Brain

It's called the obesity paradox. Although obese people are more apt to suffer from inflammatory diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, they are also more likely to survive a major attack caused by one of those conditions.

University of Illinois scientists Gregory Freund and Christina Sherry shed light on the reasons for this phenomenon in a study in this month's issue of Endocrinology.

BOSTON – A collaborative research effort spanning nearly a decade between researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and King’s College London (KCL) has identified a novel gene for inherited amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). This is the fourth gene associated with familial forms of the devastating neurological disorder. Two papers, published in the February 27 edition of Science, report mutations in FUS/TLS, a gene known to play a role in DNA repair and the regulation of gene expression.

WORCESTER, Mass. — Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) have discovered a new gene whose mutations cause familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurological disorder. Discovery of the FUS/TLS gene mutation, which is estimated to account for 5 percent of inherited ALS cases, is described in the February 27, 2009 issue of Science.

In everyday language, people sometimes say that immoral behaviours "leave a bad taste in your mouth". But this may be more than a metaphor according to new scientific evidence from the University of Toronto that shows a link between moral disgust and more primitive forms of disgust related to poison and disease.

The impact of the amyloid plaques that appear in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease may extend beyond the deposits' effects on neurons – the cells that transmit electrochemical signals throughout the nervous system. In an article in the Feb. 27 issue of Science, researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) report that amyloid plaques may also increase the activity of astrocytes, star-shaped nervous system cells traditionally considered to provide a supporting role in normal brain function.

A collaborative research project involving Professor Christopher Shaw of the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London (KCL), Dr Tom Kwiatkowski at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Professor Robert H Brown at University of Massachusetts, has revealed that mutations in a gene called FUS (fused in sarcoma) cause familial Motor Neuron Disease (also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). This is the second gene to be discovered for ALS in just one year and is an important step towards understanding disease mechanisms.

The discovery of the molecule, an antibody known as CR6261, is good news for researchers who hope to design a flu vaccine that would give humans lifelong protection against a majority of influenza viruses. The antibody also has the potential to treat those who are unvaccinated and become infected with the flu.

The team's findings were published in the February 26, 2009, issue of Science Express, an advance, online publication of selected research papers from the prestigious journal Science.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--New research from Vanderbilt University's Peabody Collegeoffers guidance for teachers to help them improve writing instruction in theprimary grades and develop stronger student writers.

The two new studies by Steve Graham, professor and Curry Ingram Chair inSpecial Education, were recently published in the Journal of EducationalPsychology.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — In one of the first studies to examine maternal and newborn health risks and colorectal cancer, UC Davis researchers have found that women diagnosed with the disease during or shortly after their pregnancies have the same survival as women who have the disease and are not pregnant. The study also found that, while there is an increased chance of preterm labor, the outcomes for the babies is the same for women with colorectal cancer as for those without the disease.

While children look up to and aspire to be like a positive family member or peer, they are more likely to imitate traits of other role models -- including negative role models, which can lead to behavioral problems, according to a Kansas State University researcher.

Brenda McDaniel, assistant professor of psychology at K-State, worked with colleagues at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa to study the relationship of moral traits shared by youths and their role models to find predictors of outcomes like youth conduct problems.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center have, for the first time, shown what brain activity looks like when someone anticipates an action or sensory input which soon follows.

In the February 25 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, they say this neural clairvoyance involves strong activity in areas of the brain responsible for preparing the body to move.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In another "Freakonomics"-style study that turns conventional wisdom about public- versus private-school education on its head, a team of University of Illinois education professors has found that public-school students outperform their private-school classmates on standardized math tests, thanks to two key factors: certified math teachers, and a modern, reform-oriented math curriculum.

A layer of "dark cells" in the retina that is responsible for maintaining the health of the light-sensing cells in our eyes has been imaged in a living retina for the first time.

The ability to see this nearly invisible layer could help doctors identify the onset of many diseases of the eye long before a patient notices symptoms. The findings are reported today's issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

February 25, 2009 – (Bronx, NY) – Women who have more years of fertility (the time from first menstruation to menopause) have a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease than women with fewer years, according to a large, new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

Yale researchers have filled in a missing gap on the molecular road map of Alzheimer's disease.

In the Feb. 26 issue of the journal Nature, the Yale team reports that cellular prion proteins trigger the process by which amyloid-beta peptides block brain function in Alzheimer's patients.