Brain

• Metamemory refers to the subjective knowledge that people have of their own cognitive processing abilities.
• A first-of-its-kind study has found that not only were alcohol-dependent patients relatively unaware of their memory deficits, but that they also overestimated their memory capacities.

• There is disagreement about the health benefits of moderate drinking.
• A new study has examined drinking and mortality during a 20-year period.
• Findings confirm an association between moderate drinking and reduced mortality among older adults.

Adding cognitive behavioral therapy – an approach that teaches skills for handling life challenges and revising negative thought patterns – to pharmaceutical treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) significantly improved symptom control in a study of adult patients. The report from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers appear in the August 25 Journal of the American Medical Association.

LA JOLLA, CA – August 20, 2010 – ERepeatedly boosting brain levels of one natural painkiller soon shuts down the brain cell receptors that respond to it, so that the painkilling effect is lost, according to a surprising new study led by Scripps Research Institute and Virginia Commonwealth University scientists. The study has important implications for drug development.

PASADENA, Calif.—Flies follow horizontal edges to regulate altitude, says a team of researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). This finding contradicts a previous model, which posited that insects adjust their height by visually measuring the motion beneath them as they fly.

PHILADELPHIA — Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School have identified a novel approach of combining chemotherapy with a targeted therapy to decrease the recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and aggressive brain tumor.

URBANA – Has your toddler eaten fish today? A University of Illinois food science professor has two important reasons for including seafood in your young child's diet, reasons that have motivated her work in helping to develop a tasty, nutritious salmon baby food for toddlers.

"First, babies need a lot of the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish for brain, nerve, and eye development, and when they switch from breast milk or formula to solid food, most of them don't get nearly enough," said Susan Brewer, also a registered dietitian.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cost but not convenience plays a significant role in attitudes about vaccination for common human papillomaviruses for women over the age of 26, according to the authors of a recent article in the journal Sexual Health.

Currently, the two vaccines for human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the primary cause of cervical cancer, are U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for females from 9 to 26 years of age. The vaccines, Gardasil (Merck and Co.) and Cervarix (GlaxoSmithKline) are under review by the FDA for an older population of women.

Human umbilical cord blood cells (HUCB) used to treat cultured rat brain cells (astrocytes) deprived of oxygen appear to protect astrocytes from cell death after stroke-like damage, reports a team of researchers from the University of South Florida (USF) Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair.

Their study was published in the August, 2010 issue of Stem Cell Review and Reports (http://www.springerlink.com/content/e512750113k17j07/fulltext.pdf) .

A North Carolina State University researcher has helped to locate and identify a gene responsible for a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects American Staffordshire terriers. This same gene may be responsible for a similar rare, fatal disease in humans. Its discovery will lead to improved screening and diagnosis of the disease in dogs and is the first step in working toward a cure for both canines and humans.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that using specific drugs can protect nerve cells in mice from the lethal effects of Parkinson's disease. The researchers' findings are published in the August 22 issue of Nature Medicine.

When people are communicating in sign languages, they also move their mouths. But scientists have debated whether mouth movements resembling spoken language are part of the sign itself or are connected directly to English. In a new study on British Sign Language, signers made different mistakes in the sign and in the mouthing—which means the hand and lip movements are separate in the signer's brain, not part of the same sign.

WASHINGTON – As hurricane season gets into full swing, mental health teams will be ready to respond and help survivors cope with possible devastation. Psychologists have analyzed decades of research and found that disaster response strategies should address the needs of the population affected, specifically those with disabilities and mental disorders.

Chemotherapy, while an effective cancer treatment, also brings debilitating side effects such as nausea, liver toxicity and a battered immune system.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - A daily dose of an old antibiotic may help diabetics avoid a stroke or at least minimize its damage, Medical College of Georgia researchers report.