The old adage "laughter is the best medicine" has proved its worth among children coping with pain, research suggests. Medical experts in the USA found laughter helped children relax, which had a major impact on how they dealt with and accepted pain. They believe the healing power of humour can reduce pain and stimulate immune function in children with cancer, Aids or diabetes and in children receiving organ transplants and bone marrow treatments. Their study reinforces practices adopted by UK hospitals, where laughter is used as a tool to make hospital wards a friendlier place. (C) BBC

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 1571 - Posted: 02.22.2002

By Dr. John Marler Special to ABCNEWS.com What Is Stroke? A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the part of the brain is suddenly interrupted (ischemic) or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, spilling blood into the spaces surrounding the brain cells (hemorrhagic). The symptoms of stroke are easy to spot: sudden numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble walking; dizziness; or loss of balance or coordination. Brain cells die when they no longer receive oxygen and nutrients from the blood or when they are damaged by sudden bleeding into or around the brain. These damaged cells can linger in a compromised state for several hours. With timely treatment, these cells can be saved. Copyright © 2002 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures.

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 1570 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Dr. Patrick D. Lyden Special to ABCNEWS.com Feb. 21 — As many as 80,000 stroke patients who arrive at the hospital in time may be eligible for treatment for disability-preventing therapy with clot-busting medications. Yet current estimates show that only three to five percent of all such eligible patients receive treatment, and it is clear that America faces a major public health problem. The most common kind of stroke, known as ischemic stroke, occurs in 85 percent of the estimated 750,000 annual cases. These strokes are caused by blood clots forming in an artery that supplies blood to the brain. The part of the brain that is deprived of blood begins to die almost immediately. Ischemic strokes can be treated using clot-busting medications such as tissue plasminogen activator or t-PA, which provides a 30 to 50 percent better chance of cure from stroke disability. However, delays to treatment and the unavailability of hospital equipment and staff can prevent many people from benefiting from this therapy. Copyright © 2002 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures.

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 1569 - Posted: 06.24.2010

An appetite stimulant produced by the stomach may lead to treatments for obesity and wasting syndromes John Travis Perhaps you skipped breakfast this morning. It's nearly noon and your stomach is starting to rumble. Or maybe you're working late and developing a headache because you haven't had dinner yet. In both of these cases, your body is sending a clear signal: Give me food, right now. Figure out how that signaling works and the world will beat a pathway to your door. Controlling weight, after all, is important for cosmetic and medical reasons, and it's already a multibillion-dollar business. "We all know that around mealtime, one tends to get hungry. It's a very powerful sensation. All of us have had it. Yet the nature of that powerful stimulus is quite vague," notes David E. Cummings of the University of Washington in Seattle. "There's no clear consensus on why we get hungry at mealtimes." Over the years, scientists have proposed many hunger signals. Some researchers argued that the contracting stomach provides the trigger. One investigator went so far as to swallow a balloon and inflate it. This dulled his appetite all right, but other researchers countered that people who had had their stomachs surgically removed still became hungry. Broglio, F., et al . 2001. Ghrelin, a natural GH secretagogue produced by the stomach, induces hyperglycemia and reduces insulin secretin in humans. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 86(October):5083-5088. From Science News, Vol. 161, No. 7, Feb. 16, 2002, p. 107. Copyright ©2002 Science Service. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Obesity; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 1568 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Concerns about the over use of tranquilisers to treat dementia have sparked a four-year study to test their effectiveness. The Alzheimer's Society, which is carrying out the research, believes these drugs are not needed in many of the cases when they are prescribed. Alzheimner's Society director Dr Richard Harvey said drugs were used outside their licensed indications as a "chemical cosh" or "chemical straightjacket". He said: "Tranquilisers are the easy option. Quite often they are given covertly, mixed with food. (C) BBC

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 1567 - Posted: 02.21.2002

The first cases of adult-type diabetes have been found in overweight white children in the UK. The disclosure provides highly disturbing evidence of the threat to health posed by growing levels of obesity in the developed world. It has also prompted a warning that rising rates of obesity among the young will place a serious burden on the health service in years to come. But a spokesman for the Department of Health said initiatives were already in place to combat obesity in young and old. (C) BBC

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 1566 - Posted: 02.21.2002

IF YOU are a loner, you'd better get yourself some friends or else risk losing precious brain cells. That's the suggestion from a study into the brains of songbirds, which found that birds living in large groups have more new neurons and probably a better memory than those living alone. How the brain stores long-term memory is a mystery, but some researchers think it involves permanent changes in the gene expression of brain cells. So animals like songbirds that have small brains and relatively long lifespans would run out of neural "space" to store new memories if they didn't grow a constant supply of new cells. Songbirds do grow new neurons, though most of these die within three to five weeks and so can't store memories for long. But those that survive may provide space for new long-term memories.

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Neurogenesis
Link ID: 1565 - Posted: 02.21.2002

In the Dutch language questions are spoken with a higher pitched voice than statements. This was revealed in experimental linguistic research conducted by Judith Haan at the University of Nijmegen. Her research supports the hypothesis that the intonation of questions has a biological origin. In many languages, questions have a higher average pitch than statements. Linguist Judith Haan has demonstrated that Dutch is not an exception to this. Her results support the theory of the American linguist Ohala, who proposes that the raised pitch in questions has a biological origin. Research has shown that mammals and birds upon meeting one of their own kind, can estimate the physical supremacy of the other, based on the pitch of the sound they make. A sound with a lower pitch or lower frequency indicates a larger body. According to Ohala this so-called frequency code also plays a role in human speech. Asking a question can be seen as a form of dependency: for certain information the enquirer is dependent upon the listener. This is expressed in the form of a high pitch and could explain why this phenomenon is found in such a wide range of languages. This elevated pitch reveals itself immediately at the start of the interrogative sentence (also in Dutch), something which Spanish texts express very appropriately by placing an upside down question mark at the start of the interrogative sentence.

Keyword: Language; Evolution
Link ID: 1564 - Posted: 02.21.2002

By John Yang [ABCNEWS.com] — For people in cardiac arrest — sudden, abrupt heart failure — time counts. New research indicates temperature counts, too. About 300,000 Americans suffer cardiac arrest each year, and about half of them are able to be resuscitated. For survivors, a major problem is permanent brain damage, the result of interrupted blood flow. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, doctors in Europe and Australia report that lowering body temperature significantly reduces the risk of that damage. What's more, cooling the patients for the first 12 to 24 hours increased their chances of survival by more than 25 percent. Copyright © 2002 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures.

Keyword: Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 1563 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The tricks behind one of the most spectacular feats of memory in the natural world have been revealed. The Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) hides between 20,000 and 25,000 pine seeds in up to 5000 different caches to provide for itself and its new chicks through the cold winter and spring of the Rocky mountains. Remarkably, the birds can recall the locations up to nine months later. "I can't think of a more extreme example," says Alan Kamil, who has been studying the bird's abilities with colleagues at the University of Nebraska. But he adds that many other, less studied species also hoard food. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Evolution
Link ID: 1559 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By SANDRA BLAKESLEE Compulsive gambling, attendance at sporting events, vulnerability to telephone scams and exuberant investing in the stock market may not seem to have much in common. But neuroscientists have uncovered a common thread. Such behaviors, they say, rely on brain circuits that evolved to help animals assess rewards important to their survival, like food and sex. Researchers have found that those same circuits are used by the human brain to assess social rewards as diverse as investment income and surprise home runs at the bottom of the ninth. And, in a finding that astonishes many people, they found that the brain systems that detect and evaluate such rewards generally operate outside of conscious awareness. In navigating the world and deciding what is rewarding, humans are closer to zombies than sentient beings much of the time. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Drug Abuse
Link ID: 1557 - Posted: 02.20.2002

Stare into the intelligent eyes of a gorilla long enough, and you may start to wonder just what it is that sets us apart from our hairy cousins. Researchers long believed the answer lies in a patch of brain called the frontal cortex, which seemed to be proportionally larger in humans than in other primates. But a new comparative study of primate brains--the most comprehensive of its type to date--finds that our frontal cortex isn't any bigger than that of the great apes. The frontal cortex functions as the executive office of the brain. It plays a key role in abstract thought and language and enables us to plan and control our actions. Nearly 100 years ago, scientists reported that humans had an enlarged frontal cortex compared to other primates. Unfortunately, these studies, which were based on postmortem examinations of brains, compared humans only to the lesser apes, such as gibbons and monkeys. Our closest primate relatives, the great apes, were not included in these studies. Copyright © 2002 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 1556 - Posted: 06.24.2010

– Two research teams have converged on a novel gene that appears to regulate key aspects of communication between nerve and muscle cells. Knowing the identity and function of these regulatory signals, which have remained largely mysterious until now, will allow researchers to better understand how the nervous system forges important connections during development. The two research teams – one led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Michael O' Connor and his colleagues -- reported the discovery and characterization of the gene in fruit flies in articles in the February 15, 2002, issue of Neuron. The other team, led by former HHMI investigator Corey Goodman, discovered the same gene via a different route. Both research teams identified the gene, wishful thinking (wit), by studying the larval neuromuscular junction (NMJ) in the fruit fly Drosophila. The Drosophila NMJ consists of 30 muscle fibers that are attached to 35 neurons. The well-characterized system is a prime model for exploring how muscle growth triggers the growth of its innervating motor neurons that drive muscle contraction.

Keyword: Genes & Behavior; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 1555 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Snails can teach us a great deal about how we form memories, according to a group of neuroscientists at the University of Sussex. Research by Dr Ildikó Kemenes, Professor Paul Benjamin, Professor Michael O'Shea and colleagues shows that nitric oxide plays a vital role in the formation of long-term memory in snails. This is of crucial importance because the gas has already been shown to play such a role in humans and other mammals. Ildikó Kemenes, Gyorgy Kemenes, Richard J. Andrew, Paul R. Benjamin, and Michael O'Shea: 'Critical Time-Window for NO-cGMP-Dependent Long-Term Memory Formation after One-Trial Appetitive Conditioning'. Journal of Neuroscience 22:1414-1425.

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 1554 - Posted: 02.20.2002

A temporary alteration of serotonin activity can be obtained by acutely and reversibly lowering the blood levels of tryptophan (an amino acid precursor of the synthesis of serotonin). In several studies, acute depletion of trypotphan causes depressive symptoms in some but not all patients who have improved from at least one episode of major depression. This study investigated the relationship between depressive symptom during tryptophan depletion and the presence of a variation of the gene encoding for a protein that transports sertonin into neurons (SLC6A4). Forty three subjects who had improved from a major depressive episode and then underwent TRP depletion, were invited to participate in genetic testing. Depressive symptoms were measured with a highly standardized depression rating scale. Although during tryptopan depletion subjects experience different degrees of depressive responses, there was a clear indication that subjects whose genes predicted increased serotonin transporter activity had a lot more depression than people whose genes predicted less serotonin transporter activity. This study supports the current belief that serotonin closely regulates mood, and supports the notion that subjects with certain genetic markers may have greater vulnerability to experiencing depression. ### Citation source: Molecular Psychiatry 2002, Volume 7, number 2, pages 213-216.

Keyword: Depression; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 1553 - Posted: 02.20.2002

New Haven, Conn. – Taking cocaine during pregnancy causes possibly permanent changes in an area of the brain that governs short term memory – leading to symptoms that are very much like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Yale researchers have found in two recent studies. The research team in the Neuropsychopharmacology Laboratory at Yale School of Medicine found that prenatal exposure to cocaine leads to over-stimulation of the medical prefrontal cortex of the brain in the offspring, and a dramatic impairment in learning. "Children exposed to cocaine in the womb may have a problem with excitable neurons in part of the brain that helps control attention and memory," said Bret Morrow, associate research scientist, associate clinical professor and lead author of both studies. "Potentially, this excitable prefrontal cortex may be the basis of the learning deficits in these children."

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 1552 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Copyright © 2002 Scripps Howard News Service By SHARON SCHMICKLE, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune BOSTON ) - Couples hoping genetic research will enable them to produce little Einsteins should put that expectation on hold indefinitely, experts said at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Despite widespread predictions that parents would use new genetic tools to select for smarter children, scientists haven't been able to identify genes that would tell whether a child is going to be highly intelligent, said Matthew McGue, a University of Minnesota psychology professor who specializes in IQ studies. Some genes that play a role in mental retardation have been isolated, he said. But McGue and other experts in behavioral genetics said Sunday that researchers are finding the genes that influence overall intelligence and behavior to be more elusive and complex than had been expected a few years ago. Copyright © 2001 Nando Media

Keyword: Intelligence; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 1551 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Copyright © 2002 Scripps Howard News Service By LEE BOWMAN, Scripps Howard News Service BOSTON - Scientists may be moving closer to the day when neurologists can say "brain, heal thyself." Until recently, experts were sure that new brain cells were impossible for adults to come by, that all the gray matter we get is pretty much in place well before we reach adolescence. But there's new evidence that a few regions of the brain keep churning out new cells, and new hope that the precursors of those specialized cells can be coaxed into producing other types of brain cells needed to reverse or repair damaged regions. Copyright © 2001 Nando Media

Keyword: Stem Cells; Regeneration
Link ID: 1550 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Adult mammalian brain has potential to heal itself, says U-M scientist BOSTON, Mass. - Primitive neural cells in the brains of laboratory rats respond to acute brain injuries by moving to the injured area and attempting to form new neurons, according to University of Michigan neurologist Jack M. Parent, M.D. Understanding how this self-repair mechanism works could someday help physicians reduce brain damage caused by strokes or neurodegenerative diseases. In a presentation here today at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting, Jack M. Parent, M.D., an assistant professor of neurology in the U-M Medical School, described results from a series of his experiments with laboratory rats. Prolonged epileptic seizures or strokes in these rats caused neural precursor cells called neuroblasts - cells midway in development between a stem cell and a fully developed neuron - to multiply and form neural chains that migrated across the brain to the site of injury. "What's fascinating is that neuroblasts responded similarly to both types of brain injury," says Parent. "There's some cue in common that activates their development and growth. We don't know what it is, but we are looking for candidate molecules - growth factors or neurotrophic factors - that stimulate the proliferation and migration of precursor cells." (c) copyright 2002 University of Michigan Health System

Keyword: Stem Cells; Regeneration
Link ID: 1549 - Posted: 02.20.2002

New Compound Blocks Fat, Drops Appetite, Boosts Calorie Burning By Daniel DeNoon WebMD Medical News -- Everyone knows the equation: eat less + exercise more = lose weight. It always works if you've got lots of will power. Now a new drug promises to help. It's called C75 and it's still a long way from human tests. Why the excitement? In a new study, C75 makes fat mice thin -- but has no effect on lean mice. Its discovery is a giant step toward helping people regain -- and maintain -- normal weight. "We are closing in on a powerful biological signal in weight control," says study leader M. Daniel Lane, PhD, professor of biological chemistry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, in a news release. The findings appear in today's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. © 1996-2002 WebMD Corporation. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 1548 - Posted: 06.24.2010