It seems the old adage about sticks, stones and hurtful words may need some revision. According to a report published today in the journal Science, social rejection elicits a similar brain response as physical pain does. Naomi L. Eisenberger of the University of California at Los Angeles and her colleagues recruited 13 college students to play a virtual game of catch while their brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). At first, the students were told they could only observe the game. Their computer-generated playmates, which the subjects believed were controlled by unseen people, then began throwing to them. But after about 40 throws, the other players began ignoring the subject with no explanation. The researchers found that this exclusion caused activity in a region of the brain known as the anterior cingulate cortex, or ACC. In addition, students who reported feeling the most distress from being snubbed showed the greatest activity in this brain region, which is also involved in pain processing.

Keyword: Emotions
Link ID: 4363 - Posted: 10.10.2003

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR Scientists have long suspected a link between mass whale strandings and the Navy's use of powerful sonar systems, but the evidence — dying whales washing ashore when sonar exercises occur — has been mostly anecdotal. Now, international researchers have identified a disorder similar to decompression sickness, or the bends, as the cause of at least some whale beachings, and they say military sonar is most likely to blame. The new findings, being reported today in Nature, are based primarily on necropsies of 10 whales that stranded themselves in the Canary Islands during a 2002 international naval exercise there that included one American ship. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Hearing; Animal Communication
Link ID: 4362 - Posted: 06.24.2010

DNA switches turn workers to nursemaids. JOHN WHITFIELD A honeybee's genes can tell you its job. Bees tending the nest have a different set of active genes in their brains to their nestmates out gathering food, researchers have found1. There are many biological steps between DNA and deeds, says Gene Robinson of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. To find the two so closely linked is a surprise. "The genome is more heavily involved in orchestrating behaviour than one might have thought," he says. Bees could help us map similar links in humans. "We share many components in our nervous systems with the honeybee," says bee researcher Greg Hunt of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. In fruitflies, equivalents to the honeybee job genes are involved in learning, through their control of cell communication. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 4361 - Posted: 06.24.2010

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Genes and behavior go together in honey bees so strongly that an individual bee's occupation can be predicted by knowing a profile of its gene expression in the brain, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This strong relationship surfaced in a complex molecular study of 6,878 different genes replicated with 72 cDNA microarrays that captured the essence of brain gene activity within the natural world of the honey bee (Apis mellifera). Even though most of the differences in gene expression were small, the changes were observable in 40 percent of the genes studied, the scientists report in the Oct. 10 issue of the journal Science. "We have discovered a clear molecular signature in the bee brain that is robustly associated with behavior," said principal researcher Gene E. Robinson, a professor of entomology and director of the Neuroscience Program at Illinois. "This provides a striking picture of the genome as a dynamic entity, more actively involved in modulating behavior in the adult brain than we previously thought."

Keyword: Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 4360 - Posted: 10.10.2003

Fly genetics may increase understanding of human hearing disorders MADISON -- Researchers at the University of Wisconsin Medical School have found genetic evidence linking humans and fruit flies in a new way: through their hearing. The link offers the future possibility that the insect's auditory system may serve as a model for understanding human deafness and other hearing disorders. The scientists found that a mutated fruit fly gene controlling hearing and the mutated human counterpart gene both produced similar consequences: hearing loss as well as limb deformities and genital abnormalities. The mutated human gene is responsible for a disorder called Townes-Brocks' syndrome. The unexpected finding was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online (Sept. 2, 2003). "We were very surprised to learn about this specific genetic similarity," said Grace Boekhoff-Falk, PhD, associate professor of anatomy, who led the study. "Developmental biologists have known that there are remarkable parallels between fruit fly and human genetics, but the parallels have been restricted to tissues and organs that existed before the evolutionary divergence of vertebrates and invertebrates, which occurred more than 600 million years ago."

Keyword: Hearing; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 4359 - Posted: 10.10.2003

Walking down a dark alley late at night is enough to give anyone the heebie-jeebies. Your heart starts racing, your palms get clammy and you get ready to run. Now researchers from Boston University have unravelled the neural pathways that transmit information about your surroundings to your organs, enabling them to respond appropriately. The research, to be published on Friday in BMC Neuroscience, has shown that neurons originating in high-order brain structures transmit signals about the environment relatively directly to low-order structures in the spinal cord. There is just one structure in the middle – the hypothalamus. The pathway then connects to autonomic nerves, which originate in the spinal cord, to regulate organ function. Helen Barbas, the research team leader, says: "The existence of these pathways has implications for several psychological conditions. For example, these pathways may be excessively active in anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and obsessive-compulsive disorder - conditions in which the emotional experience is extreme relative to the situation. Similarly, these pathways may be abnormally inactive in psychopathic individuals, who lack appropriate emotional responses."

Keyword: Emotions
Link ID: 4358 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Two key areas of the brain appear to respond to the pain of rejection in the same way as physical pain, a UCLA-led team of psychologists reports in the Oct. 10 issue of Science. "While everyone accepts that physical pain is real, people are tempted to think that social pain is just in their heads," said Matthew D. Lieberman, one of the paper's three authors and an assistant professor of psychology at UCLA. "But physical and social pain may be more similar than we realized." "In the English language we use physical metaphors to describe social pain like 'a broken heart' and 'hurt feelings,'" said Naomi I. Eisenberger, a UCLA Ph.D. candidate in social psychology and the study's lead author. "Now we see that there is good reason for this."

Keyword: Emotions
Link ID: 4357 - Posted: 10.10.2003

Maryann Mott for National Geographic News Dogs are being used to sniff out the scat of endangered species like wolves, kit foxes, grizzly bears—even right whales. The feces of these animals are a treasure trove for researchers, yielding valuable information about the animals, including population size, fertility, gender, stress, and extent of home range. Before scat-sniffing dogs were trained, researchers visually searched areas for droppings. It was a time-consuming job that wasn't always easy. Some animals defecate conspicuously but others try to hide their dung. Even when found, some scat, such as black bear and grizzly bear, look so similar that they are easily confused. Dogs make the process easier. They cover larger areas, faster and more accurately, using their powerful sense of smell. Canines can detect poop from hundreds of yards away, and find four times more samples than using other methods, such as visual observation or hair snags, said Samuel Wasser, director of The Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington in Seattle. © 2003 National Geographic Society.

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 4356 - Posted: 06.24.2010

This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry is being shared by Peter Agre, a professor of biological chemistry and director of the graduate program in cellular and molecular medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, for his discovery of water channels called aquaporins—a family of specialized proteins that sit in the membranes of cells and control the flow of water in and out. He shares the award with Roderick MacKinnon of The Rockefeller University in New York City. "Our bodies are primarily made of water, about two-thirds of us are made of water," says Agre. "And that's true also of other species—mammals, fish, plants, bacteria. So the organization of water within our cells and tissues has to be very carefully orchestrated. The mechanisms by which water can cross cell membranes have been defined, and it's a subset of proteins that we refer to as aquaporins—the water pores." These proteins form narrow channels connecting the inside to the outside of cells. Only water, the smallest of biological molecules, is allowed to pass. In 1991, Agre discovered aquaporin-1, the first molecular membrane water channel. "The humbling truth is the first aquaporin protein was discovered in our lab by simple accident. We were purifying the RH bloodgroup antigen from red cells, and we found another protein, similar in size, present in the kidney, related to some proteins in plants. But the function of none of these were known. And it was just the intuitive observation—'What could plants, kidneys, red blood cells share?'—that gave us the idea that maybe this is a fundamental process such as water transport." © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 4355 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS In a finding that backs up motherly advice to get a good night's sleep, scientists have found that sleep apparently restores memories lost during a hectic day. It is not just a matter of physical recharge. Researchers say sleep can rescue memories in a biological process of storing and consolidating them deep in the brain's circuitry. The finding is one of several conclusions made in two studies that appear today in the journal Nature. Researchers who conducted the experiments said the results might influence how students learn and could someday be incorporated into treatments for mental illnesses involving memories like post-traumatic stress disorder. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sleep; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 4354 - Posted: 10.09.2003

Fresh evidence suggests man-made noise can harm marine mammals. REX DALTON The US Congress is considering proposals that will make it easier to get permission to use high-volume sonars in the ocean - just as fresh evidence suggests that their noise can harm marine mammals. Capitol Hill is looking at two measures to loosen the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), which sets guidelines for noisy experiments in the oceans. One would simplify the rules, making it easier to get permission to do the experiments. The second would exempt the US Navy from the regulations on the grounds of national security. The changes are supported by the navy and by some geophysicists, who want to use noise-generating devices to study geological formations on the ocean floor. But they are strongly opposed by many marine biologists. "There is a huge split over the issue," says John Hildebrand, who studies marine mammal acoustics at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Hearing; Animal Communication
Link ID: 4353 - Posted: 06.24.2010

BOSTON – A new study in the Oct. 9 issue of the journal Nature describes three distinct stages in the life of a memory, and helps explain how memories endure – or are forgotten – including the role that sleep plays in safeguarding memories. "To initiate a memory is almost like creating a word processing file on a computer," explains the study's first author, Matthew Walker, Ph.D., instructor of psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. "Once the file has been created, if you don't hit the 'save' button before shutting off the computer it will be lost. Our new research helps explain the process in our brains that enable us to first create the memories and then to stabilize and 'save' the memories we've created." The findings then go on to explain how memories can later be "edited" once they've been saved. Walker, who conducted the research while at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, and his colleagues focused on "procedural skill memory," the "how" type of memory that enables humans to learn coordination-based skills, such as driving, playing a sport, or learning to play a musical instrument or perform a surgical procedure. "This is the type of memory that we often take for granted," says Walker. "But for stroke patients or other individuals who have suffered neurological damage that has injured their motor skills functioning – including how they speak and how they move – it quickly becomes apparent how critically important this type of memory is to our daily existence."

Keyword: Sleep; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 4352 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Lakshmi Sandhana Michelle Thomas is learning to "see", not with her eyes but her ears. Now she can also use a mobile camera phone to do it. Blind since birth, Ms Thomas is able to recognize the walls and doors of her house, discern whether the lights are on or off and even distinguish a CD from a floppy disk after only a week using a revolutionary new system. She is "seeing with sound". Developed by Dr Peter Meijer, a senior scientist at Philips Research Laboratories in the Netherlands, the system is called The vOICe (the three middle letters standing for "Oh I See"). It works by translating images from a camera on-the-fly into highly complex soundscapes, which are then transmitted to the user over headphones. A wearable setup consists of a head-mounted camera, stereo headphones and a notebook PC. (C) BBC

Keyword: Vision; Hearing
Link ID: 4351 - Posted: 10.08.2003

Bob Beale, ABC Science Online — The special sounds and gestures made by infant bonobos also known as pygmy chimpanzees when they are tickled suggest that the origins of laughter may pre-date human evolution, according to a new report. A study of a young bonobo in a German zoo found that when it was tickled it combined vocalizations and facial gestures much like those made by human infants, said the report in the BioMednet science news service. The finding suggests that the rules for how emotion is encoded behaviorally were laid down in the common ancestor humans shared with other great apes, Elke Zimmermann of the Institute of Zoology at the Tieraerztliche Hochschule, in Hanover, told a recent conference of the German Primate Society. Copyright © 2003 Discovery Communications Inc.

Keyword: Emotions; Evolution
Link ID: 4350 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA I'm not sure what wins the prize for my low point. Was it falling asleep at my desk? Forgetting where to catch the bus I ride every day? Trailing off in midsentence in a meeting with my boss and just staring blankly at her? In late August, I became dazed and profoundly fatigued. It came in waves, and in my worst moments I was unable to concentrate, and even focusing my eyes required effort. I felt as if I was moving in slow motion. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 4349 - Posted: 10.08.2003

Humans Share DNA That Helps Mice Move Ears, Eyes, Whiskers -- University of Utah researchers have identified genes that ensure nerves develop in the correct part of the brain so mice can roll their eyeballs sideways, wiggle their whiskers, pull their ears back and blink their eyelids. The genes are common to all mammals, and so they likely help control human facial expressions such as smiles and frowns. “In this study we looked at what nerves are made in a particular part of the brain, the hindbrain,” says geneticist Mario Capecchi, professor and co-chair of human genetics at the University of Utah School of Medicine and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). “We see that in certain parts of the hindbrain, the embryo makes nerves that innervate the facial muscles, and in another part of the hindbrain, the embryo makes nerves that innervate eye movement.” The findings will be published in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Development. Capecchi conducted the research with Gary Gaufo, a postdoctoral fellow in human genetics and HHMI research associate, and geneticist Kirk Thomas, formerly of the University of Utah and Howard Hughes Medical Institute and now working at Hydra Biosciences in Boston. © University of Utah

Keyword: Development of the Brain; Emotions
Link ID: 4348 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists believe they may have found a way to treat neuropathic pain, a mystery illness that affects thousands. The pain, which is caused by subtle nerve damage, can be agonising and in many cases fails to improve over time. Scientists at the University of Arizona say they have successfully treated the condition in rats. Writing in the journal Nature Medicine, they said that while further research is needed it could lead to new treatments for humans. Scientists do not know exactly what causes neuropathic pain. It has no physical cause although it appears to be triggered by a number of physical conditions. Viral infections such as shingles, surgery and diabetes have all been known to lead to the problem. (C) BBC

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 4347 - Posted: 10.07.2003

By ARMELLE CASAU Half a century of selective breeding has had an unappetizing side effect for the nation's $40 billion-a-year pork industry. In what researchers say is a biochemical chain reaction sometimes caused by a stress syndrome inadvertently bred into many pigs, 10 to 15 percent of pork turns into sweating pale cuts of meat that ooze liquid in the packaging and become leathery when cooked. The pork industry estimates that the problem costs $90 million a year in lost revenue. Now the losses have led to research to seek new ways to improve breeding and handling. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Stress; Animal Rights
Link ID: 4346 - Posted: 10.07.2003

By SANDRA BLAKESLEE With the help of some fat yellow mice, scientists have discovered exactly how a mother's diet can permanently alter the functioning of genes in her offspring without changing the genes themselves. The unusual strain of mouse carries a kind of trigger near the gene that determines not only the color of its coat but also its predisposition to obesity, diabetes and cancer. When pregnant mice were fed extra vitamins and supplements, the supplements interacted with the trigger in the fetal mice and shut down the gene. As a result, obese yellow mothers gave birth to standard brown baby mice that grew up lean and healthy. Scientists have long known that what pregnant mothers eat — whether they are mice, fruit flies or humans — can profoundly affect the susceptibility of their offspring to disease. But until now they have not understood why, said Dr. Randy Jirtle, a professor of radiation oncology at Duke and senior investigator of the study, which was reported in the Aug. 1 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Genes & Behavior; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 4345 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD Mighty as Hercules was, he sometimes prevailed only by means other than his own brute strength. When the need arose, the superhero of Greek mythology armed himself with biochemical weaponry, anticipating the technological innovations of modern warfare. Up against the Many-Headed Hydra, Hercules forced the monstrous serpent from its den by shooting fiery arrows coated with pitch. After finally slaying the Hydra, he cut open the body and dipped his arrows in its poisonous venom. His quiver was never again without a supply of poison arrows. The story of Hercules and the Hydra may be the first description in Western literature of chemical and biological weapons. Because myth often contains a kernel of historical reality, the story suggests that projectiles tipped with combustible or toxic substances must have been known early in Greek history, and widely used in combat. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Neurotoxins
Link ID: 4344 - Posted: 10.07.2003