Brain | Page 775 | Science Codex

Robotic insects make first controlled flight

The tiny robot flaps its wings with piezoelectric actuators—strips of ceramic that expand and contract when an electric field is applied. Thin hinges of plastic embedded within the carbon fiber body frame serve as joints, and a delicately balanced control system commands the rotational motions in the flapping-wing robot, with each wing controlled independently in real-time.

At tiny scales, small changes in airflow can have an outsized effect on flight dynamics, and the control system has to react that much faster to remain stable.

Dieting youth show greater brain reward activity in response to food

The story is a familiar one: most people are able to lose weight while dieting but once the diet is over, the weight comes back. Many of us can personally attest that caloric deprivation weight loss diets typically do not produce lasting weight loss. Oregon Research Institute (ORI) senior scientist Eric Stice, Ph.D., and colleagues provide results in a recent issue of NeuroImage that further our understanding of how and why most weight loss diets fail and provide a more comprehensive description of the impact of caloric restriction.

Kids with brains that under-react to painful images

When children with conduct problems see images of others in pain, key parts of their brains don't react in the way they do in most people. This pattern of reduced brain activity upon witnessing pain may serve as a neurobiological risk factor for later adult psychopathy, say researchers who report their findings in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on May 2.

Adult cells transformed into early-stage nerve cells, bypassing the pluripotent stem cell stage

MADISON, Wis. — A University of Wisconsin-Madison research group has converted skin cells from people and monkeys into a cell that can form a wide variety of nervous-system cells — without passing through the do-it-all stage called the induced pluripotent stem cell, or iPSC.

Bypassing the ultra-flexible iPSC stage was a key advantage, says senior author Su-Chun Zhang, a professor of neuroscience and neurology. "IPSC cells can generate any cell type, which could be a problem for cell-based therapy to repair damage due to disease or injury in the nervous system."

NIH study uses Botox to find new wrinkle in brain communication

National Institutes of Health researchers used the popular anti-wrinkle agent Botox to discover a new and important role for a group of molecules that nerve cells use to quickly send messages. This novel role for the molecules, called SNARES, may be a missing piece that scientists have been searching for to fully understand how brain cells communicate under normal and disease conditions.

Turning human stem cells into brain cells sheds light on neural development

Medical researchers have manipulated human stem cells into producing types of brain cells known to play important roles in neurodevelopmental disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia and autism. The new model cell system allows neuroscientists to investigate normal brain development, as well as to identify specific disruptions in biological signals that may contribute to neuropsychiatric diseases.

Bigger birth weight babies at greater risk of autism

It is the first time that a clear link has been made between babies who grow to above average size at birth and risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder and follows from a study of more than 40,000 child health records in Sweden.

The research, led by The University of Manchester, also confirms earlier research which reported that premature and poorly grown, low weight babies appear more susceptible to the condition.

World-first study predicts epilepsy seizures in humans

A small device implanted in the brain has accurately predicted epilepsy seizures in humans in a world-first study led by Professor Mark Cook, Chair of Medicine at the University of Melbourne and Director of Neurology at St Vincent's Hospital.

"Knowing when a seizure might happen could dramatically improve the quality of life and independence of people with epilepsy," said Professor Cook, whose research was today published in the international medical journal, Lancet Neurology.

Investigating devastating childhood diseases just got easier

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPScs) from the skin of patients with Dravet syndrome (DS) show Dravet-like functional impairment when they are converted into neurons, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal Molecular Brain. This method provides a non-invasive way to investigate diseases which affect the nervous system of humans.

Tone-deaf female cowbirds change flock behavior, disrupt social networks

Female cowbirds incapable of recognizing high-quality male songs can alter the behavior of flock-mates of either sex and disrupt overall social structure, according to research published May 1 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Sarah Maguire and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania.

New brain research shows 2 parents may be better than 1

A team of researchers at the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) have discovered that adult brain cell production might be determined, in part, by the early parental environment. The study suggests that dual parenting may be more beneficial than single parenting.

BUSM study shows positive impact of mind-body course on well-being of medical students

(Boston) – A Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) study shows a mind-body class elective for medical students helps increase their self-compassion and ability to manage thoughts and tasks more effectively. The study, published in Medical Education Online, also discusses how this innovative course may help medical students better manage stress and feel more empowered to use mind-body skills with their patients.

PTSD research: Distinct gene activity patterns from childhood abuse

Abuse during childhood is different.A study of adult civilians with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) has shown that individuals with a history of childhood abuse have distinct, profound changes in gene activity patterns, compared to adults with PTSD but without a history of child abuse.

A team of researchers from Atlanta and Munich probed blood samples from 169 participants in the Grady Trauma Project, a study of more than 5000 Atlanta residents with high levels of exposure to violence, physical and sexual abuse and with high risk for civilian PTSD.

Genetic mutation linked with typical form of migraine

A research team led by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of California, San Francisco has identified a genetic mutation that is strongly associated with a typical form of migraine.

In a paper published on May 1 in Science Translational Medicine, the team linked the mutation with evidence of migraine in humans, in a mouse model of migraine and in cell culture in the laboratory.

The mutation is in the gene known as casein kinase I delta (CKIdelta).

Scientists discover how brain's auditory center transmits information for decisions, actions

Cold Spring Harbor, NY – When a pedestrian hears the screech of a car's brakes, she has to decide whether, and if so, how, to move in response. Is the action taking place blocks away, or 20 feet to the left?