Brain

NEW YORK – September 30, 2011 – A study conducted by Daniel Bartels, Columbia Business School, Marketing, and David Pizarro, Cornell University, Psychology found that people who endorse actions consistent with an ethic of utilitarianism—the view that what is the morally right thing to do is whatever produces the best overall consequences—tend to possess psychopathic and Machiavellian personality traits.

Everyone's a little bit racist, posits the song from the musical Avenue Q. But it may not be your fault, according to research in the latest edition of the British Journal of Social Psychology. In looking for the culprit as to why people tend to display tinges of racism, sexism or ageism, even towards members of their own group, a research team, led by the Georgia Institute of Technology, found that our culture may be partially to blame.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Antibiotic resistant E. coli was much more prevalent in villages situated along roads than in rural villages located away from roads, which suggests that roads play a major role in the spread or containment of antibiotic resistant bacteria, commonly called superbugs, a new study finds.

Mice with a defective version of a single gene show behaviors and symptoms that are remarkably similar to characteristics observed in humans with autism spectrum disorders. The animals also respond similarly to an FDA-approved drug used to treat repetitive behaviors in people with autism.

UCLA scientists have created a mouse model for autism that opens a window into the biological mechanisms that underlie the disease and offers a promising way to test new treatment approaches.

Published in the Sept. 30 edition of Cell, the research found that autistic mice display remarkably similar symptoms and behavior as children and adults on the autism spectrum. The animals also responded well to an FDA-approved drug prescribed to autism patients to treat repetitive behaviors often associated with the disease.

A University of Alberta-led research team has taken a rare look inside the skull of a dinosaur and come away with unprecedented details on the brain and nasal passages of the 72 million year old animal.

Lead researcher Tetsuto Miyashita, a U of A master's student in paleontology, examined the armoured skull of a Euoplocephalus, a six-metre long plant eater. The skull, which had been sitting in the U of A's paleontology collection, was broken, allowing Miyashita and his colleagues a unique view of the interior nasal cavities and details of blood vessels.

University of Adelaide researchers have found that immune cells in your brain may contribute to how you respond to alcohol. This immune response lies behind some of the well-known alcohol-related behavioral changes, such as difficulty controlling the muscles involved in walking and talking.

Lead researcher Dr Mark Hutchinson, ARC Research Fellow with the University's School of Medical Sciences, said his team's research provided new evidence that an immune response in the brain was involved in behavioral responses to alcohol.

When you think about your immune system, you probably think about it fighting off a cold. But new research from the University of Adelaide suggests that immune cells in your brain may contribute to how you respond to alcohol.

"It's amazing to think that despite 10,000 years of using alcohol, and several decades of investigation into the way that alcohol affects the nerve cells in our brain, we are still trying to figure out exactly how it works," says lead researcher Dr Mark Hutchinson from the University's School of Medical Sciences.

STANFORD, Calif. -- Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have used an imaging technique to show that the brain activation patterns in children with poor reading skills and a low IQ are similar to those in poor readers with a typical IQ. The work provides more definitive evidence about poor readers having similar kinds of difficulties regardless of their general cognitive ability.

Brain tumor specimens taken from neurosurgery cases at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center has given scientists a new window on the transformation that occurs as healthy brain cells begin to form tumors.

The work may help identify new drugs to target oligodendroglioma, a common type of brain tumor, at its earliest stage, when it is generally most treatable. Any potential drugs identified will have to prove safe and effective in clinical trials, a process that can take several years.

You're rudely awakened by the phone. Your room is pitch black. It's unsettling, because you're a little uncertain about where you are – and then you remember. You're in a hotel room.

Sound like a familiar experience? Or maybe you've felt a similar kind of disorientation when you walk out of an elevator onto the wrong floor? But what actually happens inside your head when you experience moments like these?

COLUMBIA, Mo. – A primary characteristic of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is impairments in social-communication skills. Children and adolescents with social-communication problems face difficulty understanding, interacting and relating with others. University of Missouri researchers found that children who receive more intensive therapy to combat these impairments, especially at early ages, achieve the best outcomes.

WASHINGTON, DC, September 28, 2011 — The company an adolescent keeps affects his or her behavior—particularly when these friends engage in illicit activities and are indifferent to education—right?

Well, that all depends, according to a new Northwestern University study, "Being in 'Bad' Company: Power Dependence and Status in Adolescent Susceptibility to Peer Influence," which appears in the September issue of Social Psychology Quarterly.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sept. 27, 2011 – Intensive control of blood sugar levels beyond standard targets provides no additional protection against cognitive decline in older people with diabetes than standard treatment, according to a national study coordinated by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

The first results of the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes-Memory in Diabetes (ACCORD-MIND) study appear online today in The Lancet Neurology.

Israelis and Palestinians have been locked in a bloody cycle of reciprocal retaliation for so long, it can be difficult to imagine the region without its tragic brand of perpetual motion. The warring parties often seem unable to picture a world outside the conflict, with disastrous results. Israelis may believe that Palestinians will always be violent, while Palestinians may believe that Israelis will always be oppressive – and both sides tend to balk at being told otherwise.