Researchers studying learning disabilities associated with neurofibromatosis type 1, or NF1, have traced the problem to excessive activity of a crucial signaling molecule and have successfully reversed the disabilities in mice by giving them an experimental drug. The findings provide hope that these learning problems may one day be treatable in humans. This study provides the first clear picture of what causes learning impairments in NF1, says study author Alcino J. Silva, Ph.D., of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). NF1 is a genetic disorder that affects about one in every 4000 people. Patients with the disorder have an array of symptoms, including benign tumors called neurofibromas and light brown spots on the skin called café-au-lait spots. About half of the affected individuals have cognitive disabilities, which typically include problems with spatial learning (which affects organization and other abilities) and reading. The study appears in the January 16, 2002, electronic edition of Nature* and was supported in part by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

Keyword: Trophic Factors; Miscellaneous
Link ID: 1345 - Posted: 01.17.2002

Neural Plasticity Rather than a General Measure Better Defines the Potentials and Limitations of Intelligence WASHINGTON - According to neuro and cognitive scientists, different intellectual abilities are based on neural circuits that require environmental stimulation for development and are open to change. However, intelligence researchers' argue that there is a general factor of intelligence or g, that is highly heritable and defines intelligence as an overall innate ability to perform well on different measures of intelligence, which are not open to change. This debate is reviewed in an analysis of 124 studies of the underlying basis of intelligence in the January issue of Psychological Review published by the American Psychological Association. Psychologist Dennis Garlick, Ph.D., of the University of Sydney in Australia, submits that the neural plasticity model of intelligence better explains how intelligence is developed. This model suggests that intelligence is created when neural connections in the brain are changed in response to environmental cues. According to Garlick, recent advances in neuroscience and cognitive science have suggested that different intellectual abilities require different neural connections in the brain and that the only mechanism that allows the brain to grow such connections would be an adaptation mechanism that responds to environmental input. © PsycNET 2001 American Psychological Association

Keyword: Intelligence
Link ID: 1344 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Copyright © 2002 AP Online By JOANN LOVIGLIO, Associated Press PHILADELPHIA - A new study of mice suggests repeated head injuries may accelerate Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found mice that received repetitive knocks to the head - similar in severity to what a professional boxer or football player would experience - developed deposits of a plaque-like protein faster than mice who did not suffer head trauma. The protein, called amyloid beta, seemed to appear in mice in response to the injuries and can be found in brains of Alzheimer patients, the University of Pennsylvania researchers said. Copyright © 2001 Nando Media

Keyword: Alzheimers; Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 1343 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Copyright © 2002 AP Online By LINDSEY TANNER, Associated Press CHICAGO- A new study shows at least 47 million American adults - or more than one in five - have metabolic syndrome, a disorder that often includes a beer belly, high blood pressure, poor cholesterol readings and high blood sugar. Metabolic syndrome has been recognized since at least the 1920s, though it has been called different things over the years. It is not a single disease but a cluster of health problems, and despite its name, does not necessarily mean a person's metabolism is defective. Though experts say the syndrome may be caused by a combination of genes and lifestyle factors, lifestyle - including overeating and a lack of exercise - are probably the most important factors, said Dr. Earl Ford of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who led the study. Copyright © 2001 Nando Media

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 1342 - Posted: 06.24.2010

(Philadelphia, PA) - The posthumous gift of eyes from a patient with a rare retinal disease, enhanced S cone syndrome (ESCS), has taught researchers more about the role of NR2E3, the gene that causes this form of blindness. ESCS is an inherited condition that gradually causes night blindness, loss of peripheral vision, and sensitivity to blue light. Researchers at the Scheie Eye Institute at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center led the study, which was presented in the January 8 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "This is one of those occasions where a generous eye donor has helped scientists to understand a rare disease," said Ann H. Milam, PhD, lead author and a researcher at the F. M. Kirby Center for Molecular Opthalmology within the Scheie Eye Institute. The donated retinas came from a person with two copies of the mutated gene, one from each parent. "Here, we can learn what the NR2E3 gene does by seeing what physically happens when it fails to work correctly."

Keyword: Vision; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 1341 - Posted: 01.17.2002

MRI Predicts if Early Signs Will Develop Into Disability By Michael Smith , MD WebMD Medical News -- Being told you possibly have multiple sclerosis is very troubling. And the definite answer may take months or even years to come. But a new study shows that an MRI brain scan can give you and your doctor a good idea of what lies ahead. It's not uncommon for someone to develop a nerve problem such as blurry vision or difficulty controlling an arm or leg. After further testing, however, some of these people are told that they possibly have multiple sclerosis. In fact, this is how the story begins in 90% of people with MS, according to lead author Peter A. Brex, MD. His findings appear in the Jan. 17 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, © 1996-2001 WebMD Corporation. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Multiple Sclerosis; Brain imaging
Link ID: 1340 - Posted: 06.24.2010

DALLAS – – Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas are a step closer to defining the function of two proteins involved in neurotransmitter release, which initiates communication between neurons in the brain. Findings from the two-part study, published in today’s issue of Nature , provides new insight in understanding how the brain functions, which ultimately has broad implications for the development of drug therapy to treat neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as learning and memory disorders. “This is pure, fundamental research,” said Dr. Thomas Südhof, director of the Center for Basic Neuroscience at UT Southwestern and senior author of the first part of the study. “It is essential for understanding various diseases of the nervous system. The premise of our work is the understanding of neurotransmitter release, which is a necessity for understanding brain function and how the brain works.” © 2002 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 1339 - Posted: 06.24.2010

New molecule wraps up excess anaesthetic. PHILIP BALL Recovering from anaesthesia could become much easier if a new drug, now in clinical trials, lives up to its potential1. During some operations, patients receive neuromuscular blockers to suppress voluntary or reflex muscle contractions. After surgery, they are given drugs to negate the blockers' influence and restore normal muscle function. These often have nasty side-effects, including vomiting, cramps and diarrhoea. Drugs that alleviate these side-effects have unwelcome consequences of their own, such as dry mouth and blurred vision. The problem is that whereas blockers do one thing, their antagonists don't simply do the opposite, but rather they have more general effects. It's like trying to prevent credit-card fraud by outlawing credit cards. Bom, A. et al. A novel concept of reversing neuromuscular block: chemical encapsulation of rocuronium bromide by a cyclodextrin-based synthetic host. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 41, 266 - 270, (2002). © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 1337 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have observed, for the first time, a protein gradient in developing fruit fly embryos believed to trigger the division of the embryo into nervous system and different types of epidermis within complex organisms like humans. In a paper featured on the cover of this month’s issue of the journal Developmental Cell, the scientists demonstrate visually and in experimental detail the molecular process by which an embryo begins partitioning itself for subsequent development into neural and distinct forms of epidermal tissue. Their experiments provide final confirmation of an elegant hypothesis proposed during the 1950s by the mathematician Alan Turing, who suggested that chemicals generated incrementally during the development of a complex organism might cause the differentiation of cells during early embryonic development. “We are now one step closer to understanding the mechanism by which crude spatial information provided by the egg is converted into more refined information that ultimately defines every position along the body axis in exquisite detail,” says Ethan Bier, a professor of biology at UCSD who headed the research. “This process assures that fingernails grow only on the tips of fingers and two eyes become positioned symmetrically on either side of the nose.” Copyright ©2001 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 1336 - Posted: 06.24.2010

* Normal fetal development requires both mother and fetus to supply appropriate levels of thyroid hormone at different times. * Brain abnormalities found in children exposed to abnormally low concentrations of thyroid hormone during fetal development are similar to those found in children exposed to alcohol in utero. * Researchers have found that alcohol consumption during pregnancy can alter thyroid function in both the mother and fetus. In order to assure normal fetal development, mother and fetus must both - at different times during gestation - contribute appropriate levels of thyroid hormone. If not, brain defects can result, some of which resemble those found in children suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Due to these commonalities, some researchers speculate that alcohol may mediate alcohol-related birth defects (ARBDs) by inducing hypothyroid conditions in utero.

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 1335 - Posted: 01.16.2002

Mouse experiments suggest that folic acid deficiency could increase the brain’s susceptibility to Parkinson’s disease, according to scientists at the National Institute on Aging. In the finding, published in the January 2002 issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry , the investigators fed one group of mice a diet that included folate, while a second group was fed a diet lacking this vitamin. They then gave the mice moderate amounts of MPTP, a chemical that can cause Parkinson-like symptoms. In the mice fed folate, MPTP caused only mild symptoms of disease. But mice fed the folate-deficient diet developed severe Parkinson-like symptoms. The scientists found that mice with low amounts of dietary folic acid had elevated levels of homocysteine in the blood and brain. They suspect that increased levels of homocysteine in the brain caused damage to the DNA of nerve cells in the substantia nigra, an important brain structure that produces dopamine. Copyright © 1992-2002 Bio Online, Inc. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Parkinsons
Link ID: 1334 - Posted: 06.24.2010

by JENNY HOPE, Daily Mail Her mother, Joy Muddiman, 33, says the difference is hard to believe. 'It's wonderful, almost like a miracle. 'For the first time we have seen Jasmine really laugh, and we can laugh with her. Before, when she began to laugh, it signalled the start of a fit.' The operation was carried out for the first time by NHS doctors last month. Previously, it was available only in Australia at a cost of more than £25,000 to non-residents, and some British children have travelled there for treatment. Neurosurgeon Christopher Chandler, of King's College Hospital, London, who led the team involved, describes it as a real advance. ©2001 Associated New Media Limited

Keyword: Epilepsy
Link ID: 1333 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Sleeping May Be the Most Important Thing You Do Today Judy Licht Washington Post Staff Writer Going to sleep may seem pretty boring compared with all the fun stuff there is to do while you're awake. But there's a lot going on in your mind and body while you're tucked under those covers. Sleep, in fact, is as important to your survival as eating and drinking. Sleep improves your mood, makes you a better athlete, and helps you remember and understand what you learned during the day. © 2002 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Sleep
Link ID: 1331 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By SUSAN GILBERT Even the best parent-teenager relationships have their shares of disconnects, and it is hardly surprising that they often occur on the subject of sex. Beyond a certain point, parents can only guess what their children are thinking, feeling and doing — and hope that they are doing it safely. But Dr. Lynn Ponton knows. Teenagers open up to Dr. Ponton, a professor of psychiatry at University of California at San Francisco. In addition, as chairwoman of the Disaster and Trauma Committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, she works as a consultant to schools on issues of violence and risk-taking. Some teenagers she meets have been victims of sexual violence; others are perpetrators. There are early-developing girls who feel like "sluts" because they fantasize about sex, and there are boys who enjoy Internet pornography that shows abuse of women. Several of their stories are told in detail in Dr. Ponton's recent book, "The Sex Lives of Teenagers" (Plume, 2001). Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 1330 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By BRENDA FOWLER In 1981 the linguist Noam Chomsky, who had already proposed that language was not learned but innate, made an even bolder claim. The grammars of all languages, he said, can be described by a set of universal rules or principles, and the differences among those grammars are due to a finite set of options that are also innate. If grammar were bread, then flour and liquid would be the universal rules; the options — parameters, Dr. Chomsky called them — would be things like yeast, eggs, sugar and jalapeños, any of which yield a substantially different product when added to the universals. The theory would explain why grammars vary only within a narrow range, despite the tremendous number and diversity of languages. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Language
Link ID: 1329 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Missing protein leaves mice impervious to pain VIRGINIA GEWIN Researchers have a new lead for treating pain. A protein called DREAM appears to play a key role in how mice respond to heat, touch and inflammation1. Mice lacking DREAM seem oblivious to all types of pain, find Josef Penninger and his colleagues at The AMGEN Institute, Toronto, Canada. The animals can bear acute pain - the kind caused for example by heat, pressure, or injections as well as chronic inflammatory pain - that which arthritis patients suffer. They seem otherwise normal. DREAM was first identified in 1999, when it was known by three different names and had three different proposed functions in biological systems. * Cheng, H.-Y. M. et al. DREAM is a critical transcriptional repressor for pain modulation. Cell, 108, 31 - 43, (2002). © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Keyword: Pain & Touch; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 1328 - Posted: 06.24.2010

FDA Expands Use of Parkinson's Brain Implant The Associated Press W A S H I N G T O N, — A brain stimulator used to control tremors now can be implanted deep into a different part of the brain to fight other debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's disease, the government ruled today. Since 1997, doctors have been able to implant Medtronic Corp.'s pacemaker-like device into one side of a patient's brain to cut the tremors that plague patients with Parkinson's and certain other diseases. Tremor experts have called the Activa system a major advance. The Food and Drug Administration's 1997 approval, however, said Activa implants were only for one side of the brain — meaning it helped only one side of the body. T Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Copyright © 2002 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures.

Keyword: Parkinsons
Link ID: 1326 - Posted: 06.24.2010

FDA today approved an expanded use of a brain implant to help control some symptoms of advanced Parkinson's disease. The device, a deep brain stimulator, made by Medtronic, Inc., of Minneapolis, Minn., was initially approved by FDA in 1997 for use in one side of the brain to help control tremors on one side of the body. Today, after review of additional studies conducted by the manufacturer, the agency approved the device, called the Activa Parkinson's Control System, for use in both sides of the brain to help reduce some of the other symptoms of advanced Parkinson's that cannot be adequately controlled with medication. An estimated 1.5 million Americans have Parkinson's disease, which results in tremors, rigidity, postural instability, slowness and difficulty moving and, in some people, intellectual deterioration.

Keyword: Parkinsons
Link ID: 1325 - Posted: 01.15.2002

By Leah Thorsen Special to The Washington Post The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a health advocacy group that generally opposes animal experimentation, is suing the federal government for documents that it believes would lead to the shutdown of a federally funded project involving experiments on cats. PCRM filed suit in U.S. District Court here, alleging that the National Institutes of Health improperly withheld data that should be made public under the Freedom of Information Act. The group says it needs the documents to challenge the way NIH reviews scientific projects and to show that the experiments should never have been approved. The suit, filed Dec. 27, contends that the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of NIH, refused to release records pertaining to a five-year project at Ohio State University at Columbus that was awarded a $1.68 million federal grant. © 2002 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 1324 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Rare musical ability to distinguish sounds by ear could be genetic Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Science Writer Almost from the time he could walk, Berkeley concert pianist Roy Bogas felt the pull of music -- and an uncanny facility for recognizing, and eventually naming, notes. Bogas, who performs for the San Francisco Ballet and other orchestras, can instantly tell whether a given tone is an A or a D or a G or any interval between. Known as "perfect" or "absolute" pitch, it's a rare ability in adults, even among professional musicians, who typically have what's known as "relative pitch," or the ability to tell what a note is only when given a starting note as a reference. ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 4

Keyword: Hearing
Link ID: 1322 - Posted: 06.24.2010