Scientists have found differences in the brains of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. University of California Los Angeles researchers found some areas of the brains of the children were smaller, and but others had more grey matter. Other studies have suggested that ADHD is linked to abnormalities in areas of the brain which control attention. But the latest study suggests there are also structural changes in areas which control impulsive behaviour. The researchers say they were able to combine the latest scanning technology with computer analysis to provide more detailed information about the differences in the brains of ADHD children. ADHD is a serious behavioural disorder which experts estimate may affect up to 6% of children. (C) BBC

Keyword: ADHD
Link ID: 4578 - Posted: 11.21.2003

Drug-induced discovery sheds light on mental illness. HELEN R PILCHER A single molecule may underpin the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia, a mouse study suggests. A better understanding of the roots of the disease and new antipsychotic medications may follow. Schizophrenia affects 24 million people worldwide. Sufferers experience disrupted thoughts and behaviour, and sometimes delusions. Its cause is uncertain, but faulty brain chemistry is thought to be key. Three main chemical messengers, called neurotransmitters, are implicated. Different researchers tend to favour one molecule the others as the disease's root cause. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Schizophrenia
Link ID: 4577 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Violence awaits wandering males when they return home. BETSY MASON Amphibian Casanovas beware: the ladies aren't likely to take infidelity lying down. Male salamanders returning home after a night of disloyalty can expect a beating, a new study reveals. The finding has surprised behavioural researchers: most instances of infidelity punishment place females on the receiving end of the abuse. Female red-backed salamanders are no different, but they don't just take it — they dish it out too, finds behavioural ecologist Ethan Prosen of the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, who led the research1. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Aggression
Link ID: 4576 - Posted: 06.24.2010

OF COURSE, it is good to be polite. And, as a result, in most places these days it is impossible to know what someone is actually thinking when he meets or works with someone of another race. Politeness makes it unacceptable to express prejudice, even if those attitudes are actually there. How hard do people work to overcome a prejudice that they feel but are not allowed to express? That is the question Jennifer Richeson, of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, attempts to answer in this month's Nature Neuroscience. In a study carried out earlier this year, she and her colleagues found that racially biased people take longer to perform tasks that require a conscious effort to control their racial responses and actions. This effort is known as cognitive control. The researchers suspected, as a result of this earlier study, that there was a physical mechanism, which they dubbed resource depletion, underlying this lag in performance. In their latest paper, they think they have proved this theory. The idea behind the theory of resource depletion is that the effort expended on suppressing prejudice depletes the ability to use cognitive control in subsequent tasks. The researchers recruited 30 white students as volunteers, and attempted to identify their racial attitudes using the Implicit Association Test (IAT). During an IAT , volunteers match positive and negative words such as “health”, “beauty”, and “ugly”, with names traditionally associated, at least in the United States, with black (such as Latisha and Tyrone) or white (Nancy and Greg) Americans. The IAT measures response times to these uncomfortable questions, and assigns higher levels of racial bias to white participants who are slower and less accurate in matching black names to positive attributes, and vice versa. The results of the IAT were used as a baseline from which to assess each volunteer's underlying prejudice. Copyright © The Economist Newspaper

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 4575 - Posted: 06.24.2010

In a study conducted in rats, scientists have determined that drugs that block the action of a group of DNA-repair enzymes can protect brain cells from damage triggered by an overdose of insulin. If these drugs are shown to produce the same effect in humans, they could become the first tool available for prevention of brain damage that can result from hypoglycemic shock, also known as insulin shock, in patients with diabetes. The study was conducted by scientists at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC) and appears in the November 19 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. The drugs, PARP inhibitors, have already been shown to protect human heart and brain cells from damage following heart attack and stroke, and are currently approved for testing in phase-2 clinical trials for victims of heart attack. "Every hospital emergency department sees one or more cases of hypoglycemic coma each year," says Raymond Swanson, MD, chief of Neurology Service at SFVAMC and a professor in the Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF.) "Up to this point, we don't have any way to treat these patients except to give them glucose, which pulls them out of insulin shock, but doesn't do anything to stop the cell death process that is triggered by severe hypoglycemia. PARP inhibitors rescue neurons [brain cells] which would otherwise go on to die even though blood glucose is restored."

Keyword: Apoptosis
Link ID: 4574 - Posted: 11.21.2003

Findings may lead to new drug targets for treating schizophrenia A mouse study reported in this week's Science magazine shows that three drugs, each acting on a different chemical transmitter in the brain, all produce the same schizophrenia-like symptoms by acting on a single "master molecule" in the brain. The findings, reported by researchers at Rockefeller University with collaboration from three pharmaceutical and biotech companies, provides, for the first time, a cellular model detailing how this crucial protein, known as DARPP-32, interacts with multiple neurotransmitter systems to produce behavior. The scientists demonstrate that DARPP-32 acts like the thin neck in an hourglass, through which all signals taken into a nerve cell must pass and be processed, producing a wide variety of biochemical reactions. In this case, three different drugs of abuse, LSD, PCP ("angel dust") and amphetamine, work on three different neurotransmitters, serotonin, glutamate, and dopamine, respectively. All three drugs, which are classified as psychotomimetics or psychostimulants, are processed within the DARPP-32 hourglass neck through the same pathway, thus producing very similar physiological symptoms.

Keyword: Schizophrenia
Link ID: 4573 - Posted: 11.21.2003

NIH-funded research delves into long term effects of anabolic steroid use BOSTON, Mass. – With the recent revelations about steroid use in Major League Baseball and the bust last week of several Oakland Raiders players for drug abuse, Northeastern University psychology professor Richard Melloni , who studies the link between steroid use and aggression, has recently found evidence that use of anabolic steroids may have long-term effects on players’ behavior and aggression levels well after they stop abusing these performance enhancing drugs. With funding from the NIH (recently extended through 2008), Melloni and doctoral student Jill Grimes have been studying how steroids used during adolescence may permanently alter the brain's ability to produce serotonin. In their experiments, adolescent Syrian hamsters - given their similar brain circuitry to human adolescents – were administered doses of anabolic steroids and then measured for aggressiveness over certain periods of time. The researchers initially hypothesized that steroid use during adolescence might permanently alter the brain's chemistry and a person's tendency toward aggression long after use has stopped. Their most recent findings, published this week in Hormones and Behavior , enabled them to confirm this hypothesis and conclude that there is indeed a lengthy price – namely long-term aggression – to pay for drug abuse even after the ingestion of steroids ceases.

Keyword: Aggression; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 4572 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The word 'capsaicin' doesn't exactly roll over the tongue easily, but this is especially appropriate since it is the name of the chemical that makes peppers hot and gives a surprisingly wide variety of other products a real bite. Chemical & Engineering News, the newsmagazine published by the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, in its Nov. 3 issue traces the pepper family history and explains why the vegetable can produce a fast burn. Capsaicin is an extremely powerful and stable alkaloid produced as a crystal by glands at the junction of the pepper's placenta and pod walls, according to Dave DeWitt, known as the "Pope of Pepper" and publisher of Fiery Foods & BBQ magazine. The chemical is found only in chili peppers. Copyright © 1995-2003 ScienceDaily Magazine

Keyword: Pain & Touch; Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 4571 - Posted: 06.24.2010

As you sit down to turkey and everything else this Thanksgiving, you just might like to know there may soon be a way to fool your stomach into feeling like you just ate a big meal. As this ScienCentral News video reports, it's all thanks to a team of researchers and a natural hormone. Thanksgiving inaugurates the unofficial "Season of Eating" for many Americans. But with obesity reaching epidemic proportions, researchers are working to find ways to help fight the battle of the bulge. "In the USA, 5,000 Americans die prematurely each and every week from the effects of excess adiposity (a synonym for obesity)," says Steve Bloom, a researcher at Hammersmith Hospital and professor at Imperial College, London. "This is a very large number of premature deaths, and it's actually a major public health disaster for North America, particularly because it also affects people's happiness and way of life. So, given that major medical problem, and the complete absence of any very effective treatments other than major surgery, the pressure's on to try and find something that's both safe and effective." © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 4570 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Exercise is definitely an important part of a healthy lifestyle. But as this ScienCentral News video reports, researchers are finding that too much exercise may hinder learning and memory. We all know that exercise is good for us. But can there be too much of a good thing? Scientists have known for a while that exercise helps your brain. Justin Rhodes, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of Behavioral Neuroscience at Oregon Health & Science University's School of Medicine and at the Veterans Administration Medical Cente r in Portland, Oregon, studied the effects of exercise on brain cells, or neurons, in mice. "When a mouse is running on a treadmill, or running on a wheel, you get increased production of a chemical in an area of the brain that plays a role in learning and memory," says Rhodes. "What this brain chemical does is it strengthens connections in the brain and it protects neurons, and it increases their survival. And along with that, you get increased growth of new neurons." © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 4569 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A study published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute* provides the latest evidence that investing in state tobacco control programs can reduce smoking rates. In this evaluation of the American Stop Smoking Intervention Study (ASSIST), the authors found that states that were part of the ASSIST intervention program showed a greater reduction in smoking prevalence (the number of people who smoke) than non-ASSIST states. The study also found that states with stronger tobacco control policies and greater ability to implement tobacco control programs experienced larger reductions in smoking. At the time of the study, ASSIST was the largest federally funded demonstration project to help states develop effective strategies to reduce smoking. In 1991, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, provided funds to 17 state health departments** and forged a partnership with the American Cancer Society to undertake the study. The ASSIST evaluation is the most comprehensive evaluation ever conducted on a large, multi-state tobacco control study. The goal of ASSIST was to change the social, cultural, economic and environmental factors that promote smoking by utilizing four policy strategies: promoting smoke-free environments; countering tobacco advertising and promotion; limiting youths' access to tobacco products; and raising excise taxes to increase the price of tobacco products. The interventions were developed and implemented by networks of state and local tobacco control coalitions.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 4568 - Posted: 11.20.2003

A hand-held device designed to identify drivers impaired by drugs, alcohol or excessive tiredness, is being evaluated by the British police. The device is intended to deliver a quick yes or no verdict on whether a person is in a fit state to drive and works by assessing the driver's behaviour, rather than testing for particular substances. It is the first of its kind to be tested by police anywhere in the world. The "impairment detector" is still in the early stages of development, but the Police Scientific Development Branch (PSDB) in St Albans, Hertfordshire, is studying results from a prototype to decide whether to take the project further. If it gets the go-ahead, at least two years of testing will be needed before the detector is ready for the streets. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 4567 - Posted: 06.24.2010

DALLAS – Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have shown that insulin family signaling is important for male sex determination, a discovery that furthers the understanding of testes formation and eventually could lead to treatments for reproductive disorders. Their findings appear in the current issue of Nature and are available online. "We are excited by this research for two reasons," said Dr. Luis Parada, senior author of the Nature study and director of the Center for Developmental Biology. "First, the intracellular signaling pathways that mediate male sexual differentiation have remained elusive despite the fact that the controlling gene that unleashes the process was identified almost 15 years ago. Second, our experience with studying receptors and signaling in development provides us with the skills and tools to tackle this problem, which has tremendous implications in newborn disorders."

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 4566 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Repeat injury likely if they return too soon By Delthia Ricks, STAFF WRITER; The Associated Press Football players who suffer a concussion are likely to have another if they return to the game too soon, increasing the likelihood of permanent brain injury, say researchers who are taking the first steps toward a clinical understanding of athletic head injuries. In two analyses appearing in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers say for decades coaches have been convening expert panels on head injuries in an effort to produce guidelines. The new research is directed at understanding head injuries and determining when a player can return to the game. The two studies, partly funded by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, emphasize waiting until all symptoms have subsided - a period as short as a week or as long as 10 days, for players of any contact sport from middle school to the professional level. Players do not have to be knocked unconscious to have suffered a concussion, the studies showed. Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

Keyword: Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 4565 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By JANE GROSS Propelled by the skyrocketing number of diagnoses of the perplexing brain disorder autism in children, federal officials have for the first time mapped out a long-term, interagency plan to deal with the problem. The plan includes objectives like the development of teaching methods that will allow 90 percent of autistic children to speak; the identification of genetic and nongenetic causes of the condition; and adequate services for all afflicted children in the next 7 to 10 years. The plan, which is to be unveiled at a major autism conference in Washington that begins today, signals the start of the push-pull process over financing. Such a plan was required by the Congressional appropriations committee that controls the budget for scientific and medical research and education programs of all kinds. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Autism
Link ID: 4564 - Posted: 11.19.2003

NEW ORLEANS-- Sheep may all look alike to you, but not to another sheep. A few years ago, researchers led by Keith Kendrick of the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, U.K., reported that sheep, like humans, have specialized neurons that focus on faces, and that they can remember faces for years. Now Kendrick and colleagues suggest that sheep's mighty powers of recollection might rest in part on the ability to form mental images in the absence of visual input. Copyright © 2003 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 4563 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Fly's clipped wing signals power of survival. BETSY MASON A newly discovered fly with a chunk missing from one of its wings evolved that way to impress the females, a new report suggests. The disability may advertise the fly's ability to survive in the face of adversity. Entomologist Justin Runyon of Pennsylvania State University in University Park discovered the new species of long-legged fly, called Erebomyia exallopatra, while collecting insects in southern Arizona. Under the microscope, he noticed that males' right wings were notched and smaller than their rounded left wings. Researchers had documented a few cases of wing-size difference in butterflies and other flies before, but none as marked as that in E. exallopatra. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Evolution; Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 4562 - Posted: 06.24.2010

ORLANDO -- A University of Central Florida speech expert has diagnosed an extremely rare disorder in a Sarasota woman that caused her to speak with a British accent after she suffered a stroke. The case of Foreign Accent Syndrome -- a disorder linked to stroke-related or other internal brain injuries that leaves affected people with a foreign-sounding accent -- is one of fewer than 20 reported worldwide since 1919, according to Jack Ryalls, professor of communicative disorders at UCF. In November 1999, 57-year-old Tiffany Noell of Sarasota suffered a stroke that left the right side of her body paralyzed. She was also unable to speak. After months of physical therapy, she was no longer paralyzed and was able to speak with some difficulty. Her speech gradually improved during the next year until she was speaking with the same fluency as she had before the stroke. However, instead of the familiar New York accent she once had, she spoke with a British accent.

Keyword: Language
Link ID: 4561 - Posted: 11.19.2003

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A study led by a University at Buffalo researcher has shown that combining medication and family treatment leads to improved outcomes in male heroin abusers. A key to the success was family support of the heroin abusers' use of naltrexone, which, while it blocks the "high" associated with heroin use, is prescribed rarely because few patients who abuse heroine have been willing to take it, said William Fals-Stewart, Ph.D., lead researcher on the study. A clinical psychologist, he is a senior research scientist in UB's Research Institute on Addictions and research associate professor in the Department of Psychology in the UB College of Arts and Sciences. His co-investigator was Timothy J. O'Farrell, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School and Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System in Brockton, Mass. The study was the first to combine family counseling and naltrexone as a treatment for heroin dependence. Heroin abuse is the primary drug problem of people entering treatment programs in the U.S. Results of the National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded study were reported in the August issue of Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 4560 - Posted: 11.19.2003

By Jamie Talan, STAFF WRITER Just around the corner looms a brave new world where people of all ages could reach for a pill that would strengthen the brain, enabling it to learn faster and make the lessons last. Swallowing pills to make learning easier or to make memories stick is no longer pie-in-the-sky thinking. Scientists have learned so much about the way the human brain learns and remembers that they are fashioning the first generation of memory enhancers. "It's no longer just about correcting an abnormality," said Steven Ferris, executive director of the Silberstein Aging and Dementia Research Center at New York University School of Medicine. "The idea that we only use drugs to treat disease is changing." Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Alzheimers
Link ID: 4559 - Posted: 06.24.2010