Avoiding temptation works better than relying on willpower alone, a study of brain activity finds. "Struggles with self-control pervade daily life and characterize an array of dysfunctional behaviours, including addiction, overeating, overspending and procrastination," Molly Crockett, a postdoctoral fellow at University College London, and her co-authors said in today's issue of the journal Neuron. "Our research suggests that the most effective way to beat temptations is to avoid facing them in the first place," she said in a release. In the experiment, researchers studied 58 healthy heterosexual males in Cambridge and 20 in Amsterdam. Investigators used functional MRI as part of the study of self-control to explore the neural mechanisms involved. At the beginning of the trial, participants were shown a series of 400 images of women in lingerie or swimwear and were asked to rank them on a scale of zero to 10 on how enjoyable they were. Each man's preferences were then used to present small, short-term rewards or a large reward after a delay. Small rewards were mildly enjoyable erotic pictures and large rewards were extremely enjoyable ones. (The scientists said they could not use money, for example, since subjects could only reap the rewards of money once they left the lab. Food rewards like juice could interfere with the MRI readings.) © CBC 2013

Keyword: Attention; Obesity
Link ID: 18405 - Posted: 07.25.2013

By Simon Makin One common complaint about psychiatry is its subjective nature: it lacks definitive tests for many diseases. So the idea of diagnosing disorders using only brain scans holds great appeal. A paper published recently in PLOS ONE describes such a system, although it was presented only as an initial proof of concept. News reports, however, trumpeted the advent of “objective” psychiatric diagnoses. The paper used data from several earlier studies, in which researchers outlined key brain regions in MRI scans of people with bipolar disorder, ADHD, schizophrenia or Tourette's syndrome; people with low or high risk of developing major depressive disorder; and a healthy group. The scans were also labeled with the disorder or depression risk level of the original study participant. In the new study, scientists divided the scans randomly into two sets, one to build the diagnostic system and the other to test it. Their software then grouped the scans in the first set by the shape of various regions. Each group was labeled with the most common diagnosis found within it. During testing, the system analyzed the shapes of brain regions in each test scan and assigned it to the group it most resembled. The scientists checked its work by comparing the new labels on the test scans with the original clinical diagnoses. They repeated the procedure several times with different randomly generated sets. When the system chose between two disorders or one ailment and a clean bill of health, its accuracy was nearly perfect. When deciding among three alternatives, it did much worse. © 2013 Scientific American

Keyword: Brain imaging; Schizophrenia
Link ID: 18404 - Posted: 07.23.2013

Recycling is not only good for the environment, it’s good for the brain. A study using rat cells indicates that quickly clearing out defective proteins in the brain may prevent loss of brain cells. Results of a study in Nature Chemical Biology suggest that the speed at which damaged proteins are cleared from neurons may affect cell survival and may explain why some cells are targeted for death in neurodegenerative disorders. The research was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health. One of the mysteries surrounding neurodegenerative diseases is why some nerve cells are marked for destruction whereas their neighbors are spared. It is especially puzzling because the protein thought to be responsible for cell death is found throughout the brain in many of these diseases, yet only certain brain areas or cell types are affected. In Huntington’s disease and many other neurodegenerative disorders, proteins that are misfolded (have abnormal shapes), accumulate inside and around neurons and are thought to damage and kill nearby brain cells. Normally, cells sense the presence of malformed proteins and clear them away before they do any damage. This is regulated by a process called proteostasis, which the cell uses to control protein levels and quality. In the study, Andrey S. Tsvetkov and his colleagues showed that differences in the rate of proteostasis may be the clue to understanding why certain nerve cells die in Huntington’s, a genetic brain disorder that leads to uncontrolled movements and death.

Keyword: Huntingtons
Link ID: 18403 - Posted: 07.23.2013

By Scicurious We all know we should get more sleep, we’re just not very good at it. In fact, we’re so BAD at it that 28.3% of us (as of 2007, anyway) got less than 6 hours of sleep per night. Really, are we surprised? After all, there are kids that wake up in the night, stress that keeps us awake, always more things to do, multiple jobs, and only so many hours in the day. But that lack of sleep can have some not so great effects on our bodies. It decreases things like cognitive performance, increases anxiety, and…it’s not good for our waistlines. Sleep loss is associated with higher caloric intake, when you can’t sleep you eat. But does this increased caloric intake translate to weight gain? The biggest positive point of this study on sleep restriction was how LARGE it was. When doing human studies that are not large scale surveys (which usually involve phone calls or mail in or online and therefore are less expensive) it costs a LOT of money to bring some people in to the lab to do nothing but hang out and sleep for a week, especially if you are watching for things like food intake (and controlling what they eat). I’m very pleased that they got these numbers, 225 people! The authors took these 225 people, and brought them into the lab. They got two baseline nights (to see how much they naturally slept), 5 sleep restriction nights, and then another 2 recovery nights. But unfortunately, they did not balance the control and sleep restriction, where they were restricted down to FOUR HOURS a night of sleep (ick). They only had 27 controls out of all of these (people allowed to sleep fully all the nights of the study), the rest were sleep restriction. I have to wonder why they did it this way. While the two original nights and the two recovery nights could in theory serve as a partial control, I don’t think that those would work. After all, if most people are slightly sleep restricted, the original two nights will be recovery as well, and both sets of recovery nights may not be representative of optimal sleep. © 2013 Scientific American

Keyword: Sleep; Obesity
Link ID: 18402 - Posted: 07.23.2013

By Michelle Warwicker BBC Nature Individual wild wolves can be recognised by just their howls with 100% accuracy, a study has shown. The team from Nottingham Trent University, UK, developed a computer program to analyse the vocal signatures of eastern grey wolves. Wolves roam huge home ranges, making it difficult for conservationists to track them visually. But the technology could provide a way for experts to monitor individual wolves by sound alone. "Wolves howl a lot in the wild," said PhD student Holly Root-Gutteridge, who led the research. "Now we can be sure... exactly which wolf it is that's howling." The team's findings are published in the journal Bioacoustics. Wolves use their distinctive calls to protect territory from rivals and to call to other pack members. "They enjoy it as a group activity," said Ms Root-Gutteridge, "When you get a chorus howl going they all join in." The team's computer program is unique because it analyses both volume (or amplitude) and pitch (or frequency) of wolf howls, whereas previously scientists had only examined the animals' pitch. "Think of [pitch] as the note the wolf is singing," explained Ms Root-Gutteridge. "What we've added now is the amplitude - or volume - which is basically how loud it's singing at different times." "It's a bit like language: If you put the stress in different places you form a different sound." BBC © 2013

Keyword: Language; Evolution
Link ID: 18401 - Posted: 07.23.2013

By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC World Service Scientists have found further evidence that dolphins call each other by "name". Research has revealed that the marine mammals use a unique whistle to identify each other. A team from the University of St Andrews in Scotland found that when the animals hear their own call played back to them, they respond. The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr Vincent Janik, from the university's Sea Mammal Research Unit, said: "(Dolphins) live in this three-dimensional environment, offshore without any kind of landmarks and they need to stay together as a group. "These animals live in an environment where they need a very efficient system to stay in touch." It had been-long suspected that dolphins use distinctive whistles in much the same way that humans use names. Previous research found that these calls were used frequently, and dolphins in the same groups were able to learn and copy the unusual sounds. But this is the first time that the animals response to being addressed by their "name" has been studied. To investigate, researchers recorded a group of wild bottlenose dolphins, capturing each animal's signature sound. BBC © 2013

Keyword: Language; Evolution
Link ID: 18400 - Posted: 07.23.2013

by Virginia Morell The next time your dog digs a hole in the backyard after watching you garden, don't punish him. He's just imitating you. A new study reveals that our canine pals are capable of copying our behavior as long as 10 minutes after it's happened. The ability is considered mentally demanding and, until this discovery, something that only humans and apes were known to do. Scientists first discovered that dogs are excellent at imitating their owners in 2006. Or at least, one dog had the talent: Philip, a 4-year-old Belgian Tervuren working with József Topál, a behavioral ethologist at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. Topál adapted the method (called "Do as I do") that Keith and Catherine Hayes developed in the 1950s for teaching an infant chimpanzee to copy their actions. Philip was already a trained assistant dog for his disabled owner and readily followed Topál's commands. First, Topál told him to stay, and then commanded "Do as I do." The researcher then performed a simple action, such as jumping in place, barking, putting an object in a box, or carrying it to Philip's owner. Next, Topál ordered, "Do it!", and Philip responded by matching the scientist's actions. The experiment was designed to explore dog's imitative abilities, not to measure how long Philip's memory lasted; but his owner used Philip's skill to teach him how to do new, useful behaviors, such as fetching objects or putting things away. Despite Philip's abilities, "nobody really cared, or saw that it could be useful for investigating how dogs learn or see their world," says Ádám Miklósi, a behavioral ethologist at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest who was part of Topál's team. And in 2009, another team concluded that dogs were only able to correctly imitate if there was no more than a 5-second delay between watching the action and repeating it. With such a short retention span, dogs' vaunted imitation skills seemed useless. © 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Evolution
Link ID: 18399 - Posted: 07.23.2013

Steve Connor Author Biography The prospect of restoring the sight of blind people with stem-cell transplants has come a step closer with a study showing that it is possible to grow the light-sensitive cells of the eye in a dish with the help of an artificial retina, scientists said. For the first time, researchers have not only grown the photoreceptors of the eye in the laboratory from stem cells but transplanted them into eyes of blind mice where the cells have become fully integrated into the complex retinal tissue. So far the scientists have been unable to show any improvement in the vision of the blind mice – but they are confident that this will soon be possible in further experiments, which should enable them to move to the first clinical trials on patients within five years. Professor Robin Ali of University College London, who led the research at the Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital, said that the technique could lead to stem cell transplants for improving the vision of thousands of people with degenerative eye disorders caused by the progressive loss of photosensitive cells. “The breakthrough here is that we’ve demonstrated we can transplant photoreceptors derived from embryonic stem cells into adult mice. It paves the way to a human clinical trial because now we have a clear route map of how to do it,” Professor Ali said. The loss of photosensitive cells, the rods and cones of the retina, is a leading cause of sight loss in a number of degenerative eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and diabetes-related blindness. © independent.co.uk

Keyword: Vision; Stem Cells
Link ID: 18398 - Posted: 07.23.2013

The author of a new six-step plan for Canadian doctors treating concussion patients warns that many people are unaware you don't need to hit your head to get a concussion. Dr. Charles Tator of the neurosurgery division at the University of Toronto wrote in Monday's Canadian Medical Association And for doctors and other trained health professionals in remote regions who have the responsibility for diagnosing concussions, Tator's primer summarizes how to detect and assess the injury. Concussions are the most common traumatic brain injury, often occurring during vehicle collisions, work activities, sports, recreation and falls in seniors. Females may be more prone to concussion than males, said Dr. Charles Tator.Females may be more prone to concussion than males, said Dr. Charles Tator. (CBC) It's now clear concussion can occur without direct impact to the head. For instance, a blow to the chest can cause a whiplash effect on the brain that jiggles the organ. Everyone who is involved in sports should be aware of the importance of recognizing concussions, he said. The most frequent symptoms are headache, dizziness, nausea and imbalance. Only one symptom is needed for the diagnosis. "The importance of accurate and timely recognition and management stems from the consequences of misdiagnosis or faulty management that can lead to major disability or death, in both the short and long term," Tator wrote. © CBC 2013

Keyword: Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 18397 - Posted: 07.23.2013

By Melinda Wenner Moyer Many studies over the past decade have pointed to pesticides as a potential cause of Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative condition that impairs motor function and afflicts a million Americans. Yet scientists have not had a good idea of how these chemicals harm the brain. A recent study suggests a possible answer: pesticides may inhibit a biochemical pathway that normally protects dopaminergic neurons, the brain cells selectively attacked by the disease. Preliminary research also indicates that this pathway plays a role in Parkinson's even when pesticides are not involved, providing an exciting new target for drug development. Past studies have shown that a pesticide called benomyl, which lingers in the environment despite having been banned in the U.S. in 2001 because of health concerns, inhibits the chemical activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in the liver. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, U.C. Berkeley, the California Institute of Technology and the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center wondered whether the pesticide might also affect levels of ALDH in the brain. ALDH's job is to break down DOPAL, a naturally forming toxic chemical, rendering it harmless. To find out, the researchers exposed different types of human brain cells—and, later, whole zebra fish—to benomyl. They found that it “killed almost half of the dopamine neurons while leaving all other neurons tested intact,” according to lead author and U.C.L.A. neurologist Jeff Bronstein. When they zeroed in on the affected cells, they confirmed that the benomyl was indeed inhibiting the activity of ALDH, which in turn spurred the toxic accumulation of DOPAL. Interestingly, when the scientists lowered DOPAL levels using a different technique, benomyl did not harm the dopamine neurons, a finding that suggests that the pesticide kills these neurons specifically because it allows DOPAL to build up. © 2013 Scientific American,

Keyword: Parkinsons; Neurotoxins
Link ID: 18396 - Posted: 07.20.2013

by Virginia Morell A single cue—the taste of a madeleine, a small cake, dipped in lime tea—was all Marcel Proust needed to be transported down memory lane. He had what scientists term an autobiographical memory of the events, a type of memory that many researchers consider unique to humans. Now, a new study argues that at least two species of great apes, chimpanzees and orangutans, have a similar ability; in zoo experiments, the animals drew on 3-year-old memories to solve a problem. Their findings are the first report of such a long-lasting memory in nonhuman animals. The work supports the idea that autobiographical memory may have evolved as a problem-solving aid, but researchers caution that the type of memory system the apes used remains an open question. Elephants can remember, they say, but many scientists think that animals have a very different kind of memory than our own. Many can recall details about their environment and routes they've traveled. But having explicit autobiographical memories of things "I" did, or remembering events that occurred in the past, or imagining those in the future—so-called mental time travel—are considered by many psychologists to be uniquely human skills. Until recently, scientists argued that animals are stuck in time, meaning that they have no sense of the past or future and that they aren't able to recall specific events from their lives—that is, they don't have episodic memories, the what-where-when of an event that happened. © 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Evolution
Link ID: 18395 - Posted: 07.20.2013

By GINA KOLATA The mice were eating their usual chow and exercising normally, but they were getting fat anyway. The reason: researchers had deleted a gene that acts in the brain and controls how quickly calories are burned. Even though they were consuming exactly the same number of calories as lean mice, they were gaining weight. So far, only one person — a severely obese child — has been found to have a disabling mutation in the same gene. But the discovery of the same effect in mice and in the child — a finding published Wednesday in the journal Science — may help explain why some people put on weight easily while others eat all they want and seem never to gain an ounce. It may also offer clues to a puzzle in the field of obesity: Why do studies find that people gain different amounts of weight while overeating by the same amount? Scientists have long thought explanations for why some people get fat might lie in their genes. They knew body weight was strongly inherited. Years ago, for example, they found that twins reared apart tended to have similar weights and adoptees tended to have weights like their biological parents, not the ones who reared them. As researchers developed tools to look for the actual genes, they found evidence that many — maybe even hundreds — of genes may be involved, stoking appetites, making people voraciously hungry. This rare gene-disabling mutation, though, is intriguing because it seems to explain something different, a propensity to pile on pounds even while eating what should be a normal amount of food. Investigators are now searching for other mutations of the same gene in fat people that may have a similar, but less extreme effect. The hope is that in the long term, understanding how this gene affects weight gain might lead to treatments for obesity that alter the rate at which calories are burned. © 2013 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Obesity; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 18394 - Posted: 07.20.2013

Here’s yet another reason to get off the couch: new research findings suggest that regularly breaking a sweat may lower the risk of having a stroke. A stroke can occur when a blood vessel in the brain gets blocked. As a result, nearby brain cells will die after not getting enough oxygen and other nutrients. A number of risk factors for stroke have been identified, including smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and being inactive. For this study, published in the journal Stroke, Michelle N. McDonnell, Ph.D., from the University of South Australia, Adelaide and her colleagues obtained data from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. REGARDS is a large, long-term study funded by the NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to look at the reasons behind the higher rates of stroke mortality among African-Americans and other residents living in the Southeastern United States. “Epidemiological studies such as REGARDS provide an important opportunity to explore race, genetics, environmental, and lifestyle choices as stroke risk factors,” said Claudia Moy, Ph.D., program director at NINDS. Over 30,000 participants supplied their medical history over the phone. The researchers also visited them to obtain health measures such as body mass index and blood pressure. At the beginning of the study, the researchers asked participants how many times per week they exercised vigorously enough to work up a sweat. The researchers contacted participants every six months to see if they had experienced a stroke or a mini-stroke known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA). To confirm their responses, the researchers reviewed participants’ medical records.

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 18393 - Posted: 07.20.2013

Jaak Panksepp, the inventor of the term "affective neuroscience", is regarded as a radical in his field, with ground-breaking insights into emotional issues ranging from depression to playfulness. What makes him radical? First, his study of animal emotions, and his data-supported assertion that animals experience feelings as humans do. Using electrical stimulation of the brain, Panksepp has shown that all mammals have the same basic emotional system: i.e. underlying neural networks that are linked to feelings of raw emotion, and respond positively or negatively when aroused. For example, Panksepp has tickled rats to hear them 'laugh' ; in other species, he has conducted extensive experiments on what he calls "separation distress." Today's neuroscientists generally do not bother to consider the emotional life of animals, or put it on par with that of humans. But as Panksepp eloquently argues: "Animals do have emotional systems that generate feelings, even though hardly a neuroscientist yet acknowledges this fact." Second: Panksepp looks at what causes our feelings: the primary, instinctual networks in the brain that make them happen. Most neuroscientists, he confided in our phone conversation between Paris (where I teach) and Washington (where he teaches), look only at symptoms. "They are behaviorists. They follow the tradition of early psychologist William James, who looked at emotion as a mental after-effect, a cognitive read-out of autonomic bodily arousals, rather than as the brain system which drives us." He has been at odds with these behaviorists for most of his career, this despite the fact that Panksepp's major contributions to the field of emotion are now widely accepted, especially by psychotherapists treating patients for emotional concerns such as depression. © 2013 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.

Keyword: Emotions; Depression
Link ID: 18392 - Posted: 07.20.2013

by Brian Mustanski, Ph.D. There is a lot of interest in the question of if too much sex, sexual desire, masturbation, or viewing of pornography is an addiction like to alcohol or cocaine. In fact, an early version of the new DSM-V manual of mental disorders included a “hypersexuality” diagnosis, but this diagnosis was not included in the finalized version. One tool to study addiction is to look at how the brain responds to those substances or cues of those substances. Until recently, this neuroscience approach had not been used to study hypersexuality. A new study published in the journal Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology has tested the brain’s response to sexual stimuli among a group of individuals who identified as having problems controlling their use of online pornography. This new study was published by my colleague (and fellow Indiana University Psychology alumni) Dr. Nicole Prause, who is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California- Los Angeles and a Research Scientist at the Mind Research Network. Below are her answers to my questions about this new study. What was the purpose of the study? Some clinicians describe patients who report problems decreasing their sexual behaviors, such as viewing many hours of sexual films online every day, as sexually “addicted” or “hypersexual”. Our study tested whether people who report such problems look like other addicts from their brain responses to sexual images. Studies of drug addictions, such as cocaine, have shown a consistent pattern of brain response to images of the drug of abuse, so we predicted that we should see the same pattern in people who report problems with sex if it was, in fact, an addiction. © Copyright 1991-2013 Sussex Publishers, LLC

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 18391 - Posted: 07.20.2013

Beth Mole The insertion of one gene can muzzle the extra copy of chromosome 21 that causes Down’s syndrome, according to a study published today in Nature1. The method could help researchers to identify the cellular pathways behind the disorder's symptoms, and to design targeted treatments. “It’s a strategy that can be applied in multiple ways, and I think can be useful right now,” says Jeanne Lawrence, a cell biologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, and the lead author of the study. Lawrence and her team devised an approach to mimic the natural process that silences one of the two X chromosomes carried by all female mammals. Both chromosomes contain a gene called XIST (the X-inactivation gene), which, when activated, produces an RNA molecule that coats the surface of a chromosome like a blanket, blocking other genes from being expressed. In female mammals, one copy of the XIST gene is activated — silencing the X chromosome on which it resides. Lawrence’s team spliced the XIST gene into one of the three copies of chromosome 21 in cells from a person with Down’s syndrome. The team also inserted a genetic 'switch' that allowed them to turn on XIST by dosing the cells with the antibiotic doxycycline. Doing so dampened expression of individual genes along chromosome 21 that are thought to contribute to the pervasive developmental problems that comprise Down's syndrome. © 2013 Nature Publishing Group,

Keyword: Development of the Brain; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 18390 - Posted: 07.18.2013

By Rachael Rettner, People with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often show differences in certain brain areas compared with healthy people, but it has been difficult to determine whether these differences are a cause or a consequence of the condition. Now, a number of new studies may help disentangle the condition’s causes from its effects and, in doing so, bring a better understanding of how the disorder might be prevented or treated. In a review article, researchers draw upon these studies to piece together a new model for how the condition arises. The model suggests that three factors are necessary for PTSD to develop: A person needs to have certain risk factors for the condition; he or she must be exposed to a traumatic event; and, after that event, further changes to the brain need to occur. With this view of the condition, researchers may ultimately be able to predict who is at risk for PTSD before experiencing a traumatic event and to treat people at the right time after trauma to prevent subsequent brain changes from occurring, thus keeping the disorder from progressing to its final form. “If the disease causes specific changes [in the brain], then treatment can cause the same change in the other direction,” said Roee Admon, a researcher at Harvard Medical School. He, along with colleagues, proposed the new PTSD model in the July issue of the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences. According to the model, changes in two brain areas — the amygdala and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) — may predispose people to PTSD. © 1996-2013 The Washington Post

Keyword: Stress
Link ID: 18389 - Posted: 07.18.2013

By GINA KOLATA A new study has found that dementia rates among people 65 and older in England and Wales have plummeted by 25 percent over the past two decades, to 6.2 percent from 8.3 percent, a trend that researchers say is probably occurring across developed countries and that could have major social and economic implications for families and societies. Another recent study, conducted in Denmark, found that people in their 90s who were given a standard test of mental ability in 2010 scored substantially better than people who had reached their 90s a decade earlier. Nearly one-quarter of those assessed in 2010 scored at the highest level, a rate twice that of those tested in 1998. The percentage of subjects severely impaired fell to 17 percent from 22 percent. The British study, published on Tuesday in The Lancet, and the Danish one, which was released last week, also in The Lancet, soften alarms sounded by advocacy groups and some public health officials who have forecast a rapid rise in the number of people with dementia, as well as in the costs of caring for them. The projections assumed the odds of getting dementia would be unchanged. Yet experts on aging said the studies also confirmed something they had suspected but had had difficulty proving: that dementia rates would fall and mental acuity improve as the population grew healthier and better educated. The incidence of dementia is lower among those better educated, as well as among those who control their blood pressure and cholesterol, possibly because some dementia is caused by ministrokes and other vascular damage. So as populations controlled cardiovascular risk factors better and had more years of schooling, it made sense that the risk of dementia might decrease. A half-dozen previous studies had hinted that the rate was falling, but they had flaws that led some to doubt the conclusions. © 2013 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 18388 - Posted: 07.18.2013

By PAM BELLUCK The man complained of memory problems but seemed perfectly normal. No specialist he visited detected any decline. “He insisted that things were changing, but he aced all of our tests,” said Rebecca Amariglio, a neuropsychologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. But about seven years later, he began showing symptoms of dementia. Dr. Amariglio now believes he had recognized a cognitive change so subtle “he was the only one who could identify it.” Patients like this have long been called “the worried well,” said Creighton Phelps, acting chief of the dementias of aging branch of the National Institute on Aging. “People would complain, and we didn’t really think it was very valid to take that into account.” But now, scientists are finding that some people with such complaints may in fact be detecting early harbingers of Alzheimer’s. Studies presented Wednesday at an Alzheimer’s Association conference in Boston showed that people with some types of cognitive concerns were more likely to have Alzheimer’s pathology in their brains, and to develop dementia later. Research presented by Dr. Amariglio, for example, found that people with more concerns about memory and organizing ability were more likely to have amyloid, a key Alzheimer’s-related protein, in their brains. And, in a significant shift highlighted at the conference, leading Alzheimer’s researchers are identifying a new category called “subjective cognitive decline,” which is people’s own sense that their memory and thinking skills are slipping even before others have noticed. © 2013 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Alzheimers; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 18387 - Posted: 07.18.2013

by Jennifer Viegas The memory of dogs is more human-like than previously thought, allowing our furry pals to copy our actions, even after delays. The discovery, outlined in the latest issue of Animal Cognition, means that dogs possess what’s known as “declarative memory,” which refers to memories which can be consciously recalled, such as facts or knowledge. Humans, of course, have this ability, as anyone playing a trivia game demonstrates. But it had never fully been scientifically proven in dogs before, although dog owners and canine aficionados have likely witnessed the skill first-hand for years. Claudia Fugazza and Adám Miklósi of Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary conducted the study. A LOT of dog studies happen in Hungary, where people really love their pooches and some of the world’s leading canine researchers live. The team investigated if dogs could defer imitation, which in this case meant copying what their owners were doing. Eight adult pet dogs were trained using the “Do As I Do” method. (Fugazza is a leading expert on this training method for dogs.) The tasks included copying their owners walking around a bucket and ringing a bell. Can dogs then successfully replicate what they learned after a 10 or so minute distracting break? The owner, Valentina, got her dog Adila to pay attention to her. She then demonstrated an activity, like ringing a bell with her hand. © 2013 Discovery Communications, LLC

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Evolution
Link ID: 18386 - Posted: 07.18.2013