Researchers Discover Molecule That Detects Touch [HHMI press release] October 26, 2000- Researchers have identified a protein that may play an important role in sensing delicate touch. According to the scientists, their finding may offer new avenues for investigating the molecular basis of touch. In an article published in the October 26, 2000, issue of the journal Nature, a research team that included Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Michael J. Welsh reported that knocking out the gene BNC1 in mice greatly reduces the ability to sense light touch. Deleting the gene impairs the function of receptors that surround the hair follicles on the animal's skin. When a hair is touched, receptors near the hair fire, triggering a nerve impulse that signals that the hair has been moved. (c) 2000 Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 71 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Stemming the flow of neurons VALERIE DEPRAETERE Researchers have taken a step towards understanding the very beginnings of the human nervous system. James A. Weston at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon and his colleagues have worked out what restricts and regulates the different possible fates of a neural stem cell. Such insights are vital for the development of stem cell therapies. In the early days of a vertebrate embryo's development, the cells destined to innervate the body become specialised or ‘differentiate' as they migrate from where they are produced to where they are needed. Thus, different cell types are eventually located in appropriate locations. .... 1.Maynard, T. M., Wakamatsu, Y. and Weston, J. A. Cell interactions within nascent neural crest cell populations transiently promote death of neurogenic precursors. Development 127, 4561–4572 (2000). Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2000 - NATURE NEWS SERVICE Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2000 Reg. No. 785998 England.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 70 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By EMILY EAKIN
A runaway train is about to hit five men, and the only way to save them is by pushing the person next to you onto the tracks in front of it. Should you do it? Most people say no. To explain that response, philosophers have turned to Aristotle and Kant. Joshua Greene, a graduate student in philosophy at Princeton, turned to neuroscience instead: he took brain scans. (C) 2000 New York Times Company

Keyword: Emotions
Link ID: 69 - Posted: 10.20.2001

A Pain in the Bladder When you injure yourself, a complex molecular signal delivers the "ouch" to your brain. Two new studies show how one protein, known as P2X3, helps transmit that signal. But they also suggest P2X3 could play a role in treating an overactive bladder. A host of compounds, such as bradykinin and prostaglandins and an energy-rich molecule called ATP, are released to trigger the pain response when we sustain an injury. In 1995, scientists discovered that P2X3, which is found in damage-sensing neurons, allows ions to flow in and out of neuron cells when it binds to ATP. This suggested that P2X3 was also involved in pain, but scientists didn't have proof that it actually carried the pain signal. ..... --R. JOHN DAVENPORT Copyright © 2000 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 68 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Putting the Brake on Parkinson's By injecting a gene hitched to a virus into the brains of monkeys, scientists have alleviated symptoms of Parkinson's disease in the animals. The experiment, reported in the 27 October issue of Science, marks the first successful use of this gene therapy technique in primates; scientists say it holds promise for arresting Parkinson's disease and similar disorders in humans. Parkinson's disease, which affects about 1 million Americans, destroys dopamine-producing neurons in the brain. As dopamine levels fall, the disease's characteristic symptoms appear: tremors, rigidity, and difficulty in initiating motion. In the early 1990s scientists discovered that glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a protein produced in embryonic brain stems and other nervous system tissue, strongly stimulates the growth of dopamine neurons. Since then, two groups of researchers have successfully alleviated Parkinson's-like symptoms in rats by using viruses to carry GDNF genes into the animals' brains. Encouraged by this work, a team of scientists led by Jeffrey Kordower, a neuroscientist at Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, took the next step: introducing the GDNF genes into rhesus monkeys. ..... --LIESE GREENSFELDER Copyright © 2000 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Parkinsons
Link ID: 67 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Emotionally and Physically, Says New Study
APA News Release--Talking About Fears Associated With Decreased Distress, Increased Vigor and Fewer Cancer-Related Medical Visits Washington - Women's use of coping through emotional expression, such as talking about their fears, following primary treatment for breast cancer is associated with less distress and a better health outlook than for women who avoid expressing their emotions, according to a new study of breast cancer patients. The benefits of this type of coping are apparent even several months following diagnosis and are associated with fewer medical appointments for problems related to cancer and its treatment. The findings appear in the October issue of the American Psychological Association's (APA) Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Article: "Emotionally Expressive Coping Predicts Psychological and Physical Adjustment to Breast Cancer," Annette L. Stanton, Ph.D., Sharon Danoff-Burg, Ph.D., Christine L. Cameron, Ph.D., Michelle Bishop, Ph.D., Charlotte A. Collins, Ph.D., Sarah B Kirk, Ph.D., and Lisa A. Sworowski, Ph.D., University of Kansas and Robert Twillman, Ph.D., University of Kansas Medical Center; Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 68, No. 5.

Keyword: Emotions
Link ID: 66 - Posted: 10.20.2001

lifelines : Solving the pain puzzle DAVID ADAM The ancient Greeks believed that pain was an emotion, not a true physical sensation. Hit your thumb with a hammer and you do feel pretty emotional, but scientists now know that pain begins as a biochemical response to injury, extreme heat or some other trauma. So the pain of a broken thumb should be easier to fix than the agony of a broken heart. In recent years, researchers have identified several chemical signal molecules that seem to activate pain-sensing nerves called ‘nociceptors', used to inform the brain quickly that their part of the body is in some kind of trouble. Others have even identified the receptors that bind these chemical signals and trigger the pain message. Targeting these receptors with drugs could turn off pain. But it is difficult to assess the possible benefits and side effects that this may bring, because most research so far has only been carried out in test tubes. ..... 1.Caterina, M. J. et al. The capsaicin receptor: a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway. Nature 389, 816–824 (1997). 2.Caterina, M. J. et al. Impaired nociception and pain sensation in mice lacking the capsaicin receptor. Science 288, 306–313 (2000). 3.Davis, J. B. et al. Vanilloid receptor-1 is essential for inflammatory thermal hyperalgesia. Nature 405, 183–187 (2000). 4.Cockayne, D. A. et al. Urinary bladder hyporeflexia and reduced pain-related behaviour in P2X3-deficient mice. Nature 407, 1011–1015 (2000). 5.Souslova, V. et al. Warm-coding deficits and aberrant inflammatory pain in mice lacking P2X3 receptors. Nature 407, 1015–1017 (2000). Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2000 - NATURE NEWS SERVICE Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2000 Reg. No. 785998 England.

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 65 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Progress in auditory hair cell studies in birds points way to possible human hearing improvement Scientists have known for years that birds' ears do something human ears cannot: when hair cells in the avian ear are destroyed, the bird goes deaf only temporarily. Now, research at the University of Washington is showing why. In a paper published in the Oct. 24 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Edwin W. Rubel, the Bloedel professor of hearing science, and Research Assistant Professor Jennifer Stone explain what is known about how the process works in birds. Once that mechanism is completely traced, the next step will be studies of how that knowledge might be transferred to mammals, including humans.

Keyword: Regeneration
Link ID: 64 - Posted: 10.20.2001

STUDY OF CHILDHOOD BRAIN TUMOR REVEALS INTRIGUING CORRELATION TO SUCH FACTORS AS BIRTH DATE AND GENDER BOSTON - A review of 15 years of patient records by researchers at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center indicates that children who develop medulloblastoma, a common childhood brain cancer, were more likely to have been born in late summer or fall than the average U.S. population. If environmental factors that vary seasonally, such as water pollutants, could be identified and examined for their effects on brain development in the womb, this finding may eventually help clarify some causes of these tumors, suggested Dr. Edward Halperin, leader of the study and chair of radiation oncology at Duke University Medical Center.

Keyword: Biological Rhythms
Link ID: 63 - Posted: 11.06.2001

Truth or dare JESSA NETTING Advertising standards laws exist in animal courtship, it seems, as well in as business. Weaker male sticklebacks - small territorial fish of the Baltic Sea - fool females by fudging their credentials as worthy parents. But they are found out when stronger male competitors call their bluff, a new study shows. Off the coast of southern Finland, male three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) advertise their virility and readiness to mate by a swatch of bright red colour on their sides. The colour, derived from rare chemicals (beta-carotenoids) in the fishes' diet, is a mark of disposable income. It symbolizes a good catch: a male healthy and wealthy enough to throw away valuable resources on show. 1.Candolin, U. Increased signaling effort when survival prospects decrease: male–male competition ensures honesty. Animal Behaviour 60 (2000). Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2000 - NATURE NEWS SERVICE Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2000 Reg. No. 785998 England.

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 62 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Literally Speaking by Deborah Blum Last spring, Virginia geneticist Irving Gottesman experienced a career first: He was chased by the paparazzi, cameras clicking as he hurried from a Hong Kong courthouse back to his hotel. Gottesman, a pioneering behavioral geneticist at the University of Virginia, was the main expert witness in a lawsuit challenging a Chinese law that forbids children of schizophrenics from holding government security positions such as policmen and ambulance drivers. The Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission had asked him to testify on behalf of three men. All three had been refused work because they had a schizophrenic parent. None of the men showed a trace of mental illness. "Lots of people -- not just in government -- draw the conclusion that children of schizophrenics are bound to inherit the disease," says Gottesman. "And they are absolutely wrong." Copyright © 2000 Discovery Communications Inc.

Keyword: Schizophrenia
Link ID: 61 - Posted: 10.20.2001

F.D.A. Ban Sought on Chemical Used for Cold Remedies By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 19 - A panel of scientific experts recommended today that a common ingredient in decongestants and appetite suppressants be removed from over- the-counter products, citing new evidence that the chemical may increase the risk of stroke in young women. The panel's recommendation to the Food and Drug Administration is not binding, although the agency usually follows the recommendations of its outside experts. Agency officials must now decide whether to issue a rule that would permit the ingredient, phenylpropanolamine, to remain over the counter, or restrict it to prescription drugs. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 60 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Study describes brain changes during learning Brown neuroscientists who taught rats a new skill found that not only had the animals' behavior changed but so had their brains. The research appears in the current Science. PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A new study by brain scientists at Brown University provides evidence that learning engages a brain process called long-term potentiation (LTP), which in turn strengthens synapses in the cerebral cortex. The study provides the strongest evidence to date to support the 25-year-old hypothesis, generally accepted by neuroscientists, that learning uses LTP to produce changes in the connections (synapses) between brain cells (neurons) that are necessary to acquire and store new information, said lead author Mengia-Seraina Rioult-Pedotti.

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 59 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Gene Therapy Rescues Brain Cells In Parkinson's Model Boston, MA -- A gene therapy "cocktail" can successfully prevent the destruction of critical brain cells in an animal model of Parkinson's disease, according to a study presented at the American Neurological Association's 125th annual meeting, October 15 through 18 in Boston. Researchers from the University of Tubingen in Germany reported that they were able to prevent the death of dopamine neurons, which are selectively destroyed in the disorder, by simultaneously interfering with "executioner" molecules called caspases and nourishing brain cells with molecules called growth factors.

Keyword: Parkinsons
Link ID: 58 - Posted: 10.20.2001

PHILADELPHIA--For years, researchers have struggled to learn exactly why moderate drinkers are less prone to heart disease than those who abstain or hardly drink at all. Is it the alcohol itself, or something else in their drinks? Now, a genetic study may tip the scales in favor of alcohol. But the finding, announced here 6 October at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, also shows that the protective effects of a drink depend on your genes. Since the early 1980s, studies have shown that moderate drinkers live longer and are less likely to suffer a heart attack than teetotalers. Several compounds have been touted as responsible for this benefit. Most recently, a study pointed to resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine (ScienceNOW, 10 July). But Lisa Hines and her colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston believe that ethanol--the scientific word for the alcohol in your drink--deserves the credit. ..... --JOHN S. MacNEIL Copyright © 2000 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 57 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Mysteries of Sex Remain Why does sex exist? After all, plenty of organisms, from dividing microbes to plants that grow from cuttings, do perfectly well without it. Although researchers can't say decisively what sex is for, they have now ruled out one common explanation: It's not for weeding out mutations. Sexual reproduction is extremely inefficient compared to asexual cloning, because half of a population doesn't produce any offspring. Puzzling over why organisms bother, some scientists have claimed that sex helps rid a population of harmful mutations. Because sexual reproduction mixes and reshuffles genomes, some offspring might escape with few or none of the genetic errors that burden their parents. This idea, launched in the 1960s by geneticist Hermann Muller, has remained among evolutionary biologists' pet theories ever since.

Keyword: Epilepsy
Link ID: 56 - Posted: 10.20.2001

It's official: thin is in when beauty is in question. Jessa Netting reports. 18 October 2000 JESSA NETTING Healthy women are almost as bad as anorexics and bulimics when it comes to having distorted perceptions of others' bodies, psychologists report in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B1. Martin Tovée, Joanne Emery and Esther Cohen-Tovée of the University of Newcastle and St. George's Hospital in Northumberland draw this conclusion from their interviews with 204 women. One sixth of their sample were anorexic, another sixth bulimic and the remainder were judged not to have an eating disorder.

Keyword: Anorexia & Bulimia
Link ID: 55 - Posted: 10.20.2001

The 'yuck' factor When you screw up your face in disgust, it disgusts those looking at you, warns Jessa Netting. 16 October 2000 JESSA NETTING When you see someone frown, wrinkle their nose and curl their lip into the distinctive expression of disgust, it triggers the same neural systems that feel disgust, essentially recreating the emotion in your own brain, researchers announce in the latest Nature Neuroscience1. To find out more about the anatomy of disgust, Andrew Calder of the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and colleagues enlisted the help of a man, 'NK', with physical brain damage mirroring that experienced by Huntington's patients. As in Huntington's disease, NK's brain damage has apparently obliterated those areas essential to distinguishing disgust on the faces of other people.

Keyword: Emotions
Link ID: 54 - Posted: 10.20.2001

How the Body Knows When to Gain or Lose By GINA KOLATA When Dr. Jeffrey Flier decided to specialize in diabetes, he knew that most of his patients would be fat. Obesity is a leading cause of the disease. And weight loss is the best way for most fat diabetic patients to get their disease under control. But after years of seeing patient after patient, fat and frantic to lose weight, Dr. Flier retreated to the lab. Although he still treats people with diabetes, he no longer treats obesity. He has rebuffed all suggestions by his hospital, Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston, that he run a weight loss clinic.

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 53 - Posted: 10.20.2001

A Theorist With Personal Experience of the Divide Between the Sexes By CAROL KAESUK YOON AN FRANCISCO - Speaking to a standing room only crowd at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Snowbird, Utah, Dr. Joan Roughgarden, one of the world's most influential theoretical ecologists, is methodically taking apart the way that biologists think about sex. Providing details that make some titter and shift nervously in their seats, she is re-thinking orgasms and the architecture of female genitals, making arguments for the existence of more than two genders and presenting evidence for widespread homosexual copulation in the wild.

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 52 - Posted: 10.20.2001