By Lauran Neergaard Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Dr. Demetrius Lopes snaked a thin wire with a tiny magnet on its tip into an artery in Paul Kelsey's groin and threaded it all the way up into his brain. Aided by a helmet-shaped magnet hung over Kelsey's head, Lopes guided the wire through twists and turns deep in the brain, finally reaching swollen blood vessels that were giving the Chicago man double vision. A few squirts of glue to seal off the excess blood flow, and Lopes pulled the wires back out - surgery done. Normally, curing Kelsey's disorder would require operating through a hole drilled in his skull. But doctors now are creating ways to fix brains from the inside, no drilling required. And using magnets as a guide, while still highly experimental, could let them go into deeper, trickier areas than ever imagined to treat aneurysms, strokes and other serious brain ailments. All contents © 1996 - 2003 The Augusta Chronicle.

Keyword: Brain imaging; Stroke
Link ID: 3285 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Bethesda, Maryland — The Fogarty International Center (FIC) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces a new research program to support international collaborations to study brain disorders in developing countries. FIC, with nine NIH partners*, the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and Mexico's Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), has issued a Request for Applications (RFA) for the first phase of a new program, Brain Disorders in the Developing World: Research Across the Lifespan. For the first time, FIC is joining with the major biomedical research agencies of both its North American neighbors, Canada and Mexico. The current combined financial commitment from FIC and its partners for the first phase of the program is approximately $4 million to support up to 20 two-year planning grants, subject to availability of funds. This new program grew out of the recognition of the enormous global burden of disease posed by mental illness and brain disorders, and the increase expected in this burden over the next two decades. In the design phase, FIC convened a consultation of experts, led by Nobel Laureate Torsten Wiesel, to discuss challenges and opportunities for scientific advances in this field. Areas considered, that are now integral to the program, included research, research capacity building and training.

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 3284 - Posted: 06.24.2010

LEFT SIDE LABELING THE "WHAT", RIGHT SIDE PROCESSING THE "HOW" WASHINGTON - Both sides of the brain play a role in processing emotional communication, with the right side stepping in when we focus not on the "what" of an emotional message but rather on how it feels. By studying blood flow velocity to each side of the brain, Belgian psychologists have opened a window onto the richness and complexity of human emotional communication. Their research appears in the January 2003 issue of Neuropsychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA). At Ghent University, Guy Vingerhoets, Ph.D., Celine Berckmoes, M.S., and Nathalie Stroobant, M.S., knew that the left brain is dominant for language, and the right brain is dominant for emotion. But what happens when the brain is faced with emotional language? To find out, the researchers used Transcranial Doppler Ultrasonography (ultrasound), an inexpensive, non-invasive and patient-friendly way to measure blood-flow velocity in the brain's left and right middle cerebral arteries -- an indicator of activity level because neurons, to work, need blood-borne glucose and oxygen.

Keyword: Emotions; Laterality
Link ID: 3283 - Posted: 01.11.2003

NewScientist.com news service A British teenager dying from vCJD, the human form of mad cow disease, is to become the first person to be treated with an experimental drug that doctors hope could slow the disease's progression. The drug, pentosan polysulphate, is a commonly used oral remedy for cystitis and bladder pain. However, it will not cross the blood-brain barrier and will therefore be injected directly into the 18-year-old's brain. A tube was inserted on Friday and the first dose will be delivered on Monday. However, the location of the hospital and the names of the surgical team cannot be named for legal reasons. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Prions
Link ID: 3282 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News — There is a "critical period" for learning a second language, according to a study by German and Italian scientists. The research, published in the journal Neuron, confirms the common assumption that childhood is the best time to learn language. "The younger, the better. In our investigation, functional magnetic resonance imaging has shown that our brain seems to have the need for additional resources when a language is learned late. This doesn't happen when a language is acquired since birth or at a very early stage," co-author Stefano Cappa, head of the psychology faculty at the San Raffaele Vita-Salute University in Milan, told Discovery News. Copyright © 2002 Discovery Communications Inc.

Keyword: Language; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 3281 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition Adding a virtual brain to a computer model of a singing bird has allowed scientists to figure out how birds compose their songs. The feat hints that we might one day be able to map some of the complex circuitry in an animal's brain just by listening to its calls. When birds sing, they force air from their lungs past folds of tissue in the voice box. Just over a year ago, scientists at Rockefeller University in New York and the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina reported that they had developed a simple computer model that mimics this process to produce sound. By simulating changes in the tension of the vocal folds and in the air pressure from the lungs, the model reproduced the song of a canary (New Scientist print edition, 10 November 2001). © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Animal Communication; Language
Link ID: 3280 - Posted: 06.24.2010

St. Louis, – Investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have demonstrated that a particular protein is important for the eye's pupil to respond to light. The discovery may help scientists learn more about the eye's role in non-visual functions such as the synchronization of the body's internal, circadian clock. The team was led by Russell N. Van Gelder, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences and of molecular biology and pharmacology. Reporting in the Jan. 10 issue of the journal Science, the researchers say that mice that lack the two main types of photoreceptor cells in the retina -- rods and cones -- as well as proteins in the retina called cryptochromes, lose about 99 percent of their sensitivity to light. "In the past, it was assumed that the eye functioned pretty much like an old-style camera," says Van Gelder.

Keyword: Vision; Biological Rhythms
Link ID: 3279 - Posted: 06.24.2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Trimming the waistline may not be the only reason to cut calories after the New Year: Doing so also may protect the brain from aging. In the first study to look specifically at the effects of life-long calorie-restricted diets on brain cells, University of Florida researchers determined certain proteins linked to cell death that naturally increase with age were significantly reduced in the brains of rats whose calories were limited. More important, they found the levels of a beneficial protein known to provide potent protection against neuron death were twice as high in older rats whose calories were restricted by 40 percent.

Keyword: Apoptosis; Obesity
Link ID: 3278 - Posted: 01.10.2003

Substance in spit could help dissolve blood clots ASSOCIATED PRESS DALLAS, Jan. 9 — A substance in the saliva of vampire bats could prove to be a potent new treatment for strokes, an Australian scientist says. “WHEN THE vampire bat bites its victim, it secretes this powerful clot-dissolving substance so that the victim’s blood will keep flowing, allowing the bat to feed,” said Dr. Robert Medcalf of the Monash University Department of Medicine at Box Hill Hospital in Victoria, Australia. That same substance — Desmodus rotundus salivary plasminogen activator, or DSPA — might someday be given to stroke victims to dissolve clots and thereby limit brain damage, he said. The substance has yet to be tested for effectiveness and safety in humans, but it showed promise in preliminary experiments in mice. The findings were reported in Thursday’s issue of the journal Stroke, published by the American Heart Association. The research involves ischemic strokes, which are the most common kind of stroke and occur when a blood clot or narrowing of blood vessels prevents blood from getting to the brain. The other type of stroke is a hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel bursts and causes bleeding in the brain. Some ischemic stroke victims are given a clot-busting substance called tissue plasminogen activator, or TPA. But one major drawback of TPA is that it must be administered within three hours of the stroke’s onset, or else the drug itself can cause bleeding and brain damage. © 2003 MSNBC

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 3277 - Posted: 06.24.2010

— Researchers are reporting progress in understanding whether a second light-sensing pathway in mammals indeed contributes to the detection of ambient light for controlling body functions. In an article published in the January 10, 2003, issue of the journal Science , the researchers report that the molecule melanopsin is necessary in order for the pupil to constrict properly in response to light, a function termed the pupillary light reflex. The latest findings by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator King-Wai Yau at Johns Hopkins University and his colleagues from Imperial College in London and Brown University build on studies they published last year in which they traced the neural circuitry for this newly discovered light-sensing pathway that is distinct from the primary visual pathway. ©2003 Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 3276 - Posted: 06.24.2010

DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- In response to a lawsuit filed by environmental groups, a federal judge blocked scientists from studying the impact of a newly developed form of sonar on migrating gray whales. Environmentalists say the high-frequency sonar could disorient whales and separate calves from their mothers during their migration. The testing by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution of Falmouth, Mass., and Scientific Solutions Inc. of Nashua, N.H., was set to begin Wednesday a mile off the central California coast near San Luis Obispo during the whales' southward migratory season. ©2003 Associated Press

Keyword: Hearing; Animal Migration
Link ID: 3275 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS WASHINGTON, — Two former government scientists who spent years investigating stress in dolphin populations charged this week that superiors at their federally financed laboratory shut down their research because it clashed with policy goals of the Clinton and Bush administrations. The scientists, who worked at different times over the past decade at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in San Diego, said their research indicated that the practice of chasing and encircling dolphins to catch tuna exposed the dolphins to dangerous amounts of stress. The accusations, by Dr. Albert Myrick, a wildlife biologist, and Dr. Sarka Southern, a research associate, came days after the Bush administration relaxed the criteria for declaring tuna netted by Mexican and other foreign fishing boats to be "dolphin safe." In making that declaration last week, Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans said that chasing and corralling dolphins and the tuna that often accompany them into purse nets had "no significant adverse impact" on the dolphins. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Stress
Link ID: 3274 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The feeling of being drunk is partly in the mind, say psychologists. A person's memory is impaired if they believe they are drinking alcohol even when it is really water, a study has found. Researchers at Victoria University in New Zealand tricked 148 students into believing they were drinking vodka to study the so-called placebo effect. The undergraduates were given drinks in a room set up like a pub with bartenders, vodka bottles and glasses. Half were told they were drinking vodka and half tonic water. In reality, they were all given plain water with limes. Afterwards, the students were shown slides of a crime and were asked to assess a story spiked with misleading information. (C) BBC

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 3273 - Posted: 01.08.2003

Genes could predict which men will get a beer belly Scientists have found that men with a certain gene variation have a tendency to get a flabby stomach. Understanding genetic predisposition to weight gain is an essential step in arresting the stigma that obesity is always an individual's fault The men were more likely to become overweight and to put on fat around their abdomen. Experts say other factors - such as diet and exercise - also play a role in obesity. It appears, however, that some men may be genetically programmed to get a beer belly as they get older if they lead an unhealthy lifestyle. The culprit seems to be a substance called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) which helps regulate blood pressure in the body. (C) BBC

Keyword: Obesity; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 3272 - Posted: 01.08.2003

By ERICA GOODE Awake, Jim Smith was an amiable and popular man. As the director of public works in the small town of Osseo, Minn., he could be counted on to make house calls day or night, attending to burst pipes or broken water mains. In fall, he hunted deer with buddies, who affectionately called him Smitty. In summer, he took his family pan fishing for crappie. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sleep; Aggression
Link ID: 3271 - Posted: 01.08.2003

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — The chimpanzees at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center were acting up. Jessie, a pink-faced 20-year-old, slapped her ample belly and hooted wildly from behind a steel gate. Dover, a mischievous 4-year-old, spied an unfamiliar human and served up his standard greeting for strangers, a fistful of feces, pitched with remarkable accuracy. Jessie and Dover do not really have to be at Yerkes, but there is nowhere else for them to go. Bred for biomedical research, they are now unemployed, a result of a vast surplus of laboratory chimpanzees. They pass their days in small steel-and-concrete enclosures, playing with burlap bags and shredding old telephone books for entertainment. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 3270 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By CLAUDIA DREIFUS DURHAM, N.C. — At Duke University here, Dr. Erich D. Jarvis, 37, is recognized for his groundbreaking research on the brain systems of birds. This year, he won the Alan T. Waterman Award, the National Science Foundation's $500,000 prize for young researchers. Dr. Jarvis's own life story is also widely known. He grew up in Harlem in a family riven by poverty and divorce. His father, a musician and amateur scientist, eventually succumbed to drugs, mental illness and homelessness and was killed in 1989. Still, Erich Jarvis graduated from Hunter College and went on to the Rockefeller University, where he earned his doctorate in 1995. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 3269 - Posted: 06.24.2010

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The biological clock – timekeeper for virtually every activity within living things, from sleep patterns to respiration – is a single protein, Purdue University researchers report. The husband and wife team of D. James and Dorothy Morré has discovered this protein, which is responsible for setting the length of periods of activity and inactivity within cells. If the protein is altered, an organism's body will experience "days" of different length – ranging from 22 to 42 hours in length in some cases. The discovery could have far-reaching implications for medicine. "We can now begin to understand the complex chain of events that connect the clock to events in the body," said James Morré ;, Dow Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in Purdue's School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences. "Since the clock affects nearly every bodily activity, this discovery holds myriad potential applications, from minimizing jet lag to determining when best to administer cancer drugs."

Keyword: Biological Rhythms; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 3268 - Posted: 06.24.2010

CLAREMONT, Calif., (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) -- Pomona College Professors Richard Lewis and Nicole Weekes have received a $408,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study the relationship between psychological stress and memory. Specifically, they are examining stress-induced differences and changes that affect the level of electrical activity in various areas of the brain. "The implications of this research are straightforward," notes Lewis. "Chronic stress can lead to cognitive dysfunction, a fact that has been studied before, but never mapped out so precisely." According to Weekes, that "the more we understand the effects of psychological stress on the brain and on the body, the more seriously we will take attempts to lower that stress." What she finds fascinating is "the bi-directional relationship between the psychological and the biological, how something as psychologically prevalent as one's sense of stress causes changes in the brain, which lead to other biological changes that ultimately affect psychological functions such as memory." (C)1999-2003 Ascribe News

Keyword: Stress; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 3267 - Posted: 01.08.2003

A class of drugs known as cholinesterase inhibitors has a significant impact on behavioral problems and the ability to perform everyday tasks in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) and UCSF. The study, an analysis of data from multiple small studies, appears in the January 8, 2003 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Known as a meta-analysis, the study applied sophisticated statistical methods to data from 29 trials that involved the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with cholinesterase inhibitors (ChIs). People with AD can suffer cognitive, behavioral or functional difficulties. ChIs have been previously shown to effectively treat cognitive difficulties such as memory loss, disorientation and loss of language skills, said Kristine Yaffe, MD, Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry at the SFVAMC and UCSF assistant professor of psychiatry, neurology and epidemiology and biostatistics.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 3266 - Posted: 06.24.2010