by Helen Thomson I'M lying on a bed in a cosy room. Soothing music plays in the background. Four palm-sized paddles rest silent and cool across my midriff. In the time it takes to do a typical gym workout, I could be up to 7 inches thinner than I was before I lay down. No, I'm not in the middle of a daydream, I'm in a private clinic in London, and I'm about to have my fat zapped. Half an hour ago, I walked into a plush reception lobby on Harley Street - a thoroughfare famed for its exclusive private medical practices. Business is good. Two beauty therapists sit in the reception area chatting to a customer. "You lost just 3 inches this time? Never mind, we'll see if we can get a few more next week. How does Tuesday suit?" I am visiting Harley Fit, one of a string of new companies that promise to transform your waistline in your lunch break. My visit is the culmination of a journey that began when a press release landed on my desk boasting a treatment that could make me "7 inches thinner in 20 minutes". It sounded too good to be true. Yet thousands of people have attended one of the hundreds of clinics around the world that offer the treatment, and scores of reviews in lifestyle magazines speak of results that are "nothing short of amazing". At around £250 per treatment it doesn't come cheap, but with the diet industry estimated to turn over tens of billions of dollars every year in the US alone, the appetite for a quick fix is clearly there. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 13701 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Tina Hesman Saey A little bit of stress might be just what the doctor ordered to combat obesity and diabetes. A new study in mice finds that a protein that plays a role in responding to certain kinds of stress may help regulate a metabolic pathway important for controlling blood sugar, burning fat and even making tumors grow. The study shows that the protein, known to play a role in aging (SN: 1/31/09, p. 13), is part of a protein family that has its finger on the pulse of both major pathways cells use to make energy, says Leonard Guarente, a molecular biologist at MIT who was not involved in the research. The study indicates that the protein, known as sirtuin 6, or SIRT6, is what’s known as a master regulator, in this case helping cells switch between oxidative metabolism, the major form of energy production in cells; and anaerobic glycolysis, a less efficient way of making energy and can be tapped when oxygen or nutrients are in short supply. The anaerobic form of glycolysis needs more glucose to generate the same amount of energy as oxidative processes. The study, which appears in the Jan. 22 Cell, could lead the way to new therapies for diabetes and obesity. Sirtuins are a family of proteins found in many organisms from yeast to humans. The most famous of the seven sirtuin proteins in humans, SIRT1, has been studied as a possible antiaging compound. That protein also helps regulate oxidative metabolism. Until recently, not much was known about the roles of other sirtuins. © Society for Science & the Public 2000 - 2010

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 13700 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Jennifer Viegas When human measures for intelligence are applied to other species, dolphins come in just behind humans in brainpower, according to new research. Dolphins demonstrate skills and awareness previously thought to be present only in humans. New MRI scans show that dolphin brains are four to five times larger for their body size when compared to another animal of similar size, according to Lori Marino, a senior lecturer in neuroscience and behavioral biology at Emory University, and one of the world's leading dolphin experts. Humans also possess an impressive brain-to-body ratio. "If we use relative brain size as a metric of 'intelligence' then one would have to conclude that dolphins are second in intelligence to modern humans," said Marino, who performed several MRI scans on dolphin brains. Marino will be presenting her findings at next month's American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting. "Size isn't everything," she admitted, but she says at least two other lines of evidence support her claims about dolphin intelligence. First, various features of the dolphin neocortex -- the part of the brain involved in higher-order thinking and processing of emotional information -- are "particularly expanded" in dolphins. Second, behavioral studies conducted by Marino and other experts demonstrate that dolphins exhibit human-like skills. These include mirror self-recognition, cultural learning, comprehension of symbol-based communication systems, and an understanding of abstract concepts. © 2009 Discovery Communications, LLC

Keyword: Evolution; Intelligence
Link ID: 13699 - Posted: 06.24.2010

African naked mole rats live underground and never come out. They are tiny, toothy and blind. They look like little pink sausages, and they smell terrible. Yet, they are giving scientists valuable insights into evolution, social structure and adaptation. Recently, for example, two University of Illinois researchers discovered that the brains of naked mole rats can withstand long periods of oxygen deprivation--a condition known as hypoxia--for periods far greater than any other mammal. While the researchers are focused on trying to understand evolution--in this case, how species adapt to challenges posed by their environment--the discovery ultimately could lead to new approaches for treating brain injuries caused by heart attack, stroke or trauma that starves the brain of needed oxygen. These creatures, the only mammals that are coldblooded, are small rodents that live in big colonies of 300 members about six feet underground. Their quarters, narrow tunnels, are extremely close, and their air supply is limited. The air they breathe is so toxic that it would kill or lead to irreversible brain damage in any other mammal, the scientists said. “These animals are challenged by low oxygen and high carbon dioxide, and they can survive under these conditions,” said Thomas Park, professor of biological sciences who, along with John Larson, associate professor of physiology in psychiatry, reported the findings. “Our next step will be to find out why and how they are able to do this.” © 2010 U.S.News & World Report LP

Keyword: Evolution; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 13698 - Posted: 06.24.2010

ATLANTA - Tests of the first two oral drugs developed for treating multiple sclerosis show that both cut the frequency of relapses and may slow progression of the disease, but with side effects that could pose a tough decision for patients. Two experts not involved in the studies said the drugs appear effective but with potentially dangerous side effects. It’s too soon to know if the pills will be approved by the government or widely adopted by physicians, they said. About 2.5 million people around the world have multiple sclerosis, a neurological disease that can cause muscle tremors, paralysis and problems with speech, memory and concentration. The studies involve the most common form of the disease, in which people are well for a while and then suffer periodic relapses. Current treatments can reduce the duration and severity of symptoms but require daily or regular shots or infusions. The new studies tested two types of pills. Cladribine, made by Merck Serono, is already sold to treat a rare blood cancer. For MS, it would be taken eight to 10 days a year. Fingolimod is a daily MS pill being developed by Novartis. The research found that patients on the pills were about half as likely to suffer relapses of symptoms as those who took dummy pills or a commonly prescribed shot for MS. © 2010 The Associated Press.

Keyword: Multiple Sclerosis; Neuroimmunology
Link ID: 13697 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Sandra G. Boodman Rebecca Yates was sick of sounding like a broken record -- and tired of getting the same response from the internist at her HMO. For more than a year, the retired licensed practical nurse said, she had been complaining about a constant drippy nose. Each time she was told that her problem was allergic rhinitis: a runny nose caused by allergies. But none of the decongestants, antihistamines or other drugs she was prescribed helped. The drip had gotten so bad that Yates had to insert twisted cotton up her nose to absorb it while she cooked. ..... "The doctor said, 'Mrs. Yates, are you home by yourself?' " she recalled. When she told Greene her husband was with her, the allergist told her that the fluid came back "100 percent positive for a CSF [cerebrospinal fluid] leak, and you're going to have to have brain surgery." Yates immediately burst into tears. A CSF leak is usually caused by a blow to the head -- actor George Clooney suffered one while filming a torture scene in the 2005 movie "Syriana" -- but sometimes develops for no apparent reason. It occurs when the fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord leaks through a hole in the dura, the membrane that surrounds them, typically causing a splitting headache or the discharge of clear fluid through the nose. Many cases resolve in a few days with rest and without treatment; sometimes surgery is required. The chief risk of an untreated CSF leak is bacterial meningitis, which can result in brain damage. © 2010 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 13696 - Posted: 06.24.2010

by Linda Geddes IF HYPNOSIS leaves you unmoved, blame the wiring in your brain. It seems those who find it easier to fall into a trance are more likely to have an imbalance in the efficiency of their brain's two hemispheres. The finding backs hotly disputed claims of a biological basis for hypnosis. Around 15 per cent of people are thought to be extremely susceptibleMovie Camera to hypnosis, while another 10 per cent are almost impossible to hypnotise. The rest of us fall somewhere in between. Sceptics argue that rather than being in a genuine trance, some of us are simply more suggestible and therefore more likely to act the part. However, recent studies have hinted that during hypnosis, there is less connectivity between different regions, and less activity in the rational, left side of the brain, and more in the artistic right side. Such findings suggest hypnosis is more than acting. To see if there are also differences between the brains of susceptible and unresponsive volunteers when they were awake, Peter Naish of the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK, used a standard test of hypnotic susceptibility, that combines motor and cognitive tasks, to identify 10 volunteers of each type. He then gave each volunteer a pair of spectacles with an LED mounted on the left and right side of the frame. The two LEDs flashed in quick succession, and the volunteers had to say which flashed first. Naish repeated the task until the gap between the flashes was so short that the volunteers could no longer judge the correct order. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Laterality
Link ID: 13695 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Bruce Bower In a new study, Greek children watched a blue snail and red snail race on a computer screen and judged which animal traveled a longer distance or a longer time. Results suggest that, by age 4, spatial knowledge plays a critical role in time perception, but not vice versa.D. Casasanto Although 4-year-olds’ concept of time often seems to consist solely of what they want right now, the passage of time still moves them. By that age, kids already mark time by referring to physical distances, say psychologist Daniel Casasanto of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and his colleagues. Abstract concepts such as how time works stem from youngsters’ real-world perceptions and behaviors, not from cultural rules or metaphorical language used in speech, Casasanto’s group proposes in an upcoming Cognitive Science. “We find that time representations depend on space just as strongly in 4-year-olds as in 10-year-olds, even though 4-year-olds have very little experience using space-time metaphors in language,” Casasanto says. By age 10, children have heard and spoken many spatial metaphors for time, such as “a long test” and “moving up an appointment.” © Society for Science & the Public 2000 - 2010

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 13694 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Craig H. Kinsley and R. Adam Franssen What turns a young female concerned mainly about herself into a good mother who will make sure her offspring survive in an otherwise hostile world? The bodily changes of childbearing are obvious, but as we are discovering, the changes in the brain are no less dramatic. The maternal brain is a formidable object, a singular entity forged by hormones, neurochemicals, and exposure to the ravening demands and irresistible cuteness of offspring. During pregnancy, the female brain is effectively revving up for the difficult tasks that await. A mother-to-be may most notice her cravings for ice cream and pickles, but inside her head, a transformation is afoot in fundamental functions ranging from attention to memory. As an intriguing new paper demonstrates, even her sensitivity to others' emotions increases. Before we describe the new paper, let us contemplate the maternal brain in all of its wet majesty. Among its remarkable changes are those that allow the mother to focus on her infant in the persistent attempt to puzzle out the child’s needs and wants. As any parent knows, the infant is inscrutable – indeed, the child remains so for much of the parent’s life – and intuition is the mother’s best friend. The parent tests hypotheses: Is the baby hungry? Tired? A sensitized brain facilitates these “experiments.” In humans, rodents and other animals, we find data showing that the mother’s interest in, and motivation toward young increases dramatically as pregnancy nears term, and still further immediately following birth. © 2010 Scientific American

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Emotions
Link ID: 13693 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Sujata Gupta Always stunk at video games? Perhaps you've been cursed with a small striatum, a region of the brain involved in learning and memory. Researchers have found that college students with relatively large striatums learned how to play a challenging video game faster than their small-striatum peers. Large-striatum individuals were also better at shifting priorities from, say, shooting a target to outrunning an enemy--abilities that could translate to the real world. The game isn't exactly Halo or Assassin's Creed. Instead, Space Fortress looks a lot like the very first arcade games, with geometric shapes subbing for spaceships and buildings. "The graphics stink," admits Arthur Kramer, a psychologist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, who designed the game in the early 1980s. Gameplay is fairly complex, however: Players must shoot down a fortress with their ship while avoiding enemies, the bad guys look a lot like the good guys, and the ship has no brakes. Over the years, researchers have used the game to study memory, motor control, and learning speed. The U.S. Air Force and the Israeli air force have even changed their training regimens based on how cadets fared as players. Recent studies have suggested that players appear to heavily utilize their striatum during gameplay. So Kramer and Kirk Erickson, a psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, decided to investigate whether the size of the striatum alone might be responsible for these abilities. © 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 13692 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By GARDINER HARRIS Despite the Obama administration’s tacit support of more liberal state medical marijuana laws, the federal government still discourages research into the medicinal uses of smoked marijuana. That may be one reason that — even though some patients swear by it — there is no good scientific evidence that legalizing marijuana’s use provides any benefits over current therapies. Lyle E. Craker, a professor of plant sciences at the University of Massachusetts, has been trying to get permission from federal authorities for nearly nine years to grow a supply of the plant that he could study and provide to researchers for clinical trials. But the Drug Enforcement Administration — more concerned about abuse than potential benefits — has refused, even after the agency’s own administrative law judge ruled in 2007 that Dr. Craker’s application should be approved, and even after Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in March ended the Bush administration’s policy of raiding dispensers of medical marijuana that comply with state laws. “All I want to be able to do is grow it so that it can be tested,” Dr. Craker said in comments echoed by other researchers. Marijuana is the only major drug for which the federal government controls the only legal research supply and for which the government requires a special scientific review. Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 13691 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By ABBY ELLIN The year was 1988, and I was a college student on my junior year abroad, traveling aimlessly through the Middle East and Europe. My backpack was crammed with shorts and T-shirts, bathing suits and sarongs, my Walkman and Grateful Dead tapes. And oh, yes, a scale, buried deep beneath layers of socks. Having been a chubby adolescent — and having spent six summers at fat camp — I was terrified of gaining weight. Unfortunately, nothing gave me as much pleasure as eating, which I did with abandon. To maintain some semblance of control, I divided my eating into Food Days and Nonfood Days: that is, days when I consumed vast amounts, and days when I policed my caloric intake with military precision. The routine kept my weight in check, more or less. Never mind that it was insane. No one at my college health center knew what to do with me. Clearly, I wasn’t anorexic; I was slightly round, in fact. I didn’t purge, so bulimia was out. To my distress, the counselors told me there was nothing they could do for me and sent me on my way. Today, I would probably qualify for a diagnosis of “eating disorder not otherwise specified,” usually known by its acronym, Ednos. In the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, it encompasses virtually every type of eating problem that is not anorexia or bulimia. Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Anorexia & Bulimia
Link ID: 13690 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By JONATHAN DIENST My son Jared lay in a bed at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital, limp and pale, his 7-year-old body tethered to a tangle of tubes and monitor wires. A neurologist, Dr. Maurine Packard, stood to his left. “Jared,” I recall her saying. “Pay attention to what I say.” And then, in a strong, firm voice: “The barn is red.” She waited a few moments and asked, “What color is the barn?” Jared started to answer, then froze. My wife and I, sitting behind Dr. Packard, froze too. Two days before, he had been a happy, athletic second grader, a beautiful boy who loved playing baseball and basketball in the park. Now he couldn’t walk; he had to struggle to remember the color of a barn. He tried again, and then replied in a weak, slurred voice. “No,” Jared said. Dr. Packard nodded, as if that was the answer she had expected. Before June 23, 2008, my wife, Victoria, and I had never heard of a child’s having a stroke. Most people, many doctors included, still haven’t. In the agonizing months that followed, we heard it over and over: “But children don’t have strokes.” How little we knew. It turns out that stroke, by some estimates, is the sixth leading cause of death in infants and children. And experts say doctors and hospitals need to be far more aggressive in detecting and treating it. Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Stroke; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 13689 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By MARK DERR Scientists have linked a gene to compulsive behavior — in dogs. Researchers studied Doberman pinschers that curled up into balls, sucking their flanks for hours at a time, and found that the afflicted dogs shared a gene. They describe their findings — the first such gene identified in dogs — in a short report this month in Molecular Psychiatry. Dr. Nicholas Dodman, director of the animal behavior clinic at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, in North Grafton, Mass., and the lead author of the report, said the findings had broad implications for compulsive disorders in people and animals. Estimates have obsessive-compulsive disorder afflicting anywhere from 2.5 percent to 8 percent of the human population. It shows up in behavior like excessive hand washing, repetitive checking of stoves, locks and lights, and damaging actions like pulling one’s hair out by the roots and self-mutilation. The disorder has been used in popular movies and television shows to define characters like the reclusive writer Melvin Udall, played by Jack Nicholson, in “As Good as It Gets” and Adrian Monk, played by Tony Shaloub, in the television series “Monk.” Similar disorders are known in dogs, particularly in certain breeds, including Dobermans. Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

Keyword: OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 13688 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Allison Bond Inflammation in the body has gotten a bad rap recently, thanks to the exacerbating role it may play in health problems such as heart disease and cancer. Now there may be one more malady to add to the list: Alzheimer’s disease. When inflammation arises in the body as a result of infection or injury, the immune response also appears to accelerate memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s, according to a recent study published in the journal Neurology. In this study of changes in patients’ cognitive abilities over a span of six months, Alzheimer’s patients who had chronic (ongoing) inflammation as a result of, for instance, obesity or arthritis experienced four times the amount of memory loss as compared with patients without such inflammation. And those with chronic inflammation who also experienced an acute immune response (short-term, such as from an infection) were even worse off: their memory loss accelerated 10 times faster than patients without any inflammation. “When we started the study, we thought short-lived events would be impor­tant,” says lead author Clive Holmes, a professor of biological psychiatry at the University of Southampton in England. “We hadn’t realized how important chronic inflammation was going to be.” So how does inflammation, whether from an infection or from chronic dis­ease, damage the brain? The answer lies in the body’s immune response, which launches an attack on invading pathogens, releasing inflaming proteins such as tumor necrosis factor, or TNF. This molecule causes the vagus nerve, which extends from the brain to the abdomen and controls vital functions such as heartbeat, to send an electrical im­pulse to the brain, thereby directing the brain to secrete its own immune messengers. © 2010 Scientific American,

Keyword: Alzheimers; Neuroimmunology
Link ID: 13687 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Katherine Harmon Like a lot of humans, monkeys might not be able to do calculus. But a new study shows that they can learn and rapidly apply abstract mathematical principles. Previous work has shown that monkeys and birds can count, but flexible applications of higher mathematic rules, the study authors asserted, "require the highest degree of internal structuring"—one thought largely to be the domain of only humans. So researchers based at the Institute of Neurobiology at the University of Tubingen in Germany set out to see whether rhesus monkeys could learn and flexibly apply the greater-than and less-than rule. They tested the monkeys with groups of both ordered and random dots, many of which were novel combinations to ensure that the subjects couldn't have simply memorized them. The monkeys were cued into applying either the greater-than or less-than rule by the amount of time that elapsed between being shown the first and second group of dots. "The monkeys immediately generalized the greater than and less than rules to numerosities that had not been presented previously," the two researchers, Sylvia Bongard and Andreas Nieder, wrote. "This indicates that they understood this basic mathematical principle irrespective of the absolute numerical value of the sample displays." In other words: "They had learned an abstract mathematical principle." But the researchers were after more than simple ape arithmetic. "If and how mathematical rules can be represented by single neurons," they wrote, "has remained elusive." So during the experiment, they recorded the activity of randomly selected neurons in the lateral prefrontal cortexes of the rhesus monkeys. They chose that region of the brain because functional imaging (fMRI) studies have shown that rule-based arithmetic activates that part of the brain in humans, too. © 2010 Scientific American,

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Evolution
Link ID: 13686 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Bruce Bower Within a week after birth, babies inhale new memories at their mothers’ breasts. Newborns who whiff a specific odor while breast-feeding, even if they smell it for only eight days, prefer that same odor over others a year or more later, reports a team led by physiologist Benoist Schaal of the European Center of Taste Sciences in Dijon, France. Like other infant mammals such as rats and pigs, human newborns easily learn and remember smells associated with breast-feeding, the scientists conclude in a paper scheduled to appear in Developmental Science. These types of odor memories form most robustly during the first week after birth, the researchers propose. Odor memories acquired during breast-feeding can be reactivated and influence behavior until at least toddlerhood, in their view. Related research has focused on infants’ memories for food flavors, which simultaneously engage the brain’s taste and smell systems. “These new findings add to a growing body of scientific data showing the saliency of odors for mother-infant interaction and for forming memories throughout infancy,” remarks biopsychologist Julie Mennella of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Other recent studies suggest that babies favor odors and flavors experienced prenatally in amniotic fluid as a result of a mother’s diet, Mennella notes. © Society for Science & the Public 2000 - 2010

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste); Learning & Memory
Link ID: 13685 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Del Quentin Wilber and Lyndsey Layton A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration may not block the importation of "electronic cigarettes," battery-powered versions of conventional smokes. The FDA has confiscated imports of the devices since at least 2008, and two suppliers, Smoking Everywhere and Sottera, sued to halt the agency's action. In ruling for the companies, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon determined that electronic cigarettes are tobacco products and are not subject to such restrictions. "This case appears to be yet another example of FDA's aggressive efforts to regulate recreational tobacco products as drugs or devices," Leon wrote in a 31-page opinion that granted the companies' request for a temporary injunction against the FDA. The judge called the FDA's efforts a "tenacious drive to maximize its regulatory power." In a statement, the FDA said it was reviewing the ruling. "The public health issues surrounding electronic cigarettes are of serious concern to the FDA," the statement said. In court papers, the FDA said it considers the devices, also known as e-cigarettes, to be unapproved drug-delivery gadgets. E-cigarettes are the size of regular cigarettes and deliver a vaporized nicotine mixture to users. © 2010 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 13684 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Kate Devlin Our animal ancestors, and most of their descendants, laughed simply because they were enjoying themselves, according to a new study. But over millions of years humans have perfected how to use the sound to wound as well. Great apes which roamed the earth 16 million years ago are thought to be the first who developed the ability to laugh. Modern-day Orangutans, the only species of Asian great ape, laugh when they are having fun, while African great apes, which include gorillas and chimpanzees, have learned that the sound can be used to influence others, but still only use laughter while playing. However, human have gone much further, using laughter for a range of negative emotions, including to ridicule or sneer. Researchers carried out "tickling sessions" on gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans and compared the sounds to recordings of humans laughing. Dr Marina Davila Ross, from the University of Portsmouth, who led the research, said: “Humans and the African ape developed laughter further than the Asian great ape to have an effect on others. “But something happened in the last five million years which means humans use laughter for a much wider range of situations than our primate ancestors. “Laughter occurs in close to every imaginable form of human social interaction, including to mock others.” © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2010

Keyword: Emotions; Aggression
Link ID: 13683 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Charles Q. Choi With its winners and losers, politics is a lot like sports. Now biologists have the testosterone—or lack thereof—to prove it. Specifically, they have found that male voters who back a losing candidate experience a drop in the hormone. Immediately before and after the 2008 U.S. presidential election result, neuroscientists from Duke University and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor collected the saliva of 163 college-age participants to determine the amount of testosterone in their systems. Male voters for winner Barack Obama had stable levels of testosterone, but the hormone rapidly declined in males who cast ballots for losers John McCain and Robert Barr. Female voters showed no significant testosterone changes after victory or defeat of their candidate. Past research has shown that winning and losing in sports matches and other competitions affect testosterone levels in men. The new findings, published online October 21 by PLoS ONE, reveal that politics can influence testosterone in men “just as if they directly engaged head to head in a contest for dominance,” says Kevin LaBar of Duke, the study’s senior researcher. In separate work, anthropologist Coren Apicella of Harvard University and her colleagues obtained similar results with a smaller group, findings they will publish this year. “It’s an exciting time for people who study political behavior, where biological factors have largely been ignored,” she notes. “Political scientists are starting to recognize the role of biology, and more and more research is showing there may be some reciprocal interactions between how elections make one feel and how feelings can affect political behavior.” © 2010 Scientific American,

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior; Aggression
Link ID: 13682 - Posted: 06.24.2010