Brain | Page 1538 | Science Codex

Pregnancy not turning minds to mush: Study

Pregnancy and motherhood may make us all go a little gooey, but it's not turning mums' brains into mush, according to mental health researchers at The Australian National University.

The study – conducted by the Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR) at ANU – suggests that despite fears mothers may have that pregnancy affects their cognitive functions, there is no evidence to suggest that is true. The findings have been released as part of Mental Health Week, which runs until tomorrow (Saturday).

M.I.N.D. Institute researchers find important clue to learning deficit in children with autism

A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has discovered an important clue to why children with autism spectrum disorders have trouble imitating others: They spend less time looking at the faces of people who are modeling new skills.

The study was conducted using high-technology eye-tracking headgear and software that measures with precision the point at which a child is looking when learning a task. Researchers used an actor to demonstrate a task on a computer screen.

Mouse studies suggest daily dose of ginkgo may prevent brain cell damage after a stroke

Working with genetically engineered mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that daily doses of a standardized extract from the leaves of the ginkgo tree can prevent or reduce brain damage after an induced stroke.

The scientists, in a report published in Stroke, say their work lends support to other evidence that ginkgo biloba triggers a cascade of events that neutralizes free radicals known to cause cell death.

Clue to genetic cause of fatal birth defect

A novel enzyme may play a major role in anencephaly, offering hope for a genetic test or even therapy for the rare fatal birth defect in which the brain fails to develop, according to a study from researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

The study appears in the October issue of the journal of Molecular Endocrinology.

Vitamin D a key player in overall health of several body organs, says UC Riverside biochemist

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Essential for life in higher animals, vitamin D, once linked to only bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis, is now recognized as a major player in contributing to overall human health, emphasizes UC Riverside's Anthony Norman, an international expert on vitamin D.

Risk and reward compete in brain

That familiar pull between the promise of victory and the dread of defeat – whether in money, love or sport – is rooted in the brain's architecture, according to a new imaging study.

Neuroscientists at the USC Brain and Creativity Institute have identified distinct brain regions with competing responses to risk.

Both regions are located in the prefrontal cortex, an area behind the forehead involved in analysis and planning.

Steroid treatment offers no benefit in preemies, Hopkins Children's study suggests

Results of a multicenter study led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center challenge the longstanding practice of treating premature babies with hydrocortisone, a steroid believed to fight inflammation and prevent lung disease. The researchers found that such treatment offers little or no benefit and that low cortisol levels are not even necessarily harmful.

A new hand -- and signs of sensory recovery

Four months after a successful hand transplant -- 35 years after amputation in an industrial accident at age 19 -- a 54-year-old man's emerging sense of touch is registered in the former "hand area" of the his brain, says a University of Oregon neuroscientist.

Where optics meets medicine

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 -- Medical research is a cornerstone of Frontiers in Optics 2008 (FiO), the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Optical Society (OSA), being held Oct. 19-23 at the Riverside Convention Center in Rochester, N.Y. FiO 2008 will take place alongside Laser Science XXIV, the annual meeting of the American Physical Society's Division of Laser Science.

Reporters interested in obtaining a badge to attend the meeting should contact Colleen Morrison at 202.416.1437, cmorri@osa.org.

What causes cell defenses to crumble?

Pacific Grove (CA)/Leipzig. Researchers have for the first time identified complete gene sequences and function of two proteins in mussels that play a key defensive role against environmental toxicants. These proteins form part of an active, physiological barrier in mussel gills that protects them against environmental toxicants, researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Germany and Stanford University in California report in the American Journal of Physiology – Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.

Stabilizing force for good communication between neurons and muscle cells found

You can't raise a finger without your brain directing muscle cells, and scientists have figured out another reason that usually works so well.

A neuron sends a message, or neurotransmitter, to the muscle cell to tell it what to do. To get the message, the receiving cell must have a receptor. Oddly, the unstable protein rapsyn is responsible for anchoring the receptor so it's properly positioned to catch the message.

Medical College of Georgia scientists have found what keeps rapsyn in proper conformation.

Breathing second life into language teaching

An international team has developed a wireless virtual reality environment that can help promote language learning and let students practice. The researchers have demonstrated their Collaborative Virtual Reality Environment with Mexican engineering students carrying out listening comprehension practice in English as a foreign language.

Researchers teach computers to search for photos based on their contents

A pair of Penn State researchers has developed a statistical approach, called Automatic Linguistic Indexing of Pictures in Real-Time (ALIPR), that one day could make it easier to search the Internet for photographs. The public can participate in improving ALIPR's accuracy by visiting a designated Web site http://www.alipr.com, uploading photographs, and evaluating whether the keywords that ALIPR uses to describe the photographs are appropriate.

Rutgers researcher examines connections between vision and movement

A hand moves forward, but is it a friendly gesture or one meant to do harm? In an instant, we respond -- either extending our arm forward to shake hands or raising it higher to protect our face. But what are the subtle cues that allow us to interpret such movement so we can properly respond to others?

'Fingerprinting' method tracks mercury emissions from coal

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---University of Michigan researchers have developed a new tool that uses natural "fingerprints" in coal to track down sources of mercury polluting the environment.

The research is published in today's online issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology.