Brain

New research published in the international journal Neurobiology of Aging by Marc Poulin, PhD, DPhil, finds that being physically fit helps the brain function at the top of its game. An Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Senior Scholar, Poulin finds that physical activity benefits blood flow in the brain, and, as a result, cognitive abilities.

A new Rice University study published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that socioemotional meanings, including sexual ones, are conveyed in human sweat.

Denise Chen, assistant professor of psychology at Rice, looked at how the brains of female volunteers processed and encoded the smell of sexual sweat from men. The results of the experiment indicated the brain recognizes chemosensory communication, including human sexual sweat.

The international GIANT (Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Parameters) consortium works on the discovery of obesity genes. So far, the scientists have analyzed two million DNA variations in 15 genome-wide association studies with a total of more than 32,000 participants. The hereby identified candidate genes were validated in 14 further studies including 59,000 participants. In addition to the FTO and MC4R genes already known, it was now possible for six more obesity genes to be identified: TMEM18, KCTD15, GNPDA2, SH2B1, MTCH2, and NEGR1.

A preclinical study found a new nasal spray vaccine to provide complete protection against a major botulism toxin, according to a study published today in the Nature journal Gene Therapy.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has found that the seven- to eight-fold increase in the number children born in California with autism since 1990 cannot be explained by either changes in how the condition is diagnosed or counted — and the trend shows no sign of abating.

A powerful computing tool that allows scientists to extract features and patterns from enormously large and complex sets of raw data has been developed by scientists at University of California, Davis, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The tool – a set of problem-solving calculations known as an algorithm – is compact enough to run on computers with as little as two gigabytes of memory.

BOSTON – The drive toward containing health care costs could have the unintended consequence of reducing physician productivity, impairing quality and perhaps even increasing costs, two Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physicians suggest in a New England Journal of Medicine "Perspective."

Citing studies in behavioral economics and psychology, Pamela Hartzband, MD and Jerome Groopman MD, express the fear that assigning a monetary value to every aspect of a physician's time could prove to be self-defeating.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., JAN. 7, 2009 – New government statistics confirm that the decades-long rise in the United States preterm birth rate continues, putting more infants than ever at increased risk of death and disability.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In relationships built on trust, a bad first impression can be harder to overcome than a betrayal that occurs after ties are established, a new study suggests.

While betraying trust is never good for a relationship, the results show that early violations can be particularly devastating, and plant seeds of doubt that may never go away, said Robert Lount, co-author of the study and assistant professor of management and human resources at Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business.

YOU CAN LOOK -- BUT IF YOU TOUCH, BE PREPARED TO BUY; CONSUMERS WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR PRODUCTS THEY TOUCH

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Consumers are often told that if they break an item, they buy it. But a new study suggests that if they just touch an item for more than a few seconds, they may also end up buying it.

Discover, one of the world's premier science and technology news magazines, released its list of the Top 100 Stories for 2008 and features two projects involving physicists from Louisiana Tech University in its Top 10.

Looking at yourself in the mirror every morning, you never think to question whether the person you see is actually you. You feel familiar—at home with your own unique self image. After all, you have been sporting the same old face for years. An innovative study published December 24, 2008 in the online, open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, by Dr Manos Tsakiris, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, challenges this common-sense notion about our own self image.

(Chicago) – A pilot trial of an oral drug therapy called fenobam has shown promising initial results and could be a potential new treatment option for adult patients with Fragile X syndrome (FXS). Findings of the open label, single-dose study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center and the University of California, Davis, Medical Center are to be published in the upcoming January issue of the Journal of Medical Genetics.

Patients with advanced Parkinson disease (PD) who received deep brain stimulation treatment had more improvement in movement skills and quality of life after six months than patients who received other medical therapy, but also had a higher risk of a serious adverse events, according to a study in the January 7 issue of JAMA.

When babies develop a fever high enough or abrupt enough to cause a seizure, frightened parents often rush them to the emergency room, where their workup frequently includes a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to rule out bacterial meningitis. Now, in the largest study to date, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston find that this uncomfortable procedure is probably not necessary in well-appearing children who have had a simple febrile seizure. Findings are published in the January issue of Pediatrics.