Brain | Page 1107 | Science Codex

Genetic testing in epilepsy -- it takes more than 1 gene

HOUSTON - (June 24, 2011) – Imagine two flat screen televisions tuned to the same channel and sitting side-by-side. From a distance, their pictures are virtually the same, however up close, you can see subtle variations in the pixels – one blurred here, another dropped out there.

Suppose some of these 'bad pixels' are known to produce periodic black-out spells on the screen. Would a sharper image revealing all of the defects help identify which of the screens works perfectly, and which one needs repair?

Understanding the antiepileptic benefits of an Atkins-like diet

Some individuals with epilepsy fail to respond to treatment with conventional drugs but benefit from consuming a ketogenic diet — a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet similar to the more commonly known Atkins diet. A team of researchers, led by Detlev Boison, at the Legacy Research Institute, Portland, has now identified in mice the molecular mechanism responsible for the antiepileptic effects of the ketogenic diet.

Ghrelin likely involved in why we choose 'comfort foods' when stressed

DALLAS – June 23, 2011 – We are one step closer to deciphering why some stressed people indulge in chocolate, mashed potatoes, ice cream and other high-calorie, high-fat comfort foods.

UT Southwestern Medical Center-led findings, in a mouse study, suggest that ghrelin – the so-called "hunger hormone" – is involved in triggering this reaction to high stress situations.

Obesity: Brain chemistry works against gimmick weight-loss efforts

URBANA – If you've been trying to lose weight and suspect your body's working against you, you may be right, according to a study published in Obesity.

In the study, the scientist compared the effects of a short-term fast on two groups of mice. For 12 weeks, one group consumed a low-fat diet (10 percent fat); the other group was fed a high-fat (60 percent fat) and had become obese. The mice were then fasted for 24 hours. In that time, the leaner mice lost 18 percent of their body weight compared to 5 percent for the obese mice.

Report recommends ways to improve K-12 STEM education, calls on policymakers

WASHINGTON – State, national, and local policymakers should elevate science education in grades K-12 to the same level of importance as reading and mathematics, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report recommends ways that leaders at all levels can improve K-12 education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The report responds to a request from Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) for the National Science Foundation -- which sponsored the Research Council report -- to identify highly successful K-12 schools and programs in STEM fields.

Exeter study brings brain-like computing a step closer to reality

The development of 'brain-like' computers has taken a major step forward today with the publication of research led by the University of Exeter.

Published in the journal Advanced Materials and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the study involved the first ever demonstration of simultaneous information processing and storage using phase-change materials. This new technique could revolutionise computing by making computers faster and more energy-efficient, as well as making them more closely resemble biological systems.

Finding is a feather in the cap for researchers studying birds' big, powerful eyes

BETHESDA, Md., June 23, 2011 – Say what you will about bird brains, but our feathered friends sure have us -- and all the other animals on the planet -- beat in the vision department, and that has a bit to do with how their brains develop.

In search of the memory molecule, a key protein complex discovered

Have a tough time remembering where you put your keys, learning a new language or recalling names at a cocktail party? New research from the Lisman Laboratory at Brandeis University points to a molecule that is central to the process by which memories are stored in the brain. A paper published in the June 22 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience describes the new findings.

Competition between brain cells spurs memory circuit development

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Scientists at the University of Michigan Health System have for the first time demonstrated how memory circuits in the brain refine themselves in a living organism through two distinct types of competition between cells.

Their results, published today in Neuron, mark a step forward in the search for the causes of neurological disorders associated with abnormal brain circuits, such as Alzheimer's disease, autism and schizophrenia.

Birds 'flap run' instead if flying over obstacles to save energy

Why don't you ever see baby pigeons? For the same reason you don't see many chicks: they can't fly. It can take months for their partially developed wings and flight muscles to become airworthy, and by then the youngsters are almost fullygrown. However, long before their maiden flight, pigeon chicks probably put their developing wings to use, flapping as they run up steep branches.

Psychologists find link between ovulation and women's ability to identify heterosexual men

TORONTO, ON – A new study by psychologists at the University of Toronto and Tufts University shows that a woman can more accurately identify a man's sexual orientation when looking at his face, when she is closest to her time of peak ovulation. Further, having romantic thoughts or a mating goal heightens a woman's ability to discriminate between straight and gay men.

Researchers identify components of speech recognition pathway in humans

Washington, D.C. — Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have defined, for the first time, three different processing stages that a human brain needs to identify sounds such as speech — and discovered that they are the same as ones identified in non-human primates.

Study: Trying to lose weight? Lose the fat substitutes

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Fat substitutes used in popular snack foods to help people control weight may have the opposite effect, according to Purdue University research.

Corporal punishment: Mothers' self-recorded audio gives unique real-time view of spanking

In one recording, a mom spanks her 3-year-old 11 times for fighting with his sister. In another, a mom slaps her son for turning the page of a book while she reads to him. In still another, a mom spanks her 5-year-old when he refuses to clean up his room after repeated warnings to do so.

Those are examples of the corporal punishment captured by a study of 37 families in which mothers voluntarily recorded their evening interactions with their young children, said psychologist George W. Holden, lead researcher on the study.

Next generation gene therapy

PHILADELPHIA – Inspired by earlier successes using gene therapy to correct an inherited type of blindness, investigators from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, are poised to extend their approach to other types of blinding disorders.