Copyright © 2002 AP Online By PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer WASHINGTON - A band of chimpanzees in West Africa routinely swing crude stone hammers to crack open nuts, a sophisticated use of tools the apes have been teaching to each new generation for more than a century. Using carefully selected stones weighing up to 33 pounds, the chimps pound the tough shell of the panda nut to extract a high-energy kernel that is an important part of the animal's diet, researchers report Friday in the journal Science. "It is a very skillful behavior that takes up to seven years for them to learn," said Melissa Panger, a George Washington University researcher and co-author of the study. "It looks easy, but if you sit down and try it is a very difficult task." Copyright © 2001 Nando Media

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 2121 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Anti-depressants being used for a number of disorders THURSDAY, (HealthScoutNews) -- Women who suffer from a particularly severe form of PMS now have another prescription drug available to them -- the well-known anti-depressant Zoloft. Zoloft (sertraline hydrochloride) joins another popular prescription mood-elevator, Prozac (fluoxetine), as U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs to treat a number of conditions. These include depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a condition that can be particularly damaging to some women. Zoloft and Prozac specifically have been approved to treat a more severe form of PMS known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Copyright © 2002 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior; Depression
Link ID: 2120 - Posted: 06.24.2010

An altered mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, developed to have high levels of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), has shown increases in muscle mass of at least 40 percent and other changes that could herald a possible treatment for secondary symptoms of the disease in humans. The new mouse, developed with support from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and the Muscular Dystrophy Association, has also resulted in reduced amounts of muscle-replacing fibrous tissue and enhanced biological pathways associated with muscle regeneration. Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic muscle-wasting disease caused by mutations in the gene for the protein dystrophin, results in repeated cycles of muscle damage and insufficient muscle regeneration, leading to gradual replacement of muscle by fibrous tissue. Since IGF-I is known to help regenerate muscle and enhance biological pathways for making proteins, the University of Pennsylvania's H. Lee Sweeney, M.D., and his colleagues tested its effects by creating a new mouse model – a cross between a strain with muscular dystrophy symptoms and another with high levels of IGF-I. The hybrid mouse showed not only increases in muscle mass and muscle force generation, but also reduced muscle cell death, a combination that could have significant treatment implications.

Keyword: Movement Disorders; Muscles
Link ID: 2119 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By DENISE GRADY Scientists say they may have found out why people get hungry at mealtime, why dieters who lose weight often gain it back and why a certain type of stomach surgery helps severely obese people lose a great deal of weight. The reason may be a hormone called ghrelin, which makes people hungry, slows metabolism and decreases the body's ability to burn fat. Ghrelin levels in the blood spike before meals and drop afterward. People given ghrelin injections feel voraciously hungry, and, turned loose at a buffet, eat 30 percent more than they normally would, studies have shown. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Obesity; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 2118 - Posted: 05.23.2002

Women are likely to experience a dramatic loss of sexual function as a consequence of menopause, an Australian university study has concluded. Women approaching menopause, however, can relax as the study, one of the first to accurately document what happens to a woman's sexual functioning during menopause, also identified factors that help protect against this sexual dysfunction. The findings are part of the University of Melbourne's Women's Midlife Health Project being conducted by the University's Office for Gender and Health that has been following a large group of Melbourne women for over ten years.

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior; Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 2117 - Posted: 05.23.2002

By Hannah Cleaver and David Derbyshire A girl of seven who had half her brain removed, including its speech centre, has astonished doctors by becoming fluent in two languages. Her doctor said her recovery highlighted the flexibility of the brain, even after the most traumatic surgery. Busra was diagnosed with Rasmussen syndrome, a rare, progressive disorder that affects just one side of the brain, at the age of three. © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2002. Terms & Conditions of reading.

Keyword: Language; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 2116 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By: Tim Irr, WSAZ NewsChannel 3 HUNTINGTON, WV, May 22 - Can we use brain power to help our bodies heal? New research suggests the best medicine may not come in a pill. A recent study on the some of the most commonly prescribed anti-depressants shows placebos, which are basically sugar pills made to look like the real thing, work like the real thing. But, how is that possible? We talk with local psychiatrists who do believe in the so-called placebo effect, but they're not about to throw away their prescription pads. "I struggled with the depression for several months. I mean really serious depression. I was hospitalized in River Park for nine days." Deanna Syrus is a firm believer in the anti-depressant prescription Zoloft. She is one of the 14 million Americans who each year suffer from depression. Deanna says the medication helped save her life. "I mean I was at the end of my rope. My family was pretty sure that if I had not been treated, I would not be here." MSNBC Terms, Conditions and Privacy © 2002

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 2115 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Study suggests why it’s so hard for us to resist junk food By Maggie Fox [Reuters] — The very sight of food causes the brain to react with pleasure, scientists said on Wednesday in a report they say shows why so many people can’t resist temptation when it comes to food. THE REACTION looks very different from the way the brain lights up when people actually eat — and explains the phenomenal success of advertisements for junk food and snacks, the team at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory found. “This shows us why all the advertisements about food are so powerful and why we are having problems with obesity in this country — because we are constantly being bombarded with food stimuli,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, a psychiatrist who led the study. © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 2114 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Lidia Wasowicz Researchers have identified a tiny time teller in the brain's central clock that ticks off signals to let the body know when it should be eating, sleeping and performing other critical functions. The finding of the missing messenger molecule may lead to treatments for jet lag, shift-work syndrome, sleep and eating disorders, seasonal depression and other diseases affected by circadian or daily rhythms, the University of California at Irvine scientists said. An account of their discovery -- the first of a biological mechanism that regulates night and day cycles -- will be published Thursday in the British journal Nature. Copyright © 2002 United Press International. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Biological Rhythms
Link ID: 2113 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Married men who spend time with their wives and kids have lower testosterone levels than bachelors. The discovery suggests that having less of the hormone could play a part in encouraging men to devote their energies to the family rather than looking for another partner. In male birds from monogamous species, testosterone levels fall after they form a pair and start taking care of their young. Artificially raising levels of testosterone is known to cause the males to play the field at the expense of parenting. This suggests that testosterone boosts competition for mates while lower levels encourage fatherly conduct. So anthropologist Peter Gray and a team from Harvard University decided to see whether the same happens in men. They measured testosterone in the saliva of 58 men who were either single, married or married with children. In all the men hormone levels fell over the course of the day as part of a natural daily cycle that peaks in the morning. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 2112 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Parents have been advised that it is safe to feed soya infant formula to their babies despite evidence suggesting it may affect the ability to fight off infection and disease. In the UK, soya milk is used by parents for whom breast feeding or use of cow's milk is not an option. In the US, it is more widely used by parents who do have other options. The research, from the US, shows that chemicals contained in soya can suppress the immune system of rats. The US scientists say that those parents who have no medical reason for feeding their infants soya formula should consider changing to cow milk or breast feeding. However, the UK Food Standards Agency has said that parents should continue to give their children the soya product if advised to do so by their doctor. (C) BBC

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior; Neuroimmunology
Link ID: 2111 - Posted: 05.22.2002

ITHACA, N.Y. -- After more than 5,000 years of human-feline cohabitation and enough elaborations on "meow!" to fill a dictionary, cats still haven't mastered language. But a Cornell University evolutionary psychology study ---- analyzing people's reactions to feline vocalizations ---- shows that cats know how to get what they want. "No matter what we like to believe, cats are probably not using language," says Nicholas Nicastro, a self-described cat person who has documented hundreds of different feline vocalizations in the common house cat (Felis catus ) and its ancestor, the African wild cat (Felis silvestris lybica ). His study, which he will describe June 5, 2002, at the 143rd meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, in Pittsburgh, "shows that some very effective cat-to-human communication is going on," he says. "Though they lack language, cats have become very skilled at managing humans to get what they want ---- basically food, shelter and a little human affection." The communication study began when Nicastro, a graduate student, compiled a sample of 100 different vocalizations from 12 cats. No cats were harmed in the experiment, although a few human eardrums were stretched by what came next: He played back the recorded cat calls to 26 human volunteers and asked them to rate each sound for pleasantness and appeal, on a scale of 1 to 7. Nicastro played the same 100 sounds to a second set of 28 volunteers and asked them to indicate how urgent and demanding the sounds were, also on a 1-to-7 scale. He then analyzed the calls to see which acoustic features tended to go with pleasant or urgent meows.

Keyword: Language; Evolution
Link ID: 2109 - Posted: 05.22.2002

STANFORD, Calif. - For decades, scientists have known that eminently creative individuals have a much higher rate of manic depression, or bipolar disorder, than does the general population. But few controlled studies have been done to build the link between mental illness and creativity. Now, Stanford researchers Connie Strong and Terence Ketter, MD, have taken the first steps toward exploring the relationship. Using personality and temperament tests, they found healthy artists to be more similar in personality to individuals with manic depression than to healthy people in the general population. "My hunch is that emotional range, having an emotional broadband, is the bipolar patient's advantage," said Strong. "It isn't the only thing going on, but something gives people with manic depression an edge, and I think it's emotional range." Strong is a research manager in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science's bipolar disorders clinic and a doctoral candidate at the Pacific Graduate School. She is presenting preliminary results during a poster presentation today (May 21) at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association Meeting in Philadelphia.

Keyword: Depression; Schizophrenia
Link ID: 2108 - Posted: 05.22.2002

Copyright © 2002 AP Online By REX W. HUPPKE, Associated Press KOKOMO, Ind. - It started as a low hum, barely noticeable. But within months, the endless throbbing was like a corkscrew twisting into Diane Anton's temple. The walls of her home vibrated. Her bed shook. Bouts of nausea, short-term memory loss and hand tremors followed. "The noise was so penetrating and invasive," she said. "It was just not getting better." Copyright © 2001 Nando Media

Keyword: Hearing
Link ID: 2107 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Copyright © 2002 AP Online The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA - A federal task force recommended that all adults be screened for depression during regular visits with their doctors, noting that many cases are mistreated and as many as half of all cases are missed. An estimated 20 million Americans suffer from depression, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said the nation's primary care doctors could begin to identify as much as 90 percent of cases by asking questions about depression. The task force, an independent medical panel asked by the federal government to evaluate the latest research in deciding what routine medical screening Americans need, released the findings in Tuesday's edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine. Copyright © 2001 Nando Media

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 2106 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Lisa M. Krieger Mercury News It's another sleepless night at Stanford University. But unlike the legions of students dozing over textbooks, volunteers at the Stanford Sleep Disorders Lab have pharmaceutical help: a controversial new drug called Provigil. The medication, whose name is an abbreviation of the words ``promotes vigilance,'' keeps the mind fully awake and attentive without the euphoric ``buzz'' or jittery nerves of amphetamines and caffeine. It could prevent deadly mistakes by sleep-deprived truck drivers, doctors and other nighttime workers -- but also poses the risk of misuse in a culture fueled by a 24/7 ethos. Provigil is but one of many provocative new tools to come out of the growing field of brain research. As scientists probe deeper into the brain's chemistry, they are learning more about what makes people feel alert, energetic, depressed, angry or serene. ©1995-2002 Knight Ridder Digital, Inc. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Sleep; Aggression
Link ID: 2105 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The evidence for and against cannabis-based drugs for multiple sclerosis is to be tested by a government watchdog over the next year, it was confirmed on Monday. The use of cannabinoids to relieve some of the symptoms of the illness is to be included in the next "work programme" of the National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness (NICE). If the go-ahead is given, it is likely they could be available in 2004. NICE was set up to appraise new and expensive treatments to see if they work - and are worth the money. Cannabinoids - drugs which are derived from the cannabis plant - are under test in several clinical trials. (C) BBC

Keyword: Multiple Sclerosis; Drug Abuse
Link ID: 2104 - Posted: 05.21.2002

Scientists strive to piece together the complete person David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor The history of medicine is filled with tales of bold surgeons replacing human body parts with artificial ones and of even bolder patients living with them. Artificial hearts are already beating tentatively in a few brave people, and biomedical engineers are constantly improving artificial limbs. Dozens of high-tech projects are under way that draw on the latest computer technology, synthetic materials and miniaturization methods. But the history of bionic efforts goes back for thousands of years: ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle

Keyword: Robotics
Link ID: 2103 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The critical period in mice for establishing anxiety behavior later in life is between five and 21 days after birth New York, N.Y., —The circuitry in the brain that leads to anxiety first gets established in early development, according to new findings in mice by researchers from Columbia University Health Sciences and colleagues elsewhere. Their results imply that current popular drugs for adult anxiety do not necessarily treat the cause of the disorder, but may be alleviating symptoms resulting from an event that occurred long ago. The research, published in the March 28 issue of Nature, reveals there is a window of time during the development of the mouse--between five and 21 days after birth--when the brain becomes wired to be anxious later in life. The comparable time in humans is the third trimester of pregnancy and the first two to three years of life. The study, led by Dr. Rene Hen, associate professor of pharmacology (in psychiatry and in the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior), focused on a serotonin receptor gene. The researchers manipulated the time in development and the location in the brain that the serotonin receptor was active to understand its role in creating anxiety circuitry.

Keyword: Emotions; Stress
Link ID: 2102 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By SANDRA BLAKESLEE Consider the consequences of a garbage strike. Trash accumulates, streets are clogged and daily life is disrupted. Eventually, things can come to a standstill. Scientists say that kind of disruption may lie at the heart of a wide array of diseases afflicting millions of Americans. In the brain, researchers say, the result is Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and a slew of other neurodegenerative disorders including the human version of mad cow disease. In the pancreas, it is Type 2 diabetes; in the lungs, cystic fibrosis; in the eyes, cataracts. If the problem develops in a certain blood protein, patients can develop numbness in the fingers or toes, or a mysterious form of heart disease that may affect as many as 4 percent of African-Americans. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Alzheimers; Parkinsons
Link ID: 2101 - Posted: 05.21.2002