New Patch Makes MAO Inhibitors Safer for Many By Jennifer Warner -- A new antidepressant patch may allow more people with depression to reap the mood-lifting benefits of one of the oldest but less commonly used antidepressants. MAO (monoamine oxidase) inhibitors were one of the first class of drugs shown to improve the symptoms of depression in the 1950s, but many people cannot use the drugs because of potentially serious side effects. But a new study shows that the drug is as effective and much safer when administered as a patch: 42% of depressed people treated with the MAO inhibitor patch recovered after six weeks, and many showed improvement much sooner. Researchers say the findings are particularly promising because MAO inhibitors often work best in people who do not respond to other types of antidepressants. The study appears in the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. © 1996-2002 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 2921 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Just like traffic jams clog a city’s roads, sometimes proteins in our body break down and clog up our cells. As this ScienCentral News video reports, when this happens in our brain, it leads to devastating illnesses. Proteins, the basic components of all living cells, are made up of different combinations of amino acids. In order to carry out their biochemical function, each protein must first take on a particular shape, which happens when the amino acids fold into place. This delicate process of protein folding is critical, and when the amino acids do not fold correctly (i.e. "misfold"), the misshapen proteins form clumps, called aggregates, within the cell. These aggregates then start to attract other healthy proteins that are essential for cell function, which in turn bend and stop working. As this process continues, cells shut down and die, and this can lead to devastating neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (the human form of Mad Cow Disease), and Huntington’s Disease, to name a few. © ScienCentral, 2000-2002. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Huntingtons; Prions
Link ID: 2920 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Joe Grossman From the Science & Technology Desk ORANGEBURG, N.Y., (UPI) -- Research with mice suggests cocaine and amphetamine could be particularly addictive to adolescents, a study released Friday reported. The drugs increased levels of delta-FosB, a protein associated with addictive behavior, in two brain regions in adolescent mice, researchers concluded. Amphetamine did not increase delta-FosB in the two regions in adult and very young mouse brains and cocaine did not induce an increase in one of the brain areas. The finding could help in the development of therapies for teen cocaine and amphetamine abuse. It also has implications for the widespread use of amphetamine-like substances in treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, researchers said. Copyright © 2002 United Press International

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 2919 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Poorer people are more likely to develop epilepsy, researchers have found. Those in the most deprived fifth of the population were more than twice as likely to develop epilepsy than those in the least deprived fifth. A number of factors could explain the link, researchers from the Institute of Neurology said. The team looked at all new cases of epilepsy in 20 general practices in London and south east England for between 18 and 24 months. They were classed according to a recognised scale of measuring social and economic deprivation. (C) BBC

Keyword: Epilepsy
Link ID: 2918 - Posted: 11.01.2002

NewScientist.com news service The amount of food a boy eats in the years before puberty influences his grandchildren's risk of diabetes, a small Swedish study suggests. Researchers looked at 303 people, born either in 1890, 1905 or 1920, and the harvest data for the region where they lived. They found that males in areas with a surfeit of food were four times more likely to have grandchildren who died of diabetes mellitus than those who suffered famine in childhood. "Overeating in the 'slow-growth' period before puberty affects the likelihood of the second generation having diabetes," says lead researcher Gunnar Kaati at Umea University, Sweden. "But we don't know exactly why." © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 2917 - Posted: 06.24.2010

N.Y. -- Paper wasps all look the same, right? Wrong. An animal behaviorist at Cornell University reports that the wasp's black-and-yellow uniform is not uniform at all. One wasp, she has discovered, can recognize another through facial and abdominal markings, all but displacing the scientific dogma that insects carry out identification and communication only by employing chemicals called pheromones. "Their faces are far more beautiful and different than you'd expect," says Elizabeth Tibbetts, a Cornell doctoral candidate in neurobiology and behavior. Her study, "Visual signals of individual identity in wasp Polistes fuscatus ," appears in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B (Issue 269). This is believed to be the first study showing that wasps can visually recognize individual kith and kin through facial and abdominal markings and will visually reject unfamiliar wasps.

Keyword: Vision; Animal Communication
Link ID: 2916 - Posted: 11.01.2002

When you look at a picture, your brain has to put together lines, patterns and shapes to make a meaningful scene. New research by neuroscientists at the University of California, Davis and the University of Minnesota shows that higher regions of the brain can quickly recognize patterns and shapes and tell lower areas of the brain to stop processing the information. The finding confirms predictions from computer models and helps explain how the human brain makes sense of what the eyes see. Scott Murray, Bruno Olshausen and David Woods from UC Davis and the VA Medical Center in Martinez, with Daniel Kersten and Paul Schrater from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to see which parts of the brain were active as subjects looked at different patterns and shapes. Current theories hold that a lower area of the brain called the primary visual cortex responds to simple features such as edges and lines and passes this information on to higher, pattern-recognizing parts of the brain.

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 2915 - Posted: 11.01.2002

New study finds unique brain marker of 'vulnerability' Recovering from a major depression is only half the battle. Staying well and avoiding a recurrence can be an even tougher challenge. Now a new study, published in the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, has identified an apparent 'depression trait marker' in the brain that may explain why recovered patients remain vulnerable to another depressive episode. The finding could have important implications for developing more targeted treatments that help patients stay well longer AND identifying family members at risk before they have even experienced a major depression. This 'depression trait marker' involves two brain regions: the subgenual cingulate and the medial frontal cortex. These brain regions are located in a band that runs deep within the frontal lobes, down the midline. The subgenual cingulate is an area previously identified as critical to the acute experience of intense sadness in healthy volunteers as well as a target of anti-depressant action in depressed patients. The medial frontal regions have been previously linked to the cognitive aspects of emotional processing involving self-reference, reward and positive reinforcement. In both the recovered depressed patients as well as the acutely depressed patients, these brain areas show changes in response to intense negative emotional stimuli in a way that is markedly different from that of healthy subjects.

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 2914 - Posted: 11.01.2002

Secretin is active in a brain region implicated in autism Belmont and Waltham, MA – – Researchers from the Brain Imaging Center at McLean Hospital and Repligen Corporation (Nasdaq: RGEN) reported today the results of a clinical trial designed to assess the neurological activity of secretin by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The results demonstrate for the first time in humans, that secretin is active in the central nervous system and that it potentiates activity in the amygdala, a region of the brain involved in social integration and implicated in autism. The findings were presented today by Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, Ph.D., of McLean Hospital, the study's Principal Investigator, at the International Meeting for Autism Research, a satellite meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. "Our results demonstrate for the first time that secretin is a neuroactive peptide in humans and that it acts on a brain region known to be important for social interaction," stated Yurgelun-Todd, Director of Cognitive Neuroimaging at the Brain Imaging Center at McLean Hospital. "These findings suggest that secretin may have a role in modulating certain social behavior in humans." The study was a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 12 healthy men. Each subject was presented with a series of pictures of faces with either a neutral, happy or fearful facial expression to establish a baseline response. Following an injection of either secretin or a placebo, the subjects were again presented with the series of facial expressions.

Keyword: Autism; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 2913 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Dr. Cesario V. Borlongan, neuroscientist, is trying to determine if a compound that is elevated in hibernating squirrels can one day help avoid the ravages of stroke and Parkinson's disease.] A compound that enables squirrels to hibernate may one day help minimize brain damage that results from stroke, according to a researcher at the Medical College of Georgia and Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta. In an animal model for stroke, delta opioid peptide reduced by as much as 75 percent the damage to the brain’s striatum, the deeper region of the brain and a major target for strokes, according to Dr. Cesario V. Borlongan, neuroscientist. In fact, evidence suggests that the compound, which puts cells in a temporary state of suspended animation, may help protect brain cells from the ravages of Parkinson’s disease as well. Copyright 2002 Medical College of Georgia. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Stroke; Biological Rhythms
Link ID: 2912 - Posted: 06.24.2010

UC Berkeley prof's research links pesticide to abnormalities Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Science Writer The most widely used pesticide in the United States appears to be causing developmental defects in a common Midwestern frog, according to a new study that has sparked a high-stakes debate over a chemical long considered environmentally safe. Led by UC Berkeley biologist Tyrone B. Hayes, the study is the first evidence from field studies to show a link between the controversial weed killer, called atrazine, and health problems in a native species of amphibian in the United States. The research, a summary of which appears today in the journal Nature, is generating some fierce reactions from other scientists in the field. ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 2911 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition A drug designed to help people with a particular sleep disorder to stay awake could soon be licensed to perk up sleepy shift workers and others affected by drowsiness. The prospect is stirring up a debate about the dangers of popping a pill to counter a sleep-deprived lifestyle. Provigil, as the drug is known in the US and Britain, is approved for treating the daytime sleepiness associated with the rare condition called narcolepsy, which makes people fall asleep involuntarily. But last week, the drug's manufacturer, Cephalon of West Chester, Pennsylvania, announced results from a clinical trial of 209 shift workers that showed it helps those with "shift work sleep disorder" - excessive sleepiness caused by odd working hours. The trial is part of Cephalon's attempt to expand the range of conditions Provigil can be used for. Ultimately, the company hopes it can be prescribed to treat sleepiness that results from any medical condition, and plans to submit data from this and other trials for approval for such use to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Sleep
Link ID: 2910 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Atrazine gives frogs male and female gonads, says field study. KENDALL POWELL A widely used herbicide is making male frogs grow female gonads in the US midwest, according to a recent field study. The finding could fuel the controversy over whether or not the chemical is one of the many possible reasons amphibian populations are shrinking worldwide. Atrazine seems to make leopard frogs (Rana pipiens) hermaphrodite in the wild as well as in the lab1,2. "Leopard frogs are the most common, widely distributed species of native American frog," points out study leader Tyrone Hayes of the University of California, Berkeley. US farmers use about 27,000 tonnes of atrazine each year to protect maize and other crops from weeds. So the compound gets into rain, groundwater, rivers and streams. The US Environmental Protection Agency has set a standard of 3 parts per billion (p.p.b.) as an acceptable level in drinking water. But concerns about atrazine's ability to disrupt sex hormones have led many European nations to ban it. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 2909 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Finding might help treat stress-related ailments. TANGUY CHOUARD Researchers have found a set of genes that control whether feeding worms clump together or go it alone1,2. The genes are switched on in nerve cells known to sense stressful situations. This is intriguing, because a previously discovered gene that influences a worm's social tendencies is related to one that controls humans' responses to stress. If the links between genes, nerves and behaviour could be completed, we might better understand how anxiety affects our differing needs for solitude and company. And we might be able to design drugs to treat stress-related ailments such as anorexia, obesity and depression. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Keyword: Obesity; Stress
Link ID: 2908 - Posted: 06.24.2010

DALLAS – - Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and the University of California, San Francisco have shown that feeding behavior in worms is controlled by neurons that detect adverse or stressful conditions. The findings are published in the Oct. 31 issue of Nature. The discovery of the gene that controls social feeding behavior in worms was made in 1998 by researchers at UCSF. The new findings build on the earlier research by identifying the nociceptive neurons – neurons that transmit pain signals - triggering group feeding. "The gene that controls this behavior in worms is like the one that controls feeding in humans," said Dr. Leon Avery, associate professor of molecular biology at UT Southwestern and an author of the study. "The epidemic of obesity in America makes [the findings on neurons] potentially relevant to health."

Keyword: Stress; Obesity
Link ID: 2907 - Posted: 06.24.2010

ST. PAUL, MN – Previous research has implicated oxidative damage (cell degradation) in the development of Parkinson’s disease. Because vitamins E, C and carotenoids are antioxidants, researchers recently studied the associations between their intake and risk of Parkinson’s disease. Their conclusions point not to supplements, but to dietary intake of vitamin E (from the foods we eat) as having a protective factor in the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. The study is reported in the October 22 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Using repeated and validated dietary assessments of two large study cohorts, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School examined the associations between dietary intakes of vitamin E, C, and carotenoids, vitamin supplements, and risk of Parkinson’s disease. After exclusions, 76,890 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and 47,331 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) were included in the study analyses.

Keyword: Parkinsons
Link ID: 2906 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Different faces were chosen at different times of the cycle Women with steady partners may still be tempted to sleep around - but mainly on certain days of the month, say researchers. A BBC documentary to be broadcast on Wednesday explains how human sexual instincts are so strong that some women's preferences may alter significantly while they are ovulating. While her partner might be a better bet to bring up children and support her, another man might carry genes which mean healthier, stronger children. Morgan Wise, a train driver from Big Spring in Texas, found this out when his youngest son was found to have cystic fibrosis, a devastating lung disorder caused by a single faulty gene. Both mother and father must carry the gene to produce a cystic fibrosis child, and Morgan duly went for a gene test to confirm he was a carrier. The test proved negative - effectively proving that he was not the child's father. (C) BBC

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 2905 - Posted: 10.30.2002

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