Three out of four young people who go to clubs or concerts regularly are risking permanent hearing damage, research suggests. The Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) has found that of the two thirds of young people who regularly go clubbing, three quarters of them regularly experience signs of hearing damage after a night out. These include ringing in their ears and or dullness of hearing. The research also shows that while almost half of young people know that the ringing in their ears after a night out is a sign of damage, 59% are not aware this damage is irreversible. Brian Dow, joint head of campaigns at RNID, said: "Social noise exposure has tripled in the UK since the early 1980s, meaning that it is now even more important for people to take steps to look after their hearing. "Prevention is always better than cure, especially in this case as there is no remedy for hearing damage. (C) BBC

Keyword: Hearing
Link ID: 3788 - Posted: 05.08.2003

By CLAUDIA DREIFUS DENVER — As a young physician in the 1960's, Dr. Floyd E. Bloom was part of the team from the National Institutes of Health that uncovered the principles behind the drugs that are now used to treat depression. Since then, he has been the director of behavioral neurobiology at the Salk Institute, the chairman of the neuropharmacology department at the Scripps Research Institute and the chief of the neuropharmacology laboratory at the National Institute of Mental Health. Now, he is the chairman of Neurome, a San Diego company involved in brain research. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 3787 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By LES LINE In a rite of spring nearly as old as the Nebraska sandhills, greater prairie chickens and sharp-tailed grouse gather before dawn on their respective dancing grounds at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge in the north-central part of the state. While females watch, the males lower their heads, raise their tails, spread their wings, inflate colorful air sacs on their necks and stamp their feet while making hollow cooing or moaning sounds. The basic purpose of this elaborate display is to attract a mate. Indeed, the dancing ground, or lek, is the avian equivalent of a singles bar, said Dr. Robert Gibson, a behavioral ecologist and professor of biological sciences at the University of Nebraska. But Dr. Gibson, who has studied lekking behavior around the world, is convinced there is more going on. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 3786 - Posted: 05.08.2003

By NICHOLAS WADE The homelands of the Indo-European languages stretch from Dublin to Delhi. But Hadza, a tongue that is one of a kind, is spoken by just 1,000 people near Lake Eyasi in Tanzania. Why do the world's languages have so uneven a distribution pattern? Two researchers theorize that much of the answer has to do with events that began 10,000 years ago, as crop plants were domesticated in different regions. The invention of agriculture has long been invoked to explain the spread of the Indo-European languages. Now, Dr. Jared Diamond of the University of California at Los Angeles and Dr. Peter Bellwood of the Australian National University in Canberra have applied the concept to 15 major language families. Their article appeared in the April 25 issue of Science. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Language
Link ID: 3785 - Posted: 05.08.2003

EAST LANSING, Mich. – If the evolution of complex organisms were a road trip, then the simple country drives are what get you there. And sometimes even potholes along the way are important. An interdisciplinary team of scientists at Michigan State University and the California Institute of Technology, with the help of powerful computers, has used a kind of artificial life, or ALife, to create a road map detailing the evolution of complex organisms, an old problem in biology. In an article in the May 8 issue of the international journal Nature, Richard Lenski, Charles Ofria, Robert Pennock, and Christoph Adami report that the path to complex organisms is paved with a long series of simple functions, each unremarkable if viewed in isolation.

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 3784 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A protein defective in two types of muscular dystrophy also appears to be important in repairing damaged muscle, according to Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers at the University of Iowa College of Medicine. The discovery reveals the first known component of the machinery that repairs the damaged membrane in a muscle fiber. Further studies of this and related proteins could lead to a better understanding of disorders that affect cardiac and skeletal muscles. Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Kevin Campbell and Dimple Bansal led the research group that published its findings in the May 8, 2003, issue of the journal Nature. Campbell and his colleagues reported that their studies in mice showed that a mutant form of the muscle protein dysferlin prevents normal muscle repair in limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B (LGMD2B) and Miyoshi Myopathy (MM). Campbell and his colleagues at the University of Iowa College of Medicine collaborated with Paul McNeil and his laboratory at The Medical College of Georgia. ©2003 Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Keyword: Muscles
Link ID: 3783 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A new MR imaging technique used to study white matter in the brain has found something intriguing--the brains of Alzheimer's patients show some of the same signs as the immature brains of children. Diffusion tensor MR imaging examinations were performed on 60 normal persons, ranging in age from infancy to late adulthood, says Jeffrey Lassig, MD, of the University of Michigan, and lead author of the study. The part of the brain that connects the two halves of the brain was studied. When the brain is immature the water molecules in the white matter of the brain move (diffuse) more freely. As the brain ages, the water molecules seem more constrained, he says. "When we compared 13 Alzheimer's patients' brains to 13 others of the same age with no signs of dementia, the Alzheimer's patients' brains showed significantly higher water molecule diffusion.

Keyword: Alzheimers; Brain imaging
Link ID: 3782 - Posted: 05.08.2003

Offers more complex model of brain aging A study in rats matching the activity of 146 genes with brain aging and impaired learning and memory produces a new picture of brain aging and cognitive impairment. The research, by scientists at the University of Kentucky, uses powerful new gene microarray technology in a novel way to match gene activity with actual behavioral and cognitive performance over time, resulting in the identification of this wide range of aging- and cognition-related genes (ACRGs). Importantly, the changes in gene activity had mostly begun in the mid-life of the rats, suggesting that changes in gene activity in the brain in early adulthood might set off cellular or biological changes that could affect how the brain works later in life. The report appears in the May 2003 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. It provides more information on genes already linked to aging, including some involved in inflammation and oxidative stress, and also describes additional areas in which gene activity might play a role in brain aging. These include declines in energy metabolism in cells and changes in the activity of neurons (nerve cells) in the brain and their ability to make new connections with each other. In addition, other areas in which genes appear to play an influential role involve increases in cellular calcium levels which could trigger cell death, cholesterol synthesis (also implicated in Alzheimer's disease in other research), iron metabolism and the breakdown of the insulating myelin sheaths that when intact facilitate efficient communication among neurons.

Keyword: Genes & Behavior; Alzheimers
Link ID: 3781 - Posted: 05.08.2003

Studies of a gene that affects how efficiently the brain's frontal lobes process information are revealing some untidy consequences of a tiny variation in its molecular structure and how it may increase susceptibility to schizophrenia . People with a common version of the gene associated with more efficient working memory and frontal lobe information processing may pay a penalty in adverse responses to amphetamine, in heightened anxiety and sensitivity to pain. Yet, another common version may slightly bias the brain toward a pattern of neurochemical activity associated with psychosis, report researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Everyone inherits two copies of the catecho-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, one from each parent. It codes for the enzyme that metabolizes neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine and comes in two common versions. One version, met, contains the amino acid methionine at a point in its chemical sequence where the other version, val, contains a valine. Depending on the mix of variants inherited, a person's COMT genes can be typed met/met, val/val, or val/met. "Since both versions of the COMT gene are common in the population – they've been conserved as the human brain evolved -- it makes sense that each would confer some advantages and disadvantages," explained Daniel Weinberger, M.D.

Keyword: Schizophrenia; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 3780 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Jane Elliott BBC News Online health staff Angela Slater spent nearly two decades lip reading, because she could not hear what people were saying to her. But she did not realise that she had a problem because her lip reading had become so successful she was fooling herself. Then on a train journey she realised that the announcer's voice was a blur. She could not see his face and so could not make out his words. Her family pressed her to get treatment and 20 years after first noticing the problem Angela went to her doctor. She was told she had lost 40% of her hearing and was given a hearing aid. "It was a great improvement and I felt as if I had got my life back. (C) BBC

Keyword: Hearing
Link ID: 3779 - Posted: 05.05.2003

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO, (AP) — Obese and overweight women face significantly increased risks of having babies with heart abnormalities and other birth defects, according to a study to be published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said their study also confirmed a link between pre-pregnancy obesity and neural tube birth defects, including spina bifida. Compared with women whose weight is considered normal, the study found, those who were obese or overweight before pregnancy faced double the risk of having babies with heart defects and double the risk of multiple birth defects. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Obesity; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 3778 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Amphibians hint that number skills evolved early. HANNAH HOAG Salamanders, given a choice between tubes containing two fruitflies or three, lunge at the tube of three1. This hints that the ability to differentiate between small numbers of objects may have evolved much earlier than scientists had thought. Primates can spot the greater of two quantities smaller than four, without any training. Babies choose the bowl with more cookies; monkeys go for the bucket with more slices of apple. The surprise, says Claudia Uller, of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who carried out the study, was that the amphibians "failed in the same way that babies and monkeys do" - more than three objects confuses them. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Keyword: Evolution; Intelligence
Link ID: 3777 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Researchers want to understand the control center of the activation process | By Josh P. Roberts We can do things that haven't been done before, I think, ever in cell biology," exclaims Mark Davis of Stanford University. His 3-D, fluorescence video-microscopy system allows him to count the number of antigen receptors being stimulated on a given T cell, and to follow that cell through time. Davis asks of the single cell, "What do you need in the way of signals to get synapses? And what is the sensitivity of a T cell to antigen?" The synapse Davis refers to is the immunological synapse, where T cells receive their marching orders; understanding it is vital to appreciating how an immune response is set in motion. "We like to think of the immunological synapse as the brain," says cell biologist Abraham (Avi) Kupfer. "It's like a control center of the activation process." SIMPLICITY ITSELF In its simplest incarnation, the immunological synapse (IS) consists of two pairs of molecules. Michael Dustin and colleagues at Washington University put freely diffusible MHC-peptide (major histocompatability complex class II plus bound peptide) with ICAM-1 (intracellular adhesion molecule-1) into an artificial lipid bilayer. By adding T cells, the researchers induced T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) and lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) to form "kind of a bull's-eye-like pattern," he recalls. ©2003, The Scientist Inc.

Keyword: Neuroimmunology
Link ID: 3776 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Housing animals in complex environments where they must use By Hal Cohen Researchers are bringing the wild inside their laboratories. Compelled by studies that suggest animals' bodies and minds react to even minor changes in living conditions, scientists are decorating animal cage interiors to mimic the exterior world of nature, thus challenging lab animals to think and move. A large, complex living space outfitted with objects that stimulate animals' mental and physical growth form the ideals of environmental enrichment (EE)--a field of study started by psychologists in the 1960s, which has now moved mainstream, particularly among neuroscientists. Advocates of EE say that providing multifaceted living conditions is essential to the mental and physical well-being of lab animals and could also influence the validity of experimental results. "You can argue whether your previous results are valid or not," says Vera Baumans, professor of laboratory animal science at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. "At KI we're going to find out if that is the case." Not all labs take enrichment as seriously as the Karolinska Institute, but the growing interest in the relationship between environment and experimental results has converged with the influence of animal rights' groups on science policy, so that labs are becoming more aware than ever of animal care. "Effects from differential experiences have been found in species from fly to philosopher," says Mark Rosenzweig, professor emeritus of graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and pioneer of applying environmental enrichment to laboratory testing. "Many investigators have come to realize that animals raised without sufficient stimulation do not develop full growth of brain or full behavioral capacities." ©2003, The Scientist Inc.

Keyword: Animal Rights
Link ID: 3775 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The gene could bring treatments closer Scientists may have found a genetic mutation which may help unravel why people get the devastating condition motor neurone disease (MND). While experts know that some cases of motor neurone are hereditary, they are hopeful that their finding could offer some explanation to thousands more patients. However, a new treatment or a cure for the condition is still a long way off, they concede. There are approximately 5,000 Motor Neurone Disease patients in the UK. The illness appears often in middle age and the symptoms involve a progressively spreading muscle weakness. While there is a treatment that can slow this process in some patients, there is no cure and the disease is always fatal. (C) BBC

Keyword: ALS-Lou Gehrig's Disease
Link ID: 3774 - Posted: 05.04.2003

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition Tigers appear to rely on booming low-frequency sounds - much of it inaudible to humans - to drive rivals away from their territory and to attract mates. The discovery may explain how the animals maintain large hunting territories, and may also help conservationists to protect the endangered animals. Tigers produce a wide variety of sounds, from deep roars and growls to the raspberry-like "chuffing" they use to greet each other. A roar followed by a growl is probably designed to intimidate rivals. Tiger watchers have long suspected that the animals' vocal repertoire helps them maintain their hunting grounds. Now Ed Walsh and his colleagues at the Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, have found that a common feature of all the tiger calls is the large amount of acoustic energy at low frequencies. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Hearing; Aggression
Link ID: 3773 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Even Humorous Violent Songs Increase Hostile Feelings WASHINGTON - Songs with violent lyrics increase aggression related thoughts and emotions and this effect is directly related to the violence in the lyrics, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association (APA). The findings, appearing in the May issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, contradicts popular notions of positive catharsis or venting effects of listening to angry, violent music on violent thoughts and feelings. In a series of five experiments involving over 500 college students, researchers from Iowa State University and the Texas Department of Human Services examined the effects of seven violent songs by seven artists and eight nonviolent songs by seven artists. The students listened to the songs and were given various psychological tasks to measure aggressive thoughts and feelings. One such task involved participants classifying words that can have both aggressive and nonaggressive meanings, such as rock and stick. © 2003 American Psychological Association

Keyword: Aggression
Link ID: 3772 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BALTIMORE, — Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing who said God called her to her work, suffered from a bipolar disorder, a mental health expert said today. "Florence heard voices and experienced a number of severe depressive episodes in her teens and early 20's, symptoms consistent with the onset of bipolar disorder," said Dr. Kathy Wisner, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Nightingale was the subject of a conference today at the University of Maryland School of Medicine that discussed Dr. Wisner's theory. The annual conference has diagnosed the ills of historic figures since 1995. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 3771 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By BRUCE GRIERSON A trip to the diet doc, circa 2013. You prick your finger, draw a little blood and send it, along with a $100 fee, to a consumer genomics lab in California. There, it's passed through a mass spectrometer, where its proteins are analyzed. It is cross-referenced with your DNA profile. A few days later, you get an e-mail message with your recommended diet for the next four weeks. It doesn't look too bad: lots of salmon, spinach, selenium supplements, bread with olive oil. Unsure of just how lucky you ought to feel, you call up a few friends to see what their diets look like. There are plenty of quirks. A Greek co-worker is getting clams, crab, liver and tofu -- a bounty of B vitamins to raise her coenzyme levels. A friend in Chicago, a second-generation Zambian, has been prescribed popcorn, kale, peaches in their own juice and club soda. (This looks a lot like the hypertension-reducing ''Dash'' diet, which doesn't work for everyone but apparently works for him.) He is allowed some chicken, prepared in a saltless marinade, hold the open flame -- and he gets extra vitamin D because there's not enough sunshine for him at his latitude. (His brother's diet, interestingly enough, is a fair bit different.) Your boss, who seems to have won some sort of genetic lottery, gets to eat plenty of peanut butter, red meat and boutique cheeses. Nobody is eating exactly what you are. Your diet is uniquely tailored. It is determined by the specific demands of your genetic signature, and it perfectly balances your micronutrient and macronutrient needs. Sick days have become a foggy memory. (Foggy memory itself is now treated with extracts of ginkgo biloba and a cocktail of omega-3 fatty acids.) ''Ultimately, the feedback you'll get will be continuous,'' says Wasyl Malyj, an ''informatics'' scientist at the University of California at Davis working with the new Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics, who is helping me blue-sky here. The appeal of this kind of laser-targeted diet intervention is hard to miss. If you turn out to be among the population whose cholesterol count doesn't react much to diet, you'll be able to go ahead and eat those bacon sandwiches. You'll no longer be spending money on vitamin supplements that aren't doing anything for you; you'll take only the vitamins you need, in precisely the right doses. And there's a real chance of extending your life -- by postponing the onset of diseases to which you're naturally susceptible -- without having to buy even a single book by Deepak Chopra. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Obesity; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 3770 - Posted: 05.04.2003

-- Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that a gene called Prox1 turns on and off at two different times during the embryonic retina development. This discovery offers important evidence of how such a complex tissue can grow from populations of cells that initially have no special function. The finding is important because it demonstrates that this single gene can perform two different functions during the embryonic retina development, according to Michael Dyer, Ph.D., an assistant member of the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology. Dyer is the lead author of a report on this work that appears in the May issue of Nature Genetics. "The critical role we found for Prox1 in the retina supports a growing body of evidence we've been accumulating in the past few years indicating that Prox1 is a key player in orchestrating the proper development of the entire embryo," said Guillermo Oliver, Ph.D., an associate member of the St. Jude Department of Genetics and co-author of the paper. Copyright © 1992-2003 Bio Online, Inc.

Keyword: Vision; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 3769 - Posted: 06.24.2010