By JERE LONGMAN and JOE DRAPE Last June 13, a test tube of clear liquid arrived by overnight mail at the Olympic drug-testing laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles. The liquid included residue from a syringe that a tipster said contained an undetectable anabolic steroid. In 21 years as director of the laboratory, Dr. Donald H. Catlin had never encountered a smoking gun like this. He had believed for several years that some athletes were cheating with impunity by using designer steroids, and now he had a chance to prove it. Over the next three months, using high-tech screening devices and low-tech tools like pencil and paper, Dr. Catlin and a team of eight chemists cracked the chemical code of the steroid, tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG, synthesized it and developed a test to catch those who used it. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 4463 - Posted: 11.02.2003

Two baboons successfully used analogous thinking to match symbol arrays that were the "same but different" WASHINGTON -- More non-human animals may be capable of abstract thought than previously known, with profound implications for the evolution of human intelligence and the stuff that separates homo sapiens from other animals. A trans-Atlantic team of psychologists has found evidence of abstract thought in baboons, significant because baboons are "old world monkeys," part of a different primate "super family" that -- some 30 million years ago -- split from the family that gave rise to apes and then humans. Chimpanzees, in the ape family, already have demonstrated abstract thought. Now, two trained baboons successfully determined that two differently detailed displays were fundamentally the same in their overall design. Figuring this out required analogical (this is to this as that is to that) reasoning, which many theorists view as the foundation of human reasoning and intelligence. The study is reported in the October issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, published by the American Psychological Association (APA). In a series of five experiments, Joel Fagot, Ph.D., of the Center for Research in Cognitive Neuroscience in Marseille, France; Edward A. Wasserman, Ph.D., of both the Center for Research in Cognitive Neuroscience and the University of Iowa; and Michael E. Young, Ph.D., of the University of Iowa trained two adult baboons, one male and one female, to use a personal computer and joystick to look at and select grids that had varying collections of little pictures.

Keyword: Intelligence; Evolution
Link ID: 4462 - Posted: 11.02.2003

Robots should have eyes in the back of their heads as well the front. Researchers in the US say a robot's navigation skills could be vastly improved by giving it "omni-directional" vision. A robot on the move must be able to sense whether it is travelling in a straight line or spinning on the spot. But telling the difference is difficult with just a single camera for an eye. Yiannis Aloimonos, a computer scientist at the University of Maryland in College Park, says the best way to understand the problem is to imagine seeing the world through a cardboard tube. Turning your head from side to side gives an image that is hard to distinguish from the view you get if you move sideways. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Vision; Robotics
Link ID: 4461 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Conservation biologist Andrew Mack of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Josh Jones of the University of California, San Diego, recorded cassowary calls in the jungles of New Guinea. The calls dip down to 23 Hz, just at the threshold of human hearing, they report in the October issue of the journal Auk. The finding may shed light on the purpose of the cassowary's prominent headpiece, or casque. Scientists have theorized that the casques may somehow amplify the birds' calls. But the casques are too small to amplify such deep tones, says Mack, who now suspects that the casques are involved instead in receiving signals. Copyright © 2003 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Hearing; Animal Communication
Link ID: 4460 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Trauma victims who showed immediate signs of both depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to have psychosomatic ailments a year later, according to a new study. The combination of both afflictions increases the incidence of somatic complaints, although this is not the case for either condition standing alone, say Douglas F. Zatzick, M.D., and colleagues from the University of Washington School of Medicine. Psychosomatic symptoms are physical complaints that cannot be medically explained. The research findings appear in the November-December issue of the journal Psychosomatics.

Keyword: Stress; Depression
Link ID: 4459 - Posted: 11.01.2003

— Halloween turns millions of kids into candy-loving monsters with more than ample supply of confections to satisfy their “sweet tooth.” Now, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have moved closer to understanding why some people cannot resist the impulses brought on by sweets. The researchers created mice with the same sweet-tooth preferences as humans by inserting the gene that codes for a human sweet-taste receptor protein into the animals. They also inserted an entirely different receptor gene into the taste cells of mice, thereby producing animals that perceive a previously tasteless molecule as sweet. Both of these experiments demonstrate that receptor molecules on the tongue for both the sweet and “savory” umami tastes are what triggers taste cells on the tongue and palate to transmit taste signals to the brain. Umami taste responds to amino acids such as monosodium glutamate. ©2003 Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 4458 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Predators, not mass suicide, account for Arctic rodents' population cycles, study finds David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor Lemmings, as everybody knows, breed incessantly, migrate by the thousands every four years and finally rush over cliffs in a panic, hurling themselves into the sea in a dramatic case of population control by mass suicide. So goes the myth, popularized in part by an old Walt Disney nature movie. Now, three European scientists working in the high Arctic tundra have just given the script a drastic rewrite. After 15 years patiently observing a huge lemming population in eastern Greenland, the scientists report in a study appearing today in the journal Science that the "lemming cycle," which has stumped generations of scientists, is driven not by panic, but by predation. ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle

Keyword: Evolution; Stress
Link ID: 4457 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By EMMA ROSS, AP Medical Writer LONDON -- A doctor whose research has been seized upon for the last five years by parents opposed to the measles, mumps and rubella combined vaccine has urged them not to fear the childhood immunization, saying lingering concerns over a link with autism are unfounded. In a letter published this week in The Lancet medical journal, Dr. Simon Murch warned the proportion of toddlers getting the vaccine, known as MMR, has dropped so low in Britain that major measles epidemics are likely this winter. Measles has resurfaced in Britain over the last few years in areas where MMR use has dipped; more children are getting infected every year. Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press Copyright © Newsday, Inc.

Keyword: Autism
Link ID: 4456 - Posted: 06.24.2010

It's a choice every female wolf spider has to make at some point—should she make the male spider courting her into a mate, or a meal? Never an easy choice—so how does she decide? It was a question that Cornell University scientist Eileen Hebets was dying to answer. "Most previous studies, and there have been quite a few looking at mate choice in species within this genus, have only looked at when the spiders are mature," says Hebets. "No one has up to this point taken into consideration or looked at the effect of experience prior to their maturation of the spider on later adult life decisions." © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 4455 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists re-create long-missing brains for the first time David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor In the age of the dinosaurs, some of the most skilled hunters were sharp-eyed flying reptiles that used their specialized brains, elaborate guidance systems and some fearsome weaponry to snatch their prey while diving in high-speed flight. Now, researchers studying the fossilized skulls of those long-gone creatures are reporting fresh insights into just how they evolved to do it. Fossil experts have long been frustrated by the fact that only the bones of ancient animals survive in fossil form, while their crucial soft tissues, like muscles, nerves and brains, simply rot away after death and never fossilize. ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 4454 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists investigating a rare familial form of early-onset Parkinson's disease have discovered that too much of a normal form of the ?-synuclein gene may cause Parkinson's disease. The finding, reported in the October 31, 2003, issue of Science, shows that abnormal multiplication of the ?-synuclein gene can cause the disease. The study provides major new clues into the process by which Parkinson's disease develops. Further, it suggests another way of looking at the consequences of abnormal protein deposition in a variety of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. The Science findings are the product of collaboration among scientists at several institutions, including researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They were reported by Andrew Singleton, Ph.D., and colleagues at the National Institute on Aging's (NIA) Laboratory of Neurogenetics, Matthew Farrer, Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic, and Katrina Gwinn-Hardy, M.D., of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The team also included scientists from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC.

Keyword: Parkinsons
Link ID: 4453 - Posted: 10.31.2003

Toxic by-product, not rogue proteins, may cause fatal brain wasting. TOM CLARKE Clumps of rogue proteins are not the cause of fatal conditions such as mad cow disease, but merely a symptom, hints new research. The insight could ultimately help to treat the degenerative brain diseases - the hunt is now on for the real culprit. BSE in cows, scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease in deer and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans occur when an animal or person is infected with a misshapen form of proteins called prions. The molecules accumulate in the brain as they twist healthy prions into their own image. Mutant prions accumulate in dying brain cells and spongy gaps open up in the brain, causing loss of coordination, confusion, mental decline and eventually death. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Prions
Link ID: 4452 - Posted: 06.24.2010

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University researchers have discovered a set of gene mutations that cause progressive hearing loss, a discovery that should provide significant clues in the hunt to solve the puzzle of acquired hearing loss. The research, which was led by faculty from the MSU Hearing Research Center, will be published in the November issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics. The gene involved, known as DFNA 20, is known to play an essential role in the structure of the inner ear, the cochlea. It’s one of nearly 100 genes known to play a role in hearing loss. © 2003 Michigan State University

Keyword: Hearing; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 4451 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Thousands of hyperactive children are not receiving the care they need, a report suggests. The National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service says doctors are to blame because they are failing to diagnose the condition. It follows its own survey of 125 hospital doctors across the UK. It found that over half thought that the condition is underdiagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is caused by an imbalance in some of the brain's chemicals. It is characterised by hyperactive or impulsive behaviour such as fidgeting, talking excessively and being easily distracted. (C) BBC

Keyword: ADHD
Link ID: 4450 - Posted: 10.30.2003

A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend, a man who has more postgraduate degrees than I have GCSEs. The subject of Darwinism came up. ‘Actually,’ he said, raising his eyebrows, ‘I don’t believe in evolution.’ I reacted with incredulity: ‘Don’t be so bloody daft.’ ‘I’m not,’ he said. ‘Many scientists admit that the theory of evolution is in trouble these days. There are too many things it can’t explain.’ © 2003 The Spectator.co.uk

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 4449 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Americans seem to be fighting all kinds of different addictions these days, from alcohol and drugs, to food and exercise. Are we all addicted to something? Why does it happen? Does it have to be this way? Neuroscientists have been studying our brain responses to learn more about the mechanisms of addiction in the brain. Now, this ScienCentral News video reports how they are piecing together the "riddle of addiction". Is there such a thing as a healthy addiction? You may think you're addicted to chocolate, but if you can get through a day without it, it's merely love, and not addiction. Neuroscientists say that addiction is when you have no control over the craving and you feel you cannot function without it, even when you know it's bad for you. And underlying all addictions—whether they seem healthy, like exercise; or unhealthy, like narcotics—is a reward system in the brain. © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 4448 - Posted: 06.24.2010

It must have been amazing news for Harold Varmus. More than 500,000 hits on 13 October had crashed the servers as people rushed to log on to the debut issue of the pioneering science journal he had helped create. The furore caused by the journal shows no signs of going away. Luckily, Varmus is used to the heat: as head of the National Institutes of Health, it went with the territory. But what made him, now in another high-profile job, sign up for this particular controversy? Kurt Kleiner was curious You are in the middle of a distinguished career, and the system has treated you well, so you don't seem a natural for an idea like this. Why does it strike such a chord? Because publication is the heart of the scientific effort. Nothing glues us together as a community more than publishing. That's what people work for. It's the moment of revelation and potential embarrassment. You are showing your data and your conclusions and your way of thinking and the heart of your life's work to your critical and competitive colleagues. So it's a big moment in everyone's life. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 4447 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Nerve-cell activity when eyes are shut reveals internal views of the world. TANGUY CHOUARD People's tendency to see what they expect to see may be caused by their brain constantly generating virtual sensations. So suggests a new study of sleeping cats1. When the animals' eyes were closed, researchers recorded spontaneous patterns of neuronal activity similar to those evoked by real scenes. Strikingly, this happened in the primary visual cortex - a region thought to record visual stimuli passively. Like a detuned television screen flashing up occasional pictures, the resting cortex spontaneously produces clear maps of the outside world. It is as if the eyes were actually looking at objects. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Vision; Sleep
Link ID: 4446 - Posted: 06.24.2010

ATHENS, Ohio – Pterosaurs, which emerged as the first flying vertebrates during the age of dinosaurs, could grow as large as an airplane but soared through the skies with ease. New research suggests that a specialized brain and inner ear structure helped these ancient reptiles to fly and target their prey, a finding that could give scientists insight into the evolution of the brain and visual system. Compared to modern reptiles such as alligators and lizards, pterosaurs -- commonly known as pterodactyls -- had a complicated neural system that allowed them to make deft use of massive wings and adapt to an airborne lifestyle, said Lawrence Witmer, an associate professor of anatomy in Ohio University's College of Osteopathic Medicine and lead author of the study, which will be published in the Oct. 30 issue of the journal Nature. "These comparisons generally inform us about the rigors of flight and how animals make it work," said Witmer, whose research is funded by the National Science Foundation. Fossils of pterosaurs, which lived during the Mesozoic Era, are rare and often badly crushed. But Witmer's colleagues recently obtained nearly intact skulls of Rhamphorhynchus, a small species with a 3-foot wingspan and 4-inch-long skull that lived 150 million years ago in what is now Germany, and Anhanguera, a larger creature with a 14-foot wingspan and a 20-inch skull that lived 115 million years ago in what is now Brazil.

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 4445 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Mentally stimulating leisure activities in early and middle adulthood may lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease, a USC-led study says. Reading, going to museums and engaging in social activities with friends can contribute to an active mind - now and later. Reading books, going to museums and even socializing with friends during early and middle adulthood is related to lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, according to a USC team of researchers and their colleagues. The group’s study – published in a recent issue of The Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences – is the first to examine the relationship between leisure activities and the loss of mental function using data on twin pairs who differed in cognitive status. “While we have not proved the adage ‘use it or lose it,’ it certainly makes sense that keeping an active mind contributes to positive aging,” said lead author Michael Crowe, a doctoral student in psychology in USC’s College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 4444 - Posted: 06.24.2010