Brain

CHAPEL HILL – How marine animals find their way back to their birthplace to reproduce after migrating across thousands of miles of open ocean has mystified scientists for more than a century. But marine biologists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill think they might finally have unraveled the secret.

At the beginning of their lives, salmon and sea turtles may read the magnetic field of their home area and "imprint" on it, according to a new theory in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Feeling threatened? Hungry? Looking for a mate? Move! Tracking and remote sensing data are making it easier to locate organisms and find out what they are up to. However, general theories of movement are lacking. In a special feature on Movement Ecology in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers present integrative models for movement of organisms as diverse as gut bacteria, tree seeds, ants, marine larvae and cheetahs.

Older adults with symptoms of depression appear more likely to gain abdominal fat, but not overall fat, over a five-year period, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Psychiatric disorders appear to be common among 18- to 24-year-olds, with overall rates similar among those attending or not attending college, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Almost half of college-aged individuals meet criteria for substance abuse, personality disorders or another mental health condition during a one-year period, but only one-fourth of those seek treatment.

Evanston, Ill. (December 1, 2008) – With the forthcoming inauguration this January, the nation will be closely watching to see how the President Elect will respond to the advice, influence, and criticism of his advisors, cabinet members, media, and other political leaders as he takes office.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects as many as one in five of all Americans who survive a harrowing experience like rape, assault, war or terrorism. It has emotionally paralyzed survivors of 9/11 and broken up survivors' families.

There is no broadly accepted treatment that can lower the chance of developing the disorder, but thanks to a Tel Aviv University researcher, a medical means of preventing PTSD may be just around the corner.

A UCLA study shows for the first time how microscopic crystals form sound and gravity sensors inside the inner ear. Located at the ends of cilia — tiny cellular hairs in the ear that move and transmit signals — these crystals play an important role in detecting sound, maintaining balance and regulating movement.

Dislodged ear crystals are to blame for the most common form of vertigo. Known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, the disorder plagues up to 10 percent of people older than 60 and causes 20 percent of patients' dizziness complaints.

PROVIDENCE, RI – Previous studies have shown that babies exposed to tobacco in utero are more likely to have a low birth weight and are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome. Now new research by The Miriam Hospital reveals that these babies are also less likely to self-soothe and are more aroused and excitable than newborns whose mothers did not smoke during pregnancy.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Palm Pilots already perform a variety of functions, and in the future, they may be used as a therapeutic tool that benefits people with personality disorders. In a new study, a University of Missouri researcher used Palm Pilots as electronic diaries to record and analyze mood variability in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and found that the devices helped bridge an important communication gap between therapists and patients.

Many computing luminaries, such as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, have an early experience in common--an engaging experience in middle school or high school that sparked an excitement for learning everything they could about computers. Today, many young people are surrounded by computing at home and in school, and some of them will likely find a similar passion that will lead them to push tomorrow's frontiers in computer science.

Cardiac CT can effectively assess coronary artery stenosis, according to a large study performed at Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, The Netherlands.

The study consisted of 1,331 patients who had suspected coronary artery disease with 50% or more stenosis. 10,561 coronary artery segments were analyzed during the study. "We found a 98% sensitivity rate for detecting significant coronary artery stenosis in our patients; specificity was 91%," said Lucia J.M. Kroft, MD, and Alexander Meijer, MSc, lead authors of the study.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA---This month's Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, reports on eye disorders that may occur in people taking statins, on a new system that predicts soldiers' visual recovery after combat eye trauma, and on use of glaucoma patients' opinions to improve testing and treatment.

Eye Disorders Linked to Statin Drug Use in Some Patients

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and blast-induced injuries have become the signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because of the pervasive use of explosive weaponry. Service members of these wars are experiencing higher rates of TBI and blast-induced injury than veterans of any previous conflicts. Gulf War and Health Volume 7: Long-Term Consequences of TBI, a new report from the Institute of Medicine, evaluates the evidence on long-term health effects of TBI and blast-related injuries.

It's a question that confronts parents and teachers everywhere- what is the best method of teaching kids new skills? Is it better for children to learn gradually, starting with easy examples and slowly progressing to more challenging problems? Or is it more effective to just dive-in head first with difficult problems, and then move on to easier examples? Although conventional wisdom suggests that the best way to learn a difficult skill is to progress from easier problems to more difficult ones, research examining this issue has resulted in mixed outcomes.

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 1 – In one of the first instances of targeted drug design in psychiatric treatment, University of Pittsburgh researchers have found an experimental agent that shows promise in addressing working memory impairments that occur in the schizophrenia.