By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News — Confirming dog owner suspicions, a new study reveals that dogs have personalities, and that these character traits can be identified as accurately as similar personality attributes in humans. The paper, published in the current Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, is the first cross-species personality study between a human and another animal. Dogs (Canis familiaris ) were chosen because of their wide availability, the fact that they safely and naturally exhibit a wide variety of behaviors, are understood well by many humans, and can travel to research sites with ease. Experts, however, suspect that many other animals also possess unique personalities. Copyright © 2003 Discovery Communications Inc.

Keyword: Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 4686 - Posted: 06.24.2010

— A comparison of genomes in humans and chimpanzees suggests that a genetic divergence in hearing may have allowed humans to develop speech while leaving our close cousins verbally challenged, said a study published Thursday. The comparative study of the genetic makeups of people and chimps, which are genetically almost 99 percent identical, showed that some processes such as hearing and smell evolved more rapidly in humans, according to the research published in the magazine Science. Genes related to these processes could explain in part why chimps and humans are as different as they are, according to researcher Andrew Clark of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. His team sequenced more than 7,000 chimpanzee genes before comparing them to the same genes in humans and in monkeys.

Keyword: Evolution; Hearing
Link ID: 4685 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By IVER PETERSON TRENTON, — New Jersey will propose new controls to limit emissions of mercury, a toxic substance that is particularly harmful to fetuses and young children. The new rules on power plants and other sources would cut emissions by 75 percent in three years. Bradley M. Campbell, the commissioner of environmental protection, announced here on Wednesday that if the department adopts the proposal after a hearing period, 24 coal-fired power plants, municipal waste incinerators and iron smelters will have to adopt measures to cut the state's current mercury emissions of 2,000 pounds per year to 500 pounds. "New Jersey's largest sources of mercury air pollution must use today's technology wherever possible to protect our children and families," Mr. Campbell said at a news conference. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Neurotoxins; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 4684 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Single gene linked to alcohol tolerance. HELEN R. PILCHER Some worms can really hold their drink. A genetic twist of fate renders them immune to alcohol, new research reveals. The study may explain why a small sherry sends some people slurry but leaves others sober. It may also aid the development of therapies for alcoholism. Give a normal nematode alcohol and it gets drunk, explains Steve McIntire from the University of California, San Francisco. Wasted worms wiggle less, move more slowly and lay fewer eggs. "Eventually they fall into a state of profound sedation," says McIntire. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 4683 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reading disability (RD) are common disorders of childhood that often co-occur. About 20-25% of children and adolescents with ADHD have a reading disability but the cause of this association is unknown. Twin and family studies suggest that genes, strongly indicated for both conditions, may underlie their association. In a systematic genome-wide investigation of reading ability in a sample of 233 siblings diagnosed with ADHD, four chromosomal regions emerged as potential locations for genes underlying reading ability. Reading ability was measured by three types of reading tests including a spelling task, a reading recognition task, and a reading comprehension task. Because performance on all three measures was highly correlated, a reading factor representing performance on all three was used in the analysis, as well as the individual test scores.

Keyword: ADHD; Language
Link ID: 4682 - Posted: 12.12.2003

A research team at the University of Chicago has discovered a crucial signaling pathway that controls the growth of nascent nerves within the spinal cord, guiding them toward the brain during development. The study, published in the Dec. 12, 2003, issue of the journal Science, solves a long-standing scientific mystery. It may also help restore function to people with paralyzing spinal cord injuries. "This is the first guidance mechanism that regulates growth of nerve cells up and down the spinal cord," said Yimin Zou, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurobiology, pharmacology and physiology at the University of Chicago.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 4681 - Posted: 12.12.2003

Scientists at UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center have identified a single brain protein that can account for most of the intoxicating effects of alcohol. The finding pinpoints perhaps the best target yet for a drug to block alcohol's effect and potentially treat alcoholism, the scientists say. The mechanisms by which alcohol acts on the brain are thought to be similar throughout the animal kingdom, since species from worms and fruit flies to mice and humans all become intoxicated at similar alcohol concentrations. But although studies have identified a number of genes that can partially influence how alcohol affects behavior, this is the first finding that a single gene and the brain protein it codes for - known as an ion channel - are responsible for the intoxicating effects of alcohol in a living organism, according to the researchers. The discovery was made in a six-year research effort focusing on Caenorhabditis elegans, the roundworm widely studied because about half of its approximately 20,000 genes have counterparts in the human genome.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 4680 - Posted: 12.12.2003

Sheep horns downsized by hunters' taste for trophies. JOHN WHITFIELD The horns of some bighorn sheep are getting smaller, because hunters are picking off the most impressive rams before they reach their breeding peak. A study of one sheep population in Canada shows that hunting can harm the gene pool of a species over just a few years. That means there should be tougher restrictions on what animals can be taken, says David Coltman of the University of Sheffield, UK. "For selection to be having this effect is of fundamental importance," he says. Biologists have long suspected that hunting can affect animal evolution. Elephant poaching, for example, is thought to have led to an increase in the number of tuskless animals in Africa. And in Canada, the hunting of moose seems to have resulted in animals with smaller antlers. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 4679 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By ERICA GOODE British drug regulators yesterday recommended against the use of all but one of a new generation of antidepressants in the treatment of depressed children under 18. In a letter sent to doctors and other health professionals, the government regulators said a review of data on the safety and effectiveness of the drugs, known as S.S.R.I.'s, indicated that their benefits did not outweigh their potential risks. Their effectiveness in treating depression in children, they said, has not been sufficiently demonstrated, and some drugs have been linked with suicidal thoughts and self-harm in children and adolescents. A summary of the findings was published on the Web site of the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (www.mhra.gov.uk). Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Depression; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 4678 - Posted: 12.11.2003

A new computer vision system for automated analysis of animal movement -- honey bee activities, in particular -- is expected to accelerate animal behavior research, which also has implications for biologically inspired design of robots and computers. The animal movement analysis system is part of the BioTracking Project, an effort conducted by Georgia Institute of Technology robotics researchers led by Tucker Balch, an assistant professor of computing. "We believe the language of behavior is common between robots and animals," Balch said. "That means, potentially, that we could videotape ants for a long period of time, learn their 'program' and run it on a robot."

Keyword: Robotics
Link ID: 4677 - Posted: 12.11.2003

The controversial Atkins diet may help reduce seizures in children with epilepsy, scientists have claimed. The high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet has been criticised by doctors who say it may be linked to illnesses including kidney disease. But experts told the American Society of Epilepsy that it could help control the condition. Some child epilepsy patients are currently on an even more restrictive diet which cuts out seizures. Both the Atkins diet and the ketogenic diet used by epilepsy patients are high in fat and low in carbohydrates and alter the body's glucose chemistry. The ketogenic diet mimics some of the effects of starvation, in which the body first uses up glucose and glycogen before burning stored body fat. (C) BBC

Keyword: Epilepsy
Link ID: 4676 - Posted: 12.10.2003

There are concerns about side effects The majority of the most commonly prescribed type of anti-depressants should not be given to children under 18, says the Department of Health. The advice follows a review by medical experts set up to look at the safety of SSRIs after concerns that they made some patients suicidal. It found the risks of certain SSRIs outweighed the benefits of treatment. However, patients taking the drugs have been told not to stop taking them without medical supervision. The expert group found there is no, or insufficient, evidence from clinical trials that benefits outweigh the risks of side effects for the following SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). (C) BBC

Keyword: Depression; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 4675 - Posted: 12.10.2003

Alzheimer's disease typically is not detected until well after the brain has started to deteriorate. But as this ScienCentral News video reports, scientists are finding that MRIs can detect the start of Alzheimer's long before we see any symptoms. It will happen to all of us—our brains start shrinking at around age 40. But scientists say an abnormal type of brain shrinkage occurs in people who go on to develop Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia. Researchers in the New York University School of Medicine's Center for Brain Health are using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect that shrinkage well before a person begins to experience symptoms like memory loss. "The current evidence for prediction is really based in individuals that already have mild impairments," says Mony de Leon, director of the Center for Brain Health. "What's unique about our study is that it's the first time predictions have been made using MRI where normal persons are the target problem. We're trying to distinguish among normal persons, which ones are destined to become abnormal or sick with memory problems." © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 4674 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NewScientist.com news service Psychologists in Canada have finally proved what women have long suspected - men really are irrational enough to risk entire kingdoms to catch sight of a beautiful face. Biologists have long known that animals prefer immediate rewards to greater ones in the future. This process, known as "discounting the future", is found in humans too and is fundamental to many economic models. Resources have a value to individuals that changes through time. For example, immediately available cash is generally worth more than the same amount would be in the future. But greater amounts of money in the future would be worth waiting for under so-called 'rational' discounting. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 4673 - Posted: 06.24.2010

If you think a mug of fortified eggnog is going to protect you from strokes, pour it back in the punchbowl. A new study finds that alcohol does not guard against strokes. Moderate alcohol intake--one to two drinks per day--appears to protect people from heart disease. Because strokes are similar to heart attacks in that a blood vessel clogs and starves tissue of oxygen, researchers have speculated that alcohol might protect against strokes as well. But previous studies have turned up mixed results. Hoping to settle the debate, epidemiologist Jingzhong Ding of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues examined data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, a project that performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs) in the mid-1990s on 1909 middle-aged adults in the southern United States. The researchers scaled the volunteers on how much alcohol they reported consuming--from teetotalers to moderate drinkers who consumed about 14 drinks per week--and then looked at their MRI scans for signs of dead or dying brain tissue, known risk factors for stroke. The researchers also noted brain volume. Copyright © 2003 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 4672 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Stockholm ceremony proceeds despite dispute. HELEN PEARSON A physician's two-month protest about his exclusion from this year's Nobel prizes is set to climax today - with two awards ceremonies on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Physicists Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield will tonight receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. They won the award in October for their contribution to the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The announcement prompted furious protests from New York-based physician Raymond Damadian1. Claiming that he invented MRI, Damadian has taken out a series of advertisements in major newspapers, including the New York Times, Britain's Daily Telegraph and Sweden's Dagens Nyheter. He declined to reveal the campaign's spiralling cost - but a single full-page ad in the New York Times costs more than $116,000, suggesting that the total could reach seven figures. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Brain imaging
Link ID: 4671 - Posted: 06.24.2010

CHICAGO – High intake of dietary fats may increase the risk of progression of age-related macular degeneration, according to an article in the December issue of The Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. According to information in the article, age-related macular degeneration (AMD, a common, progressive eye disease in older people that causes blindness) is the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment and blindness in the United States and in other developed countries. Six percent to eight percent of people aged 75 and older have the advanced stages of AMD associated with blindness. It is estimated that more than eight million people have the intermediate stages of AMD, and of these about 1.3 million people will develop advanced AMD within the next five years. Johanna M. Seddon, M.D., Sc.M., of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, and colleagues evaluated the associated between dietary fat intake, including specific types of fat, on rates of progression of AMD in a large population at risk for vision loss.

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 4670 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Calcium may play a key role in the detection of tastes by the tongue, according to USC researchers. Their work also offers a molecular model of how taste cells reset, allowing them to sample the bitter with the sweet. By Eva Emerson Put a caramel in your mouth and your taste buds detect the sugary substance, instantly sending a message to the brain, which interprets the signal - sweet! Trying to figure out what happens in the split-second between eating something and recognizing its sweet or bitter flavor - between detecting a taste and a signal reaching the brain - led USC neuroscientist Emily Liman to take a closer look inside the cells in the taste buds. Her findings reveal new details about how the sense of taste works. And calcium, said Liman, plays a key role in the detection of tastes by taste cells in the tongue. The research by Liman, an assistant professor of biological sciences in the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, and graduate student Dan Liu will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this month. The paper also offers a molecular model of how taste cells reset so they are ready to detect new tastes.

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 4669 - Posted: 12.10.2003

It's surprising how important faith in others is to economic relations, writes Ross Gittins. Sorry I missed you last week. I was away in New Zealand finalising my entry for the 2003 Obese Bushwalker of the Year award - the wonder is not that it's done so well, but that it's done at all. We did the 80-kilometre Heaphy track across the top tip of the South Island. Great views, heavy pack, swarms of sandflies. Recommendation: not for the overweight. Apart from the scenery, the thing that keeps me going back across the Tasman is that it's still such an innocent place. The people you deal with are less hurried, more friendly and more trusting. Copyright © 2003. The Sydney Morning Herald.

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 4668 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Three new studies conducted in animals, published in the December issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry, provide evidence that misuse of the stimulant methylphenidate (Ritalin) may have long-term effects on the brain and behavior. While methylphenidate and other stimulant medications are the recommended treatments for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), based on the more than 150 controlled studies demonstrating their safety and efficacy when used as prescribed, these three studies showed changes in the brains of young (adolescent or pre-adolescent) animals that persisted into adulthood. In both animals and humans, the brain continues to develop throughout adolescence. If the current studies are applicable to humans, they could have important implications for young people who use stimulants for recreational purposes. In the first study, Dr. Cindy Brandon and her colleagues at the Finch University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School examined how low doses of methylphenidate affect dopamine cells in the brains of adolescent rats. Dopamine is a brain chemical that has been implicated in natural rewards, such as food and sex, as well as in drug abuse and addiction. The study showed that the rats experienced brain cell changes that subsequently made them more sensitive to the rewarding effects of cocaine. In the second study, Dr. William Carlezon, Jr., and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, looked at how pre-adolescent exposure to methylphenidate affected certain behaviors in rats when they reached adulthood. They found that early exposure to twice-daily injections of methylphenidate actually reduced the sensitivity to cocaine reward, but increased other behaviors that could indicate depression. The timing of exposure to methylphenidate may be important — in this study the rats were exposed at an age corresponding to childhood, whereas in the study by Dr. Brandon et al., the rats were slightly older, more akin to adolescence.

Keyword: ADHD
Link ID: 4667 - Posted: 06.24.2010