Brain

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine report in the July issue of Neuron how nerve cells in the brain ensure that Arc, a protein critical for memory formation, is made instantly after nerve stimulation. Paradoxically, its manufacture involves two other proteins — including one linked to mental retardation — that typically prevent proteins from being made.

Previous research already established that long-term memory formation depends on Arc protein, but scientists did not know the mechanism that turned on this process.

CHAPEL HILL – Nearly every child who receives an antipsychotic medicine is first prescribed one of the second-generation, or “atypical” drugs, such as olanzapine and risperidone. However, there has never been evidence that these drugs are more effective than the older, first-generation medications.

Now a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine suggests that molindone, a first-generation drug, is as effective as the newer ones and should be used as a first line of therapy in some children with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

It will be the only magnetic resonance tomograph of the modern 7 tesla generation in the world, in which a metrology institute is also involved. Magnetic resonance tomographs, which use a magnetic field of 7 tesla, have not yet been in operation in hospitals and clinics, but have solely served research. For the first time in the world, cardiovascular research carried out on such a device is now also to play an important role.

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- New findings about the causes of mad cow disease show that sometimes it may be genetic.

"We now know it's also in the genes of cattle," said Juergen A. Richt, Regents Distinguished Professor of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

STANFORD, Calif. - Marauding molecules cause the tissue damage that underlies heart attacks, sunburn, Alzheimer's and hangovers. But scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine say they may have found ways to combat the carnage after discovering an important cog in the body's molecular detoxification machinery.

The culprit molecules are oxygen byproducts called free radicals. These highly unstable molecules start chain reactions of cellular damage - an escalating storm that ravages healthy tissue.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A study led by a team of education researchers from Mayo Clinic and published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) concludes that Internet-based education generally is effective.