Brain

Montreal, Canada, December 5, 2008 – Canadian researchers announce the discovery of MEDNIK Syndrome, a debilitating genetic syndrome. In a study published today in the online version of PLoS Genetics, and in the December edition, a research team led by Dr. Patrick Cossette, from the Université de Montréal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) and Associate Professor, Université de Montréal (U de M), has demonstrated that this syndrome is caused by a newly found mutation in the AP1S1 gene.

Happiness really does rub off—a person's happiness depends on the happiness of others with whom they are connected, finds research published on bmj.com today.

Happiness is not just an individual experience or choice, but is dependent on the happiness of others to whom individuals are connected directly and indirectly, and requires close proximity to spread, say the authors. For example, a friend who becomes happy and lives within a mile increases your likelihood of happiness by 25%.

Dec. 4, 2008 -- For years, scientists have struggled to decipher the genetic instruction book that details where and when the 20,000 genes in a human cell will be turned on or off. Different genes operate in each cell type at different times, and this careful orchestration is what ultimately distinguishes a brain cell from a liver or skin cell.

Stop and think for a moment. What do you remember about your breakfast this morning? One part of your brain will recall the smell of coffee brewing, while another will remember your partner's smile while walking out the door. How does the brain weave together these fragments, and how does it bring them back to conscious life?

Waltham, Mass.—In times of economic distress and plenty, ninety percent of Americans pray, more than half of us once a day or more. We pray for big things—to stay healthy, to keep our jobs, and to strengthen our relationships. And we pray for small things—to find parking spaces and missing items. Some of us are sure God exists and others pray simply to cover the bases.

With up to half of a person's body mass consisting of skeletal muscle, chronic inflammation of those muscles – which include those found in the limbs – can result in significant physical impairment.

Middle-aged men want younger women, often touting their intelligence and their high income. This is shown in research at Gothenburg University and Oxford University that studied 400 lonely hearts ads to see how men and women choose partners.

Research in the theory of evolution includes a number of accepted theories about how men and women choose their partners. Among the more established ones is that men place more emphasis on attractive appearance, whereas resources and social status are more important to women.

Scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have determined the first 3D structure of ZP3, a protein essential for the interaction between the mammalian egg coat and sperm. The findings, presented in Nature, gives a first glimpse into the molecular architecture of animal egg coats, with important implications for the future of human reproductive medicine and the possibility of developing novel contraceptives.

Researchers are calling for more studies into the practice of forcing psychiatric patients to take medication, after a research review showed that there have been very few rigorous investigations of the procedure.

The review, published in the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing, suggests that patients receiving coerced medication (CM) are more likely to be in their thirties with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or another psychotic disorder.

CM is used more often in the UK than in other countries where other forms of restraint are more common.

Levodopa has long been proven to provide the greatest relief of all available medications in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. It also is the most cost-effective drug for managing the full range of problems associated with this chronic neurological disorder, which affects an estimated one million Americans.

December 3, 2008 — (BRONX, NY) — A new study led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has clarified how two major variants of HIV differ in their ability to cause neurologic complications. The finding, published in Journal of Neuroscience, highlights a new target for drugs that could prevent HIV-associated dementia, an incurable and increasingly common complication in people with AIDS.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Research carried out at MIT's Alcator C-Mod fusion reactor may have brought the promise of fusion as a future power source a bit closer to reality, though scientists caution that a practical fusion powerplant is still decades away.

Fusion, the reaction that produces the sun's energy, is thought to have enormous potential for future power generation because fusion plant operation produces no emissions, fuel sources are potentially abundant, and it produces relatively little (and short-lived) radioactive waste. But it still faces great hurdles.

ROCHESTER, Minn. - A new Mayo Clinic study found that patients with low-grade gliomas survived longest when they underwent aggressive surgeries to successfully remove the entire tumor. If safely removing the entire tumor was not possible, patients survived significantly longer when surgery was followed by radiation therapy.

John D. England, MD, Professor and Chairman of Neurology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, is the principal investigator of two studies recommending new testing guidelines for neuropathy – a common degenerative nerve disorder that to this time had few evidence-based standards for evaluation and management. The studies, published in two separate papers in the December 3, 2008 online issue of Neurology®, resulted in recommendations about who should be tested, when, and how.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The wild pea pod is big and heavy, with seemingly little prayer of escaping the shade of its parent plant.

And yet, like a grounded teenager who knows where the car keys are hidden, it manages – if it has a reasonable chance of escape.