemical group. ©2003, The Scientist Inc.

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 3872 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Hunting hits monogamous species hardest. JOHN WHITFIELD Mammal species that stay true to just one partner are more likely to go extinct than those that play the field, according a study of Ghanaian nature reserves1. The finding is the first to link mating behaviour to extinction, and could change conservation priorities. "Many species that we assumed we didn't need to worry about are getting hammered as a result of their behaviour," says ecologist Justin Brashares of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, who carried out the study. Buffalo, for example, in which a few males monopolize all of the females are thriving, Brashares found. Monogamous antelopes, such as the dikdik, on the other hand, are in decline. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 3871 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Research led by scientists at the U of T and Caprion Pharmaceuticals have uncovered the basis for a diagnostic, immunotherapy and vaccine, providing a way to detect and treat the brain-wasting damage of infectious prions like those found in mad cow disease and its human version, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Dr. Neil Cashman, a principal investigator at U of T's Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and professor in the Department of Medicine (neurology) and a Caprion founder, says a vaccine approach - which would likely be of most use in animals and livestock - could prevent animals from becoming infected. For humans with diseases like classical or variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob, an immunotherapeutic would provide patients with antibodies that bind infectious prions, enabling the immune system to recognize and attack them. For both humans and animals, the diagnostic screening potential of this discovery could significantly improve the safety of the human blood and food systems. Cashman, who also holds the Jeno Diener Chair in Neurodegenerative Diseases at U of T, says his team tried a new approach in studying infectious prions, which are particles thought to be composed of normal prion proteins that have been compromised and folded into rogue shapes.

Keyword: Prions
Link ID: 3870 - Posted: 06.02.2003

Younger Adults Find it Harder to Filter Out Negative Images WASHINGTON — Here’s good news about aging: When it comes to remembering emotional images, we tend -- as we get older -- to do what the song said, and “accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.” Three California psychologists found that compared with younger adults, older adults recalled fewer negative than positive images. The memory bias favoring the recall of positive images increased in successively older age groups. The findings appear in the June issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA). Psychologists have recently documented the tendency of older people to regulate their emotions more effectively than younger people, by maintaining positive feelings and lowering negative feelings. Researchers led by Susan Turk Charles, Ph.D., of the University of California, Irvine, wanted to understand how this happens -- and focused on the role of memory. © 2003 American Psychological Association

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 3869 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By GREG RETSINAS PARENTS who hire tutors to make sure their 3-year-olds can beat out the competition for the best nursery schools are now being told that the time to give their offspring an academic edge comes far, far earlier. New baby formulas supplemented with fatty acids are being promoted as a way to bolster I.Q. and improve eyesight in infants. For formula manufacturers, including Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Wyeth , the additives have become the latest weapon in the $3 billion market in the United States, where competition has grown more intense as mothers reject formula in favor of breast-feeding. The problem, say some parents and doctors, is that the additives may not do what the companies say they do, although their use could cost parents an additional $200 a year for formula. The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the composition of formula, last year allowed inclusion of the acids, after a five-year review. But the F.D.A. did not accept the argument of formula makers that the additives provide great health benefits, calling the results of studies "mixed." A major independent study ordered by the F.D.A. will not be released until September, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has not endorsed the new formulas because of what it calls their "unknown adverse effects." Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Development of the Brain; Intelligence
Link ID: 3868 - Posted: 06.01.2003

ANN ARBOR, MI – University of Michigan scientists have used gene therapy to grow new auditory hair cells in adult guinea pigs – a discovery that could lead to new treatments for human deafness and age-related hearing loss. Healthy hair cells are vital to the ability to hear, but aging, infection, certain medications and exposure to loud noises can damage or destroy hair cells causing sensorineural hearing loss – a condition affecting over 30 million Americans. Since the discovery, in the late 1980s, that birds can spontaneously regenerate damaged hair cells, scientists have been trying to find a way to induce the replacement of lost hair cells in mammals. U-M scientists have now accomplished this goal by inserting a gene called Math1 into non-sensory epithelial cells lining the inner ear. Results from the study will be published in the June 1 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Keyword: Hearing; Regeneration
Link ID: 3867 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Getting over back pain could be partly a case of mind over matter, researchers say. A team from Manchester who looked at patients with chronic lower back pain found patients benefited from a combination of exercise and psychological support. Many had believed their lives had been curtailed because of their condition. But giving them psychological support and advice enabled patients to overcome their back pain. The researchers suggest psychological support could reduce the number of people being put onto waiting lists for scans and conventional therapy. One woman in her 40s had been off work for two years and had a fear of carrying files. Doctors taught her the fear was irrational and showed her how to lift files. She has now been able to go back to work. (C) BBC

Keyword: Pain & Touch; Movement Disorders
Link ID: 3866 - Posted: 05.31.2003

ST. PAUL, MN -- Many stroke patients can be treated with clot-busting drugs to reduce their chances of death and disability. But for some patients, the treatment is unsuccessful because the clots reappear soon after treatment. Now researchers have identified a drug that can break up those secondary clots, according to a study in the May 27 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study examined 18 patients who successfully underwent thrombolytic treatment for stroke caused by blood clots or other blockages of the arteries leading to the brain. In four of the patients, or 22 percent, blood clots formed again within 20 minutes after the arteries were clear. Those four patients were given the drug abciximab, a blood-thinner that prevents blood particles known as platelets from clumping or forming clots. The drug broke up the clots in all four patients. Three patients showed marked improvement in symptoms resulting from the stroke.

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 3865 - Posted: 05.31.2003

ST. PAUL, MN -- The case of a talented artist whose paintings evolved as her dementia progressed suggests that language skills are not necessary, and may even inhibit, some types of creativity. The case is reported in the May 27 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “This case suggests that our brain wiring may be a major factor in determining the nature of our creativity,” said neurologist Bruce L. Miller, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, who was the lead author of the report. The woman was a high school art teacher who had immigrated to the United States from China as a teenager and studied painting in college. She had completed a master’s degree in fine arts, combining training in Western representational art and Chinese brush painting.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 3864 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A new wave of cigarettes often referred to as "reduced risk" is hitting store shelves and the ad spaces of billboards and magazines. But is there such a thing as a “reduced risk” cigarette? Vector Group Ltd. manufactures Omni cigarettes, which, compared to regular cigarettes, have 53 percent less of a cancer-causing toxin called NNK. But researchers at the University of Minnesota studied a group of smokers who switched to Omni for four weeks, and found that while the cigarettes might have 53 percent less NNK, that reduction was not reflected in the smokers. (They measured NNAL, a metabolite that shows up in the urine of smokers; NNAL is considered a very good indicator of the amount of NNK taken in.) The reduction in the smokers was only about 25 percent, which the researchers say is not statistically significant. “Based on our results so far, there doesn’t appear to be any great benefit of switching to this particular product,” says Stephen Hecht, Co-Principal Investigator at the University of Minnesota’s Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center. © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 3863 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NewScientist.com news service The key gene that keeps embryonic stem cells in a state of youthful immortality has been discovered. The breakthrough may one day contribute to turning ordinary adult cells into those with the properties of human ESCs. This would end the need to destroy embryos to harvest the cells for new medical treatments. ESCs are unique as they are "pluripotent" - capable of differentiating into the different cells in the body - and hold great potential for treating damaged or diseased organs. But until now scientists did not know how a stem cell renews itself or develops into an new kind of cell. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Stem Cells; Regeneration
Link ID: 3862 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Susan Milius As Canadian health officials press on in their investigation of mad cow disease within their borders and other countries bar Canadian beef, scientists are taking disparate approaches to developing defenses against such brain diseases. Researchers in the United Kingdom studying livestock that resist so-called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies report mixed results. Although earlier tests had found some sheep resistant to infection by natural routes, extreme challenges—injections of diseased material directly into the brain—brought on the disease in 3 out of 19 animals, says Fiona Houston of the Institute for Animal Health in Newbury in the May 29 Nature. Looking at meat treatments, U.S. and Italian researchers are blasting hot dogs with pressure and heat to inactivate agents for a spongiform encephalopathy. The researchers report in the May 13 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they have quashed risk of infection from the food. Copyright ©2003 Science Service.

Keyword: Prions
Link ID: 3861 - Posted: 06.24.2010