Science reveals a way to rise above our natures By Michael Shermer "Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put in this world to rise above." --Katharine Hepburn to Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen, 1951 Evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond of the University of California at Los Angeles once classified humans as the "third chimpanzee" (the second being the bonobo). Genetically, we are very similar, and when it comes to high levels of aggression between members of two different groups, as I noted in last month's column on "The Ignoble Savage," we also resemble chimpanzees. Although humans have a brutal history, there's hope that the pessimists who forecast our eventual demise are wrong: recent evidence indicates that, like bonobos, we may be evolving in a more peaceful direction. One of the most striking features in artificially selecting for docility among wild animals is that, along with far less aggression, you also get a suite of other changes, including a reduction in skull, jaw and tooth size. In genetics, this is called pleiotropy. Selecting for one trait may generate additional, unintended changes. The most famous study on selective breeding for passivity began in 1959 by Russian geneticist Dmitri Belyaev of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Siberia. It continues today under the direction of Lyudmila N. Trut. Silver foxes were bred for friendliness toward humans, defined by a graduating series of criteria, from the animal allowing itself to be approached, to being hand fed, to being petted, to proactively seeking human contact. In only 35 generations the researchers produced tail-wagging, hand-licking, peaceful foxes. What they also created were foxes with smaller skulls, jaws and teeth than their wild ancestors. © 1996-2003 Scientific American, Inc.

Keyword: Evolution; Aggression
Link ID: 4183 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor A new kind of drug abuse is sweeping university campuses in North America and is expected to come to Britain. Faced with the pressure of exams and essay deadlines, students are abandoning the traditional stimulants of coffee and cigarettes for Ritalin. Unlike their parents who "blew their minds" on recreational drugs in the Sixties and Seventies, today's American students are using chemical substances in the pursuit of peak performance. Ritalin is a stimulant drug, best known as a treatment for hyperactive children. It has found a ready black market among students who are desperate to succeed. Users say it helps them to focus and to concentrate. © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

Keyword: ADHD; Drug Abuse
Link ID: 4182 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By ANNE McILROY, SCIENCE REPORTER Here is one more reason to dread getting older. Canadian researchers have found that as we age, we have more trouble getting jokes. Older people still easily get simple humour but have more difficulty than younger people with complex jokes, said Prathiba Shammi, a psychologist at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto. Dr. Shammi's test envolved performing three humour tests on two groups of volunteers, people in their late 20s and people in their early 70s. © 2003 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 4181 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NewScientist.com news service The youngest children in a school year group have a higher risk of developing mental health problems than the oldest children, according to a new study. A survey of more than 10,000 British schoolchildren aged five to 15 years old, found that those with birthdays in the last three months of the school year were more prone to psychiatric problems, such as hyperactivity and behavioural difficulties, compared to those born in the earlier in the school year. "Our study shows that those born in the first third of the school year have an 8.3 per cent chance of having a psychiatric disorder, whereas the youngest third have a 9.9 per cent chance," says psychologist Robert Goodman, who led the research team at King's College London. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: ADHD; Biological Rhythms
Link ID: 4180 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By MILT FREUDENHEIM Doctors and hospitals across the country are scrambling to satisfy the booming demand for surgery that shrinks the stomachs of severely obese people. Dozens of hospitals are adding special operating suites for the procedure, called bariatric surgery, which attracted wide notice after public figures like Al Roker of "Today" on NBC, Sharon Osbourne of "The Osbournes" on MTV and Representative Jerrold Nadler, a Manhattan Democrat, had it done. Some bariatric surgeons are fully scheduled 12 months in advance, and hundreds of doctors have jumped into the field recently and started to advertise their availability. Bariatric procedures — meant for obese people who are at extremely high risk of severe health problems, as defined by a National Institutes of Health consensus — surged more than 40 percent last year, to 80,000. This year, the number is expected to climb to 120,000, according to Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm. Spending on bariatrics is approaching $3 billion a year, at an average cost of $25,000 for each procedure. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 4179 - Posted: 06.24.2010

– Our cells are constantly making life and death decisions. A new gene that controls this life or death switch and protects cells from dying has been discovered by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as reported in the August 28 edition of the scientific journal Nature. The discovery may provide scientists with new means for identifying drugs that combat degenerative diseases such as Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), the destructive effects of stroke and heart diseases, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. Chilling though it sounds, our cells are poised on the brink of death. Yet the ongoing death of some of our cells is actually essential for us to live. "Death, that is to say cell death, is a key player in biology and medicine," said Joel Rothman, professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, and leader of the UCSB research team. "Cells often commit suicide so that others may live. This is the ultimate example of altruism at the cellular level." Copyright © 2003 Board of Regents of the University of California

Keyword: ALS-Lou Gehrig's Disease ; Apoptosis
Link ID: 4178 - Posted: 06.24.2010

New data potentially helpful to study of addiction and aging’s effects on the brain Scientists have directly demonstrated in rats that one area of the brain can support the creation of memories by changing nerve cell firing patterns in another part of the brain, aiding the animal's efforts to predict the outcome of an action based on past experience and act on that prediction. The process, one scientist says, is something like what happens when a comic strip character sees something and is immediately reminded of something else. "I like to think of it like a cartoon character with a thought bubble over his head," explained Geoffrey Schoenbaum, an associate psychological and brain sciences research scientist in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins. "There's a neural representation of something in the mind that is invoked by the environment, but not yet present in the environment."

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 4177 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A brief non-judgmental interview and feedback session designed to enhance people's motivation to change their behavior added to a self-help program appears to be effective in treating some people with two common types of eating disorders –bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. The finding comes from an as yet unpublished University of Washington doctoral dissertation and also suggests that the session, which uses a technique called motivational interviewing, may be a cost effective way of providing assistance to a population that is particularly resistant to treatment. People with eating disorders are extremely difficult to treat and are "often ambivalent about seeking treatment," said UW psychology doctoral student Erin Dunn. "Most people with eating disorders don't seek treatment on their own. They are indecisive about change and generally seek help when prompted through family, friends or a physician."

Keyword: Anorexia & Bulimia
Link ID: 4176 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition. A specific gene linked to athletic performance has been discovered by Australian sports scientists. The announcement comes as elite athletes vie for glory at the World Athletics Championships in Paris, and reopens the debate about whether top athletes can be screened and nurtured from birth. The gene comes in two variants. People with one variant are predisposed to become sprinters. Those with the second are more likely to excel in endurance events. This is the second gene to be shown to confer athletic ability. The first, angiotensin-converting enzyme, or ACE, makes an enzyme which influences how efficiently our muscles burn oxygen, and the rate at which some muscles grow (New Scientist print edition, 23 May 1998). The gene discovered by the Australian team is called alpha-actinin-3 , or ACTN3. One version, the R allele, makes actinin, a protein found only in fast muscle fibres. These fibres help to produce the explosive bursts of speed and power that sprinters need. The other allele, called X, does not produce actinin-3. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Genes & Behavior; Muscles
Link ID: 4175 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Fetal tissue trial raises stem cell questions. ERIKA CHECK An experimental technique that uses transplanted fetal tissue to treat Parkinson's disease is not yet ready for widespread use, according to a study published online last week. In the study, surgeons transplanted nerve tissue from aborted fetuses into the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease. The disease destroys neurons that produce the chemical dopamine, which is required for normal brain function. The transplanted tissue is intended to replace these damaged cells. But the average condition of the 23 patients who received the treatment did not improve significantly compared with a group of 11 who did not have it. The researchers, led by Warren Olanow of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, measured whether the treatment affected the symptoms of the disease, such as muscle tremors, speech and mental abilities1. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Parkinsons; Stem Cells
Link ID: 4174 - Posted: 06.24.2010

She says devices endanger whales and other sea life Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer A federal judge knocked down Tuesday a Navy plan to deploy submarine-hunting sonar in most of the world's oceans, saying the devices endanger entire populations of whales, porpoises and fish. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco said a permanent injunction should be issued that will bar the Navy from using sonar in areas including 14 million square miles, or about 40 percent, of the Pacific Ocean. But she left open the possibility of limited use of new low-frequency active sonar technology for testing and training in certain areas not considered rich in sea life. Also, Congress is considering legislation that would effectively allow wider use of the sonar technology, despite the judge's ruling. ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle

Keyword: Animal Communication; Hearing
Link ID: 4173 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Dyslexia may be caused by a fault in a single gene, scientists have suggested. Researchers in Finland say their finding may explain why the condition seems to run in families. Dyslexia affects about one in 10 people. It is the most common learning disorder in children. Many find it difficult to recognise and read words. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists said a flaw in a gene called DYXC1 may cause the condition. Previous studies have suggested that people with dyslexia process information in a different area of the brain than the average person does, even though they are often of average or above-average intelligence. Other studies have suggested they use the right side of the brain for reading instead of the left side, which is better set up for processing words. (C) BBC

Keyword: Dyslexia
Link ID: 4172 - Posted: 08.27.2003

About one in a hundred people worldwide suffer from schizophrenia. Now neuroscientists may have found a gene variation that predisposes people to this brain disease. As this ScienCentral News video reports, it could lead to genetically targeted drugs for schizophrenia. Presently, schizophrenia affects 2.5 million Americans, and neuroscientists believe that this devastating brain disease is caused by problems with multiple genes. Now they are looking at genetically altered mice to help uncover those problematic genes. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) studied genetically altered mice that showed symptoms of schizophrenia. The mice were engineered to lack a protein called calcineurin. © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Schizophrenia; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 4171 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By SANDEEP JAUHAR, M.D. Not long ago, I went to see a patient in the intensive care unit. A former prisoner of war from World War II, he was in the clutches of a fever that had lasted several weeks, and he had started to deteriorate. "He's getting better," his wife insisted when I spoke with her, gently combing his straight white hair, even after he stopped following simple commands. The intensive care team had done almost everything imaginable to determine the cause of the fever. They had called in consultants from virtually every medical subspecialty. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 4170 - Posted: 08.27.2003

By ERICA GOODE Ever since Pavlov trained dogs to salivate for meat powder at the sound of a bell, psychologists have used the principles of classical conditioning to study how animals and humans learn. But only recently have they been able to peer into the brain and watch that learning take place. Now a team of English researchers, using a sophisticated brain scanning technique called functional M.R.I., has provided a vivid demonstration of the neural processes at work in a simple Pavlovian conditioning experiment. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Brain imaging
Link ID: 4169 - Posted: 08.27.2003

By ERICA GOODE Zoloft, a commonly prescribed antidepressant, is effective for treating moderate to severe depression in children and adolescents, researchers are reporting today. The research, the largest published study of children to test any of the antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or S.S.R.I.'s, found that 69 percent of the subjects who took the drug improved significantly, compared with 59 percent of those who took a dummy pill, a difference that some experts termed modest. The researchers, whose report appears in The Journal of the American Medical Association, concluded that Zoloft "is an effective and well-tolerated short-term treatment" for depressed children and adolescents. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Depression; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 4168 - Posted: 08.27.2003

Taking amphetamines or cocaine could stop cells in key areas of the brain linking up normally. This, warn experts, could explain why it is feared that long term use of the drugs could affect memory or mood. Rats would be expected to generate new brain "connections" if put in a stimulating environment - but after being given drugs this did not happen. However, experts have warned that results in rat brains may not correspond exactly to human brains. While there are concerns about the long-term effects of amphetamines and cocaine on the brain, it remains a controversial area. While some researchers point to studies which suggest mood problems in some users, others maintain that firm evidence for a link has still not emerged. (C) BBC

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 4167 - Posted: 08.26.2003

By Rob Stein Washington Post Staff Writer When the doctors unwrapped the bandages, Michael May was stunned: He could see shadows and shapes, and, after scanning the fuzzy images around him, make out his wife's blue eyes and blond hair for the first time. May, who had been blinded by a chemical explosion at age 3, had undergone an experimental procedure the day before in the hopes of restoring his vision. But after more than 40 sightless years, he had expected it would take weeks to find out whether he would be able to see the world again. "It was pretty amazing," said May, 49, of Davis, Calif. "We were all in shock. It worked much sooner than anyone had thought. Immediately it was like, 'Look at that. Look at that. Look at that.' " © 2003 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Vision; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 4166 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By SHERRI DAY The food industry, trying to offer healthier versions of popular foods without affecting the taste, is looking for new ways to trick the tongue. If it succeeds, grapefruit juice could be sweet without added sugar, and potato chips flavorful with half the salt. In April the Linguagen Corporation, a biotechnology company in Cranbury, N.J., that is conducting taste research, received a patent for the first molecular compound that will block bitter tastes in foods, beverages and some pharmaceuticals. The compound, named adenosine 5'-monophosphate, or AMP, occurs naturally — it is found in human breast milk, among other places. When added to certain foods, including coffee and canned citrus fruit, Linguagen says, it blocks some of the acidic tastes from being absorbed by the tongue. "The idea of a bitter suppressor is the holy grail," said Linda M. Bartoshuk, a professor at the Yale University School of Medicine and a taste research expert. "Everybody wants to find them." Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 4165 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By LAURIE TARKAN It was not until two days before he was to appear on television in Australia to talk about his book that Benjamin Polis, 19, told his girlfriend that he had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and had, by the way, written an autobiographical account about it. Embarrassed and stigmatized throughout his life, he found it difficult to concede that he was different, even to his closest friends. But the success of his book, "Only a Mother Could Love Him," has changed a lot. Mr. Polis, who as a child cried daily, begging his mother not to send him to school, is now, at 21, speaking out about A.D.H.D., in an effort to help teenagers who have it understand their impulsive, hyperactive and, at times, uncontrollable behavior, as well as to help parents handle their children better. The book has sold several thousand copies in the United States and in Australia, where Mr. Polis lives. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: ADHD
Link ID: 4164 - Posted: 08.26.2003