Brain

DALLAS – May 10, 2011 – Children whose mothers are successfully treated for depression show progressive and marked improvement in their own behaviors even a year after their moms discontinue treatment, new UT Southwestern Medical Center-led research shows.

Additionally, the faster mothers got better, the faster their kids improved – and the greater the degree of improvement experienced.

AMES, Iowa -- Douglas Gentile is painfully aware of how research on the effects of video games on kids is often oversimplified to say that games are either "good" or "bad." The associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University has had his own research typecast on the "bad" side with studies on violent video game's effects and video game addiction, even though he's also done studies demonstrating the benefits of games.

When someone is acting suspiciously at an airport, subway station or other public space, how can law enforcement officers determine whether he's up to no good?

The ability to effectively detect deception is crucial to public safety, particularly in the wake of renewed threats against the U.S. following the killing of Osama bin Laden.

WHAT:Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), report that they have developed a method—10,000 times more sensitive than other methods—to detect variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (vCJD) in blood plasma. vCJD is a type of prion disease in humans that leads to brain damage and death. The NIAID researchers also used the test to rapidly detect scrapie, a prion disease of sheep, in infected hamsters, some pre-symptomatic.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Approximately 14 percent of all strokes occur during sleep, preventing many from getting clot-busting treatment, according to a study published in the May 10, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Nitric oxide gas appears to directly impact the source of the classic, disabling pain crises of sickle cell disease, Georgia Health Sciences University researchers report.

The short-acting gas helps unglue hemoglobin molecules that stick together, forming long chains that ultimately deform red blood cells and prompting a cellular pileup in small blood vessels and pain, said Dr. C. Alvin Head, Chairman of GHSU's Department of Anesthesiology.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Bad news for muggle parents! A new study by psychologists at the University at Buffalo finds that we more or less "become" vampires or wizards just by reading about them.

The good news is that, although we might think our teeth are a little sharper after a session with "Twilight," reading satisfies a deeply felt need for human connection because we not only feel like the characters we read about but, psychologically speaking, become part of their world and derive emotional benefits from the experience.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Imagine an insect repellant that not only is thousands of times more effective than DEET – the active ingredient in most commercial mosquito repellants – but also works against all types of insects, including flies, moths and ants.

That possibility has been created by the discovery of a new class of insect repellant made in the laboratory of Vanderbilt Professor of Biological Sciences and Pharmacology Laurence Zwiebel and reported this week in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Most strategies to assist the hungry, including food banks and providing food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, are short-term, emergency solutions. Those who rely on these programs face daily shortages of fresh and healthy foods, which lead to poor diet choices, nutritional deficiencies and health problems. An expert at the University of Missouri says the production of sustainable, locally grown foods is key to providing long-term food security for communities.

Calgary, AB - New research from the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine shows that doctors can make a stroke diagnosis using an iPhone application with the same accuracy as a diagnosis at a medical computer workstation. This technology can be particularly useful in rural medical settings. This allows for real-time access to specialists such as neurologists, regardless of where the physicians and patients are located.

Are clothing manufacturers helping to turn young girls into sex objects? According to a new study, up to 30 percent of young girls' clothing available online in the US is 'sexy' or sexualizing. The study was carried out by Samantha Goodin, a former Kenyon College (Ohio, USA) student and a research team led by Dr. Sarah Murnen, Professor of Psychology at Kenyon College. In their view, this has serious implications for how girls evaluate themselves according to a sexualized model of feminine physical attractiveness. It makes them confront the issue of sexual identity at a very young age.

ROCHESTER, Minn. - A colonoscopy is an invaluable procedure for detecting problems in the colon and rectum. Doctors can often diagnose gastrointestinal issues and even catch the warning signs of colorectal cancer. Perfecting the skills required for this delicate procedure takes practice. But just how much practice makes perfect?

Calgary, AB - New research from the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine shows that doctors can make a stroke diagnosis using an iPhone application with the same accuracy as a diagnosis at a medical computer workstation. This technology can be particularly useful in rural medical settings. This allows for real-time access to specialists such as neurologists, regardless of where the physicians and patients are located.

Online social networking sites, such as Facebook, can help students become academically and socially integrated as well as improving learning outcomes, according to a study by researchers in China and Hong Kong. Writing in the International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, explain that Facebook usage is around 90% across campuses and many educational institutions offer new students orientation on how to capitalize on social networking to improve their experience of their course and their final results.

As the world's leading authority on beads manufactured from shells by California's Chumash Indians, UCLA archaeologist Jeanne Arnold was stumped by a series of anomalous artifacts excavated at former settlements on the Channel Islands.

Pierced with more than one hole, often at unconventional angles or too close to the edges, the oddly configured multi-hole beads differ considerably from the smooth, round, precisely drilled beauties that served as currency among the Chumash prior to the arrival of Europeans in Southern California.