The baby brothers and sisters of autistic children do not seek emotional cues from adults, or respond to them, as often as other toddlers do, suggests new research from the University of California, San Diego. The study is the first to investigate "social referencing" behavior in children from families at high risk for autism and also points to profound differences in related measurements of brain activity, said lead researcher Leslie Carver. Carver, an assistant professor of psychology and director of the Developmental Cognitive and Social Neuroscience Lab at UC San Diego, is presenting the findings at the 2007 International Meeting for Autism Research in Seattle, Wash. "Our results," Carver said, "support two important ideas about autism: That those behaviors that are diagnostic of the disorder fall on one end of a broad behavioral spectrum and also that there is a strong genetic component to autism, evidenced by the behavioral resemblances in close family members." The heritability of autism has been estimated as high as 90 percent, Carver noted, and siblings are at increased risk of receiving the diagnosis themselves: About 8 percent will go on to develop the disorder, as compared to about .5 percent of the general population. Social referencing involves checking in with the emotional displays of others (especially those we expect to be knowledgeable about a novel situation) and regulating our own emotions and behavior in response.

Keyword: Autism
Link ID: 10264 - Posted: 05.05.2007

Roxanne Khamsi Culture can shape your view of the world, the saying goes. And it might be more than just a saying: a new study suggests that culture may shape the way our brains process visual information. Researchers found that the brains of older East Asian people respond less strongly to changes in the foreground of images than those of their Western counterparts. They suggest this difference is due to an increased emphasis on the background, or context, of images in some Asian cultures. Denise Park of the University of Illinois in Urbana, US, and her colleagues recruited 37 young and elderly volunteers within their community, as well as people from similar age groups in Singapore. The younger participants in the study had an average age of 22 years, while the older participants averaged 67 years. The subjects each viewed a series of 200 pictures while their brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The researchers varied either the foreground or background of the images (see right) to see if responses varied between the groups. The researchers found expected differences between the age groups. There was a lower response by the hippocampus – a brain region which seems to help the mind connect a particular object to its background – among older subjects in both groups compared with their younger counterparts. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 10263 - Posted: 06.24.2010

This link will open a short video showing an octopus that has learned to open a bottle for a treat.

Keyword: Intelligence; Evolution
Link ID: 10262 - Posted: 05.04.2007

By BENEDICT CAREY Doctors reported yesterday that expectant mothers with epilepsy who took a commonly prescribed drug to control seizures were at increased risk of having a child with mental deficits. Toddlers who had been exposed in the womb to the drug Depakote, from Abbott Laboratories, scored seven to eight points lower on I.Q. tests at age 2 than those whose mothers had been taking other epilepsy drugs while pregnant, the study found. They were twice as likely to score in the range associated with mental retardation, according to the authors, who presented the findings at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Boston. Other researchers said the findings should be considered preliminary because I.Q. measures were less reliable in 2-year-olds than in older children; the study will continue, tracking children through age 6. The report is consistent with several recent studies finding that Depakote is more likely than other so-called anticonvulsant drugs to increase the risk of mental deficits and other birth defects, like neural tube problems. An estimated 24 million American women have taken these drugs — which include Tegretol from Novartis, Lamictal from GlaxoSmithKline and Dilantin from Parke Davis — for an array of problems, including epilepsy, bipolar disorder and migraine headaches, according to an analysis by the Epilepsy Foundation. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Epilepsy; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 10261 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Sarah C. P. Williams Researchers have developed a way to vaccinate mice against deadly prion diseases, which include scrapie, kuru, mad cow disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The findings, presented today at the annual American Academy of Neurology meeting in Boston, suggest that these degenerative brain diseases can be stopped if caught early enough. Prion proteins, expressed in neurons, are found in one form in healthy individuals. But when even one protein becomes misfolded--or a misfolded protein enters the body through food, such as infected beef--it changes the conformation of all the prions around it (ScienceNOW, 21 April 2005). The misfolded proteins clump and destroy neurons, creating tiny holes in the brain. Prion diseases have no known cure. Previous attempts at vaccines have delayed the onset of prion diseases, but never prevented them. Searching for a more effective vaccine, a team led by neuropathologist Thomas Wisniewski of the New York University School of Medicine in New York City took a new approach. They genetically modified a strain of Salmonella bacteria to express prion proteins. When researchers fed these bacteria to mice, the bugs multiplied in the rodents' guts, and the animals developed antibodies against the prions. © 2007 American Association for the Advancement of Science

Keyword: Prions
Link ID: 10260 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Jeff Donn, Associated Press — New research suggests that hormone therapy taken soon after menopause may help protect against the mental decline of dementia, even though it raises that risk in elderly women. The study adds yet another frustrating twist to the back-and-forth findings about whether hormone-replacement therapy protects against diseases of aging. Though the accepted answer has been "no" in recent years, the latest evidence suggests that timing of treatments may be key, at least for heart attacks and now for dementia. "When you give it may be very important," said Dr. Sam Gandy, an Alzheimer's disease expert at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. The new findings were released Wednesday in Boston at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. Experts cautioned that they are preliminary. Lead researcher Dr. Victor Henderson, of Stanford University, agreed that it's too soon to consider putting younger women back on hormones to forestall dementia. For decades, women routinely took hormones to treat the hot flashes of menopause and to ward off ailments of aging. Then, in 2002, a milestone study showed higher risks of heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer with estrogen-progestin treatments. Estrogen-only pills were later also linked to stroke. © 2007 Discovery Communications Inc.

Keyword: Alzheimers; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 10259 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By ANDREW BRIDGES WASHINGTON -- Young adults face an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior when they first begin taking antidepressants and should be warned about the danger, federal health officials said Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration asked makers of the drugs to expand its warning labels to include adults age 18-24. The labels already include similar warnings for children and adolescents. Eli Lilly and Co., the maker of Prozac, Zoloft manufacturer Pfizer Inc. and other pharmaceutical companies said they would comply with the FDA's request. "We believe this step will help ensure that the millions of people with depression who are young adults age 24 and under and their families can make informed treatment decisions while minimizing the fear and stigma associated with depression," Eli Lilly said in a statement. Pfizer spokeswoman Shreya Prudlo said the company would update its label, which she said already calls for close monitoring of patients when they begin taking Zoloft. She added, however, "There is no established causal link between Zoloft and suicide in adults, young adults or children." © 2007 The Associated Press

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 10258 - Posted: 06.24.2010

At a small room on the University of Washington campus, a human looking robot walks a bit unsteadily toward its goal. Its slow and slightly shuffling gait, along with its size-- it's about knee-high-- is reminiscent of a child taking its first steps. The fact that the robot is playing with blocks only reinforces that impression. Nearby, like an inattentive parent, a young researcher wears what looks like a swim cap with wires and stares at what might be a computer video game. But, it's the researchers who are taking the first steps, learning how to command the robot simply by thinking. The researcher is watching the computer screen, waiting to answer the robot's questions and give it commands. While the robot gets everyone's attention, it's the brain interface that is the focus of this research. Tuning in to the brain and getting a robot to respond adequately to the commands, is the goal of Rajesh Rao. "We're interested in understanding how the brain works," says Rao," and then using that knowledge … to build, for example, prosthetic devices or helper robots." © ScienCentral, 2000-2007.

Keyword: Robotics
Link ID: 10257 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A good night's sleep may be as simple as flipping a switch, say scientists. By sending magnetic pulses through the skulls of sleeping volunteers, US researchers were able to stimulate the slow brain waves seen in deep sleep. Such a machine-generated "power nap" could one day be an insomnia treatment, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study suggests. However, it is unclear whether electronically assisted sleep confers the same benefits as natural sleep. The deepest stage of sleep is characterised by brain patterns known as slow wave activity - electrical waves which wash across the brain, roughly once a second, 1,000 times a night. Slow wave activity is believed to be critical to the restoration of mood and the ability to learn, think and remember. Professor Giulio Tononi and colleagues used a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) - a harmless magnetic signal which activates electrical impulses in the brain - to initiate slow waves in sleeping volunteers. They then recorded brain electrical activity. In response to each magnetic pulse, the participants' brains immediately produced the slow waves typical of deep sleep. The researchers managed to position the TMS device to cause slow waves to travel throughout the brain. Professor Tononi, from the University of Wisconsin said slow waves may be important in sleep's "restorative powers". (C)BBC

Keyword: Sleep
Link ID: 10256 - Posted: 05.02.2007

By Rebecca Morelle The discovery that apes can "talk" using hand gestures may shed more light on language development. But these are not the only animals with communication skills - in the animal kingdom, it is all about getting your message out there. And in a bid to understand how one of the most complex communication systems of all - human language - came about, scientists are also studying animals that, like us, use sound to communicate. Surprisingly, they have discovered our closest relatives, despite their signing prowess, do not have much of a vocal repertoire. Dr Klaus Zuberbuhler, an expert in primate communication from the University of St Andrews, UK, says: "Most of the non-human primate species only have a fairly limited number of sounds that they can generate." But while primate "vocabulary" is restricted, scientists have found many species can attach meanings to some sounds to convey information. Vervet monkeys, for example, have three distinct alarm calls that trigger three distinct response calls. And some species, says Dr Zuberbuhler, can do even more: they possess the ability to use and understand simple grammar. Putty-nosed monkeys, he explains, can combine their calls to create a sequence that carries a more complex meaning. (C)BBC

Keyword: Animal Communication; Language
Link ID: 10255 - Posted: 05.02.2007

Andy Coghlan Some female ducks and geese have evolved complex genitalia to thwart unwelcome mating attempts, according to a new study. Males of some species, such as mallard, have a notorious habit of "raping" females. They and other wildfowl are among the 3% of bird species whose males have phalluses big enough to insert into the vaginas of females, whether or not the female consents. Now, in the most detailed analysis yet of duck and goose vaginas, researchers have established that females of these species have evolved vaginal features to thwart unwelcome males. Tim Birkhead at the University of Sheffield in the UK and colleagues examined vaginas and the corresponding phalluses from 16 wildfowl species. They discovered that the longer and more elaborate the male member, the longer and more elaborate its female recipient was. Some vaginas had spiral channels that would impede sex by twisting in the opposite direction to that of the male phallus. Others had as many as eight cul-de-sac pouches en route, that could prevent fertilisation by capturing unwelcome sperm. Moreover, these features were only found in species renowned for forced sex. All other species had simple male and female genitalia. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Evolution
Link ID: 10254 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Zoe Smeaton The first clinical trial using gene therapy to treat a vision disorder has begun, involving 12 patients with an inherited condition that causes childhood blindness. The treatment, which is taking place in London, UK, hopes to restore vision in patients who have a genetic defect that causes degeneration of the retina. Robin Ali at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and colleagues are treating adults and children with Leber’s congenital amaurosis (LCA), caused by an abnormality in the RPE65 gene. This gene is important in recycling retinol, a molecule that helps the retina detect light. People with LCA usually lose vision from infancy. Ali's team are inserting healthy copies of RPE65 into cells in the retina, using a viral vector. Previously, dogs with LCA have had their vision restored in this way, allowing them to walk through a maze for the first time without difficulty. Leonard Seymour, who leads the Gene Delivery Group at the University of Oxford in the UK, and is not involved in the current trial, says the retina is a good place for gene therapy because it can be accessed by injection to overcome the problem of delivery. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Vision; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 10253 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Heidi Ledford Regions of the brain important for thinking and memory may have shrunk in some veterans of the first Gulf War, according to a new study. The decline is at its worst in veterans who report more symptoms of what is commonly called 'Gulf War syndrome', the mysterious condition that has afflicted as many as one in seven veterans from the 1990-1991 war. The finding, reported today in a poster at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, results from a study of 36 veterans. The veterans were asked whether they had symptoms ranging from joint pain to memory loss. Neuropsychologist Roberta White of the School of Public Health at Boston University and her colleagues divided the respondents into two categories: those with more than five symptoms and those with five or less. Magnetic resonance imaging of the two groups revealed that two regions of the brain — the overall cortex and the rostral anterior cingulated gyrus, areas known to be involved in thinking and learning — were 5% and 6% smaller, respectively, in the group experiencing more symptoms. Those same veterans scored 12% to 15% lower in memory tests. White says the differences are not due to different levels of stress experienced by the veterans. But she can't tell whether the brain differences are from a pre-existing condition, or are the result of the veterans' time in the Persian Gulf. Nor can she tell from this study what, other than stress, might have caused this part of the brain to shrink. She next plans to look at brain shrinkage against levels of chemical exposure, to see whether the two are linked. ©2007 Nature Publishing Group

Keyword: Stress
Link ID: 10252 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists are developing a pill which could boost women's libido and reduce their appetite. The hormone-releasing pill has so far only been given to female monkeys and shrews who displayed more mating behaviour and ate less. The team from the Medical Research Council's Human Reproduction Unit in Edinburgh believe a human version could be available within a decade. But a psychologist said low-libido was usually caused by relationship issues. Up to 40% of women are thought to experience a lack of sex drive at some point in their lives. The Edinburgh team, led by Professor Robert Millar, have been looking at the properties Type 2 Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone. When it was given to monkeys, they displayed mating behaviour such as tongue-flicking and eyebrow-raising to the males, while female shrews displayed their feelings via "rump presentation and tail wagging". But the animals also ate around a third less food than they normally would. Professor Millar hopes to achieve a similar rise in libido and fall in appetite in a pill for women. He told the Scotland on Sunday newspaper: "This hormone is distributed in the brain in areas that we suspect affect reproductive behaviour. It is considered a major pharmaceutical endeavour to address the area of libido. So the next stage is to produce a drug that simulates the actions of this hormone. It is most likely that we will do it in partnership with a pharmaceutical firm. It could be available to women within the next 10 years." (C)BBC

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 10251 - Posted: 05.01.2007

Scientists have shown how cannabis may trigger psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia. A King's College London team gave healthy volunteers the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). They then recorded reduced activity in an area of the brain which keeps inappropriate thoughts at bay. THC levels are thought to have doubled in street cannabis in recent years - at the expense of other ingredients which may have a beneficial effect. A separate study has shown that one of these ingredients - cannabidiol (CBD) - has the potential to dampen down psychotic symptoms, and could form the basis of new treatments. The research will be discussed at a conference on the impact of cannabis use to be held at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College this week. Although figures are not kept, it is estimated that as many as 500,000 people in the UK may be dependent on cannabis. Increasing numbers of people are seeking help for cannabis problems at specialist clinics. In 2005, only heroin users accounted for a greater proportion of patients. Experts are concerned that street cannabis is becoming increasingly potent. It is thought that average THC content has risen from 6% to 12% in recent years. The Institute of Psychiatry study gave THC, CBD or placebo capsules to adult male volunteers who had not abused cannabis. They then carried out brain scans, and a battery of tests, and found that those who took THC showed reduced activity in an area of the brain called the inferior frontal cortex, which keeps inappropriate thoughts and behaviour, such as swearing and paranoia in check. (C)BBC

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Attention
Link ID: 10250 - Posted: 05.01.2007

By NATALIE ANGIER As May dawns and the mothers among us excitedly anticipate the clever e-cards that we soon will be linking to and the overpriced brunches that we will somehow end up paying for, the following job description may ring a familiar note: Must be exceptionally stable yet ridiculously responsive to the needs of those around you; must be willing to trail after your loved ones, cleaning up their messes and compensating for their deficiencies and selfishness; must work twice as hard as everybody else; must accept blame for a long list of the world’s illnesses; must have a knack for shaping young minds while in no way neglecting the less glamorous tissues below; must have a high tolerance for babble and repetition; and must agree, when asked, to shut up, fade into the background and pretend you don’t exist. As it happens, the above precis refers not only to the noble profession of motherhood to which we all owe our lives and guilt complexes. It is also a decent character sketch of the chromosome that allows a human or any other mammal to become a mother in the first place: the X chromosome. The X chromosome, like its shorter, stubbier but no less conspicuous counterpart, the Y chromosome, is a so-called sex chromosome, a segment of DNA entrusted with the pivotal task of sex determination. A mammalian embryo outfitted with an X and Y chromosomal set buds into a male, while a mammal bearing a pair of X chromosomes emerges from the maternal berth with birthing options of her own. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 10249 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR Depression is associated with an increased risk for diabetes in older adults, even in people who have no other risk factors for the disease, a new study reports. Researchers studied 4,681 men and women over 65, following them over a 10-year period, after excluding anyone who already had diabetes at the start of the project. They used a well-validated questionnaire to measure symptoms of depression each year, and tested all participants at two- to four-year intervals for blood sugar. They also calculated body mass index and noted alcohol intake, smoking status and antidepressant use. After controlling for these factors, they found that even a single report of high depressive symptoms was associated with an increase in the incidence of diabetes. Increases in symptoms over time and persistently high symptoms of depression were also associated with the disease. Over all, people with the highest scores on the depression questionnaire were roughly 50 percent more likely to develop diabetes than those with the lowest scores. Adjusting for race, sex, smoking status, alcohol intake and body mass index made no difference in the result. Mercedes R. Carnethon, the lead author and an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, said there was no evidence one way or the other on whether treating depression could reduce the risk for diabetes. “People in our study who were on antidepressants didn’t have an elevated risk for diabetes,” she said. “But we don’t know if that’s because of the antidepressants” or for some other reason. The study appeared April 23 in The Archives of Internal Medicine. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Depression; Obesity
Link ID: 10248 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By CARL ZIMMER LITCHFIELD, Conn. — “This guy’s the champion,” said Patricia Brennan, a behavioral ecologist, leaning over the nether regions of a duck — a Meller’s duck from Madagascar, to be specific — and carefully coaxing out his phallus. Patricia Brennan, a behavioral ecologist, visits the Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Sanctuary in Connecticut regularly to continue her study of duck phalluses. The duck was quietly resting upside-down against the stomach of Ian Gereg, an aviculturist here at the Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Sanctuary. Dr. Brennan, a post-doctoral researcher at Yale University and the University of Sheffield, visits the sanctuary every two weeks to measure the phalluses of six species of ducks. When she first visited in January, the phalluses were the size of rice grains. Now many of them are growing rapidly. The champion phallus from this Meller’s duck is a long, spiraling tentacle. Some ducks grow phalluses as long as their entire body. In the fall, the genitalia will disappear, only to reappear next spring. The anatomy of ducks is especially bizarre considering that 97 percent of all bird species have no phallus at all. Most male birds just deliver their sperm through an opening. Dr. Brennan is investigating how this sexual wonder of the world came to be. Part of the answer, she has discovered, has gone overlooked for decades. Male ducks may have such extreme genitals because the females do too. The birds are locked in an evolutionary struggle for reproductive success. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Evolution
Link ID: 10247 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Sharon Weinberger U.S. Special Forces may soon have a strange and powerful new weapon in their arsenal: a pair of high-tech binoculars 10 times more powerful than anything available today, augmented by an alerting system that literally taps the wearer's prefrontal cortex to warn of furtive threats detected by the soldier's subconscious. In a new effort dubbed "Luke's Binoculars" -- after the high-tech binoculars Luke Skywalker uses in Star Wars -- the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is setting out to create its own version of this science-fiction hardware. And while the Pentagon's R&D arm often focuses on technologies 20 years out, this new effort is dramatically different -- Darpa says it expects to have prototypes in the hands of soldiers in three years. The agency claims no scientific breakthrough is needed on the project -- formally called the Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System. Instead, Darpa hopes to integrate technologies that have been simmering in laboratories for years, ranging from flat-field, wide-angle optics, to the use of advanced electroencephalograms, or EEGs, to rapidly recognize brainwave signatures. © 2007 CondéNet Inc. All rights reserved

Keyword: Robotics
Link ID: 10246 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Rachel Konrad, Associated Press — A convincing twin of Darth Vader stalks the beige cubicles of a Silicon Valley office, complete with ominous black mask, cape and light saber. But this is no chintzy Halloween costume. It's a prototype, years in the making, of a toy that incorporates brain wave-reading technology. Behind the mask is a sensor that touches the user's forehead and reads the brain's electrical signals, then sends them to a wireless receiver inside the saber, which lights up when the user is concentrating. The player maintains focus by channeling thoughts on any fixed mental image, or thinking specifically about keeping the light sword on. When the mind wanders, the wand goes dark. Engineers at NeuroSky Inc. have big plans for brain wave-reading toys and video games. They say the simple Darth Vader game — a relatively crude biofeedback device cloaked in gimmicky garb — portends the coming of more sophisticated devices that could revolutionize the way people play. Technology from NeuroSky and other startups could make video games more mentally stimulating and realistic. It could even enable players to control video game characters or avatars in virtual worlds with nothing but their thoughts. Adding biofeedback to "Tiger Woods PGA Tour," for instance, could mean that only those players who muster Zen-like concentration could nail a put. In the popular action game "Grand Theft Auto," players who become nervous or frightened would have worse aim than those who remain relaxed and focused. © 2007 Discovery Communications Inc.

Keyword: Robotics
Link ID: 10245 - Posted: 06.24.2010