Brain

Philadelphia, PA, 8 April 2010 - Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are developmental disorders usually diagnosed in childhood. Children with ASDs have impairments in social interactions and communication, and a tendency towards repetitive behaviors. A hallmark of autism is a difficulty in understanding and reciprocating the emotion of others. Although behavioral therapies can improve some symptoms of autism, there is currently no effective treatment for these problems.

Changes in social roles of men and women may cause the increase of gender violence. When sexist men feel their power threatened within their relationship, they may use violence as a way to restore their lost power.

Thus, violence becomes either an instrument to control their threatened power and a way to restore it. Currently, many men "feel threatened by the change that their relationship with women has undergone. They are unable to understand their relationship with women in terms of equality despite the prevailing social rules".

DALLAS – April 7, 2010 – New findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers suggest that the hormones leptin and insulin work together in specific neurons in the hypothalamus region of the brain to affect both the regulation of blood sugar levels in the body and, surprisingly, female fertility.

The Transcendental Meditation technique may be an effective approach to reduce symptoms of depression, say two new studies to be presented at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Seattle, Washington April 9th, 2010.

NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION, Va. --Virginia Tech is one of few universities to integrate mindfulness meditation into its Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program curriculum, according to Eric McCollum, professor of human development and MFT program director in the National Capital Region. "Mindfulness meditation helps students improve their ability to be emotionally present in therapy sessions with clients," he explained. "It helps beginners, who can sometimes feel overwhelmed, stop focusing on themselves and think more about others."

After years of preparation and anticipation, scientists who discover and develop new medications are about to answer a key question about Alzheimer's disease: Will drugs that block formation of abnormal clumps of protein in the brain called amyloid-beta slow the progression of the devastating disease? The cover story in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine, assesses the scientific foundation and clinical landscape of those amyloid-beta blockers.

In Germany alone, more than 300,000 people are afflicted by Parkinson's disease and the number is growing steadily. However, despite comprehensive research, scientists are still somewhat in the dark as to the molecular changes that trigger this illness. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried, Germany, together with colleagues from Munich and Hamburg, have demonstrated using a new animal model that nerve cells do not begin to die to the extent found in "Parkinson's" in mice until three conditions come together.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., APRIL 6, 2010 — The nation's preterm birth rate dropped for the second consecutive year.

New nationwide statistics show a 3 percent decline in the preterm birth rate, according to a report released today by the National Center for Health Statistics.

March of Dimes officials say they are encouraged and hope that the decline is a new trend in infant health. The data are based on 99.9 percent of U.S. births and the improvement must be confirmed in the final data.

Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) show a very high prevalence of developing epilepsy and having seizures, according to a national study by Queen's University researchers.

Philadelphia – An approach designed to reduce HIV/STDs previously used exclusively by academic researchers has successfully been implemented by community-based organizations (CBOs), an important component in national strategies to curtail the spread of HIV, meaning far more "at risk" youths can be reached.

A report in the April issue of Cell Metabolism offers new evidence to explain just what message insulin delivers to our brains.

The study also shows that leptin, an appetite suppressant hormone produced in fat tissue, delivers at least a partially overlapping message to the neurons that critically control energy balance. It's only when both receptors go missing from those so-called POMC neurons in mice that the animals show signs of systemic insulin resistance as their blood sugar levels rise.

Although the cause of Parkinson's disease remains a mystery, scientists now have a better understanding of the earliest stages of abnormal aggregation of a key disease-associated protein. The research, published by Cell Press online on April 6th in Biophysical Journal, provides new insight into the first steps in the formation of neurotoxic structures called Lewy bodies that are the hallmark of the Parkinson's brain.

Philadelphia, PA, 6 April 2010 - Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental health disorders affecting children and adolescents. Children with ADHD are excessively restless, impulsive, and distractible and experience difficulties at home and in school. Problems inhibiting behavior are a common theme for ADHD symptoms. These symptoms are usually treated with stimulant medications, behavioral approaches or a combination of the two.

PITTSBURGH—A combination of simple bio-acoustic sensors and some sophisticated machine learning makes it possible for people to use their fingers or forearms — potentially, any part of their bodies — as touchpads to control smart phones or other mobile devices.

BOSTON—Although more children today are surviving cancer than ever before, young patients successfully treated in the 1970s and 80s may live a decade less, on average, than the general population, according to a study from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health.