Culture
PULLMAN, Wash.--Erik Johnson has what looks like a surefire way to hurt support for spending to protect the environment: Elect a Democratic president.
Johnson, a Washington State University sociologist, teased apart the opinions of more than 20,000 people over more than four decades and saw that support for environmental spending consistently plummeted during the administrations of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Democrats all.
The search for a mechanism that could explain how the protein complex NCOR1/2 regulates memory has revealed an unexpected connection between the lateral hypothalamus and the hippocampus, the feeding and the memory centers of the brain, respectively. The findings, which were published today in the journal Nature Neuroscience by a multidisciplinary team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, have implications for studies on brain function, including those related to autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities and neurodegenerative disease.
A protein-secreting device implanted into the hippocampus of epileptic rats reduces seizures by 93 percent in three months, finds preclinical research published in JNeurosci. These results support ongoing development of this technology and its potential translation into a new treatment for epilepsy.
Mice growing up in a basic cage maintain lifelong visual cortex plasticity if their parents were raised in an environment that promoted social interaction and physical and mental stimulation, according to a multigenerational study published in eNeuro. The research suggests life experience may be transmitted from one generation to the next through a combination of changes in gene expression and parental caretaking behavior.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Greenland is melting faster than scientists previously thought--and will likely lead to faster sea level rise--thanks to the continued, accelerating warming of the Earth's atmosphere, a new study has found.
Paleontologists at the University of Chicago have discovered the first detailed fossil of a hagfish, the slimy, eel-like carrion feeders of the ocean. The 100-million-year-old fossil helps answer questions about when these ancient, jawless fish branched off the evolutionary tree from the lineage that gave rise to modern-day jawed vertebrates, including bony fish and humans.
Our brains seem to reduce sensory perception from an area of our skin when we touch it ourselves, according to a new study from Linköping University published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS. The finding increases our understanding of how the brain distinguishes between being touched by another person and self-touch.
Early adult general cognitive ability (GCA) -- the diverse set of skills involved in thinking, such as reasoning, memory and perception -- is a stronger predictor of cognitive function and reserve later in life than other factors, such as higher education, occupational complexity or engaging in late-life intellectual activities, report researchers in a new study publishing January 21 in PNAS.
Imagine a world where everyone has the same face. That would be a very different world than the one we know. In our world, in which faces are different, faces convey essential information. For example, most of us can recognize a celebrity's face even if it only appears for a fraction of second or the face of an old college friend even after decades of not seeing him. Many of us can sense the mood of a significant other just based on facial expression. Often, we can establish whether a person is trustworthy by just looking at his or her face.
A new 'brain training' game designed by researchers at the University of Cambridge improves users' concentration, according to new research published today. The scientists behind the venture say this could provide a welcome antidote to the daily distractions that we face in a busy world.
As a growing number of adolescents identify as transgender, a review aims to help primary care physicians care for this vulnerable group and its unique needs. The review, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), looks at emerging evidence for managing gender dysphoria, including social and medical approaches for youth who are transitioning.
Patients are open to being asked about their sexual orientation and gender identity in primary care, which can help make health care more welcoming, although the stage should be set for these questions and they should include a range of options, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
MIT researchers have developed a way to dramatically enhance the sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), a technique used to study the structure and composition of many kinds of molecules, including proteins linked to Alzheimer's and other diseases.
Cold Spring Harbor, NY -- The ideal drug is one that only affects the exact cells and neurons it is designed to treat, without unwanted side effects. This concept is especially important when treating the delicate and complex human brain. Now, scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have revealed a mechanism that could lead to this kind of long-sought specificity for treatments of strokes and seizures.
According to Professor Hiro Furukawa, the senior scientist who oversaw this work, "it really comes down to chemistry."
PHILADELPHIA -The marketing of direct-to-consumer "neurotechnologies" can be enticing: apps that diagnose a mental state, and brain devices that improve cognition or "read" one's emotional state. However, many of these increasingly popular products aren't fully supported by science and have little to no regulatory oversight, which poses potential health risks to the public.