By EMILY EAKIN Thomas W. Laqueur is a scholarly gumshoe with a specialty in sex. His last book, "Making Sex: Body and Gender From the Greeks to Freud" (1990), was a highly original investigation of a tantalizing mystery he had stumbled on in the archives: Why did female orgasm, long considered essential to conception, all but disappear from the historical record during the Enlightenment? Now, in "Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation," Mr. Laqueur, a professor of history at the University of California at Berkeley, tackles another enigma from the annals of sexual history: Why did masturbation, an activity regarded with benign indifference for millennia, provoke sweeping moral and medical panic around 1700? Mr. Laqueur's preoccupations are hardly the kind destined to endear him to the cultural right. In particular, his latest tome — which features a floating, naked woman wearing an expression of glazed-eyed ecstasy on its cover and a couple dozen graphic illustrations inside — seems designed to inflame critics convinced that the academy is populated by tenured radicals bent on selling students a morally suspect and intellectually trivial bill of goods. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 3740 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor Australopithecus fossils from caves in South Africa may have been buried about 4 million years ago, as much as 1 million years earlier than previously thought. Australopithecus is an important hominid - human ancestor - that demonstrates the transition from ape-like features to human ones. Its kind were first discovered in East Africa and lived about four million years ago. Researchers used a technique that measured the decay of radioactive isotopes formed when the fossil was on the surface, but which declined when it was buried. The new dates make the South African fossils as old as similar specimens found in East Africa, forcing a revision of how far scientists believe Australopithecus ranged. The fossils were from the caves and quarries at Sterkfontein, 50 km northwest of Johannesburg, that are some of the richest hominid fossil sites in the world. About 500 specimens have been recovered there since the 1936 discovery of the first adult Australopithecus. (C) BBC

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 3739 - Posted: 04.27.2003

By DIRK OLIN Last month, a quartet of academics published ''What's Wrong With the Rorschach?'' -- attacking a test administered to more than a million people worldwide each year. According to recent surveys by the American Psychological Association, 82 percent of its members ''occasionally'' and 43 percent ''frequently'' use the test, in which subjects speculate about five colored and five black-and-white inkblots. Test-givers in turn interpret the answers to diagnose mental illness, predict violent behavior and reveal suppressed trauma. Their conclusions are applied to everything from child-custody disputes to parole reviews. According to James M. Wood, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Texas at El Paso and one author of the book, tarot cards would work almost as well. Wood and his colleagues level basic criticisms against the inkblot test's foundations. They say it lacks accurate norms to serve as benchmarks for comparing healthy and sick patients. Reliability is also at issue, because many scores are determined by test-givers' subjective interpretations. And last, they contend that virtually none of the scores are scientifically valid, because they neither measure what they claim nor can be consistently correlated with other tests or diagnoses. The Rorschachers simply harbor a ''romantic'' devotion to the test's efficacy, Wood says, one based on ''an uncritical, even gullible, acceptance of ridiculous claims that the Rorschach is like a medical test, a sort of brain scan.'' In the few years since the critics first began making their arguments, a sometimes visceral academic firefight has broken out. Rorschachers have hired a lobbyist, and one of the test's historic champions has been joined by younger acolytes in churning out hotly disputed studies in its defense. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 3738 - Posted: 04.27.2003

NewScientist.com news service A mother's poor diet around the time of conception can cause premature birth, according to new research in sheep. If the same is true for humans, and there is some evidence that it is, bad nutrition could account for some of the 40 per cent of premature births that remain unexplained in developed countries. Premature birth is by far the most common cause of death in newborn babies, and its incidence in western societies has increased in the past decade. Previous studies have shown that reduced maternal nutrition - in women with anorexia, for example - can cause lower birthweight in babies born after a full-length pregnancy. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 3737 - Posted: 06.24.2010

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL - Researchers at the University of Minnesota provide evidence for the first time that stem cells derived from adult bone marrow and injected into the blastocyst of a mouse can differentiate into all major types of cells found in the brain. The results of the research are published as the lead article in the April 25, 2003 issue of Cell Transplantation. The potential of these adult stem cells, termed multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs), were the subject of research reported in Nature in June 2002. The research reported this week in Cell Transplantation takes a specific look at the ability of MAPCs to develop into cells typically found in the brain. Adult stem cells were injected into a mouse blastocyst, an early embryonic stage of a mouse. The result is the birth of a chimerical animal an animal that shows the presence of both the cells from the host mouse as well as cells that have developed from the transplanted stem cells. Within the brain, the transplanted stem cells developed into nerve cells that typically conduct electrical impulses, glial cells that provide support to the nerve cells, and myelin-forming cells that enhance the conduction of electrical impulses by nerve cells. “This research takes our findings a step further,” said principal investigator Walter C. Low, Ph.D., department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota Medical School.

Keyword: Stem Cells
Link ID: 3736 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The Hybrot, a small robot that moves about using the brain signals of a rat, is the first robotic device whose movements are controlled by a network of cultured neuron cells. Steve Potter and his research team in the Laboratory for Neuroengineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology are studying the basics of learning, memory, and information processing using neural networks in vitro. Their goal is to create computing systems that perform more like the human brain. Potter, a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, presented his most recent findings last month during the Third International Conference on Substrate-Integrated Microelectrodes in Texas.

Keyword: Robotics
Link ID: 3735 - Posted: 04.26.2003

In science fiction movies, robots are often depicted as rampaging metallic monsters striking back against their creators, and the fact that they’re “not like us” is what makes them believable as villains. “Actually, Hollywood or the movie industry is way ahead of reality,” says Yoseph Bar-Cohen, senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. “They are actually pushing it and portraying it beyond what we can do today. “But,” he adds, “it’s good to have this. We need to see the implications of technology like that, both the positive and the negative. And the more vision we have, the better we are, because we can perceive the possibilities.” © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Robotics; Emotions
Link ID: 3734 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By SANDRA BLAKESLEE Sir Bernard Katz, who shared the 1970 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work explaining how messages are transmitted between nerves and muscles, died on Sunday. He was 92. He lived in London since just after World War II. Sir Bernard was honored, along with the physiologists Ulf von Euler and Julius Axelrod, for describing in separate lines of research precisely how brain cells talk to one another and get the body moving. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 3733 - Posted: 04.25.2003

People have been keeping track of time for much longer than wristwatches have been around. How does the brain do it? Designing experiments to reveal how the brain senses time is devilishly tricky, but new work with monkeys shows that neurons in a part of the brain involved with spatial processing might double as timekeepers. The experiment involved monkeys looking at lights, which stimulates several parts of the brain. First off, the brain begins to process flashes and other sensory information in areas collectively known as the sensory cortex. If the eyes respond by darting one way or another, other regions kick in. One of these is an area known as the lateral intraparietal area, or LIP, which helps the brain decide to take action. The LIP offered a key clue about the brain's sense of timing. Copyright © 2003 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 3732 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The way that neurons are linked together in the brain has long fascinated both physicists and biologists. Researchers at the University of Tel-Aviv in Israel have now shown for the first time that neurons can self-organize themselves into electrically active clusters of cells in the laboratory. The clusters are linked together by bundles of axons (R Segev et al. 2003 Phys. Rev. Lett. 90 168101). Eshel Ben-Jacob and colleagues used an in-vitro technique to study the effect of cell density on the formation of neuronal clusters. The researchers grew cultures of rat-brain neurones on top of a silicon nitride surface and followed the development of the networks with time-lapse video recording. They found that the network, which is initially uniform, separates by the creation of 'borders' that break it into separate 'basins'. Each basin then collapses into a cluster, which remains intact until it degrades 3 to 4 weeks later (see figure 1). Copyright © IOP Publishing Ltd

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 3731 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A research team based at the University of Chicago has traced increased susceptibility to bipolar disorder to two overlapping genes found on the long arm of chromosome 13. The study, published in the May 2003 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, is the first to implicate this gene complex, and the second to tie any gene, to the development of bipolar disorder, which affects 2 million American adults. A previous study found that the same gene complex increases risk for schizophrenia. The current finding adds credence to the emerging notion that the same genes may be contribute to both disorders. "The discovery of susceptibility genes for psychiatric disorders has been one of the most intractable problems in human genetics," said Elliot Gershon, M.D., professor and chairman of psychiatry at the University of Chicago and a co-author of the study. "In the past two years, we seem to have reached a watershed for psychiatric gene discovery, with the identification of genes that increase risk of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. After years of false starts and unfulfilled promises, we have begun to make real progress."

Keyword: Schizophrenia; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 3730 - Posted: 04.25.2003

Can Help Ashkenazi Jewish Children Who are Born Deaf and Have Progressive Loss of Sight Bethesda, Maryland — Deafness in both ears and progressive loss of vision due to retinitis pigmentosa are the indicators of Usher syndrome, a genetic dual deficit disorder. There are three clinical subtypes of Usher syndrome, the most severe of which is Usher type 1 (USH1). This syndrome involves deafness at birth, progressive blindness and balance problems. In 1861, a physician working in Berlin described the clinical features of Usher syndrome in Jewish individuals. Now, 140 years later, there is an opportunity to offer help to those individuals who inherit this syndrome as reported in the April 24, 2003 New England Journal of Medicine. A significant collaboration across four institutions was led by scientists at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders at the National Institutes of Health including Thomas B. Friedman, Ph.D., Chief, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Tamar Ben-Yosef, Ph.D., the key scientist on this project, and Andrew J. Griffith, M.D., Ph.D. Additional collaborators on this project were Seth Ness, M.D., Ph.D., Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Karen Avraham, Ph.D. at the Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, and Harry Ostrer, M.D., and Carole Oddoux, Ph.D. at the Department of Molecular Genetics, NYU Medical Center. Dr. Ben-Yosef identified a mutation, R245X, of an Usher syndrome type 1 gene, PCDH15, which appears to account for a large proportion of USH1 in the Ashkenazi Jewish population today. Ashkenazi describes those Jewish people who came from eastern Europe.

Keyword: Genes & Behavior; Hearing
Link ID: 3729 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Children with a twin of the opposite sex may do better than their classmates when it comes to emotional and social development, claim researchers. A survey carried out in Finland found that boy and girl twins were more developed than both same-sex sets and singleton children. The researchers involved, from the University of Jyvaeskylae, suggest that the best qualities of each assist the progress of the other. Traditionally, twins are thought to take longer to develop certain social, emotional and language skills. Twins are often smaller at birth than singleton babies, and this is thought to contribute to marginally delayed development. In addition, a delay in picking up language skills is often blamed on very young twins choosing to babble at each other rather than attempt communication with their parents. (C) BBC

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 3728 - Posted: 04.24.2003

Men who sport chiselled jaws and classic "masculine" facial features are actually healthier than their less manly peers, researchers suggest. And women who choose them may do so because they are instinctively looking for a healthier mate, they say. However, Australian researchers found that although adolescent males with more masculine faces had better health, they were not necessarily seen as more attractive. So it may be that women are, deep down, aiming to attract the healthiest, rather than the most attractive, father for their children. Femininity in teenage girls' faces is perceived as a sign of being healthy and attractive, but there was no link with how healthy they actually were. The theory that masculine faces in men may be seen as "healthier" is connected to the effect of testosterone on the immune system. (C) BBC

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 3727 - Posted: 04.24.2003

Having meningitis as a baby can lead to teenage behavioural problems, researchers have suggested. In a survey, almost half of parents with children who had been affected by meningococcal disease said their children had behavioural problems, compared to just one in five parents whose children had not had it. The researchers, from the Imperial College of Medicine, admit teenage behaviour is complex, but say teenagers affected by meningitis do behave more badly their peers. The team surveyed the parents and teachers of 739 English and Welsh 13-year-olds who had contracted bacterial meningitis before their first birthday between 1985 and 1987. The children had previously been studied by researchers looking at meningitis in infancy. The parents were asked whether their children had emotional problems, and about their behaviour, hyperactivity, peer problems and social skills, using a recognised scale designed to assess behaviour. (C) BBC

Keyword: Development of the Brain; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 3726 - Posted: 04.24.2003

People with synesthesia--whose senses blend together--are providing valuable clues to understanding the organization and functions of the human brain By Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Edward M. Hubbard When Matthew Blakeslee shapes hamburger patties with his hands, he experiences a vivid bitter taste in his mouth. Esmerelda Jones (a pseudonym) sees blue when she listens to the note C sharp played on the piano; other notes evoke different hues--so much so that the piano keys are actually color-coded, making it easier for her to remember and play musical scales. And when Jeff Coleman looks at printed black numbers, he sees them in color, each a different hue. Blakeslee, Jones and Coleman are among a handful of otherwise normal people who have synesthesia. They experience the ordinary world in extraordinary ways and seem to inhabit a mysterious no-man's-land between fantasy and reality. For them the senses--touch, taste, hearing, vision and smell--get mixed up instead of remaining separate. Modern scientists have known about synesthesia since 1880, when Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, published a paper in Nature on the phenomenon. But most have brushed it aside as fakery, an artifact of drug use (LSD and mescaline can produce similar effects) or a mere curiosity. About four years ago, however, we and others began to uncover brain processes that could account for synesthesia. Along the way, we also found new clues to some of the most mysterious aspects of the human mind, such as the emergence of abstract thought, metaphor and perhaps even language. A common explanation of synesthesia is that the affected people are simply experiencing childhood memories and associations. Maybe a person had played with refrigerator magnets as a child and the number 5 was red and 6 was green. This theory does not answer why only some people retain such vivid sensory memories, however. You might think of cold when you look at a picture of an ice cube, but you probably do not feel cold, no matter how many encounters you may have had with ice and snow during your youth. © 1996-2003 Scientific American, Inc.

Keyword: Hearing; Vision
Link ID: 3725 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Improve your memory by taking something found in nature! And you don’t need a prescription! Is it too good to be true? Gingko biloba, extracted from the leaves of the gingko tree and available in health food stores, supermarkets and countless internet sitesis one of the most widely used herbal treatments for improving memory, and people in the U.S. spend millions of dollars on it every year. The scientific community has taken note; the National Institute on Aging is currently supporting a clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of gingko in treating the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. “Gingko has become a very popular [supplement], partly because there is a sort of pent-up demand for something that will enhance memory and cognitive function,” says Steven Ferris of the Institute for Aging & Dementia at NYU Medical School. Sometimes the supplement is even marketed as a kind of “Brain Viagra,” with claims that it increases circulation in the brain and protects it from tissue-damaging substances. The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) cites a review article in a British Journal that found “promising evidence of improvement in cognition with gingko.” © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 3724 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NewScientist.com news service Seafaring turtles may use smell to navigate during the epic ocean voyages they undertake to reach their breeding grounds, suggests a new satellite-tracking study. Green turtles swim over 2200 kilometres from foraging grounds in Brazil to nest on Ascension Island, which sits in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. How they find their way has puzzled scientists since Darwin. Now Graeme Hays, at the University of Wales Swansea, and colleagues have shown that sniffing the air is at least part of the answer. The researchers abandoned turtles in the sea 50 kilometres from the island and found that those left downwind returned much more quickly. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Animal Migration; Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 3723 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Habitual snoring and chronic headaches appear to go together, according to a study released yesterday. For the study, published in the journal Neurology, researchers surveyed 206 people who reported an average of 260 days with headaches a year, and a comparison group of 507 people who reported an average of 24 headache days. In the headache group, 24 percent said they always snored, compared with 14 percent of the other group. When the figures were adjusted for factors like body weight and alcohol use, people with chronic headaches were more than twice as likely to be habitual snorers, the study said. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sleep; Pain & Touch
Link ID: 3722 - Posted: 04.23.2003

ST. PAUL, MN – Researchers have discovered abnormalities in the chromosomes of several patients with sporadic, or non-hereditary, ALS, according to a study published in the April 22 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive disease of the nervous system also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Five to 10 percent of ALS cases are hereditary, and researchers have identified several genes that are linked to the disease. In sporadic ALS, researchers have identified several genetic risk factors for the disease, but much remains to be discovered about the role genetics play in the disease. This study examined the chromosomes of 85 people in Germany with sporadic ALS. Five people had chromosomal abnormalities, for a rate of 5.9 percent.

Keyword: ALS-Lou Gehrig's Disease
Link ID: 3721 - Posted: 06.24.2010