Neurologists at Emory University are studying a possible new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease using a device called the COGNIShunt, designed to drain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the skull and into the abdominal cavity. By reducing the build-up of CSF around the brain, doctors hope this device will help to stabilize the disease. CSF is the fluid that fills the empty spaces around the brain and spinal cord. The body naturally produces, absorbs, drains and replenishes the fluid. But with age, the replenishing process slows. "Past research shows that toxic and inflammatory substances are found in the cerebrospinal fluid of Alzheimer’s patients, which in turn, may lead to brain cell damage," says Allan Levey, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology, Emory University School of Medicine and principal investigator of the Emory study. "We hope the COGNIShunt will help to drain off some of those toxins and allow the CSF to better replenish itself." Shunting has long been used as treatment for hydrocephalus, a condition in which an abnormal accumulation of CSF causes neurological problems, including dementia, problems walking and incontinence

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 1738 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Paul Eng [ABCNEWS.com] — Tired of monkeying around with a mouse in order to work with your computer? The good news: One day, you may be able to control your PC just by thinking. Researchers have pursued such futuristic man-to-machine connections for years in the hopes they could allow paralyzed people to more easily control computers or other complex devices such as artificial limbs. And scientists at Brown University in Providence, R.I., say the results of their latest research, to be published in this week's Nature journal, may help bring such possibilities closer to reality. Copyright © 2002 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures.

Keyword: Robotics
Link ID: 1737 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By ELAINE PORTERFIELD SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER LAKEWOOD -- Charan Bird has lived two lives. Her first was a world of delusions and paranoia, psychiatric hospitalizations and homelessness. In her new life, she is independent, works productively, worships God at her church. It is a life that many never thought possible for schizophrenics such as Bird. ©1999-2002 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Keyword: Schizophrenia
Link ID: 1736 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Transcript: Loveline's Dr. Drew Pinsky on 'Club Drugs' Dr. Drew Pinsky As co-host of the nationally-syndicated radio show Loveline, Dr. Drew Pinsky — better known to listeners as "Dr. Drew" — offers teens and twenty-somethings advice on sex and relationships. He has also spent much of professional career getting the word out to young people about the dangers of drug abuse. There's a new crop of drugs available to kids in the nation's schools and college campuses that parents may not be aware of — the so-called "club drugs" like Ecstasy, GHB and "Special K." What are the long-term medical effects of Ecstasy and the other club drugs on the brain? Pinksy answered questions from Good Morning America viewers in live, online discussion. A transcript of our chat follows. Pinsky is a specialist in addiction treatment and medical director of the Department of Chemical Dependency Services at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, Calif. Copyright © 2002 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 1735 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition A single glass of wine will impair your driving more than smoking a joint. And under certain test conditions, the complex way alcohol and cannabis combine to affect driving behaviour suggests that someone who has taken both may drive less recklessly than a person who is simply drunk. These are the findings of a major new study by British transport researchers. The unpublished research, seen exclusively by New Scientist , stops well short of condoning driving under the influence of even small amounts of cannabis. But in a week which has seen renewed debate in Britain surrounding the criminalisation of cannabis, it throws an uncomfortable spotlight on a problem confronting governments everywhere - how to deter the growing numbers of cannabis users from "dope driving". At present there is no accurate test that can reveal whether a driver has taken cannabis before driving, and developing one will not be easy. But even when this problem is cracked, another will remain - where to set the safety threshold for smoking cannabis. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 1733 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition A light tap on the side of your head could one day restore your eyesight, believe scientists. The tap would tighten a band of artificial muscle wrapped round your eyeballs, changing their shape and bringing blurry images into focus. While the idea has a high 'yuk' factor, the people behind it are confident it will be a safe and effective way to improve vision. Mohsen Shahinpoor and his team at the University of New Mexico call their artificial muscle a "smart eye band". It will be stitched to the sclera, the tough white outer part of the eyeball, and activated by an electromagnet in a hearing-aid-sized unit fitted behind one ear. Most of the eye's focusing is done by the cornea, the hard transparent surface that covers both the pupil and the iris; the lens is responsible only for fine-tuning. Light travels through the cornea and lens to focus on the retina at the back of the eyeball. The closer an object is, the farther back in the eye it will be focused. The lens compensates by adjusting its strength to bring the focus back onto the retina. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 1732 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition A therapy for tinnitus, the infuriating ringing in the ears that plagues millions of people, is finally on the cards. Simply learning to tell the difference between computer generated tones could help relieve the debilitating condition. A small pilot study of the technique by German researchers has proved so promising that a full-scale clinical trial has already been launched. Tinnitus sufferers hear buzzing or ringing sounds that cannot be blocked out. The condition affects most people at some point in their lives, but in five per cent of the population it becomes chronic and debilitating. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Hearing
Link ID: 1731 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By EDWARD WONG A 13-year-old girl who died on Monday night, two days after being hit in the forehead with a puck at an N.H.L. game in Columbus, Ohio, sustained a rare injury in which an artery leading to her brain ruptured when her head snapped back, a coroner said yesterday. The death raised issues about the safety measures in arenas, and Bernadette Mansur, a spokeswoman for the National Hockey League, said that officials were "taking a look at everything as we now do it." The girl, Brittanie Cecil, was hit by a puck after a Columbus Blue Jackets player took a slap shot in the second period of a game on Saturday night against the Calgary Flames. Brittanie was the first person to be killed after being hit by a flying puck at an N.H.L. game. "She died as a result of damage to the right vertebral artery," Bradley Lewis, the Franklin County coroner, said yesterday. "When she was hit with the puck, her head snapped back in a type of whiplash action and caused damage to her artery. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 1730 - Posted: 03.21.2002

Playing catch looks easy, but there's more to it than meets the eye. A ball-catching experiment in space has revealed that human brains have a built-in model of gravity. [NASA] Playing catch is easy. Kids and even their parents can do it. Keep your eyes on the ball and -- if you don't think too hard -- your hand will grab it in mid-air. It's simple, really. Or is it? In fact, playing catch is more complicated than it appears. Just before the ball arrives, your hand twists slightly. The muscles tense, so your hand isn't knocked away by the force of the blow. The timing is surprisingly exact: the muscles tighten exactly one-tenth of a second before the ball's impact.

Keyword: Movement Disorders
Link ID: 1729 - Posted: 03.21.2002

Ethiopian fossil suggests early humans were one big family. TOM CLARKE A one-million-year-old skull unearthed in Ethiopia hints that our long-extinct cousins Homo erectus were a varied and widespread bunch, much like today's humans. The find may undermine previous claims that H. erectus was in fact made up of two different species. Homo erectus , which means 'upright man', appeared about 1.8 million years ago. Because of its posture and large brain, it is regarded as the first fully human group. H. erectus left Africa and spread throughout Eurasia from eastern China, possibly reaching as far as southern England. Bony-browed and thick-jawed, H. erectus wielded primitive stone tools and may have been the first creature to make and use fire. * Asfaw, B. et al. Pleistocene hominids from Bouri Ethiopia integrate Homo erectus. Nature, 416, 317 - 320, (2002). © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 1728 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN, M.D. When the first jet hit the north tower of World Trade Center on Sept. 11, my patient Alan was in his office on the 81st floor of the south tower. He remembers the blue sky turning white with a rain of paper and debris. And within minutes, the sight of people jumping to their deaths was burned into his memory. Alan is a chronic worrier, always tense and anxious. So he was not reassured when he heard the announcement that his tower was safe and that he should stay put. Instinctively, he fled, running down all 81 flights of stairs. What had been a lifelong liability, his generalized anxiety disorder, had clearly saved his life that morning. His worrying finally paid off. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Stress; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 1727 - Posted: 03.20.2002

Flamingoes' reflections could help them breed. JOHN WHITFIELD A UK zoo is hoping that mirrors will put its flamingos in a breeding mood, by creating the illusion of company. The lesser flamingos at Flamingo Park, on the Isle of Wight in Hampshire, have laid eggs before. But the birds were dysfunctional parents. "We watched in horror as they tossed the eggs out of nests, played football with them with their beaks and smashed them," says the park's spokesperson Lorraine Adams. At home on the salt lakes of Africa, the lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor ) lives in flocks of thousands. Flamingo Park has just 34 birds. This isolation may be the cause of their odd behaviour. "They're very fragile, timid birds," says Adams. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 1726 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The more times an adolescent sees movie characters smoke, the more receptive that child is to the idea of taking up smoking, new research reveals. "Movies are a powerful socializing force for contemporary adolescents, shaping views of what is 'cool,' attractive and grown-up," notes lead author James D. Sargent, M.D., of Dartmouth Medical School. With increasing restrictions on public tobacco use, movies have become "a key way that adolescents learn about the stylistic elements and social context of tobacco use," he adds. Previous studies have demonstrated that the adolescents who most frequently view smoking in movies tend to be the heaviest tobacco users. However, this association does not indicate which comes first, the viewing or the smoking.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 1725 - Posted: 03.20.2002

Researchers conclude men are more attracted to women wearing pheromones, resulting in more formal dates, kissing, affection, sexual intercourse SAN FRANCISCO, — Women’s perfume laced with synthetic pheromones acts as a sexual magnet and increases the sexual attractiveness of women to men, San Francisco State University researchers conclude in a study appearing in the current issue of the quarterly journal Physiology and Behavior. The study, the first of its kind to independently test a sex attractant pheromone for women, showed that of the 36 women tested, 74 percent of those wearing their regular perfume with the pheromone saw an overall increase in three or more of the following sociosexual behaviors: frequency of kissing, heavy petting and affection, sexual intercourse, sleeping next to their partner, and formal dates with men. In contrast, only 23 percent of the women who had a placebo added to their perfume saw an increase in these sociosexual behaviors. Researchers conclude from these data that the pheromone users were more sexually attractive to men.

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste); Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 1724 - Posted: 06.24.2010

by Simon Crompton A BRAIN haemorrhage is bleeding in the brain. It occurs when one or more of the vessels that supply blood to the brain’s tissues is broken, leaks or bursts. This is serious because brain tissue is delicate, and any increased pressure caused by the release of blood or the formation of clots can cause devastating damage. Brain haemorrhages hit about 17,000 people in the UK every year. They strike both young and old and there are three main causes: First, a head injury or the sort of head blows taken by boxers can cause the vessels to break. Secondly, bleeding can occur spontaneously if the blood vessels in the brain were malformed at birth, or an inherent weakness causes the vessel to balloon (an aneurysm). This is why brain haemorrhages can affect very young people. Premature babies are susceptible to bleeding because their vessels are underdeveloped. The third common cause of brain haemorrhage is high blood pressure. This weakens the arteries in the brain and can cause them to bulge and burst. This cause is more likely to affect older people. Other less common causes are brain tumours, degenerative diseases and blood-clotting abnormalities. Copyright 2002 Times Newspapers Ltd.

Keyword: Stroke; Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 1722 - Posted: 06.24.2010

BY IAN KARLEFF TORONTO - (Reuters) - Drugs used to treat schizophrenia and depression linger in the brain long after they have left the bloodstream, so brain scans might be a better way than blood analysis to judge the correct dose, leading Canadian researchers said on Tuesday. The research, published in the most recent issue of the British journal Molecular Psychiatry, could lead to smarter prescriptions for patients who are notoriously forgetful at taking their much-needed medications. ``You cannot rely on blood levels to give you a complete time course picture of what is happening in the brain,'' said Dr. Shitij Kapur, head of schizophrenia research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, and one of the lead researchers on the study.

Keyword: Depression; Schizophrenia
Link ID: 1721 - Posted: 03.20.2002

by Justine Hancock As many as one person in 30 experiences a form of vertigo, due to an inner ear problem Most of us think of vertigo as the sweating fear that some people experience at a height. Like fear of flying, it is often seen as a psychological problem — and because it doesn’t cause direct physical harm, many people who suffer from fear of heights simply avoid them. However, to the medical professional, height vertigo, as it is known, may also suggest a balance problem. We use our eyes to help us balance (shut them while you’re standing and notice how your body sways), but some people use vision more than others. Because the visual references are in the distance at a height, their bodies sway more than normal, which makes them unsteady and can lead to anxiety. Copyright 2002 Times Newspapers Ltd.

Keyword: Hearing
Link ID: 1720 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Neural stem cells are a ready supply of new parts for the constant wiring and rewiring of the brain's circuitry as this complex organ responds to environmental stimuli so that we can learn new skills, interpret new data and rethink old ideas. But if those cells can't migrate to the right place and morph into the right kinds of neural links, our cognitive and psychological functions fail. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have found that a protein called reelin, whose function in the adult brain has long been a mystery, is responsible for directing the migration of neural stem cells to the appropriate location in the brain as it adapts to new information. The results of the study are published in the March 19 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Keyword: Stem Cells; Schizophrenia
Link ID: 1718 - Posted: 03.19.2002

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A new study found that Siberian hamsters boost their immune function during the winter in order to help them cope with the seasonal stresses of cold weather and limited food. Researchers at Ohio State University and their colleagues found that the hamsters had higher levels of certain immune cells in their bloodstream during the short days of winter. In addition, during acute stress, hamsters kept in winter-like conditions launched a more vigorous immune response in preparation for potential injury or infection. Hamsters take a cue from the decreasing length of days as winter approaches as a signal to boost their immune function, according to the study, which will be published in the March 19 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Keyword: Neuroimmunology; Biological Rhythms
Link ID: 1717 - Posted: 03.19.2002

— Scientists have found that a protein resembling snake venom neurotoxin modulates the sensitivity of specific receptors in the brain that are targets of nicotine, the primary addictive drug in tobacco. The researchers say that the protein, lynx1, may be a new tool with which to probe how nicotine and other drugs activate “pleasure centers” of the brain. Although studies of lynx1 and other members of this intriguing “prototoxin” protein family are still in the early stages, the researchers say they may help in understanding nicotine addiction or possibly human genetic diseases caused by defective prototoxins. Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigatorNathaniel Heintz and his colleagues Inés Ibañez-Tallon and Julie Miwa at The Rockefeller University and colleagues at The Mayo Foundation and Columbia University reported in the March 14, 2002, issue of the journal Neuron that lynx1 is an interesting new modulator of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. ©2002 Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 1716 - Posted: 06.24.2010