Brain

Researchers comparing the fetal development of the eye of the owl monkey with that of the capuchin monkey have found that only a minor difference in the timing of cell proliferation can explain the multiple anatomical differences in the two kinds of eyes.

In a study that could help explain the connections between depression and cancer, researchers at the University of Chicago have used an animal model to find, for the first time, a biological link between tumors and negative mood changes.

The team determined that substances associated with depression are produced in increased quantities by tumors and are transmitted to the brain.

Additionally, pathways that normally moderate the impact of depression-causing substances are disrupted when a tumor develops.

Athens, Ga. – Memory loss is love's great thief. Those who suffer aren't just the ones who can't remember—family, friends and loved ones agonize over how to react when the disorder begins its often inexorable progress.

San Francisco, CA – May 18, 2009 – Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced new findings on INTUNIV (guanfacine) extended release, a selective alpha-2A-agonist, at a major psychiatric meeting. This randomized placebo controlled trial met its primary objective, which was to evaluate the effects of INTUNIV on oppositional symptoms in children aged 6 to 12 years with a diagnosis of ADHD and the presence of oppositional symptoms.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Researchers from Brown University and other institutions have developed a computational computer model of how brain tumors grow and evolve.

The model is the product mathematical formulas based on the first principals of physics, such as conservation of mass, and it has allowed researchers to recreate tumor growth in a computer. Through subsequent repetitive testing against real tumors, they have also linked their computerized tumors to real-world brain tumors, or "gliomas," and can now watch tumor growth on a computer screen.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — By creating a model of the active site found in a naturally occurring enzyme, chemists at the University of Illinois have described a catalyst that acts like nature's most pervasive hydrogen processor.

The researchers describe their work in a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and posted on the journal's Web site.

The aggressiveness of tumors and their susceptibility to chemotherapy may become easier to predict based on a mathematical model developed at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Montréal, May 15, 2009 – The research group of Dr. Frédéric Charron, a researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), has made a discovery which could help treat spinal cord injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. This new finding has been published in the current issue of the prestigious scientific journal Neuron. Patricia T. Yam, Sébastien D. Langlois and Steves Morin, all at the IRCM, are listed as co-authors.

Any child confronting an outraged parent demanding to know "What were you thinking?" now has a new response: "Scientists have discovered that my brain is organized differently than yours."

But all is not well for errant kids. The same new study also provides parents with a rejoinder: While the overarching organization scheme differs, one of the most important core principals of adult brain organization is present in the brains of children as young as 7.

Washington, DC –A new study examining treatment decision-making by older women with early stage breast cancer shows that 45 percent of women would choose to get chemotherapy after surgery -- a figure higher than the national average of women getting the additional treatment.

DURHAM, N.C. – Wireless, personal computers used by cancer patients to log their symptoms help improve the patients' care and further cancer research, according to a study led by researchers in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.

DURHAM, N.C. – Monkeys playing a game similar to "Let's Make A Deal" have revealed that their brains register missed opportunities and learn from their mistakes.

"This is the first evidence that monkeys, like people, have 'would-have, could-have, should-have' thoughts," said Ben Hayden, a researcher at the Duke University Medical Center and lead author of the study published in the journal Science.

By observing the pattern of activity in the brain, scientists have discovered they can "read" whether a person just heard words spoken in anger, joy, relief, or sadness. The discovery, reported online on May 14th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, is the first to show that emotional information is represented by distinct spatial signatures in the brain that can be generalized across speakers.

WASHINGTON – People looking for a good job at a good salary could find their intelligence may not be the only trait that puts them at the top of the pay scale, according to researchers. A new study finds attractiveness, along with confidence, may help job-seekers stand out to employers.

She never gets invited to lunch with the rest of her co-workers. He always gets publicly criticized for his mistakes.

But according to research by Kansas State University psychologists, neither of these workers is likely to leave the job.