By RICHARD E. NISBETT JAMES WATSON, the 1962 Nobel laureate, recently asserted that he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” and its citizens because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours — whereas all the testing says not really.” Dr. Watson’s remarks created a huge stir because they implied that blacks were genetically inferior to whites, and the controversy resulted in his resignation as chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. But was he right? Is there a genetic difference between blacks and whites that condemns blacks in perpetuity to be less intelligent? The first notable public airing of the scientific question came in a 1969 article in The Harvard Educational Review by Arthur Jensen, a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Jensen maintained that a 15-point difference in I.Q. between blacks and whites was mostly due to a genetic difference between the races that could never be erased. But his argument gave a misleading account of the evidence. And others who later made the same argument — Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray in “The Bell Curve,” in 1994, for example, and just recently, William Saletan in a series of articles on Slate — have made the same mistake. In fact, the evidence heavily favors the view that race differences in I.Q. are environmental in origin, not genetic. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Genes & Behavior; Intelligence
Link ID: 11070 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists believe they have located a new brain area essential for good memory - the "irrelevance filter". People who are good at remembering things, even with distractions, have more activity in the basal ganglia on brain scans, the Swedish team found. The work in Nature Neuroscience could help explain why some people are better at remembering things than others. Clinically, it could also aid the understanding of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The ability to hold information in the mind so that it is immediately accessible is known as working memory. We use working memory all of the time - for example, when doing a simple maths calculation in our head or recalling a telephone number. Working memory is important because it gives a mental workspace in which we can hold information whilst mentally engaged in other relevant tasks, which is crucial for learning. Its capacity is limited and seems to vary from person to person. These variations are not just due to having a larger or smaller memory store, but also due to differences in how effectively irrelevant items are kept out of memory, the Karolinksa Institute researchers believe. Dr Torkel Klingberg and colleague Fiona McNab used a special brain scan called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to track what was happening in the brains of 25 healthy volunteers. The volunteers were asked to perform a computer-based task that required them to respond to target visual images, with or without distractions. A noise informed subjects when an upcoming visual display would contain irrelevant distracters along with the targets. (C)BBC

Keyword: ADHD; Attention
Link ID: 11069 - Posted: 12.10.2007

Some people may be genetically destined to have a generous personality, Israeli research has suggested. A total of 203 people took part in an online task in which they could either keep or give away money. Gene tests revealed those who had certain variants of a gene called AVPR1a were on average nearly 50% more likely to give money away. The study, by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, appears online in the journal Genes, Brain and Behavior. Lead researcher Dr Ariel Knafo said: "The experiment provided the first evidence, to my knowledge, for a relationship between DNA variability and real human altruism." The gene AVPR1a plays a key role in allowing a hormone called arginine vasopressin to act on brain cells. Vasopressin, in turn, has been implicated in social bonding. The researchers found greater altruism in players in which a key section of the gene, called its promoter, was longer. The promoter is the region that determines how active a gene is. In this case a longer promoter makes the gene more active. The researchers point out that a version of AVPR1a also exists in voles, where it also promotes social bonding. This, they say, suggests that altruism has a long rooted genetic history. Dr George Fieldman, a lecturer in psychology at Buckinghamshire New University, said carrying genes which promoted altruism and social bonding made evolutionary sense. (C)BBC

Keyword: Genes & Behavior; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 11068 - Posted: 12.10.2007

By BENEDICT CAREY BY age 2 it was clear that the boy had a sensibility all his own, affectionate and distant at the same time, often more focused on patterns and objects than the people around him. He was neither naturally social like his mother, nor an early and gifted reader like his father. Quirky, curious, exuberant, he would leap up and dance across the floor after solving a problem or winning a game, duck walking like an N.F.L. receiver posing for a highlight film. Yet after Phil and Susan Schwarz received a diagnosis for their son, Jeremy, of high functioning autism, they began to think carefully about their own behaviors and histories. Mr. Schwarz, a software developer in Framingham, Mass., found in his son’s diagnosis a new language to understand his own life. His sensitivities when growing up to loud noises and bright light, his own diffidence through school, his parents’ and grandparents’ special intellectual skills — all echoed through his and Jeremy’s behavior, like some ancient rhythm. His son’s diagnosis, Mr. Schwarz said, “provided a frame in which a whole bunch of seemingly unrelated aspects of my own life growing up fit together for the first time.” Researchers have long known that many psychiatric disorders and developmental problems run in families. Children born to parents with bipolar disorder, in which moods cycle between euphoria and depression, run about eight times the normal risk for developing a mood problem. Those born to parents with depression run three times the usual risk. Attention and developmental disorders like autism also have a genetic component. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Autism; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 11067 - Posted: 06.24.2010

From The Economist print edition IN A world where sight and sound seem to reign supreme, all it takes is a cursory glance at the size of the perfume industry to realise that smell matters quite a lot, too. Odours are known to regulate moods, thoughts and even dating decisions, which is why any serious romantic will throw on the eau de toilette before going out for a night on the town. Yet in all these cases, those affected are aware of what they are smelling. Unlike the media of sight and sound, in which subliminal messages have been studied carefully, the potential power of subliminal smells has been neglected. Wen Li and her colleagues at Northwestern University in Chicago are now changing that. In particular, they are investigating smells so faint that people say they cannot detect them. The idea is to see whether such smells can nevertheless change the way that people behave towards others. Dr Li's experiment, the results of which have just been published in Psychological Science, employed 31 volunteers. These people were exposed to three different odours at low concentration. One was the fresh lemon scent of citral. The second was the neutral ethereal perfume of anisole. The third was the foul sweaty smell of valeric acid. And the concentrations really were low. In the case of valeric acid, for example, that concentration was seven parts per trillion—a level only just detectable by bloodhounds. As a control, Dr Li used a mineral oil that has no detectable smell at any concentration. © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2007.

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste); Emotions
Link ID: 11066 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Species: Rattus Norvegicus; common brown rat Habitat: University science lab Dear Readers: Never before have I sent you my notes from anywhere but the great outdoors. But I wanted to share my visit with Dr. Jaak Panksepp, in his university science laboratory. Pre-trip, I googled this visionary professor, who is developing an exciting new area of study called "affective neuroscience". He believes, "People don't have a monopoly on emotion; despair and love are responses that have helped all sorts of creatures survive and thrive." For decades, he pioneered bravely while other scientists denied, ignored or even laughed at his ideas. For me, Dr. Panksepp is a true hero. Using his "rat tickling study" results he hopes further research on the emotional behaviours of animals may help children with neurological disorders, such as autism. What follows is Dr. Panksepp sharing his "ticklish" information by explaining, in his own words, the steps of one key experiment. Do Rats Have Fun? We wanted to know if young rats, exhibit sounds like laughter when they are playing, and whether we can get them to make those sounds if we tickle and play with them. © Copyright Toronto Star 1996-2007

Keyword: Emotions; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 11065 - Posted: 06.24.2010

It is possible to die from a broken heart, mounting evidence shows. A review of recent work, published in The Lancet, found that the risk of death increases by up to a fifth following bereavement. Investigator Margaret Stroebe of Utrecht University, The Netherlands, said the psychological distress caused by the loss played a big part. Heart experts say people who lose a partner often adopted unhealthy habits such as smoking and poor diet. Indeed, for widowers, the increased death risk will probably be linked with alcohol consumption and the loss of their sole confidante, who would have overseen her husband's health status, the researchers told The Lancet. In widows, the picture is not as clear, but intense loneliness and the psychological distress caused by the loss could play a large part. Experts know psychological stress can cause physical changes in the body - stress hormones can disrupt body processes. One study found men were 21% more likely to die after the loss of their wife. Widows had a 17% increased risk of death. The risk appears to be highest in the early weeks following bereavement and decreased with time. Men who lose a wife are also three times more likely to take their own life. Widows, however, do not have an increased suicide risk. And Danish study from 2003 showed fathers and mothers have a raised suicide risk after the death of a child, a risk which is higher the younger the child and is particularly high in the first 30 days post-bereavement. (C)BBC

Keyword: Stress; Neuroimmunology
Link ID: 11064 - Posted: 12.08.2007

Depression may increase the risk of the bone disorder osteoporosis in premenopausal women, a study suggests. A US study found 17% of depressed women but just 2% of those not depressed, had thinner bone in a part of the hip. It found depressed women had overactive immune systems, making too many chemicals that promote inflammation including one that promotes bone loss. The Archives of Internal Medicine study compared 89 depressed women with 44 non-depressed women, all aged 21 to 45. Osteoporosis affects half of all women, and one in five men, over the age of 50. It is estimated to cause 60,000 broken hips each year in the UK, costing the NHS £1.73bn. After bone mass reaches its peak in youth, bone-thinning continues throughout life, accelerating after menopause. Hip bones are among the most vulnerable to fracture in osteoporosis patients. The researchers, from the National Institute of Mental Health, found these bones were particularly susceptible to thinning in depressed premenopausal women. Dr Richard Nakamura, NIMH deputy director, said: "Osteoporosis is a silent disease. Too often, the first symptom a clinician sees is when a patient shows up with a broken bone. "Now we know that depression can serve as a red flag - that depressed women are more likely than other women to approach menopause already at higher risk of fractures." Other risk factors for osteoporosis - such as calcium and alcohol intake and contraceptive use - were similar in the two groups. The depressed women were taking anti-depressant medications, which have previously been linked to an increased risk of fracture. However, the current study found no link between these drugs and bone-thinning. (C)BBC

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 11063 - Posted: 12.08.2007

ST. PAUL, Minn. - On the slaughterhouse floor at Quality Pork Processors Inc. is an area known as the "head table," but not because it is the place of honor. It is where workers cut up pigs' heads and then shoot compressed air into the skulls until the brains come spilling out. But now the grisly practice has come under suspicion from U.S. health authorities. Over eight months from last December through July, 11 workers at the Austin, Minn., plant — all of them employed at the head table — developed numbness, tingling or other neurological symptoms, and some scientists suspect inhaled airborne brain matter may have somehow triggered the illnesses. The use of compressed air to remove pig brains was suspended at Quality Pork earlier this week while authorities try to get to the bottom of the mystery. "I'm still in shock, I guess," said 37-year-old Susan Kruse, who worked at the plant for 15 years until she got too weak to do her job last February. "But it was very surprising to hear that there was that many other people that have gotten this." Five of the workers — including Kruse, who has been told she may never work again — have been diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, or CIDP, a rare immune disorder that attacks the nerves and produces tingling, numbness and weakness in the arms and legs, sometimes causing lasting damage. © 2007 The Associated Press.

Keyword: Glia; Neuroimmunology
Link ID: 11062 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists have discovered that others' perceptions of a person's scent can make it or break it for them socially. In a new study, they've discovered that if a person dislikes your scent, even though it registers subconsciously, they're more likely to dislike you, and vice-versa. "We evaluate people every day and make judgments about who we like or don't like," Wen Li, a postdoctoral fellow in the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine in Illinois, and lead author of the study, said in a release. "We may think our judgments are based only on various conscious bits of information, but our senses also may provide subliminal perceptual information that affects our behaviour." Li and his colleagues' findings are published in the December issue of the journal Psychological Science. Study participants were asked to smell three scents contained in three bottles. Lemon was the "good" scent, sweat was the "bad" scent and an ethereal scent was considered neutral. The scents were administered in different concentrations. The study participants were given the scents to sniff and then shown a picture of a face with a neutral expression. They were asked to rank the face on a scale ranging from extremely likeable to extremely unlikeable. © CBC 2007

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste); Emotions
Link ID: 11061 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Charles Q. Choi Like father, like son — sexy fathers can give rise to sexy sons in the insect world. Researchers suggest these findings might also apply to humans. Males often give showy displays to attract females in the animal kingdom—from cricket songs to peacock plumes. Scientists had long assumed that attractive males can father attractive sons, but hard evidence supporting this idea is actually scant. To see if attractiveness can be hereditary, researchers in England focused on the fruit fly Drosophila simulans. Males of the species cannot force sex, meaning any mating that happens is because of male charisma. First, the scientists paired male and female flies at random. They found the length of time it took for them to have sex ranged from two minutes to two hours. The speed at which mating occurred suggests how attractive the males were. After each male mated with roughly three females, their sons were paired with single females, and the amount of time it took them to score was noted. The investigators found that attractive males indeed sired attractive sons. © 2007 LiveScience.com.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Glia
Link ID: 11060 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Elizabeth Quill All brain cells are the same, genetically speaking. Yet somehow they play vastly different roles, some directing movement, others participating in language or thought. Now, a study finds that a chemical known to turn genes on and off may be partially responsible for this division of labor. The results, researchers suggest, could help scientists better understand psychiatric and neurological diseases. It takes more than genes to make people who they are. Identical twins, for example, can look and act differently even though they share the same DNA (ScienceNOW, 5 July 2005). Environmental factors likely contribute to this variation, but it also seems to depend on so-called epigenetic phenomena, activity that regulates genes without changing the DNA code (ScienceNOW, 12 April 2006). In the 1960s, researchers found that the addition of a molecule called a methyl group to cytosine, one of the four building blocks of DNA, could turn off genes. Since then, scientists have found that this process, called methylation, can also turn genes on and that it is linked to cancer (ScienceNOW, 31 January 2000) and short-term memory formation (ScienceNOW, 14 March). Because no studies have surveyed methylation's role in assigning marching orders to brain cells, geneticist Andrew Feinberg and psychiatric neuroscientist James Potash, both of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, decided to investigate. Along with their colleagues, they compared possible methylation sites on 807 genes in 76 samples from human brains. Among the regions studied were the cerebellum, which controls movement, and the cerebral cortex, which controls language and memory. The team found that methylation patterns differed by brain region, indicating that epigenetics helps divide up the brain's functions. © 2007 American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 11059 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Susan Milius OK, humanity: time to pull up our socks. In a test of rapid number recollection, college students were resoundingly outperformed by a young chimpanzee. At Kyoto University in Japan, students and chimps saw an array of five of the numerals 1 through 9 flash onto a computer screen for just 650 milliseconds. When the numerals simultaneously turned into white squares, the subjects had to touch the squares in numerical order. The students managed to choose the squares in the correct order around 80 percent of the time, as did Ayumu, a young chimp, says Kyoto's Tetsuro Matsuzawa. The researchers then shortened the viewing time to 430 ms and finally to just 210 ms, which isn't even enough time for a person's eye to scan across a screen. For the briefest exposures, the students got the sequence right only 40 percent of the time, but Ayumu still managed nearly 80 percent accuracy. "The memory aspect is really surprising," says Elizabeth Brannon of Duke University in Durham, N.C. Matsuzawa suggests that Ayumu's prowess comes from something akin to photographic memory in humans. The power to retain extreme detail from a quick glimpse shows up occasionally in young children but fades with age. Youth seems to be an advantage for chimps too, Matsuzawa and Sana Inoue say in the Dec. 4 Current Biology. The researchers worked with three pairs of mother-child chimps. Ayumu's mother, Ai, had starred in earlier research papers when she learned to associate sets of objects with the appropriate numerals. ©2007 Science Service

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Evolution
Link ID: 11058 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Nora Schultz Mating fish don't like an audience, it seems. When another male spies on them they change their mind about which female they prefer. The findings may alter the way we think about mate choice driving evolution, researchers say. Male molly fish of the species Poecilia Mexicana normally prefer to mate with large females who produce more eggs. In mate choice experiments, a male will spend 80% of its time near large females and only 20% near smaller ones. But when Martin Plath at the University of Potsdam in Germany and colleagues stuck a glass container holding another male into the tank to let him watch the show, the first molly changed his mind. Under the gaze of the intruder, he began to pay equal attention to both large and small females. Being watched by a green swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii), on the other hand, did not faze the mollies at all – they only slightly reduced their preference for large females. "We think that the molly does this to avoid sperm competition," Plath told New Scientist. "It's likely that the other male will share the preference for large females, so it makes sense for the molly to not invest all his sperm into one female." © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Evolution
Link ID: 11057 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Being a slob puts you at risk of mental health problems, experts have warned. A lack of physical activity leads to depression and dementia, evidence presented at the British Nutrition Foundation conference shows. It comes as new research from the University of Bristol found that being active cuts the risk of Alzheimer's disease by around a third. Currently only 35% of men and 24% of women reach the recommended weekly amount of physical activity. Professor Nanette Mutrie, an expert in exercise and sport psychology at the University of Strathclyde, told the conference that mental health was not a trivial issue. "It's only recently that people have begun to see the link between physical activity and mental health. "It's important for increasing people's self esteem, general mood, coping with stress and even sleeping better. "And we now have very strong evidence that physical activity can prevent depression." She said inactive people had twice the risk of becoming depressed and there was also very good evidence that exercise is a useful treatment for depression. Researchers at the University of Bristol carried out an analysis of 17 trials looking at the effects of physical activity on dementia and Alzheimer's disease. They found that in both men and women physical activity was associated with a 30-40% drop in the risk of Alzheimer's. It is unclear why there is such a great effect but it could be associated with benefits to the vascular system as well as release of chemicals in the brain. (C)BBC

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 11056 - Posted: 12.07.2007

By Brian Alexander Suze has begun conversations with doctors this way: "I want to talk to you about something, but you have to give me your word you will not laugh or give a flippant response because it is a serious situation." In short, Suze has too much of a good thing. For days, sometimes weeks at a time, she feels constantly aroused, but can't get any satisfaction. Despite the preamble, though, "one doctor looked at me and said, 'What a lucky man your husband is! I wish my wife had this,'" says Suze, 63, a retired nurse in Florida. Others have asked, "So, is this like being a nymphomaniac?" Hardly. Suze, who asked that her last name not be published, has what is now called persistent genital arousal disorder, or PGAD. It was first named by sex therapist Sandra Leiblum in 2001 as persistent sexual arousal syndrome, but as Leiblum and others have begun studying patients, she decided that it was more a disorder than a syndrome, a syndrome being a constellation of symptoms that suggest the presence of true disease. In a recent article in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, Leiblum and her co-authors identified a series of medical and psychological traits, including depression and panic attacks, that can accompany PGAD. Though some women are helped by psychiatric drugs, Leiblum strenuously resists the idea that the problem is necessarily psychological. “I do think there is always some organic contribution, but we just do not know what it is.” © 2007 MSNBC Interactive

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 11055 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Ewen Callaway Most people tend to learn from their mistakes and avoid making the same blunder twice. Now research reveals a genetic mutation that helps to determine the extent to which certain people are doomed to repeat history. Drug addicts, alcoholics and compulsive gamblers are known to be more likely than other people to have this genetic mutation, which leaves them with fewer receptors of a certain type in the brain. These receptors — called D2 receptors — are activated when levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine drop. Dopamine is responsible for signalling fun and pleasure in the brain. But dopamine also helps us learn. When we make a pleasurable decision, dopamine is a chemical treat, urging the brain to repeat the choice. Being deprived of such a treat should theoretically activate D2 receptors and encourage people not to make that same decision again. So it had been theorized that people with fewer D2 receptors might be less capable of learning from negative reinforcement. To test this, Tilmann Klein and Markus Ullsperger at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, looked at the decision-making of 26 men, while monitoring their brains with a magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Twelve of the volunteers had the gene mutation for low numbers of D2 receptors. The researchers chose men because dopamine levels change during a woman’s menstrual cycle, which would have complicated the study. © 2007 Nature Publishing Group

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 11054 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Charles Q. Choi Humpback whales may sing not to court mates but to help explore the seas around them. When a male humpback moves someplace new, he changes his song to match those coming from other nearby whales. "The traditional explanation for why whales do this is that male whales are singing to seduce female whales, and that females get really turned on by songs that are currently in style," said cognitive neuroscientist Eduardo Mercado III of the State University of New York in Buffalo. "A song that does not follow the most recent trends might be viewed as passé by females, so singers would need to keep current to compete." But instead of learning songs to better attract females, Mercado suggests humpbacks do so to help navigate new locales. In the complex underwater habitats where humpbacks live, figuring out where other whales are, just by listening, can prove quite challenging. Mercado suggests that singers can improve their ability to pinpoint other whales by learning their songs. By comparing incoming sounds that were likely degraded by journeying through the ocean with memories of pristine versions of those sounds, the whales can use any distortion they hear to judge the distance the sound has traveled. © 2007 LiveScience.com.

Keyword: Hearing; Language
Link ID: 11053 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By BRENT BOWERS It has long been known that dyslexics are drawn to running their own businesses, where they can get around their weaknesses in reading and writing and play on their strengths. But a new study of entrepreneurs in the United States suggests that dyslexia is much more common among small-business owners than even the experts had thought. The report, compiled by Julie Logan, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in London, found that more than a third of the entrepreneurs she had surveyed — 35 percent — identified themselves as dyslexic. The study also concluded that dyslexics were more likely than nondyslexics to delegate authority, to excel in oral communication and problem solving and were twice as likely to own two or more businesses. “We found that dyslexics who succeed had overcome an awful lot in their lives by developing compensatory skills,” Professor Logan said in an interview. “If you tell your friends and acquaintances that you plan to start a business, you’ll hear over and over, ‘It won’t work. It can’t be done.’ But dyslexics are extraordinarily creative about maneuvering their way around problems.” The study was based on a survey of 139 business owners in a wide range of fields across the United States. Professor Logan called the number who said they were dyslexic “staggering,” and said it was significantly higher than the 20 percent of British entrepreneurs who said they were dyslexic in a poll she conducted in 2001. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Dyslexia
Link ID: 11052 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Neale McDevitt In the star-studded galaxy of academia, there are numerous brilliant teachers, trail-blazing researchers and visionary philanthropists. But there is only one Brenda Milner, a truly inspiring person who, over the course of her 89 years, has pulled off a rare trifecta by being remarkable in all three domains. When Milner was born in Manchester, England in 1918, there was little in her immediate surroundings to suggest she would one day become one of neuroscience's luminaries, the person whom Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel attributed with creating the field of cognitive neuroscience. Milner's father was a music critic and piano teacher who lovingly tended to what she remembers as the family's "large, overgrown garden." Her mother came from a broken home and, as such, had to abandon high school at 14 to join the workforce as a clerk. There's was a household filled with music, the classics and precious little science of any kind. As a young girl, Milner was largely home-schooled by her father, who distrusted formal education as stifling the creative spirit. Instead he taught his young daughter Shakespeare, German and arithmetic. One day, the 6-year-old Milner answered a knock at the door to find a stern-faced school inspector demanding to know why she wasn't in school. © 2007 McGill University

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 11051 - Posted: 06.24.2010