By REUTERS ATLANTA, (Reuters) — Blacks in the United States are more likely to die from a stroke and at a much younger age than whites, Hispanics and people of other races, a new federal report says. The findings, reported today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its first Atlas of Stroke Mortality, confirmed a pattern long noted by public health officials, who have been warning that racial disparities in diet, smoking and access to health care were leading to wide differences in the rates of heart disease, stroke and cancer. Strokes kill about 165,000 Americans every year, the third-highest toll after heart disease and cancer. (About 700,000 Americans have strokes each year.) The major risk factors are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and smoking. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 3460 - Posted: 06.24.2010

DENVER-- The going theory that males couldn't care less with whom they mate may need an overhaul. New research suggests that males--or at least, male fruit flies--are much more selective about their females than standard evolutionary theory predicts. It's not clear what males are looking for in females, especially because they tend to lack flashy traits such as a colorful tail. Since the late 1960s, scientists have theorized that the parent who invests more heavily in reproduction will be more selective when choosing a mate. Females do tend to be finicky, apparently because they often have large, energy-intensive eggs, and devote lots of time to caring for their offspring. But few studies have tested whether the opposite holds true for males--whether they're naturally promiscuous when sperm are plentiful and parental investment low. Copyright © 2003 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Evolution
Link ID: 3459 - Posted: 06.24.2010

IOWA CITY, Iowa,(AScribe Newswire) -- A study led by a University of Iowa professor offers surprising new information about how sound is processed in the brain. The results of research led by Amy Poremba, an assistant professor of psychology in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, define precisely which areas of the cortex in a primate brain are associated with hearing. The study also identifies similarities between the auditory processing system and the better-studied visual system including maps that show which areas of the brain process both auditory and visual information. The results were published in the Jan. 24 issue of the journal Science. Poremba and her team are the first to use many different complex sounds during whole brain mapping to test which parts of the brain are used to process sound. They monitored the brain activity of monkeys hearing a wide variety of sounds including male and female human voices, music, and primate vocalizations.

Keyword: Hearing
Link ID: 3458 - Posted: 02.21.2003

Washington,(ANI): Greater insight into human brain disease may emerge from studies of a new genetic mutation that causes adult fruit flies to develop symptoms akin to Alzheimer's disease. According to a report in the Brown University News Service, the finding of a new genetic mutation that prompts adult fruit flies to develop symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease may have human implications as Humans have the same gene, say scientists at Brown University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. "This is the first fruit fly mutant to show some of the outward, physical manifestations common to certain major human neurodegenerative diseases," said principal investigator Michael McKeown, a biology professor at Brown University. Copyright © 2001 ANI-Asian News International.

Keyword: Alzheimers; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 3457 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A common genetic variant influences individual responses and adaptation to pain and other stressful stimuli and may underlie vulnerability to many psychiatric and other complex diseases, reports David Goldman, M.D., Chief, Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and colleagues at NIAAA and the University of Michigan. COMT val158met Genotype Affects m-Opioid Neurotransmitter Responses to a Pain Stressor appears in the February 21 issue of Science (299:1240, 2003). "Emotional response to stress contributes in many drinkers to the development of alcoholism," said George Kunos, M.D., Ph.D., Scientific Director, Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, NIAAA. "Dr. Goldman and his colleagues have uncovered a genetic explanation for why some individuals and groups may be especially susceptible to consuming alcohol and to increasing their consumption in response to stress." Earlier reports by first author Jon-Kar Zubieta, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health Research Institute and Department of Radiology, University of Michigan (Science 293:311, 2001) and others showed that responses to pain vary considerably from one person to another, with some of the difference in sensitivity attributable to genetic factors. Subsequent work showed that some of these effects were due to gender-related factors (Journal of Neuroscience 22:5100, 2002). For the current study, Drs. Goldman, Zubieta, and their colleagues used positron emission tomography (PET) targeting the endogenous opioid system to examine the effects of a specific genetic variant on neurochemical brain responses to sustained pain. The researchers also used questionnaires that measure pain-related sensory and affective qualities and internal emotional state to link the neurochemical responses to participants’ psychological and physical experience of the pain challenge.

Keyword: Pain & Touch; Drug Abuse
Link ID: 3456 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Bethesda, Maryland — For the first time, in a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health, the University of Utah and Stanford University, scientists have identified the gene that determines the ability to distinguish a wide class of bitter tastes according to research published in Science , February 21, 2003. How individuals are genetically predisposed to respond or not respond to the bitter taste of substances like nicotine and certain foods may have broad implications for nutritional status and tobacco use. By estimates, more than 10 million American students have been offered “taste” testing to identify their ability to recognize or discriminate bitter taste and to introduce them to inherited traits. In more formal research, anthropologists have tested people around the world, over decades, for this same ability or inability to experience bitter taste. Why are some people “tasters” and others “non-tasters” and why is it important? The ability to taste,tested using a compound phenylthiocarbamide (PTC), is one of the best studied inherited traits in humans. Studies over the past 70 years, have demonstrated that taste variation is common in the U.S. population: about 30% of the population are PTC (a prototype of a class of bitter substances) non-tasters, while 70% are tasters of PTC, experiencing it as intensely bitter. The ability to taste PTC has been known to be dominantly inherited.

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste); Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 3455 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Misshapen 'mad cow' proteins, or prions, found in nasal passages Ulysses Torassa, Chronicle Health Writer People with the human form of "mad cow" disease apparently harbor the infectious protein in their noses, scientists are reporting, raising questions about transmission of the disease and opening a possible avenue for detecting it. Researchers in Italy were able to find evidence of prions -- misshapen disease-causing proteins -- in the nasal passages of all nine people they examined who died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD. Test results were negative in the case of 11 other people who died from other diseases. The findings appear in today's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. "Our findings call attention to the possibility that endoscopic and surgical procedures involving the upper vault of the nasal cavity represent a risk factor for prion spreading," wrote the researchers at the University of Verona, adding, "We know of no cases of disease transmission by this route." ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle

Keyword: Prions; Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 3454 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By David Derbyshire, Science Correspondent, in Denver The promiscuous sex life of lesbian Japanese monkeys is challenging one of the central tenets of Charles Darwin. He argued that females are coy, mate rarely and choose mates to ensure the best genetic inheritance for their offspring, while males are promiscuous and fight among themselves for female partners. But after studying Japanese macaques in the wild, Dr Paul Vasey, of the University of Lethbridge, Canada, begs to differ. He found that bisexuality is common in females and that they often compete with males for sexual partners. "In some populations, female Japanese macaques sometimes prefer same-sex partners," he told the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver. "That occurs even when they are presented with sexually motivated, opposite-sex alternatives." © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Evolution
Link ID: 3453 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Mystery crustacean could pose risk to European cousins. TOM CLARKE A mysterious species of crayfish discovered in German aquaria can reproduce without mating1. It could pose a serious threat to their European freshwater cousins, new research shows. It's too late to ban the creatures, experts think. But efforts should be made to prevent their accidental release. "The public should be alerted," urges crayfish researcher Gerhard Scholtz of the Humboldt University of Berlin. Scores of the 8-centimetre-long female crayfish, distinguished by their marble-patterned shells, appeared in the German aquarium trade in the 1990s. Rumours of virgin births soon began to circulate among amateur aquarists. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 3452 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Montreal, Montreal Neurological Institute researcher Dr. Wayne Sossin has discovered that nerve cells can bypass the cell’s normal protein-making machinery in the same way that viruses do when they infect a cell. In a study published on-line today in Nature Neuroscience, Dr. Sossin and colleagues describe the first example of regulated IRES (internal ribosome entry site) usage after a physiological stimulus in neurons. When a virus infects a cell, its goal is to make more virus particles. To do this, a virus takes over the cell’s protein making machinery (the ribosome), so that the cell essentially becomes a viral protein factory. It does this by using an internal ribosome entry site (IRES); which shuts down and bypasses the normal mechanisms that regulate binding of messenger RNAs to ribosomes. While many viral messenger RNAs are known to possess an IRES, few normal cellular RNAs do. Abnormal IRES regulation has been correlated with two human diseases- multiple myeloma and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. This is the first time that scientists have demonstrated that normal nerve cells can use an IRES to produce large quantities of protein under physiological conditions.

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 3451 - Posted: 06.24.2010

STANFORD, Calif. - Drug addicts may prefer some drugs over others, but their brains all have something in common. Whether it's uppers or downers, addictive drugs tweak the same addiction-related neurons, causing them to become more sensitive, say researchers at Stanford University Medical Center. "What we have identified is a single change caused by drugs of abuse with different molecular mechanisms," said Robert Malenka, MD, PhD, the Nancy Friend Pritzker Professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the School of Medicine. Malenka is the senior author of a paper in the Feb. 20 issue of the journal Neuron which describes the molecular changes that occur as a result of taking addictive drugs. When people take addictive drugs, neurons in a region of the brain called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) transiently ramp up production of dopamine, a chemical that acts as a neurotransmitter. The new research shows that the drugs also increase the sensitivity of neurons in the VTA. Researchers suspect it's the release of dopamine in addition to this enhanced sensitivity that leads to addiction.

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Stress
Link ID: 3450 - Posted: 02.20.2003

The differential diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease and atypical parkinsonian syndromes may get help from transcranial ultrasound, according to German researchers. Investigators included in their prospective study 25 patients with atypical parkinsonian syndromes -- nine with progressive supranuclear palsy and 16 with mutiple-system atrophy -- and 25 age-matched patients with Parkinson's disease. They found that the substantia nigra in the Parkinson's patients was more likely to be hyperechoic. Specificity and sensitivity for detection of substantia nigra hyperechogenicity was 96% and 91%, respectively. The researchers also found that the positive predictive value for Parkinson's was 100% when the substantia nigra was markedly hyperechoic. They published their findings in the Jan. 14 issue of Neurology. © 2002 CMP Media LLC,

Keyword: Brain imaging; Parkinsons
Link ID: 3449 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Recent research challenges notion of female monogamy Carol Cruzan Morton, Special to The Chronicle Bar the doors and break out the chastity belts, boys, because girls of most species sleep around, and it's for their own good, if not yours. For generations, biologists had assumed females to be naturally chaste, while males were renowned for their promiscuity. Even Charles Darwin, who invented the idea of sexual selection, didn't dare challenge the Victorian morals of his day. Man evolved from ape, fine. But an immodest and lustful Mother Nature? Heaven forbid! Now, hundreds of studies and a spate of books are challenging that conventional wisdom. Females of many species, it turns out, have evolved strategies for passing on their genes that involve copulating with multiple males -- and recognition of that fact is literally changing our view of the birds and the bees. ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle

Keyword: Evolution; Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 3448 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By LINDA CARROLL For years, doctors have reassured epilepsy patients that seizures are relatively benign. While a fall during a seizure may cause injury, the surge of electricity in the brain does no actual damage, patients were told. But mounting evidence now suggests that repeated seizures can indeed harm the brain — or, in rare cases, even lead to death. In the past decade, research in epilepsy has exploded. In part, the boom has been driven by advances in biology and technology, like the mapping of the genome and the continuing miniaturization of electronics. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Epilepsy
Link ID: 3447 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By ERICA GOODE Scientists have spent decades arguing over whether intelligence is best conceived as a generalized ability or as the capacity to excel in particular areas of mental, social or emotional functioning. The debate encompasses a variety of incendiary issues, including whether I.Q. tests have any value, and it is likely to continue. Meanwhile, a new brain imaging study offers the first glimpse of how differences in the ability to reason and solve problems might translate into differences in the firing of neurons in the brain. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Intelligence; Brain imaging
Link ID: 3446 - Posted: 02.19.2003

In the small hours of the night, up to 20% of sleeping children and 3% of sleeping adults get busy, wandering the house, dancing, or cake-baking. Researchers have now identified a gene of the immune system that may explain sleepwalking. The find also adds weight to a controversial theory linking sleep disorders with a disruption of the immune system. Because the children of sleepwalkers are 10 times more likely to somnambulate than those without sleepwalking relatives, researchers have long suspected that the disorder has a genetic component. Geneticist Mehti Tafti of Geneva University, Switzerland, and his colleagues wondered if a gene implicated in other sleeping disorders such as narcolepsy might be a culprit. To find out, his group compared the gene, called HLA-DQB1, in 60 sleepwalkers and their immediate families, along with 60 non-sleepwalkers. Copyright © 2003 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Sleep; Neuroimmunology
Link ID: 3445 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Mimic birds share brain molecules. HELEN R. PILCHER Scientists have zeroed in on the set of brain genes that enable parrots and songbirds to mimic tunes, heard this week's American Association of the Advancement of Science annual meeting. Most birds sing the same old song every day; but some, such as hummingbirds and parrots, incorporate new sounds or words into their calls. This skill is equivalent to humans piecing together words into a sentence. These birds all switch on the same genes in specific vocal regions of their brains, says neuroscientist Erich Jarvis of Duke University, North Carolina. The genes make receptors that are thought to help nerve cells communicate when learning new sounds. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Animal Communication; Language
Link ID: 3444 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Brain monitors mice sniffing imperceptible scent. HELEN R. PILCHER US researchers have tapped into mouse brains while they sniff their partners' subtle perfume. We mainly use our eyes to recognize our mates, but many mammals rely on a cocktail of chemicals called pheromones. These are detected by a special organ behind the nose; it signals to the brain's pheromone processing region. The team placed tiny electrodes into individual mouse nerve cells. They then measured the electrical activity as mice sniffed each other, Lawrence Katz of Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina told the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Denver, Colorado. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste); Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 3443 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Broad implications seen for treating Alzheimer's and other human diseases By teaching fruit flies to avoid an odor and isolating mutant flies that can't remember their lessons, researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York have identified dozens of genes required for long-term memory. In the same study, using DNA chip technology, the scientists identified another large group of candidate memory genes that are either switched on or off in the fly brain during memory formation. The study is significant in part because many of the fruit fly genes it uncovered have counterparts in humans. Because these genes might be involved in human learning and memory, they may be important for understanding human memory deficit disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, the genes are potential targets for the development of therapies to treat such disorders. The study (available on request) appears in the February 18 issue of Current Biology (illustrations also available on request).

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 3442 - Posted: 02.19.2003

ITHACA, N.Y. -- While the vision-impaired Hubble Space Telescope needed optical doctoring from shuttle astronauts, vision researchers back on Earth were wondering if the human eye was clever enough to fix itself. Now a neurobiology study at Cornell University suggests that internal parts of the eye indeed can compensate for less-than-perfect conditions in other parts -- either developmentally (during the lifetime of one individual) or genetically (over many generations). Results of the study, "Internal compensation for corneal astigmatism and high-order aberrations of the eye," were reported to the fourth International Congress of Wavefront Sensing and Aberration-free Refraction Correction, Feb. 14-16 in San Francisco, by Howard C. Howland, Jennifer E. Kelly and Toshifumi Mihashi. Howland is a Cornell professor of neurobiology and behavior and director of the university's Developmental Vision Laboratory; Mihashi is the chief scientist at the research institute of the Tokyo-based Topcon Corp., manufacturer of a wavefront analyzer used in the study; and Kelly is a Cornell senior who used the wavefront analyzer as part of her honors thesis by testing the vision of 20 other undergraduate students.

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 3441 - Posted: 02.19.2003