ERICA KLARREICH
Seals' whiskers are certainly cute. But new research suggests they may also be a crucial hunting tool. Seals' whiskers enable them to home in on the wake of prey as much as 180 metres away, new research suggests. Dolphins' sonar can locate fish only up to about 110 metres away. 1.Dehnhardt, G. et al. Hydrodynamic trail-following in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). Science, 293, 102 - 104, (2001). © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2001

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 319 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Molecular intricacies of animal model clocks provide insight to humans By Karen Young Kreeger Researchers have pondered, and investigated, for decades why one person is alert and productive at 6 a.m. while another can't even focus before noon.1 But now, their persistence is paying off: chronobiologists, those who investigate circadian rhythms, or daily clocks, are finally making concrete links between sleep patterns in humans and a menagerie of well-studied animal models. As with many behavioral studies, it's the extreme or unusual cases that eventually inform scientists about normal processes. A few years ago, a woman complained to investigators at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City that she felt an overwhelming desire to fall asleep around 7:30 p.m., and wake up before dawn, around 4:30 a.m. And she was not the only one--other members in her family had the same problem. This started Utah investigators on a research project that culminated in the first study to link a human genetic syndrome to what others had been discovering in animal clock-gene investigations. These family members, eventually recruited into the study, suffer from familial advanced sleep phase syndrome (FASPS). The Scientist 15[14]:16, Jul. 9, 2001 © Copyright 2001, The Scientist, Inc. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Biological Rhythms
Link ID: 318 - Posted: 11.06.2001

Sometimes neurons get so excited that they sing in harmony. Researchers aren't sure just how these brain cells synchronize their firing, but a new study shows that one type of neuron might have the abilities necessary for orchestrating the performance. Synchronized neural firing has long excited neuroscientists, but they aren't sure what it means. Some have suggested that it allows the brain to perform sophisticated computations over disparate regions of the brain. For instance, watching a red caboose rattle down a railroad track activates color-, shape-, and motion-sensitive parts of the brain; perhaps synchronous firing across these regions tells the brain to unite these features into one image. But the theory still has a lot of holes in it. For starters: How do neurons determine that two or more signals have arrived at the same time? --LAURA HELMUTH Copyright © 2001 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 317 - Posted: 10.20.2001

In space, the brain is caught out by gravity 25 June 2001 HELEN PEARSON A gravity-free ball. Nothing could be easier to catch, right? Not so, shows research carried out on the space shuttle's neuroscience mission, Neurolab1. Our brain's implicit physics is so overpowering it makes butterfingers of astronauts. Two competing theories explain how we ready ourselves for a catch. One says we rely only on immediate information from our senses - the ball's position and the speed we see it coming tells our hands roughly when to grab. 1.McIntyre, J., Zago, M., Berthoz, A. & Lacquaniti, F.Does the brain model Newton's laws?. Nature Neuroscience, 4, 693 - 694, (2001). © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2001

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 316 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Janet Raloff
Lead, a toxic heavy metal, can show up in the most unexpected places. For instance, several recent studies documented a worrisome tainting of calcium supplements. Just last month, some Mexican lollipops were recalled from U.S. stores upon a finding that their wrappers had leached lead into the candy. And recently, this column recounted the perils of a man poisoned by his bathtub winemaking operations. Of course, people can be exposed to lead through more obvious means-by breathing fumes in metalworking plants, eating foods tainted by emissions from cars burning leaded gasoline, exposure to peeling lead-based paint, or drinking water that enters homes through lead-soldered pipes. Copyright ©2001 Science Service. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Neurotoxins
Link ID: 315 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Gene Therapy Restores Feeding Behavior to Starving Mice June 22, 2001- Researchers have used gene therapy to rejuvenate feeding behavior in starving mice. The genetically engineered mice avoided eating because their brains contained a low level of dopamine. The scientists' experiments, which were reported in the June 2001 issue of the journal Neuron, provide new information about a region of the brain that helps integrate internal hunger signals and external sensory information about food to trigger feeding behavior. ©2001 Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 314 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Tundra Birds Get Down and Dirty Birds are meticulous about keeping their feathers clean, but males of one species intentionally dirty their own plumage, researchers have found. The rock ptarmigan's odd behavior helps the bird camouflage itself when its priorities shift from pursuing sex to staying alive. In their immaculate white winter plumage, these arctic birds blend in with the snow, and in their mottled brown summer plumage, they melt away into tundra backgrounds of gravel, lichen, and soil. Females molt from white to brown just as the snow melts, maximizing their camouflage at all times. But males retain their snowy white plumage for several weeks, which makes them visible to sharp-eyed predators like gyrfalcons. Researchers hypothesized that by delaying their molt, males showed off an ability to overcome such risks and advertised their quality to females or rival males. --JAY WITHGOTT Copyright © 2001 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 312 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Alzheimer's Protein Dements Flies In Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, neurons die stuffed with cellular debris, consisting mainly of a protein called tau. Now a new fruit fly burdened with tau loses brain cells when it gets old. The model could help uncover new clues about how tau might torpedo neurons. Tau normally stabilizes neuron microtubules, a kind of rail system that runs through neurons and helps transport molecules to nerve endings. In Alzheimer's and other diseases, tau proteins clump together into tangles. Some researchers speculate that neurons are killed by tangles that gum up their internal works, although others suggest that free-floating tau does the damage, perhaps by causing oxidative damage or urging cells to kill themselves. --DAN FERBER Copyright © 2001 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 309 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Huntington's disease: Italian discovery may suggest a new approach for developing therapies Like a good parent, a protein called huntingtin helps to safeguard key nerve cells in the brain. When the huntingtin protein is defective, however, certain neurons can become damaged, resulting in Huntington's Disease, a debilitating and fatal form of brain degeneration characterized by physical, mental and emotional disturbances. The discovery of one of normal huntingtin's exact functions within the brain--to be published online by the journal, Science, as part of the Science Express web site on 14 June--suggests novel therapeutic strategies to fight the disorder.

Keyword: Huntingtons
Link ID: 308 - Posted: 10.20.2001

A brain in doubt leaves it out JOHN WHITFIELD We are the prisoners of our brains. We see only what they decide to let us see. Researchers now illustrate this with an illusion in which the brain erases some aspects of the visual field. Yoram Bonneh, of the Smith–Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco, and colleagues have been showing people a swirling pattern of blue dots superimposed on some stationary yellow dots1. 1.Bonneh, Y. S., Cooperman, A. & Sagi, D. Motion-induced blindness in normal observers. Nature 411, 798–801 (2001). © Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2001 - NATURE NEWS SERVICE. Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2001 Reg. No. 785998 England.

Keyword: Attention
Link ID: 307 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Telling Brain Cells to Grow Up Children mature at different rates, and so do brain cells. But the proteins and signals that allow a cell to stay immature or commit to a specific fate are still unknown. Now, scientists report that a pair of proteins that helps to translate signals from the outside of the cell to the nucleus also may play a role in a cell's maturation. A sobering fact behind all the excitement over stem cells and their possible use in new therapies is that researchers don't yet know what molecular signals control a cell's fate--information they need if they want to coax the cells to become, say, replacement neurons in Parkinson's patients. --GRETCHEN VOGEL Copyright © 2001 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 305 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Expressions of individuality JOHN WHITFIELD You catch a glimpse of someone you think you know, but who you haven't seen for years. You're not sure it's them, then something - a raise of the eyebrow, a toss of the head - gives them away. Without any other information, we can recognize and sex individuals from how they move their heads and faces, researchers now report1. The finding could improve face-recognition security and help to humanize animated 'synthespians'. 1.Hill, H. & Johnston, A. Categorizing sex and identity from the biological motion of faces. Current Biology 11, 880–885 (2001). Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2001 Reg. No. 785998 England.

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 304 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Boing! It's a Minke Whale Unusually close encounters with dwarf minke whales have allowed marine biologists for the first time to record sounds produced by this elusive animal--including one noise unlike that made by any other whale. The eavesdropping is already helping researchers study the animals' movements and behavior. Biologists have recently learned that orcas jabber in local dialects, and humpbacks sing long complex songs that change through time (ScienceNOW, 29 November 2000). But the vocalizations of the less known minke whales have remained enigmatic. Only one type of sound had ever been definitely attributed to a minke, and the dwarf minke of Australia's Great Barrier Reef was virtually unknown. ... --JAY WITHGOTT Copyright © 2001 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Animal Communication
Link ID: 303 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Mounting evidence prompts NIH to embrace a once-marginal field
By Steve Bunk
For years, mind-body research has been conducted at the perimeters of the scientific mainstream, but that marginalization appears to have ended, as the National Institutes of Health funnels money and personnel into interdisciplinary investigations of the relationship between mental states and physical health. Oddly, the way mind-body medicine has achieved this acceptance is by establishing the very molecular and cellular evidence of the role that the mind plays in bodily health that it once eschewed. During the 1920s in Germany and Austria, a movement arose to counteract laboratory-based medicine by emphasizing mental and behavioral aspects of disease treatment.1 That movement, dubbed psychosomatics and today often called mind-body medicine, experienced ebbs and flows of favor over succeeding decades. But under a $50 million initiative, NIH has established 10 centers around the country for mind-body research since 1999. Esther M. Sternberg, director of the National Institute of Mental Health's integrative neural immune program, which has spearheaded recent mind-body research collaborations throughout NIH, declares that "rigorous scientific evidence" has allowed the mainstream medical world "to welcome us with open arms." The Scientist 15[12]:8, Jun. 11, 2001 © Copyright 2001, The Scientist, Inc. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 302 - Posted: 10.20.2001

The molecules of pain How does the sensation of pain originate at the tips of our nerves? Some recently discovered molecules help to demystify these processes, as Michael Gross reports Ouch, that hurt! But it is a good thing, too. It is vital for our well-being that heat, wounds, and other potentially dangerous stimuli are reported immediately and drastically. For this reason we have nerve cells specialising in pain perception (nociceptors) in every millimetre of the skin. When an injury happens, they send electrical messages back to our central nervous system. That part of the process is fairly well understood. But what happens at the very tip of the nerve, at the cell membrane of the nociceptor, where this signal originates? Touch and pain have long been among the more poorly understood of our senses at a biochemical level. In recent years, however, scientists have found new molecules and mechanisms that could provide the answers to a whole host of questions. This web site is © copyright of Royal Society of Chemistry, 2000

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 301 - Posted: 10.20.2001

HELEN PEARSON
A cell door that automatically snaps shut in milliseconds - this isn't the latest jailbreak deterrent but a fundamental part of our cells. Nearly 50 years after this microscopic marvel was discovered, researchers in New York have dissected the inner workings of the molecule responsible for generating the body's electrical impulses1. All excitable cells - such as those responsible for nerve signals, muscle contraction or the heart beat - depend on ion channels in the cell membrane. Triggered to open by a small voltage, such channels let through a flood of electrically charged ions, then promptly slam shut. The 'ball-and-chain' model was put forward in the 1970s to explain how this 'inactivation' occurs. The model suggested that a plug - or ball - swinging on a molecular 'chain' on the inside of the channel stops up the opening. Now Roderick MacKinnon and his colleagues at Rockefeller University in New York have found that the ball is more like a snake that sneaks inside the channel to block it. 1.Zhou, M., Morais-Cabral, J. H., Mann, S. & MacKinnon, R. Potassium channel receptor site for the inactivation gate and quaternary amine inhibitors. Nature 411, 657–661 (2001). © Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2001 - NATURE NEWS SERVICE Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2001 Reg. No. 785998 England.

Keyword: Neurotoxins
Link ID: 300 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Alzheimer's Disease Meets its Boxing Match Molecular Link between Alzheimer's and "Punch Drunk" Syndrome Found in Humans (Philadelphia, PA) - In the fight to link brain injuries and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) in humans, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have found a strong contender in the molecular weight category. Abnormal tau proteins, which form fibrous tangles in the brains of AD sufferers, are identical to the abnormal tau proteins found in patients with Dementia Pugilistica (DP), a memory disorder also known as Punch Drunk - or Boxer's - Syndrome. Researchers from Penn's Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR) compared the brains of people with a genetic history of AD and the brains of DP sufferers to discover if there is a molecular basis in humans for the notion that brain injuries could predispose a person to AD. Their findings, published in the June issue of the international neurology journal Acta Neuropathologica, suggest that lesions in the two disorders arise through similar means.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 298 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Stem Cell Transplants The treatment of neurological ailments with transplant strategies that replace damaged or missing cells in the nervous system with a healthy crop is getting a push forward thanks to stem cells. These special cells can be derived from a variety of tissue types in the lab and persuaded to mass-produce fresh cell crops, according to studies. Even more encouraging, new findings in animals provide evidence that transplants of the cell batches survive and aid malfunctioning nervous systems. Add some grass seed, fertilizer and T.L.C. Voila! The once sparse and withered patch of lawn grows lush blades of green beauty. Neuroscientists have long dreamed of treating the battered brain similar to the way a landscaper treats a battered yard. But instead of grass seeds, they envisioned planting a fresh, healthy crop of cells. Instead of the earth, they envisioned placing these cells into the nervous system. And instead of replacing grass to boost curb appeal, they envisioned replacing damaged or missing cells to treat a variety of neurological ailments.

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 297 - Posted: 10.20.2001

St. Louis, May 29, 2001 – Scientists have discovered that, unlike many other animals, humans have a reserve of oxygen in the brain. This buffer allows the brain to adapt to arduous situations without demanding a sharp increase in blood flow. "Our finding challenges the previously accepted idea that blood flow increases occur during tasks such as reading to raise oxygen levels in the brain," says study leader Mark A. Mintun, M.D. "That idea has been long assumed in brain imaging studies that attempt to understand how the human brain functions."

Keyword: Brain imaging
Link ID: 296 - Posted: 06.24.2010

HELEN PEARSON
Hey man, dig those spaced-out fish. Researchers have found a real space cadet - a mutant zebrafish that swims towards danger, rather than away from it1. Misplaced connections in its brain reveal that a single type of cell controls the urge to get away. Poke a baby zebrafish (Danio rerio) in the head and it normally flips and swims for its life. However, Michael Granato and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia searched for mutants whose escape response is up the spout. 1.Lorent, K., Liu, K. S., Fetcho, J. R. & Granato, M. The zebrafish space cadet gene controls axonal pathfinding of neurons that modulate fast turning movements. Development 128, 2131–2142 (2001). © Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2001 - NATURE NEWS SERVICE Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2001 Reg. No. 785998 England.

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 295 - Posted: 06.24.2010