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Adolescents with disabilities are more likely to have menstrual problems and need tailored care

Menstrual problems among adolescents with learning and physical disabilities are more common compared to the general population and there is no one-size fits all solution when managing the symptoms, says a new review published today (19th April) in The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist (TOG).

The review looks at the behavioural and emotional changes associated with menstruation in adolescents with learning and physical disabilities and examines the advantages and limitations of therapeutic and surgical options for managing menstrual problems.

Numerical cognition in bees and other insects

Dr. Mario Pahl and colleagues review the main studies on the ability of insects to perceive number, and discuss the possible mechanisms involved in number recognition.

Recent behavioral investigations have shown that several invertebrate species (animals without backbones) share various numerical activities with bigger animals, such as birds and mammals.

This is because the ability to assess the number of food items, competitors or mates can help animals – even smaller ones like insects – to make better decisions when competing for resources or sexual partners.

Rats' and bats' brains work differently on the move

College Park, MD - A new study of brain rhythms in bats and rats challenges a widely used model - based on studies in rodents - of how animals navigate their environment. To get a clearer picture of the processes at work in the mammal brain during spatial navigation, neuroscientists must closely study a broad range of animals, say the two University of Maryland College Park scientists involved in the study.

Neural activity in bats measured in-flight

Animals navigate and orient themselves to survive – to find food and shelter or avoid predators, for example. Research conducted by Dr. Nachum Ulanovsky and research student Michael Yartsev of the Weizmann Institute's Neurobiology Department, published today in Science, reveals for the first time how three-dimensional, volumetric, space is perceived in mammalian brains. The research was conducted using a unique, miniaturized neural-telemetry system developed especially for this task, which enabled the measurement of single brain cells during flight.

Learning disabilities affect up to 10 percent of children

Up to 10 per cent of the population are affected by specific learning disabilities (SLDs), such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, translating to 2 or 3 pupils in every classroom according to a new study.

The study – by academics at UCL and Goldsmiths - also indicates that children are frequently affected by more than one learning disability.

The research, published today in Science, helps to clarify the underlying causes of learning disabilities and the best way to tailor individual teaching and learning for affected individuals and education professionals.

Child's counting comprehension may depend on objects counted, study shows

Concrete objects — such as toys, tiles and blocks — that students can touch and move around, called manipulatives, have been used to teach basic math skills since the 1980s. Use of manipulatives is based on the long-held belief that young children's thinking is strictly concrete in nature, so concrete objects are assumed to help them learn math concepts.

First steps of synapse building is captured in live zebra fish embryos

EUGENE, Ore. -- (April 18, 2013) -- Using spinning disk microscopy on barely day-old zebra fish embryos, University of Oregon scientists have gained a new window on how synapse-building components move to worksites in the central nervous system.

What researchers captured in these see-through embryos -- in what may be one of the first views of early glutamate-driven synapse formation in a living vertebrate -- were orderly movements of protein-carrying packets along axons to a specific site where a synapse would be formed.

Learned helplessness in flies and the roots of depression

When faced with impossible circumstances beyond their control, animals, including humans, often hunker down as they develop sleep or eating disorders, ulcers, and other physical manifestations of depression. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on April 18 show that the same kind of thing happens to flies.

Evolving genes lead to evolving genes

Researchers have designed a method that can universally test for evolutionary adaption, or positive (Darwinian) selection, in any chosen set of genes, using re-sequencing data such as that generated by the 1000 Genomes Project. The method identifies gene sets that show evidence for positive selection in comparison with matched controls, and thus highlights genes for further functional studies.

Bursts of brain activity may protect against Alzheimer's disease

Evidence indicates that the accumulation of amyloid-beta proteins, which form the plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, is critical for the development of Alzheimer's disease, which impacts 5.4 million Americans. And not just the quantity, but also the quality of amyloid-beta peptides is crucial for Alzheimer's initiation. The disease is triggered by an imbalance in two different amyloid species — in Alzheimer's patients, there is a reduction in a relative level of healthy amyloid-beta 40 compared to 42.

Cross-cultural similarities in early adolescence

Montreal, April 18, 2013 – Acquiring self-esteem is an important part of a teenager's development. The way in which adolescents regard themselves can be instrumental in determining their achievement and social functioning. New research from Concordia University shows that the way in which adolescents think about themselves varies across cultural context.

High levels of glutamate in brain may kick-start schizophrenia

New York, NY (April 18, 2013) — An excess of the brain neurotransmitter glutamate may cause a transition to psychosis in people who are at risk for schizophrenia, reports a study from investigators at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) published in the current issue of Neuron.

The findings suggest 1) a potential diagnostic tool for identifying those at risk for schizophrenia and 2) a possible glutamate-limiting treatment strategy to prevent or slow progression of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.

European Commission must innovate to get value from €70 billion science funding program

The European Commission needs to make some key innovations in its science funding programme if Europe is to enjoy the full benefits of the €70 billion to be spent on science research as part of the Horizon 2020 programme kicking off in 2014, according to an academic paper published by SAGE in the Journal of Health Services Research & Policy today.

From mice to humans, more comfort when being carried by mom

There is a very good reason mothers often carry their crying babies, pacing the floor, to help them calm down. Research in Current Biology last year shows that infants experience an automatic calming reaction upon being carried, whether they are mouse or human babies.

Increased brain activity predicts future onset of substance use

Do people get caught in the cycle of overeating and drug addiction because their brain reward centers are over-active causing them to experience greater cravings for food or drugs? In a unique prospective study Oregon Research Institute (ORI) senior scientist Eric Stice, Ph.D., and colleagues tested this theory, called the reward surfeit model. The results indicated that elevated responsivity of reward regions in the brain increased the risk for future substance use, which has never been tested before prospectively with humans.