Last week, the scientific journal NeuroImage published an article arguing that ‘by and large animal models offer very limited insights into the complex clinical picture of pain’ (1). The authors claimed that new procedures with humans, especially functional neuroimaging, should be more broadly adopted instead of animal-based studies into the nature and causes of pain. BBC News, and several anti-vivisectionists who were invited to comment on the report on various radio stations, interpreted this as a call to end animal pain-research (2). The publication of the article came in a week (17 to 22 August) when the World Congress on Pain was taking place in Glasgow (3). I was there, along with several of the authors of the NeuroImage paper and hundreds of students, clinicians and academics who treat patients with pain or who research the causes and effects of pain. ‘Animal models’ try to recreate disease in an animal in order to study the progress and treatment of the disease in a highly controlled fashion. There are, without doubt, many problems with this approach to disease (4). Even the best animal models cannot hope to mimic all the facets of human disease. How, for example, can we model frustration at no longer being able to play football by using rats in a laboratory? We can’t, and the same is true for almost all psychological reactions to disease. © spiked 2000-2008

Keyword: Animal Rights; Pain & Touch
Link ID: 12012 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Erin Wayman "You have such full lips, just like my mom." That pickup line probably won't get a guy many dates--but it's likely to be true. A new study of facial features adds to mounting evidence that a man tends to choose a girlfriend who resembles his mother, and a woman picks a boyfriend who looks like her father. Researchers are on to something, says Randy Thornhill, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque: "It's more than just a little fluke." The findings have their roots in studies of geese carried out in the 1930s. Ethologist Konrad Lorenz found that when he raised the birds, they followed him around like a mother. He could even convince goslings that a ball was mom if the ball "led" the flock of tiny birds within days of hatching. Since then, the behavior, known as imprinting, has also been linked to mate choice. Male lambs raised by goats, for example, grow up as rams that battle for the affection of goats, not sheep. Imprinting seems to exist in humans too. Studies show that men and women born to older parents find older faces more attractive, and women will favor photographs of men whose faces resemble their fathers. People have also judged photos of men and their fathers-in-law as looking similar, further suggesting that women marry men who look like their dads. © 2008 American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 12011 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Nikhil Swaminathan You've probably heard the news: Measles, once banished, is back in a big way. The reason, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): children are increasingly not being vaccinated against the highly contagious virus because of fears that ingredients in the injection may cause autism, a mysterious neurological disorder that affects one out of 150 children born each year in the U.S. But new research by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health did not find a connection. "We are confident that there is no link between [the measles vaccine] and autism," says lead study author W. Ian Lipkin, an epidemiologist. The researchers hope their findings, published in the journal PLoS ONE, will put the issue to rest and persuade parents to vaccinate their children—a move that could stop measles and other, previously controlled serious illnesses such as mumps and whooping cough from making comebacks. "We need to ensure the vaccine recommendations are followed to not only protect those who are immunized," says CDC researcher Larry Pickering," but to also provide herd protection for people in the United States and throughout the world who may not be able to receive the vaccine because of their age or respond to the vaccine because of an underlying immunodeficiency." © 1996-2008 Scientific American Inc.

Keyword: Autism
Link ID: 12010 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Gursharan Randhawa Chandelier neurons are the latest candidates for "the uniqueness of being human", the thing that gives us the edge over other mammals in our ability to think and use language. The cells are found exclusively in the cerebral cortex – the part of the brain responsible for functions such as language, thought, sensation and spatial reasoning – and named for their resemblance to old-fashioned candlesticks. Gábor Tamás at the University of Szeged, Hungary, and colleagues have for the first time demonstrated just how powerful chandelier cells are, by showing that a single cell can trigger a whole series of neuronal signals in human brain tissue. As this has not been seen in other mammals, it may explain why we humans are so much brighter. Tamás's team investigated how chandelier cells make connections with other nerve cells using brain tissue removed during surgery that would otherwise have been "wasted". "We used tissue from patients having surgery for deep brain tumours," he says. "On the way to these deep brain tumours surgeons have to remove some healthy cortical tissue above the troubled area. We used this little piece of healthy tissue which would have otherwise been discarded." © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd

Keyword: Language
Link ID: 12009 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Deep brain stimulation, a surgical technique often viewed as a last resort for people with Parkinson's disease, halts the progression of dopamine-cell loss in animal models, according to preliminary research by scientists at the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and University Hospital. The scientists also discovered clues to why the technique works. The act of stimulating neurons with electrodes boosted the amount of an important protein in animals' brains. The protein, a trophic factor known as BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), is a nurturing, growth-promoting chemical. Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological disorder involving the death of dopamine-producing brain cells, or neurons. "Demonstrating that deep brain stimulation halts the progression of dopamine-cell loss was basically a confirmation and extension of previous findings," says Caryl Sortwell, PhD, associate professor of neurology at UC and the study's lead investigator. "But finding the mechanism is a novel discovery that is even more critical. We now know not only that it works, we also are beginning to understand how it is working." Sortwell recently announced her team's results at a professional conference held by the Cleveland Clinic and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The research holds important implications for patients with Parkinson's disease and could alter the current recommended timetable for surgical intervention.

Keyword: Parkinsons
Link ID: 12008 - Posted: 09.04.2008

By JANE E. BRODY If you’ve ever had butterflies in your stomach or an attack of nerves that sent you racing for the bathroom, you already know that the intestinal tract has a mind of its own. The millions who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, or I.B.S., perhaps know it best. I.B.S., with its symptoms of bloating, abdominal pain, flatulence, diarrhea or constipation or an alternating cycle of the two, can seriously impair the ability to work and enjoy leisure activities. Up to 15 percent of the population is affected, though only half seek medical help. The gut and brain are intimately connected, with more nerve cells in the intestines than in the central nervous system. The gut has been called the body’s second brain, containing 95 percent of the body’s neurotransmitter serotonin and direct nerve connections to the brain. So it is no surprise that this common disorder of intestinal function has a strong mind-body connection. This does not mean I.B.S. is a psychosomatic condition caused by emotions, but rather that emotional upsets can aggravate symptoms in someone with a hyper-reactive bowel. It also means that learning to minimize stress and emotional disturbances can reduce the symptoms of I.B.S., perhaps more effectively than medications, recent research has indicated. Yet much educational material about this condition underplays the mind-body connection and the vital role that emotional retraining can play in controlling it. Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Stress
Link ID: 12007 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists have pinpointed seasonal changes in brain chemistry which may cause some people to suffer from the winter blues. Seasonal affective disorder, which can be debilitating, is linked to lack of light exposure on short winter days. The latest study suggests this might make proteins which clear the brain of the mood-regulating chemical serotonin more active. The University of Toronto study appears in Archives of General Psychiatry. Seasonal affective disorder is linked to lack of energy, fatigue, overeating and a tendancy to sleep longer as well as depressed mood. The condition affects thousands of people in the UK. Writing in the journal, the researchers said it was common for people living in temperate zones to feel happier and more energetic on bright and sunny days, with many experiencing a decline in mood and energy during the dark winter season. The researchers carried out brain scans on 88 volunteers between 1999 and 2003. The scans were designed to assess the activity of a protein known as a serotonin transporter, which binds to serotonin and clears it from the spaces between brain cells. The more active the protein, the lower the levels of serotonin in the brain, and the greater the likelihood of a depressed mood. The researchers found that the protein was significantly more active in all areas of the brain examined by the scans in the autumn and winter. They believe light may have a direct effect on the activity of the protein. (C)BBC

Keyword: Biological Rhythms; Depression
Link ID: 12006 - Posted: 09.02.2008

Moran Ben-David was proud of his infant daughter Shaya when she said her first word around the age of one year: "Aba," which is Hebrew for "dad." The Toronto resident doesn't doubt that she associates the word to him. "When she said it, she meant it," he said. "It was me." But he also acknowledges that it's an easy word to say, particularly because it ends with an "a." Ben-David is likely on to something, according to a University of British Columbia study. Judit Gervain of the psychology department's Infant Studies Centre has examined why babies are so efficient and fast when learning to speak. The study hypothesized that babies start to learn immediately after birth. Babies may learn through structural patterns Gervain and a team of researchers studied 22 newborns, exposing them to a recording of made-up words, half with repeated syllables and half without. © CBC 2008

Keyword: Language; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 12005 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By SALLY SATEL, M.D We’ve heard it before. “Drug abuse is an equal opportunity destroyer.” “Drug addiction is a bipartisan illness.” “Addiction does not discriminate; it doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, famous or unknown, a man or woman, or even a child.” The phrase “addiction doesn’t care” is not meant to remind us that addiction casts a long shadow — everyone knows that. Rather, it is supposed to suggest that any individual, no matter who, is vulnerable to the ravages of drugs and alcohol. The same rhetoric has been applied to other problems, including child abuse, domestic violence, alcoholism — even suicide. Don’t stigmatize the afflicted, it cautions; you could be next. Be kind, don’t judge. The democratization of addiction may be an appealing message, but it does not reflect reality. Teenagers with drug problems are not like those who never develop them. Adults whose problems persist for decades manifest different traits from those who get clean. So while anyone can theoretically become an addict, it is more likely the fate of some, among them women sexually abused as children; truant and aggressive young men; children of addicts; people with diagnosed depression and bipolar illness; and groups including American Indians and poor people. Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 12004 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By NATALIE ANGIER As anybody who has grieved inconsolably over the death of a loved one can attest, extended mourning is, in part, a perverse kind of optimism. Surely this bottomless, unwavering sorrow will amount to something, goes the tape loop. Surely if I keep it up long enough I’ll accomplish my goal, and the person will stop being dead. Last week the Internet and European news outlets were flooded with poignant photographs of Gana, an 11-year-old gorilla at the Münster Zoo in Germany, holding up the body of her dead baby, Claudio, and pursing her lips toward his lifeless fingers. Claudio died at the age of 3 months of an apparent heart defect, and for days Gana refused to surrender his corpse to zookeepers, a saga that provoked among her throngs of human onlookers admiration and compassion and murmurings that, you see? Gorillas, and probably a lot of other animals as well, have a grasp of their mortality and will grieve for the dead and are really just like us after all. Nobody knows what emotions swept through Gana’s head and heart as she persisted in cradling and nuzzling the remains of her son. But primatologists do know this: Among nearly all species of apes and monkeys in the wild, a mother will react to the death of her infant as Gana did — by clutching the little decedent to her breast and treating it as though it were still alive. For days or even weeks afterward, she will take it with her everywhere and fight off anything that threatens to snatch it away. “The only time I was ever mobbed by langurs was when I tried to inspect a baby corpse,” said the primatologist Sarah Hrdy. Only gradually will she allow the distance between herself and the ever-gnarlier carcass to grow. Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Intelligence; Animal Rights
Link ID: 12003 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY Q. Does extra mental effort burn more calories? A. Yes, “but it would take years for the difference to show up on the scales,” said David A. Levitsky, professor of nutrition and psychology at Cornell University. “It is true that the metabolic rate increases when engaged in mental activity,” Dr. Levitsky said. “However, the amount of calories in terms of total daily intake is trivial.” The amount of energy spent in all the different types of mental activity is rather small, he said. Studies show that it is about 20 percent of the resting metabolic rate, which is about 1,300 calories a day, not of the total metabolic rate, which is about 2,200 calories a day, so the brain uses roughly 300 calories. “There are good, sophisticated studies that show that concentrated mental activity, like doing a difficult multiplication problem in your head, increases the glucose uptake to the brain,” he said. By how many calories? Less than, say, 20 calories of the 300, he estimated. But you do not engage that long in such an activity, he said, so the difference might amount to only about 10 calories a day. That means thinking hard is not a good way to lose weight. Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 12002 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By DEIRDRE VAN DYK If you have ever struggled with a difficult decision — new job vs. new boyfriend, sports car vs. minivan, read the book vs. see the movie — you have likely also been offered a heap of decision-making wisdom. Make a list of pros and cons. Go with your gut. Sleep on it. It was this last bit of advice — sleep on it — espoused in a paper by Dutch researchers and published in the journal Science in 2006, that really irked Ben Newell, a researcher himself at the University of New South Wales in Australia. That paper suggested that people might be better off relying on unconscious deliberation to make complex decisions — despite an abundance of scientific evidence to the contrary — given that the human brain can reasonably only focus on a few things at a time. Once people have all the necessary information to make a decision, the paper found, too much conscious deliberation could lead to unnecessary attention given to extraneous factors. Newell's answer to the Science paper is called "Think, Blink or Sleep on It? The Impact of Modes of Thought on Complex Decision Making," co-authored with colleagues at the University of New South Wales and the University of Essex in England, and published in the most recent issue of the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. It took four experiments to make the point, but Newell's conclusion is that unconscious deliberation is no more effective than conscious deliberation — using lists of pros vs. cons, for example — for making complex decisions, and that if anything, people who deliberate methodically are better off. "If you have to make decisions, you have to do your homework," says Newell. "There is no magic unconscious." © 2008 Time Inc.

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Emotions
Link ID: 12001 - Posted: 06.24.2010

-- Neanderthals were not as stupid as they have been portrayed, according to new research showing their stone tools were as good as those made by the early ancestors of modern humans, Homo sapiens. The findings by a team of scientists at British and U.S. universities challenge the assumption that the ancestors of people living today drove Neanderthals into extinction by producing better tools. The research could lead to a fresh search for explanations about why Neanderthals vanished from Europe around 28,000 years ago, after living alongside modern humans for some 10,000 years. Experimental archaeologist Metin Eren, from the University of Exeter in southwest England, said: "Our research disputes a major pillar holding up the long-held assumption that Homo sapiens were more advanced than Neanderthals. "It is time for archaeologists to start searching for other reasons why Neanderthals became extinct while our ancestors survived. "Technologically speaking, there is no clear advantage of one tool over the other. When we think of Neanderthals, we need to stop thinking in terms of 'stupid' or 'less advanced' and more in terms of 'different,'" Eren said. © 2008 Discovery Communications, LLC.

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 12000 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Priya Shetty What if you could tell whether a man is husband material just by peering at his genes? There has been speculation about the role of the hormone vasopressin in humans ever since we discovered that variations in where receptors for the hormone are expressed makes prairie voles strictly monogamous but meadow voles promiscuous; vasopressin is related to the "cuddle chemical" oxytocin. Now it seems variations in a section of the gene coding for a vasopressin receptor in people help to determine whether men are serial commitment-phobes or devoted husbands. Hasse Walum at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues looked at the various forms of the gene coding for a vasopressin receptor in 552 Swedish people, who were all in heterosexual partnerships. The researchers also investigated the quality of their relationships. They found that variation in a section of the gene called RS3 334 was linked to how men bond with their partners. Men can have none, one or two copies of the RS3 334 section, and the higher the number of copies, the worse men scored on a measure of pair bonding. Not only that, men with two copies of RS3 334 were more likely to be unmarried than men with one or none, and if they were married, they were twice as likely to have a marital crisis. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 11999 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By LINDSEY TANNER CHICAGO – Children born to older fathers face a greater chance of developing bipolar disorder, according to one of the largest studies linking mental illness with advanced paternal age. Previous research has connected schizophrenia and autism with older dads, and a Danish study published last year added bipolar disorder to the list. The new study led by researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute strengthens the evidence. The leading theory is that older men's sperm may be more likely to develop mutations. Even so, the odds of a person becoming bipolar are so low that the study's authors said it shouldn't dissuade older men from becoming fathers. Researchers analyzed Swedish national registry data from more than 80,000 people, including 13,428 with bipolar disorder who were born between 1932 and 1991. The risks started increasing around age 40 but were strongest among those 55 and older. Children born to these dads were 37 percent more likely to develop bipolar disorder than those born to men in their 20s. They also faced more than double the risk of developing bipolar disorder before age 20. Scientists call that early onset disease, and while they have long known that bipolar disorder tends to run in families, early onset disease has been thought to be most strongly linked with genetics. © 2008 Yahoo! Inc.

Keyword: Schizophrenia; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 11998 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NEW YORK - Dysfunction in a portion of the brain may explain some of the symptoms of fibromyalgia syndrome, researchers suggest in a paper published in the Journal of Rheumatology Dr. Yasser Emad, of Cairo University, Egypt, and colleagues used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to examine the function of the hippocampus in 15 patients with fibromyalgia syndrome and in 10 healthy women who were the same age as the other patients. The hippocampus is located deep in the front portion of the brain involved in regulating emotions and memory. Functionally, the hippocampus is part of the olfactory cortex, which is important to the sense of smell. Story continues below ↓advertisement Using spectroscopy, the researchers calculated levels of hippocampus levels of the brain chemicals N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline, creatine, along with their ratios, and compared the findings between the two groups. All study participants also underwent assessments of sleep patterns, cognitive function, and symptoms of depression. The number of tender points on the body was assessed in all patients and a visual analog scale was used to measure pain. Patient age averaged 35.7 years, and their average disease duration was 18.1 months. All of the patients had cognitive functional impairments on the Mini-Mental State Examination, eight (35.5 percent) were depressed according to the Hamilton Depression Scale, and nine (60 percent) had sleep disturbances. None of the control subjects had any problems in these areas. Copyright 2008 Reuters.

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 11997 - Posted: 09.01.2008

By MATT APUZZO WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration can prohibit meat packers from testing their animals for mad cow disease, a federal appeals court said Friday. The dispute pits the Agriculture Department, which tests about 1 percent of cows for the potentially deadly disease, against a Kansas meat packer that wants to test all its animals. Larger meat packers opposed such testing. If Creekstone Farms Premium Beef began advertising that its cows have all been tested, other companies fear they too will have to conduct the expensive tests. The Bush administration says the low level of testing reflects the rareness of the disease. Mad cow disease has been linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide, mostly in Great Britain. Only three cases have been reported in the U.S., all involving cows, not humans. ad_icon A federal judge ruled last year that Creekstone must be allowed to conduct the test because the Agriculture Department can only regulate disease "treatment." Since there is no cure for mad cow disease and the test is performed on dead animals, the judge ruled, the test is not a treatment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned that ruling, saying diagnosis can be considered part of treatment. © Copyright 1996-2008 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Prions
Link ID: 11996 - Posted: 06.24.2010

What happens when linguistic tools used to analyze human language are applied to a conversation between a language-competent bonobo and a human? The findings, published this month in the Journal of Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, indicate that bonobos may exhibit larger linguistic competency in ordinary conversation than in controlled experimental settings. The peer-reviewed paper was written by Janni Pedersen, an Iowa State University Ph.D. candidate from Denmark whose interests in the language-competent bonobos at Great Ape Trust of Iowa led her to the United States, and William M. Fields, director of bonobo research at Great Ape Trust. Their findings run counter to the view among some linguists, including the influential Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who argue that only humans possess and use language. In his hierarchy of language, Chomsky believes that language is part of the genetic makeup of humans and did not descend from a single primitive language evolved from the lower primate order, and it must include formal structures such as grammar and syntax. Fields said the publication opens an important new chapter in a decades-long debate about the linguistic capabilities of apes. "The resistance to this in the scientific community is enormous," he said. "For the first time, we have a student who is using linguistic tools that have normally been applied to humans now being applied to non-humans. This is a move toward using the kinds of methodology that are appropriate in ape language, based on Savage-Rumbaugh's 1993 monograph, Language Comprehension in Ape and Child." © 2002-2008 redOrbit.com.

Keyword: Language; Evolution
Link ID: 11995 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Rachel Nowak Far from being a completed masterpiece, some parts of the brain are works-in-progress, continuously churning out new cells. Now we may know why the brain goes to all that trouble. In mice at least, it appears that fresh brain cells are key to learning and memory. By watching how genetically altered mice tried to learn and memorise the location of a hiding hole without the help of new brain cells, a team led by Ryoichiro Kageyama of Kyoto University in Japan has shown that new brain cells are essential for learning and memory. "It was always unclear whether neurogenesis in the adult was essential for normal brain function, or whether it was an innocent bystander. This shows that it's essential," says Rodney Rietze of the Queensland Brain Institute in Brisbane, Australia. Kageyama's team created a strain of mice engineered so that when they were given a drug, newly made brain cells in the hippocampus produced proteins that killed the cells. The hippocampus is essential for learning and memory. The team then looked at how well the mice learned to find a hiding hole, a standard test of learning and memory. "Usually a mouse remembers the hole after one or two days' training, and will still remember it a week later. These mice took five or six days to remember, and then totally forget it one week later," says Kageyama. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Neurogenesis
Link ID: 11994 - Posted: 06.24.2010

More people than previously thought could be at higher risk of having a stroke caused by their antipsychotic drugs, say UK scientists. Previous research suggested only some types of the drug increased the risk, particularly for people with dementia. However a study published in the British Medical Journal says all forms of antipsychotics boost the risk, in all patients. A mental health charity said patients on the drugs must be closely monitored. Antipsychotic drugs are generally used to control psychotic symptoms in patients with disorders such as schizophrenia, and some severe forms of depression. They are also thought to be widely used to control symptoms of dementia such as aggression, leading to accusations they were being used unnecessarily as a "chemical cosh" in some circumstances. They fall into two types - newer "atypical" and older "typical" antipsychotics. When the first concerns were raised in 2002, these focused on the "atypical" drugs. These worries led to a recommendation from drug safety watchdogs in the UK that they not be given to people with dementia, and the government has been urged to strengthen this in England in its forthcoming dementia strategy. The latest findings, from researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, confirm the fears over dementia patients, but raise wider concerns. They identified 6,700 patients from a GP database, all with an average age of 80, and concluded that there was more than a tripling of risk for dementia patients taking any sort of anti-psychotic drug. Patients without dementia taking any sort of antipsychotic had a 40% increase in risk. The researchers repeated the recommendation that patients with dementia should not be prescribed these drugs. (C)BBC

Keyword: Schizophrenia; Alzheimers
Link ID: 11993 - Posted: 08.30.2008