St. Louis, – Investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have demonstrated that a particular protein is important for the eye's pupil to respond to light. The discovery may help scientists learn more about the eye's role in non-visual functions such as the synchronization of the body's internal, circadian clock. The team was led by Russell N. Van Gelder, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences and of molecular biology and pharmacology. Reporting in the Jan. 10 issue of the journal Science, the researchers say that mice that lack the two main types of photoreceptor cells in the retina -- rods and cones -- as well as proteins in the retina called cryptochromes, lose about 99 percent of their sensitivity to light. "In the past, it was assumed that the eye functioned pretty much like an old-style camera," says Van Gelder.

Keyword: Vision; Biological Rhythms
Link ID: 3279 - Posted: 06.24.2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Trimming the waistline may not be the only reason to cut calories after the New Year: Doing so also may protect the brain from aging. In the first study to look specifically at the effects of life-long calorie-restricted diets on brain cells, University of Florida researchers determined certain proteins linked to cell death that naturally increase with age were significantly reduced in the brains of rats whose calories were limited. More important, they found the levels of a beneficial protein known to provide potent protection against neuron death were twice as high in older rats whose calories were restricted by 40 percent.

Keyword: Apoptosis; Obesity
Link ID: 3278 - Posted: 01.10.2003

Substance in spit could help dissolve blood clots ASSOCIATED PRESS DALLAS, Jan. 9 — A substance in the saliva of vampire bats could prove to be a potent new treatment for strokes, an Australian scientist says. “WHEN THE vampire bat bites its victim, it secretes this powerful clot-dissolving substance so that the victim’s blood will keep flowing, allowing the bat to feed,” said Dr. Robert Medcalf of the Monash University Department of Medicine at Box Hill Hospital in Victoria, Australia. That same substance — Desmodus rotundus salivary plasminogen activator, or DSPA — might someday be given to stroke victims to dissolve clots and thereby limit brain damage, he said. The substance has yet to be tested for effectiveness and safety in humans, but it showed promise in preliminary experiments in mice. The findings were reported in Thursday’s issue of the journal Stroke, published by the American Heart Association. The research involves ischemic strokes, which are the most common kind of stroke and occur when a blood clot or narrowing of blood vessels prevents blood from getting to the brain. The other type of stroke is a hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel bursts and causes bleeding in the brain. Some ischemic stroke victims are given a clot-busting substance called tissue plasminogen activator, or TPA. But one major drawback of TPA is that it must be administered within three hours of the stroke’s onset, or else the drug itself can cause bleeding and brain damage. © 2003 MSNBC

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 3277 - Posted: 06.24.2010

— Researchers are reporting progress in understanding whether a second light-sensing pathway in mammals indeed contributes to the detection of ambient light for controlling body functions. In an article published in the January 10, 2003, issue of the journal Science , the researchers report that the molecule melanopsin is necessary in order for the pupil to constrict properly in response to light, a function termed the pupillary light reflex. The latest findings by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator King-Wai Yau at Johns Hopkins University and his colleagues from Imperial College in London and Brown University build on studies they published last year in which they traced the neural circuitry for this newly discovered light-sensing pathway that is distinct from the primary visual pathway. ©2003 Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 3276 - Posted: 06.24.2010

DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- In response to a lawsuit filed by environmental groups, a federal judge blocked scientists from studying the impact of a newly developed form of sonar on migrating gray whales. Environmentalists say the high-frequency sonar could disorient whales and separate calves from their mothers during their migration. The testing by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution of Falmouth, Mass., and Scientific Solutions Inc. of Nashua, N.H., was set to begin Wednesday a mile off the central California coast near San Luis Obispo during the whales' southward migratory season. ©2003 Associated Press

Keyword: Hearing; Animal Migration
Link ID: 3275 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS WASHINGTON, — Two former government scientists who spent years investigating stress in dolphin populations charged this week that superiors at their federally financed laboratory shut down their research because it clashed with policy goals of the Clinton and Bush administrations. The scientists, who worked at different times over the past decade at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in San Diego, said their research indicated that the practice of chasing and encircling dolphins to catch tuna exposed the dolphins to dangerous amounts of stress. The accusations, by Dr. Albert Myrick, a wildlife biologist, and Dr. Sarka Southern, a research associate, came days after the Bush administration relaxed the criteria for declaring tuna netted by Mexican and other foreign fishing boats to be "dolphin safe." In making that declaration last week, Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans said that chasing and corralling dolphins and the tuna that often accompany them into purse nets had "no significant adverse impact" on the dolphins. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Stress
Link ID: 3274 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The feeling of being drunk is partly in the mind, say psychologists. A person's memory is impaired if they believe they are drinking alcohol even when it is really water, a study has found. Researchers at Victoria University in New Zealand tricked 148 students into believing they were drinking vodka to study the so-called placebo effect. The undergraduates were given drinks in a room set up like a pub with bartenders, vodka bottles and glasses. Half were told they were drinking vodka and half tonic water. In reality, they were all given plain water with limes. Afterwards, the students were shown slides of a crime and were asked to assess a story spiked with misleading information. (C) BBC

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 3273 - Posted: 01.08.2003

Genes could predict which men will get a beer belly Scientists have found that men with a certain gene variation have a tendency to get a flabby stomach. Understanding genetic predisposition to weight gain is an essential step in arresting the stigma that obesity is always an individual's fault The men were more likely to become overweight and to put on fat around their abdomen. Experts say other factors - such as diet and exercise - also play a role in obesity. It appears, however, that some men may be genetically programmed to get a beer belly as they get older if they lead an unhealthy lifestyle. The culprit seems to be a substance called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) which helps regulate blood pressure in the body. (C) BBC

Keyword: Obesity; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 3272 - Posted: 01.08.2003

By ERICA GOODE Awake, Jim Smith was an amiable and popular man. As the director of public works in the small town of Osseo, Minn., he could be counted on to make house calls day or night, attending to burst pipes or broken water mains. In fall, he hunted deer with buddies, who affectionately called him Smitty. In summer, he took his family pan fishing for crappie. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sleep; Aggression
Link ID: 3271 - Posted: 01.08.2003

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — The chimpanzees at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center were acting up. Jessie, a pink-faced 20-year-old, slapped her ample belly and hooted wildly from behind a steel gate. Dover, a mischievous 4-year-old, spied an unfamiliar human and served up his standard greeting for strangers, a fistful of feces, pitched with remarkable accuracy. Jessie and Dover do not really have to be at Yerkes, but there is nowhere else for them to go. Bred for biomedical research, they are now unemployed, a result of a vast surplus of laboratory chimpanzees. They pass their days in small steel-and-concrete enclosures, playing with burlap bags and shredding old telephone books for entertainment. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 3270 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By CLAUDIA DREIFUS DURHAM, N.C. — At Duke University here, Dr. Erich D. Jarvis, 37, is recognized for his groundbreaking research on the brain systems of birds. This year, he won the Alan T. Waterman Award, the National Science Foundation's $500,000 prize for young researchers. Dr. Jarvis's own life story is also widely known. He grew up in Harlem in a family riven by poverty and divorce. His father, a musician and amateur scientist, eventually succumbed to drugs, mental illness and homelessness and was killed in 1989. Still, Erich Jarvis graduated from Hunter College and went on to the Rockefeller University, where he earned his doctorate in 1995. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 3269 - Posted: 06.24.2010

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The biological clock – timekeeper for virtually every activity within living things, from sleep patterns to respiration – is a single protein, Purdue University researchers report. The husband and wife team of D. James and Dorothy Morré has discovered this protein, which is responsible for setting the length of periods of activity and inactivity within cells. If the protein is altered, an organism's body will experience "days" of different length – ranging from 22 to 42 hours in length in some cases. The discovery could have far-reaching implications for medicine. "We can now begin to understand the complex chain of events that connect the clock to events in the body," said James Morré ;, Dow Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in Purdue's School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences. "Since the clock affects nearly every bodily activity, this discovery holds myriad potential applications, from minimizing jet lag to determining when best to administer cancer drugs."

Keyword: Biological Rhythms; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 3268 - Posted: 06.24.2010

CLAREMONT, Calif., (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) -- Pomona College Professors Richard Lewis and Nicole Weekes have received a $408,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study the relationship between psychological stress and memory. Specifically, they are examining stress-induced differences and changes that affect the level of electrical activity in various areas of the brain. "The implications of this research are straightforward," notes Lewis. "Chronic stress can lead to cognitive dysfunction, a fact that has been studied before, but never mapped out so precisely." According to Weekes, that "the more we understand the effects of psychological stress on the brain and on the body, the more seriously we will take attempts to lower that stress." What she finds fascinating is "the bi-directional relationship between the psychological and the biological, how something as psychologically prevalent as one's sense of stress causes changes in the brain, which lead to other biological changes that ultimately affect psychological functions such as memory." (C)1999-2003 Ascribe News

Keyword: Stress; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 3267 - Posted: 01.08.2003

A class of drugs known as cholinesterase inhibitors has a significant impact on behavioral problems and the ability to perform everyday tasks in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) and UCSF. The study, an analysis of data from multiple small studies, appears in the January 8, 2003 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Known as a meta-analysis, the study applied sophisticated statistical methods to data from 29 trials that involved the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with cholinesterase inhibitors (ChIs). People with AD can suffer cognitive, behavioral or functional difficulties. ChIs have been previously shown to effectively treat cognitive difficulties such as memory loss, disorientation and loss of language skills, said Kristine Yaffe, MD, Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry at the SFVAMC and UCSF assistant professor of psychiatry, neurology and epidemiology and biostatistics.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 3266 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists say they have solved one of the greatest mysteries plaguing mankind - just what is the secret of happiness? The answer, apparently, is nothing as simple as true love, lots of money, or an exciting job. Instead, it can be neatly summarised in the following equation: Happiness = P + (5xE) + (3XH) Just to explain, P stands for Personal Characteristics, including outlook on life, adaptability and resilience. E stands for Existence and relates to health, financial stability and friendships. And H represents Higher Order needs, and covers self-esteem, expectations, ambitions and sense of humour. So that's clear then. Apparently the formula was worked out by psychologists after interviews with more than 1,000 people. (C) BBC

Keyword: Emotions; Stress
Link ID: 3265 - Posted: 01.06.2003

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition For 40 years, anthropologists have leaned toward the notion that rich, nourishing meat - brought home by hunters and shared out - played a crucial role in human origins. This would explain why evolution selected for larger, smarter hunters with lighter jaws and teeth: precisely the changes seen as Homo erectus arose in eastern Africa. The hunter-driven scenario also included the formation of nuclear family groups, in which men hunted while women gathered plants and cared for their children, thus kicking off humans' social evolution as well. But this picture may be wrong on several counts. To begin with, early men probably were not bringing meat home to the family. Most evidence of hunting by early African Homo erectus comes from archaeological sites containing both animal bones and primitive stone tools. But most of these lie next to rivers, the kind of predator-filled habitat that today's Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania call a "city of lions". © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 3264 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By ELAINE SCIOLINO PARIS, — These are dark days in the City of Light. It is a cruel trick played on those who are not forewarned. Paris is a northern city, on about the same latitude as Seattle and Vancouver. New York, by contrast, sits on a level with Madrid and Naples. So when winter comes, Paris's northern position combines with humidity, above-freezing temperatures, the absence of fierce winds and a location at the bottom of a basin to rob the city of sun and light. Daylight arrives well after 8 a.m. and leaves only eight hours later. Even as the days begin to grow longer now that the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, has passed, the demons of darkness linger. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Depression; Biological Rhythms
Link ID: 3263 - Posted: 06.24.2010

There is no convincing or consistent evidence giving hyperactive children stimulant drugs such as Ritalin leads to drug abuse later in life, US researchers report. The finding confirms results from 11 previous studies and should dispel public concern the chemical similarity of such stimulants to cocaine could lead to adult drug habits, a worry unwarranted but persistent, the study say. "The present results indicate that clinicians probably need not fear that the stimulant treatment of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is predisposing those children to later drug use, dependence or abuse," concluded the report published in the January issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics [sic]. © 2002 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Keyword: ADHD; Drug Abuse
Link ID: 3262 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Although researchers have known for years that certain nerve cells sense cold they've had a harder time tracking down the exact process. Recently, however, their search has heated up. A collection of studies indicates that molecular doorways on nerve cells, termed channels, detect cold temperatures and create reactions that trigger the cells to send off messages that report the sensation to the brain. These insights may influence the development of new cool and refreshing snacks and beverages as well as new treatments for cold-related pain. Brrrrrr. It's the worst table in the house. You curse the restaurant's front door every time a patron enters or exits, allowing winter winds to chill your cheeks. A new collection of studies, however, indicates that your anger is misdirected. Tiny molecular doorways that line nerve cells inside your body are the real source of the frosty feelings, according to evidence. Some of these doorways, technically termed channels, appear to detect a drop in temperature and then either open or close to trigger the cell to send a message to the brain that there is a chill in the air. The findings are leading to: Copyright © 2003 Society for Neuroscience

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 3261 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By NICHOLAS WADE Hot on the scent of a suspected terrorist? Darpa — the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — hopes to give literal meaning to the phrase. It wants someone to develop a sniffing machine that can detect individuals by their body odor. The idea is not as rank as it may seem. Dogs are said, at least by dog handlers, to recognize the scents of individual people. Researchers have found that mice can detect from body odor and urine how closely they are related to one another, a useful way to avoid inbreeding. So Darpa, the grand patron of exotic military arts (not everything it does works, but it did have a hand in creating the precursor of the Internet), is soliciting "innovative proposals to (1) determine whether genetically-determined odortypes can be used to identify specific individuals, and if so (2) to develop the science and enabling technology for detecting and identifying specific individuals by such odortypes." Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 3260 - Posted: 06.24.2010