Brain

TORONTO, December 22, 2010 − Research from York University is revealing which regions in the brain "fire up" when we suppress an automatic behaviour such as the urge to look at other people as we enter an elevator.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Neuroscientists had assumed that a mutation in the progranulin gene, which makes the progranulin protein and supports brain neurons, was sufficient to produce a kind of dementia known as frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD).

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report for the first time how animals' knowledge obtained through past experiences can subconsciously influence their behavior in new situations.

The work, which sheds light on how our past experiences inform our future choices, will be reported on Dec. 22 in an advance online publication of Nature.

Australian scientists have discovered that changes to a gene involved in brain development can lead to testis formation and male genitalia in an otherwise female embryo.

Lead Melbourne researcher Professor Andrew Sinclair, of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and the University of Melbourne, said the breakthrough would improve diagnosis and clinical management of patients with disorders of sex development (DSD). These conditions occur when the testes or ovaries do not develop properly in the embryo, causing genital abnormalities in one in 4500 babies.

University of Adelaide researchers are a step closer to unraveling the mysteries of human sexual development, following genetic studies that show male mice can be created without a Y chromosome – through the activation of an ancient brain gene.

Tampa, Fla. (Dec. 22, 2010) –In three monthly injections, researchers transplanted neurally-committed, autologous cord blood derived cells tagged with iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIO) into the lateral cerebral ventricle of a 16-month old child with severe global hypoxic ischemic brain injury. The study, published in the current issue of Cell Medicine 1(2) and now freely available online at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/cm

Searching the web usually involves typing keywords or a phrase into a search engine and clicking the "search now" button. It's very effective and several large companies have become prominent in the field by providing users with searchable access to millions, if not billions of web pages in this way.

Stress can enhance ordinary, unrelated memories, a team of neuroscientists has found in a study of laboratory rats. Their results, which appear in the journal PLoS Biology, may bolster our understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and could offer a pathway for addressing PTSD and related afflictions.

The study was conducted by researchers at the Czech Republic's Academy of Sciences, the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center, and Rockefeller University.

Despite the growing recognition of the importance of strengthening health systems around the world, there is a considerable lack of shared definitions and guiding principles that are threatening the ability to form strategic policy, practice and evaluations. In this week's PLoS Medicine, Robert Chad Swanson from Brigham Young University, USA and colleagues present a set of 10 guiding principles for health systems strengthening to address this problem, developed from a comprehensive review of the literature and consultation with experts.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 21, 2010 -- Scientists have made the surprising discovery that our ability to recognize and remember faces peaks at age 30 to 34, about a decade later than most of our other mental abilities.

Researchers Laura T. Germine and Ken Nakayama of Harvard University and Bradley Duchaine of Dartmouth College will present their work in a forthcoming issue of the journal Cognition.

Cold Spring Harbor, NY-- Newly published research led by Professor Z. Josh Huang, Ph.D., of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) sheds important new light on how neurons in the developing brain make connections with one another. This activity, called synapse validation, is at the heart of the process by which neural circuits self-assemble, and is directly implicated in pathology that gives rise to devastating neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and schizophrenia.

A new University of British Columbia study has found that people identify the personality traits of people who are physically attractive more accurately than others during short encounters.

The study, published in the December edition of Psychological Science, suggests people pay closer attention to people they find attractive, and is the latest scientific evidence of the advantages of perceived beauty. Previous research has shown that individuals tend to find attractive people more intelligent, friendly and competent than others.

Nutritional supplementation with Spirulina, a nutrient-rich, blue-green algae, appeared to provide neuroprotective support for dying motor neurons in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, University of South Florida neuroscientists have found. Although more research is needed, they suggest that a spirulina-supplemented diet may provide clinical benefits for ALS patients.

Honeybees can learn to avoid nectar containing natural plant toxins but will eat it when there is no alternative, scientists at Newcastle University have found.

This means that in areas dominated by these so called 'toxic plants' – such as almond or apple orchards –bees struggle to find an alternative food source and so are forced to eat toxic nectar.

With honeybee populations already under stress, the Newcastle University team believe these toxin-laden nectars could, in some cases, be a factor affecting colony health.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nearly one in five whites could carry a genetic variant that substantially increases their odds of being susceptible to severe cocaine abuse, according to new research.

This genetic variant, characterized by one or both of two tiny gene mutations, alters the brain's response to specific chemical signals. In the study, led by Ohio State University researchers, the variant was associated with a more than threefold increase in the odds that carriers will be susceptible to severe cocaine abuse leading to fatal overdosing, compared to non-carriers.