Name That Tone Can your child learn some of Mozart's magic? By Michael Abrams The psychology annex building at the University of California at San Diego has no elevator, but it has something even better: a singing stairwell. "It's a low F, I think," Diana Deutsch says, pausing on the top step to listen to the wind's howl. Deutsch has a face as round and sprightly as a sixteenth note, a red bob of hair, and a doctorate in psychology. She also has perfect pitch. "I realized I had it when I began taking piano lessons at the age of 4," she says. "It was a great surprise to me that other people could not name notes. It was as if everyone around me was unable to name colors." Mozart must have known how she feels: He could name a single note from a tolling bell or a chiming pocket watch. Yet only one in 10,000 Americans has perfect pitch, and even professional musicians tend to make do with relative pitch: They can name only the intervals between notes. To approximate perfect pitch, some musicians memorize just one note, usually middle C, and then use relative pitch to navigate to others. But these pitch estimators need a moment of thought to name a note, and they tend to be slightly off. (Granted, the notes themselves are a bit off: In Handel's time, an A above middle C had a pitch of 422.5 vibrations a second; these days, that same A has climbed to 440 vibrations a second.) People with perfect pitch name notes instantly and they're invariably correct. © Copyright 2001 The Walt Disney Company.

Keyword: Hearing
Link ID: 1035 - Posted: 11.25.2001

When it comes to evolution, survival of the fittest is only half the story. The handicap principle holds that humans make showy and sometimes dangerous displays of courage to increase their status and attract mates By Richard Conniff Two thirds of the way into his August 1998 attempt to fly round the world by balloon, Steve Fossett ran into a thunderstorm at 29,000 feet above the Coral Sea and began to plunge uncontrollably as wind and hail whipped his ruptured balloon. At 4,000 feet, he climbed through the hatch atop his capsule and cut away the fuel and oxygen tanks to slow the descent. Then he lay down on a bench to distribute the impending impact across his back. "I'm going to die," he said out loud. © Copyright 2001 The Walt Disney Company.

Keyword: Evolution; Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 1034 - Posted: 11.25.2001

By EDWARD WONG Corinne Spurrier was as enthusiastic as any soccer mom in Manhattan. On a crisp Saturday morning in Riverside Park, her 9-year-old son's team, the Golden Eagles, played their final game of the season on the banks of the Hudson River. She cheered as her son, Ian, raced across the grass in his yellow jersey. She clapped whenever one of his teammates scored and yelled when a player missed an opportunity. Only one thing nagged her: heading. When she saw Ian hit the ball with his head, a red light flashed on in her mind. "I should ask his pediatrician if this is a good thing for him to be doing," she said. "I think of Muhammad Ali. What are the side effects?" Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 1033 - Posted: 11.25.2001

Our behavior adapts to the daily environmental cycle; generally we sleep at night and are alert during the day. These adjustments to external circadian cycles are the consequence of subtle molecular changes inside our body which are ultimately regulated and determined at the genetic level. Researchers have known for some time that certain genes are turned on or off depending on the time of day. However, only some of the genes involved have been identified and they do not fully account for the mechanisms underlying perception and adaptation to daily cycles. Copyright © 1995-2001 UniSci. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Biological Rhythms; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 1032 - Posted: 11.25.2001

Stanford, Calif. - A critical gene, osteopontin, which is involved in the development of multiple sclerosis, has been identified by researchers at Stanford University Medical Center and the University of California San Francisco. Osteopontin is already known to be a factor in the inflammatory immune response characteristic of MS, but now researchers believe it may be positioned at a number of checkpoints in the progression of the disease. The findings could lead to targeted new therapies for MS in the future. "The motivation for the study was the genomic application of Sutton's law," said Larry Steinman, MD, professor of neurology at Stanford. "Sutton's law" refers to a bank robber who, upon being asked why he robbed banks, answered, "Because that's where the money is." For Steinman and Jorge Oksenberg, PhD, associate professor of neurology at UCSF, the logic in examining autopsied brains from MS patients to learn about the disease is clear. "It's where the money is," said Steinman.

Keyword: Multiple Sclerosis
Link ID: 1031 - Posted: 11.25.2001

The bad news: patent leather shoes By Paul Greengard Monday, October 9, 2000 5:15 a.m.: Telephone rings. I grope in the dark for the receiver, which is off its base. I say to my wife, Ursula, "Who is the idiot calling at 5 a.m.?" Daughter, Ursie, in another bedroom, answers the phone before I find mine. As I pick up, I hear: "May I speak to Dr. Greengard?" Ursie: "It's the middle of the night. He is asleep. Do you really want me to wake him up?" "My name is Hans Jornvall. I am secretary of the Nobel Assembly." Me, quickly: "It's okay. I am awake. Don't hang up." "I am happy to inform you that the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute has awarded you this year's Nobel Prize in medicine for your research work on communication between nerve cells in the brain." "Oh, that's very nice. I am pleased to hear that." © 2001 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 1030 - Posted: 11.25.2001

Rare disorder offers insight Ursula Bellugi, the Salk Institute To some, perhaps the most striking distinction is the extraordinary connection that these people have with music. All exhibit a strong affinity for music, and while their attention span for many tasks is fleeting, they will spend hours listening to or making music. Research is scarce, but some evidence shows a high incidence of perfect pitch, and an uncanny sense of rhythm among this group.2,3 One boy with Williams syndrome was taught to tap a complicated 7/4-time rhythm with one hand while keeping 4/4-time with the other.4 Some researchers will not use the word "savant," but all admit that a connection with music exists, and that it and the other anomalies in this syndrome might help to further knowledge about disease and how the brain develops and works. The Scientist 15[23]:20, Nov. 26, 2001 © Copyright 2001, The Scientist, Inc. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Language; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 1028 - Posted: 11.25.2001

Experimental Alzheimer's vaccines might work by generating antibodies that draw key brain proteins into the blood, rather than entering the brain themselves, new research suggests. The finding should lead to more effective Alzheimer's treatments in the future, the researchers say. One of the earliest changes in the brain of an Alzheimer's patient is the appearance of plaques of amyloid beta (a-beta) peptides. Elan Pharmaceuticals, based in Ireland, is currently testing an a-beta vaccine in Alzheimer's patients with moderate memory impairments. Previous research found that the vaccine cleared plaques in mice brains. Scientists thought that the vaccine worked by triggering the production of antibodies, which entered the brain and destroyed the plaques. But when a team led by David Holtzmann at Washington University, US, injected mice with anti-amyloid beta antibodies, they found the blood concentration of the peptides shot up. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 1027 - Posted: 11.23.2001

Vital new clues to what makes certain cells in the brain act as neural stem cells have been uncovered. The researchers say their work will boost research into creating new neurons to repair damaged brains. Recent experiments have provided strong evidence that in the developing fetal brain, a subsection of a group of cells called radial glial cells act as neural stem cells, giving rise to neurons. Related cells in the adult brain called astrocytes can also act as neural stem cells. But what gives certain radial glial cells and a very small number of astrocytes in two discrete adult brain areas their stem cell capabilities has been a mystery. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Stem Cells; Glia
Link ID: 1026 - Posted: 11.23.2001

Brain scans can reveal whether someone is lying or telling the truth, US researchers have discovered. When people lied, fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scans revealed significant increases in activity in several brain regions. Daniel Langleben and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania hope fMRI could be used for more accurate forensic lie detection. The widely used polygraph test is based on changes in heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and the electrical resistance of the skin. But these factors can vary widely among individuals, making it more difficult to establish whether someone really is telling the truth. Langleben's team gave 18 people an object to hide in their pockets. They were then shown a series of pictures, including one of the object itself. As each picture was presented, the participants were instructed to deny that it matched their hidden object. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Brain imaging
Link ID: 1025 - Posted: 11.23.2001

Early maternal neglect changes the expression of genes involved in the development of the dopamine system, research on mice has revealed. Abnormal regulation of dopamine in the brain has been linked to drug abuse, depression and personality disorders - conditions that are also associated with childhood neglect in humans. "Clearly, if the dopamine system of the brain is compromised, and if this can be extrapolated to humans, it could lead to greater susceptibility for drug dependence and perhaps greater vulnerability to develop certain psychiatric illnesses," says researcher Wayne Brake of the University of California, Santa Barbara. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 1024 - Posted: 11.23.2001

Phantom limb pain can be prevented with a short course of a drug that blocks nerve over-activation, say German researchers. Seventy per cent of all people who undergo an amputation suffer from phantom limb pain, which can often be severe. For one week after amputation, most patients receive anaesthesia to block pain pathways from the remaining part of the limb. But while this may reduce levels of subsequent pain, it does not reduce the likelihood that some pain will occur, says Klaus Mathiak and his team at the University of Tübingen, Germany. Mathiak found that an additional course of a drug called memantine slashed the incidence of phantom limb pain at one year after amputation to 20 per cent. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 1023 - Posted: 11.23.2001

PHILADELPHIA – Working with sleep-deprived fruit flies, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have uncovered the first molecular pathway, in any species, implicated in the shift between rest and wakefulness. The findings, from a team led by Joan C. Hendricks of Penn's Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology, are reported in the November issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. The work indicates that a Drosophila melanogaster gene known as CREB – evolutionarily conserved in species from flies to humans – plays a role in rest's rejuvenating effects, apparently permitting sustained wakefulness. Anyone who's ever pulled an all-nighter knows by the next morning that sleep is essential, and sleep's status as a behavior found in organisms ranging from fruit flies to frogs to humans underscores its importance as a biological process. But 50 years after the discovery of REM sleep, scientists still know little, on a molecular level, about why sleep is needed and the exact benefits conferred by a daily period of rest

Keyword: Biological Rhythms; Sleep
Link ID: 1022 - Posted: 06.24.2010

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - An international research team, led by University of Michigan Medical School scientists Marci Lesperance, M.D., and Margit Burmeister, Ph.D., has identified a gene responsible for an unusual type of hearing loss called low frequency sensorineural hearing loss. U-M researchers discovered that children who inherit one copy of the mutated gene called WFS1 gradually lose their ability to hear low-frequency sounds. The hearing loss becomes more severe over time, and eventually hearing aids are required. Patients with different types of mutations affecting both copies of the gene develop Wolfram Syndrome 1 - a rare, devastating condition involving juvenile diabetes, optic atrophy, and often deafness and psychiatric illness. The wider significance of this discovery is that mutations in this gene may be a common cause of low-frequency hearing loss in the general population, even in those who may be unaware that their hearing loss could be inherited. Results of the study appear in the October 22, 2001 issue of Human Molecular Genetics, published online Nov. 20 at the journal's web site: http://hmg.oupjournals.org/

Keyword: Hearing; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 1021 - Posted: 11.22.2001

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Women who have had a major stressful event - death of a spouse, job loss, or a long-distance move - midway through their pregnancy may have a greater chance of having an autistic child than do their unstressed counterparts say researchers at The Ohio State University Medical Center. In a presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, Dr. David Beversdorf, a neurologist at OSU Medical Center and principal investigator of the study, reported on a study of 188 women who had delivered autistic children. The research showed that these women were more likely to have experienced a major stressor the 24th through 28th weeks of their pregnancy.

Keyword: Autism; Stress
Link ID: 1020 - Posted: 11.22.2001

Scranton, Pa. -- Teaching sign language to hearing young children can improve their early communications with their parents and later boost the children's learning of language, says a Penn State researcher. "When you see babies, you can see them experiment with their hands. They move them about, they touch their hands together, they try to reach things, they attempt to pick up objects, " says Dr. Marilyn Daniels, associate professor of speech communication at Penn State's Worthington Scranton Campus. "Sign language has the unique capacity to tap into the natural exchange between hand and brain, optimizing the emergence of language in the child because of the physiological advantage of American Sign Language (ASL) over English." Learning to speak, read and write English takes years, much patience and practice for young children. But they effortlessly use their hands for comfort, communication and acquiring information from birth, says Daniels.

Keyword: Language; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 1019 - Posted: 11.22.2001

Associated Press PITTSBURGH - After three months in space, astronauts lose sleep and sleep less soundly because the lack of gravity and the absence of day-and-night cues throw off their internal clocks, according to the first long-term study of the topic. The phenomenon could leave astronauts less alert and hamper performance on longer trips, according to the study, published in the December issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. Space sleeplessness is apparently caused by changes in the brain's endogenous circadian pacemaker -- a bundle of nerve cells the size of a pinhead that controls the body's cycle of sleep and wakefulness

Keyword: Sleep
Link ID: 1015 - Posted: 11.22.2001

Criminal behaviour suggests birds' brains are more sophisticated than we thought. TOM CLARKE American scrub jays with a history of petty theft are more concerned about being victims of crime than are innocent birds, new research shows. This suggests that the animals may use the past to predict the future and might put themselves in another's shoes - two mental feats so far attributed only to humans. "Until recently we thought that animals were stuck in time," says Nicola Clayton, a psychologist at the University of Cambridge in England. By observing captive jays bury and retrieve food in the presence and absence of fellow jays, Clayton and her behavioural scientist husband Nathan Emery find that the birds perform 'mental time-travel': they apply the lessons of past events to future behaviour. Emery, N. J. & Clayton, N. S. Effects of experience and social context on prospective caching strategies by scrub jays. Nature, 414, 443 - 446, (2001). © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2001

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 1014 - Posted: 11.22.2001

If your friends were normal people they would not know you. PHILIP BALL "Your friends are unusual people", says physicist Mark Newman: simply because they are someone's friend. This is not some homespun philosophy to make us all feel better. Newman, of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, USA, has proved that our friends are not a random selection of the population1. If they were, the chance that you and I share a friend of a friend would be much smaller than it is. Newman is exploring social networks. More specifically, he wants to know what the chances are that we have a friend of a friend who supports Real Madrid or the New York Giants. Or who went to Florence last summer. Or who likes water polo. Newman, M. E. J. Ego-centered networks and the ripple effect, or Why all your friends are weird. Preprint, (2001). © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2001

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 1013 - Posted: 11.22.2001

Emma Young, San Diego
The devastating sleep disorder narcolepsy could be the result of a sufferer's immune system attacking key cells in the brain, say US scientists. Jerry Siegel at the University of California, Los Angeles and his team gave commonly used immune system suppressants to dogs with a genetic mutation that makes them develop narcolepsy. They found that the onset of the disease was dramatically delayed. Furthermore, when symptoms did appear, they were also much less severe. "The immunosuppressants in dogs produced a reduction in symptoms that is quite remarkable," Siegel says. "It is quite likely that a similar treatment could be effective in humans if we could detect symptoms at an early stage." © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Narcolepsy; Sleep
Link ID: 1012 - Posted: 11.17.2001