CINCINNATI -- Could exposure to lead in early childhood be behind the rising levels of crime and other antisocial behaviors during the last half of the 20th century? The first comprehensive lead study to track children over a period of time found that both prenatal and postnatal exposure to lead were associated with antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. Researchers at the Children's Environmental Health Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, in collaboration with University of Cincinnati researchers, followed inner-city adolescents recruited prenatally into the study between 1979 and 1985. Mothers known to be addicted to drugs or alcohol, diabetic, or those with proven neurological disorders, psychoses or mental retardation were excluded from the study. ©1999-2002, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Keyword: Development of the Brain; Aggression
Link ID: 1618 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Not Getting Enough Could Increase Risk of Brain Deterioration By Jennifer Warner WebMD Medical News Folic acid may be especially good for more than just moms-to-be. New research suggests the vitamin could play an important role in protecting the brain against Alzheimer's disease and other brain-related disorders. The animal study, conducted by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), may improve understanding of the biochemical mechanisms behind Alzheimer's. The findings also shed light on earlier research that suggests people with high levels of homocysteine, an amino acid, in the blood have nearly twice the risk of developing Alzheimer's. Folic acid has been shown to lower homocysteine levels in the blood. Researchers fed one group of mice that had Alzheimer's-like plaques in their brains a diet that included a normal amount folic acid. It's found in leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits, whole wheat bread, and other grain products. The other group was fed a diet that was deficient in this vitamin. © 2002 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved. © 1996-2002 WebMD Corporation. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Alzheimers; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 1617 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Little did Delaine Inman realize when she was teaching classes to help patients deal with a chronic disease that she was preparing herself to deal with a rare brain disorder. A nurse for more than 30 years, Delaine's career was cut short because of the devastating condition. Delaine is one in 10,000 people who suffers from Benign Essential Blepharospasm (BEB) which causes forceful closure of the eyes and severe light sensitivity. Copyright Columbia Daily Herald. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Movement Disorders
Link ID: 1616 - Posted: 03.02.2002

By Rick Weiss Washington Post Staff Writer A once-promising experimental Alzheimer's vaccine that was reported last week to have triggered a dozen cases of brain inflammation in human volunteers has caused similar complications in an additional three people and has been permanently withdrawn from human testing. The vaccine, under development by the Irish pharmaceutical company Elan in conjunction with Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, a division of American Home Products Corp. of Madison, N.J., had raised unusually high hopes after it had halted and even reversed an Alzheimer's-like condition in mice. It had passed initial safety studies in Britain and was being tested in about 300 people in four European countries and 11 U.S. medical centers. Elan suspended inoculations in mid-January after four volunteers fell ill with what it called "clinical signs consistent with inflammation in the central nervous system." Ivan Lieberburg, Elan's chief scientific and medical officer, said yesterday that the 15 people who had experienced problems were all alive and that most of them were responding to treatment. He said it is still not clear why they developed the complications, which had characteristics of encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and meningitis (inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain). No such symptoms had been seen in the earlier animal or human studies. © 2002 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 1615 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Two different routes find the mammalian enemies of apoptosis inhibitors By Laura DeFrancesco Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, provides organisms a way to remove unwanted cells, such as during morphogenesis, or to defend against viral infection. Of course, certain molecules exist to prohibit apoptosis. One of these proteins, aptly named Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein (IAP), was first found in viruses, which use them to keep host cells alive while the virus replicates and propagates. These IAPs interfere with key effectors of apoptosis, the family of proteases known as caspases, which, when activated, literally digest the cell from the inside out. But the story doesn't end there: antagonists exist to antagonize the IAPs; these molecules send the cell back down the apoptosis pathway. For example, three IAP antagonists, Reaper, Grim and HID, have been identified in Drosophila. These proteins promote cell death by binding to the IAPs, keeping them from suppressing caspase activity. However, no similar IAP antagonists had been identified in mammals until the labs of David Vaux, Xiaodong Wang, and the editors of Cell crossed paths. C. Du et al., "Smac, a mitochondrial protein that promotes cytochrome c-dependent caspase activation by eliminating IAP inhibition," Cell, 102:33-42, July 7, 2000. The Scientist 16[5]:29, Mar. 4, 2002 © Copyright 2002, The Scientist, Inc. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Apoptosis; Drug Abuse
Link ID: 1614 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Sleep apnoea, in which breathing is disrupted during sleep, can have significant effects on mental as well as physical health, a study has suggested. Researchers from Quebec, Canada have, for the first time, examined how the condition affects psychological health. They say the disrupted sleep of sufferers can result in problems at work, in relationships and in social lives, which can lead to depression. It is estimated that up to a quarter of people suffer sleep apnoea, with their breathing stopping briefly at least five times an hour. (C) BBC

Keyword: Sleep; Depression
Link ID: 1613 - Posted: 03.01.2002

Scientists investigating the effect of the meditative state on Buddhist monk's brains have found that portions of the organ previously active become quiet, whilst pacified areas become stimulated. Andrew Newberg, a radiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, US, told BBC World Service's Discovery programme: "I think we are poised at a wonderful time in our history to be able to explore religion and spirituality in a way which was never thought possible." Using a brain imaging technique, Newberg and his team studied a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks as they meditated for approximately one hour. (C) BBC

Keyword: Brain imaging; Stress
Link ID: 1612 - Posted: 03.01.2002

Alzheimer's disease almost always afflicts people older than 60, but in people with Down syndrome, Alzheimer's often strikes before age 40. Now, a team of researchers reports that breakdowns in brain cells' energy-generating mitochondria contribute to the early onset of Alzheimer's in Down syndrome patients and may spur Alzheimer's in old age as well. Researchers suspect that people with Down syndrome are more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease because their extra copy of chromosome 21 causes them to build more of some proteins whose genes sit on that chromosome. One such gene codes for amyloid precursor protein (APP). A set of enzymes trims APP into another protein, called A?42, that is the main component of the senile plaques that characterize Alzheimer's disease. But there might be other links between the two diseases as well. For instance, Down syndrome patients have defective mitochondria, organelles that also lose efficiency as people age. Some studies have linked malfunctioning mitochondria to brain cells' inability to properly process APP, suggesting a connection to Alzheimer's. To test how mitochondrial defects might lead to signs of Alzheimer's disease, a team led by Jorge Busciglio of the University of Connecticut, Farmington, and Bruce Yankner of Harvard Medical School in Boston examined brain cells from aborted fetuses with Down syndrome. Compared with normal cells, the Down cells accumulated more A?42 and shuttled less APP out of the cell. The team found the same pattern when they poisoned the mitochondria of normal cells--evidence, they say, that defective mitochondria allow A?42 and APP to build up inside the Down cells. What's more, the secreted form of APP is known to protect neurons from various toxins, including A?42. Reporting their results in the 28 February issue of Neuron, the researchers argue that Alzheimer's disease can result from a deadly cycle in which an excess of APP impairs mitochondria, which causes cells to secrete less of the protective form of APP, making them vulnerable to damage from A?42 accumulation.

Keyword: Alzheimers; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 1611 - Posted: 03.01.2002

By Mark K. Anderson Until recently, prevailing scientific wisdom held that the human brain is closer to a game of hearts than one of gin rummy. As a young adult, your skull contains all the brain cells you'll ever have. No new cards are dealt, and from there on in, all that can be done is discard. Yet, since the late 1990s, a spate of scientific research has begun to establish that adults do generate new brain cells in some regions of the brain, well into old age. And now, for the first time, scientists have seen that new neurons become functional members of the brain, forging new connections and firing "action potentials" like any other neuron. © Copyright 2002, Lycos, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Keyword: Neurogenesis
Link ID: 1610 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The newly recognised condition of irritable male syndrome plays havoc with male animals, temporarily turning confident, chest-beating Tarzans into withdrawn, grumpy wimps. And there's some evidence that irritable male syndrome, which is triggered by a sudden drop in testosterone, affects men as well as animals, says Gerald Lincoln of the Medical Research Council's Human Reproductive Sciences Unit in Edinburgh, Scotland. The symptoms may resemble those of the so-called male menopause, but Lincoln believes the condition can affect men of any age when stress causes testosterone levels to plummet. If he's right, it's not just women who have their hormonal ups and downs. Lincoln first pinpointed the syndrome in Soay sheep. In the autumn, the rams' testosterone levels soar and they rut. In the winter, testosterone levels plummet and they lose interest in sex. High testosterone is supposed to mean more aggression. But the rams were more likely to injure themselves when testosterone was low. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior; Stress
Link ID: 1609 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Young male elephants produce sweet secretions before starting to stink. JOHN WHITFIELD A male Asian elephant's smell switches from mellifluous to malodorous as he matures, say researchers. A honeyed aroma keeps young males out of trouble; a rank pong signals their readiness for sex and violence. Musth is the pachyderm equivalent of US college students' spring break. From their late teens onwards, male elephants' testosterone levels surge for a month each year, making them sex-crazed and aggressive. For males in their early teens, musth is a much sweeter experience. They smell "like a mixture of flowers", says Bets Rasmussen, who studies chemical communication at Oregon Health and Science University in Beaverton. Ancient Hindu poetry describes bees flocking to these secretions, which are produced by a gland just below an elephant's eye. * Rasmussen, L. E. L., Riddle, H. S & Krishnamurthy, V. Mellifluous matures to malodorous in musth. Nature, 415, 975 - 976, (2002). © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste); Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 1607 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Linguists filter languages for sound before meaning. HELEN PEARSON Bilingual people switch off one language to avoid speaking double Dutch. By first sounding out words in their brain's dictionary, they may stop one tongue from interfering with another. Those fluent in two languages rarely mix them up. They switch between language filters that oust foreign words, Thomas Munte of Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany, and his team suggest1. Their studies of brain activity reveal that bilinguals reject words that are not part of the language they are speaking - before working out what the words mean. "They could completely ignore the other language," says Munte, and so prevent the two from merging. * Rodriguez-Fornells, A., Rotte, M., Heinze, H.-J., Nosselt, T. & Munte, T.F. Brain potential and functional MRI evidence for how to handle two languages with one brain. Nature, 415, 1026 - 1029, (2002). © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Keyword: Language; Brain imaging
Link ID: 1606 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Studies establishing the effectiveness of antidepressants are based on highly selective samples of depressed patients. New research by Brown University psychiatrists found as many as 85 percent of depressed patients treated in an outpatient setting would be excluded from the typical study to determine whether an antidepressant works. PROVIDENCE, R.I. — While antidepressants are among the most frequently prescribed medications, most patients treated for major depression in a typical outpatient psychiatric practice would not qualify to take part in a clinical trial for a new antidepressant drug, according to a new Brown University study. Trials to determine the effectiveness of antidepressants have historically evaluated only a small subset of depressed individuals with a very specific clinical profile. People diagnosed with other psychiatric problems and people with mild depression are among those excluded, says the study, which appears in the March 2002 American Journal of Psychiatry.

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 1605 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Study Supports Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) Indications CAMBRIDGE, Mass., (BW HealthWire) --Findings published in Experimental Neurology, a peer review journal, show that the treatment with Sonic Hedgehog protein (Shh), under development by Curis, reduces behavioral impairments and neural loss in a model of Parkinson's disease. These findings demonstrate that Shh and related compounds hold therapeutic promise for Parkinson's disease and other disorders of the nervous system. The current study reported by our collaborators, Drs. Clifford Shults and Kyoko Tsuboi of the University of California, San Diego, utilized the "6-OHDA model," a standard model used to mimic human Parkinson's disease. In this model, dopaminergic neurons (the type of brain cells involved in human Parkinson's disease) and their processes are damaged by administration of a toxin to the brain, resulting in brain damage and behavioral impairments representative of Parkinson's disease. The researchers analyzed behavior for several weeks after the brain injury, and examined the extent of brain damage. Administration of Shh was found to significantly reduce deficits in multiple behavioral tests and to cause preservation of the dopaminergic nerve fibers normally lost in this model. These findings demonstrate the utility of Shh for Parkinson's disease. In addition to studies on Shh protein, Curis has successfully identified and optimized novel small molecule compounds that mimic effects of Shh protein in the brain and also represent candidate therapeutics for Parkinson's. Together, these findings demonstrate the promise of using insights and molecules from developmental biology to identify novel therapeutics for neural disorders. Copyright (C) 2002 Business Wire. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Parkinsons; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 1603 - Posted: 02.28.2002

Over the past decade new discoveries in basic human biology have made it increasingly apparent that many normal physiological functions--and in many cases, pathological functions--are influenced either directly or indirectly by sex-based differences in biology. This realization, however, has been slow in coming. Considerable attention has focused on differences and similarities between females and males at the societal level by researchers evaluating how individual behaviors, lifestyles, and surroundings affect one's biological development and health. Similarly, at the level of the whole organism clinicians and applied researchers have investigated the component organs and systems of humans. However, scientists have paid much less attention to the direct study of these differences at the basic cellular and molecular levels. Where data are available, they have often been a by-product of other areas of research. Historically, the research community assumed that beyond the reproductive system, such differences do not exist or are not relevant. Still, scientific evidence of the importance of sex differences throughout the life span abounds. Copyright ©2001 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 1602 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The recent general acceptance that new neurons are generated in adult mammalian nervous systems, contrary to long-established dogma, has generated much speculation about possible functions of such neurons and aroused hopes for therapeutic applications, but controversy still surrounds these findings.

Keyword: Newsletter; Neurogenesis
Link ID: 1601 - Posted: 02.28.2002

Early senility in mother's family -- process worries bioethicists Rick Weiss, Washington Post Applying sophisticated genetic tests to batches of human eggs, doctors in Chicago have helped a 30-year-old woman give birth to a baby that is free of her family's curse of early Alzheimer's disease. Doctors said it was the first time genetic screening had been used to cull a form of Alzheimer's from a family line. Some experts praised the feat yesterday as an act of compassion toward the next generation. Without the screening, the newborn would have had 50-50 odds of becoming hopelessly senile by the time it was 40 years old. Others criticized the advance as the latest step down the road toward designer babies. ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle

Keyword: Alzheimers; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 1600 - Posted: 06.24.2010

A gene in the brain which is linked to Alzheimer's Disease may be responsible for some people ageing more rapidly than others, say scientists. Researchers found an association between nerve cell changes associated with ageing and the presence of a variation of the apolipoprotein gene, known as apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4). This form of the gene is carried by 25% of the population and has been linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease and memory loss after head injury or bypass surgery. Scientists tried to discover why some elderly adults retain strong mental capacity well into their 90s while others fall into progressive decline or dementia. (C) BBC

Keyword: Alzheimers; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 1599 - Posted: 02.27.2002

By Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News — If the sight or sound of words or numbers conjure up irresistible sensations of color, you aren't crazy, just wired differently, said a scientist who has spotted strange happenings in the brains of people called synesthetes. About one in 200 people have the benign condition called synesthesia, which causes them to experience vivid sensations of color when they encounter words or numbers, said Vilayanur Ramachandran, director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California at San Diego. Now there's strong evidence that there is a physical reason for synesthesia. Using MRI brain imaging of synesthetes and non-synesthetes, researcher Jeffrey Gray of the London Institute of Psychology has shown that the color-processing centers of synesthetes' brains are activated by words and numbers, while other, vision-related areas stay quiet. Copyright © 2002 Discovery Communications Inc.

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 1598 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By NICHOLAS WADE Pheromones are the mysterious fragrances that govern the primal urge to court and mate in creatures from moths to mice. A Harvard biologist, Dr. Catherine Dulac, has now made a surprising discovery about how pheromones control the behavior of male mice. Male mice are genetically programmed to follow a simple rule when a strange mouse enters their territory. If it's male, attack it; if female, seduce it. Dr. Dulac reports in the current issue of Science that it is pheromones from the intruder that signal whether it is male or female and cue the appropriate behavior in the resident mouse. Mouse pheromones are chemicals emitted in the urine. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste); Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 1597 - Posted: 02.27.2002