CJD progressively kills brain cells Twenty-four patients at a Teesside hospital are being told they may have been infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease after an "appalling" safety lapse. The patients are being informed by Middlesbrough General Hospital that they may have been exposed to "sporadic" CJD through instruments used on a woman diagnosed with the fatal brain disease. The equipment was not decontaminated properly after being used for a brain biopsy on 29 July. Despite the diagnosis of CJD following two weeks later it has taken until now for a decision to be made to start contacting those at risk. The hospital is in the process of contacting all the patients concerned and setting up a helpline. Officials are trying to establish if there is any risk of the patients contracting the disease from the instruments. South Tees NHS Trust medical director Dr Paul Lawler said the hospital had followed Department of Health guidelines, and warned: "It's possible it could happen again tomorrow." (C) BBC

Keyword: Prions
Link ID: 2904 - Posted: 10.30.2002

By ADAM LIPTAK A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled yesterday that the federal government may not revoke the licenses of doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients. The ruling, by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, is the biggest legal victory yet for voter initiatives in nine states that legalized marijuana for medical purposes. It upholds a five-year-old lower-court decision that blocked the government's efforts to frustrate a 1996 initiative in California. There was no immediate word if the government would appeal yesterday's ruling. Spokesmen for the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration said only that the government was reviewing the decision. Copyright The New York Times Company

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 2903 - Posted: 10.30.2002

By HENRY FOUNTAIN The left hand may not always know what the right hand is doing, as the saying goes, but what about a bit higher up on the body — the nose, for instance? Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have discovered that the left nostril does not always know what the right nostril is sniffing. But it can learn. The researchers studied the ability of test subjects to recognize the smell of androstenone, a pheromone and component of body odor. About 30 percent of adults cannot detect the odor (which some people say vaguely resembles sandalwood), although many will develop the ability if they are exposed to the chemical over time. Copyright The New York Times Company

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 2902 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Looking at Picasso's cubist portrait "Girl with a Mandolin" , one critic might see a jumble of lines and angles, while another perceives a delicate young musician. Such is the difference between two brain areas involved in perceiving visual shapes. Now researchers suggest that one area--the one that sees a musician--can shut down the one that sees only lines. When light hits the retina, the visual signal zips to a region of the brain called the primary visual cortex, or V1. Neurons here respond to specific elements of an image--a vertical line, for instance--and send that information on to higher brain areas, including one called the lateral occipital complex (LOC). The LOC processes shapes, so that when we see four lines at right angles, we understand it to be a square. Now researchers say that when the LOC detects a pattern, it tells V1 to stop reporting on the component pieces. Copyright © 2002 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 2901 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed computerized atlases and associated tools for visualizing and analyzing two major components of the brain, the cerebral cortex and the cerebellar cortex. "It is vital to have improved methods for analyzing and visualizing the torrent of information that is becoming available from neurobiologists so that we can better understand the brain in health and disease," says David C. Van Essen, Ph.D., Edison Professor of neurobiology and head of the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology. The cerebral cortex and the cerebellar cortex form the convoluted surfaces of the brain. The cerebral cortex is the seat of thought, learning, emotion, perception, sensation and movement. The cerebellar cortex also is important for movement and in coordinating the flow of information related to many functions, including cognitive processes as well as movement. . Copyright ©2002 Washington University in St. Louis.

Keyword: Cerebral Cortex
Link ID: 2900 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are transplanting jellyfish genes into mice to watch how neural connections change in the brains of entire living animals. The development represents the merging of several technologies and enable researchers to watch changes inside living animals during normal development and during disease progression in a relatively non-invasive way. "This work represents a new approach to studying the biology of whole, living animals," says Jeff W. Lichtman, M.D., Ph.D., professor of anatomy and neurobiology. "I believe these methods will transform not only neurobiology, but also immunology and studies of organs such as the kidney, liver, and lung." Lichtman presented the work at the 40th annual New Horizons in Science Briefing, sponsored by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, held Oct. 27-30 at Washington University in St. Louis. Copyright ©2002 Washington University in St. Louis.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 2899 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists have discovered a chemical in tobacco that may be partly responsible for causing diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's disease and accelerating the ageing process. The chemical - nornicotine - is naturally present in tobacco, and is also produced when nicotine is broken down in the body. A team from Scripps Research Institute in the US has discovered that it reacts with proteins in the body, damaging their ability to perform their proper function. The process is the chemical equivalent of cooking and is the same reaction that browns seared sugars and caused food to age and spoil. The researchers have also discovered that nornicotine can have a second damaging effect - it reacts with commonly prescribed steroids, like cortisone and prednisone, potentially making them unsafe to use. (C) BBC

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 2898 - Posted: 10.29.2002

By ERIC NAGOURNEY People hoping to stay sharp as they age often turn to crossword puzzles, math problems and other demanding intellectual pursuits. But is all that really necessary? A new set of studies suggests that it may be just part of the solution. Simply talking to people, the researchers say, appears to keep mental skills sharp. Copyright The New York Times Company

Keyword: Alzheimers; Intelligence
Link ID: 2897 - Posted: 10.29.2002

By DINITIA SMITH What maketh the man? Is it chromosomes? Or is it genitalia? Or, to borrow from Polonius, is it clothes? In her new book, "How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States," Dr. Joanne Meyerowitz, a professor of history at Indiana University and the editor of The Journal of American History, examines changing definitions of gender through the prism of transsexuality, that most mysterious of conditions in which a person is born with normal chromosomes and hormones for one sex but is convinced that he or she is a member of the other. Dr. Meyerowitz shows how mutable the words "male," "female," "sex" and "gender" have become, and how their meanings have evolved through time. Copyright The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 2896 - Posted: 10.29.2002

By JAMES GORMAN In the dense conifer forests of northern Sweden, just below the Arctic Circle, the Siberian jay, its feathers the color of pine bark, hides its nests high in the tall pines and spruces. In the Southeastern United States, in fire-scoured piny woods, endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers take years to excavate very visible nest cavities. The cryptic jay is tracked with radio transmitters, the woodpecker simply by staking out its nest. But researchers say that the two birds have something in common. Given the choice, the young of each species often postpone independent life and all that comes with it — breeding, nests, the avian equivalent of mortgage payments — to hang around an extra year or longer with mom and dad. And they do not necessarily do it to be helpful. Copyright The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 2895 - Posted: 06.24.2010

PITTSBURGH, A high school athlete with a history of three or more concussions who sustains a new concussion may be up to nine times more likely to experience common symptoms compared to high school athletes with no history of concussion, according to a University of Pittsburgh study, published in the November issue of the journal Neurosurgery. "The study is the first to actually demonstrate what have been the commonly assumed cumulative effects of multiple concussions in high school athletes," according to lead author Michael W. (Micky) Collins, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist and assistant director of the University of Pittsburgh Center for Sports Medicine's Concussion Program. "The study indicates for the first time in the high school athlete population that prior concussions may indeed lower the threshold for subsequent concussion injury and increase symptom severity in even seemingly mild subsequent concussions," he said. For more information about Dr. Collins, go to: http://www.upmc.edu/NewsBureau/sportsmed/collins_bio.htm. "Our findings are significant because high school athletes in contact sports are at high risk for repeated concussions, yet it is a population that has been understudied regarding concussion management," Dr. Collins said.

Keyword: Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 2894 - Posted: 10.29.2002

By Sue Vorenberg Tribune Reporter If Los Alamos National Laboratory has its way, squids will soon be common in hospitals, universities and psychology wards. No, not those squids. SQUIDs: superconducting quantum interference devices. The name is complex but the function is simple: The devices measure tiny magnetic fields in the human body, which are about a billionth the size of the one around the earth that prompts compasses to point north. © The Albuquerque Tribune.

Keyword: Brain imaging
Link ID: 2893 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Physicians at UC Davis Medical Center have identified a promising new treatment for epilepsy that reduces the number of seizures while helping patients lead more productive lives. The study is the first to show that Levetiracetam (LEV), an antiepileptic drug typically used in combination with other drugs, might be successful as a single drug. The results were published in the October issue of Epilepsy and Behavior and will be presented at the American Epilepsy Association conference in Seattle this December. “We found that LEV can be effective as a single drug, or monotherapy, in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy, as well as in patients with difficult-to-control seizures,” said Taoufik M. Alsaadi, assistant professor of neurology and co-director of the UC Davis Comprehensive Epilepsy Program. “In addition, it is very well tolerated, with only a small number of patients discontinuing the drug due to side effects.”

Keyword: Epilepsy
Link ID: 2892 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Lauran Neergaard | The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- A toddler tumbles down stairs, a preschooler falls off a tricycle or a teen gets clobbered in football, and it's likely the emergency room will order a CT scan. But the majority of children with minor head injuries turn out to be fine, meaning too many kids are needlessly exposed to the scans' radiation, say specialists developing new guidelines that aim to cut by a third unnecessary CT scans of children's brains. CT scans -- computer-enhanced X-rays that can provide a better view of all parts of the body, not just the brain -- have revolutionized medicine. But the scans, more popularly known as CAT scans, emit significantly more radiation than a standard X-ray, and children are more sensitive to radiation than adults. Copyright © 2002, Orlando Sentinel

Keyword: Development of the Brain; Brain imaging
Link ID: 2891 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Some people may suffer from mysterious back pain because their brains are ultra-sensitive and wired up in a different way, say researchers. They have found that some people with lower back problems that appear to have no obvious physical cause seem to register pain much more easily than most people. A gentle squeeze so soft that it was not registered by healthy people was enough to trigger pain signals in their brains. A similar effect was also seen in patients with fibromyalgia, who suffer pain in the muscles, ligaments and tendons. But healthy people had to be squeezed a lot more sharply to feel the same level of pain - and it registered in different areas of the brain. The researchers, from the University of Michigan, say they do not know why this effect happens, but hope their work will help explain lower back pain. (C) BBC

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 2890 - Posted: 10.28.2002

Scientists have found that men are more likely than women to be telling the truth if they say: "Not tonight darling, I've got a headache". A team of German researchers has begun to investigate the phenomenon of sexual headaches - a condition known as Orgasmic Cephalgia. They have discovered that it is three times more likely to strike men. The headaches usually come on suddenly around the point of orgasm, and can be very severe. The researchers believe the condition affects around one in a 100 people at least once during a lifetime, but some people are afflicted on a regular basis. Although the precise causes are not yet understood, it is thought that the condition may be linked to the increased blood flow and dilation of blood vessels that occur during sex. (C) BBC

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Pain & Touch
Link ID: 2889 - Posted: 10.28.2002

Biochemical evidence may be the 'smoking gun,' but not all are convinced By Douglas Steinberg Many neuroscientists think that the master criminal behind Alzheimer disease is AB-secretase-42, the 42-amino-acid peptide that forms amyloid plaques in the brain. Two accomplices, the enzymes B-secretase-secretase and g-secretase, consecutively cleave AB-secretase from the much larger B-secretase-amyloid precursor protein (APP). What baffles investigators about g-secretase is that its substrate is a stretch of amino acids within APP's seemingly inaccessible transmembrane domain. Many genetic and cellular studies suggest that g-secretase's active site resides in the transmembrane protein presenilin-1 (PS1), which was first reported in 1995.1 Then in 2000, Merck & Co. labs in the United States and Great Britain provided compelling biochemical evidence in a Hot Paper2 favoring that hypothesis. Nevertheless, even Yue-Ming Li, who worked on this project and now heads the biochemistry and molecular pharmacology laboratory at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, acknowledges the need for much more data. "We don't have the final proof yet that PS1 is really the g-secretase." Indeed, some scientists argue that PS1 cannot be g-secretase. ©2002, The Scientist Inc.

Keyword: Alzheimers; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 2888 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Many nerve terminals disappear in the a-synuclein mouse By Douglas Steinberg In the half-decade after human a- synuclein (ha-syn) was discovered in amyloid plaques purified from brains of patients with Alzheimer,1 neuroscientists logically suspected that this synaptic protein played a role in Alzheimer disease. Codiscoverer Eliezer Masliah began to develop an ha-syn transgenic mouse in 1996 that he hoped would serve as an Alzheimer model. Over the next two years, however, views about ha -syn underwent a radical makeover. Studies linked mutations in its gene to Parkinson disease and identified the protein in aggregates, known as Lewy bodies, which form inside neurons in Parkinson and other neurodegenerative disorders; ha-syn's role in Alzheimer disease appeared, in comparison, less compelling. Researchers began to envision an ha-syn mouse as the first transgenic Parkinson model. Masliah, a professor of neurosciences and pathology at the University of California, San Diego, published what he claims was the first report of an ha-syn mouse in this Hot Paper.2 The achievement was hard-won, he recalls, because a transgene can have unpredictable effects, depending on which promoter and which stretches of the gene are used. "We had to try a lot of different combinations until we came up with something that worked," he says. ©2002, The Scientist Inc.

Keyword: Parkinsons; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 2887 - Posted: 06.24.2010

In the amygdala, fMRI shows greater neuronal activity in those with a short allele of the serotonin transporter promoter | By Harvey Black A team of scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health has found that a variant of the gene responsible for transporting the neurotransmitter serotonin is linked to greater activity of the amygdala within the brain.1 The researchers, led by Daniel Weinberger , chief of NIMH's Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, used functional magnetic resonance imaging in patients with one or two copies of the short allele of the serotonin transporter promoter. The fMRI demonstrated in-creased neuronal activity while these patients viewed faces showing emotional expressions. The findings show that the gene SLC6A4 affects cognition and emotionality and can be studied directly at the level of brain, says Weinberger. "This will ultimately inform us about why certain genes contribute to emotionality." The research involved 28 subjects: 14 had two copies of the long allele; the remainder had at least one copy of the short allele. MELDING TECHNOLOGIES "What's really interesting about this research is that it's the first time a certain gene [SLC6A4] has been tied to a clear-cut brain response that we can measure," says psychiatry professor Ned Kalin , University of Wisconsin-Madison. "It really melds two exciting technologies--fMRI and genomics--and puts them together in a creative way." Klaus-Peter Lesch , vice chair and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, commented in an E-mail, "The paper is an outstanding piece of work into the influence of gene variation on emotion processing and behavior." ©2002, The Scientist Inc.

Keyword: Emotions; Brain imaging
Link ID: 2886 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Developing safe, specific, powerful memory-improving drugs raises many ethical issues about the implications of cognitive enhancement | By Eugene Russo Though not suffering from any particular ailment, a 70-year-old woman becomes frustrated with the forgetfulness that often accompanies old age. She consults her doctor, who prescribes a memory enhancer. Within weeks, she can find her car keys and phone her children without using the speed-dial. Overwhelmed with reading assignments, a college freshman contacts his physician. The doctor prescribes a cognition enhancer: The student aces his exams. A soldier fights next to his buddy in a foxhole. While exchanging fire with the enemy, a bullet rips through his compatriot's skull, killing him instantly. Witnessing this, the surviving soldier goes into shock, despite the continuing firefight. Quickly, he reaches for a pouch, takes out a pill, and swallows it. Seconds later, he forgets what he saw and resumes shooting--and makes it out alive. ©2002, The Scientist Inc.

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Drug Abuse
Link ID: 2885 - Posted: 06.24.2010