Published: November 19, 2009
Hobbie-J is a genetically engineered rat. Hobbie-J’s NR2B gene, (which controls memory), was boosted as an embryo. The rodent can remember objects three times as long as its smartest peers and can better solve complicated puzzles like mazes.
But even a super rat has its limits. For example with one test, the rats had to learn to alternate between right and left paths to get a chocolate reward. Both did well when they only had to wait a minute to repeat the task, after three minutes only Hobbie-J could remember and after five minutes, they both forgot. “We can never turn it into a mathematician. They are rats, after all,” Dr. Tsien says, noting that when it comes to truly complex thinking and memory, the size of the brain really does matter. Dr. Joe Z. Tsien is co-director of the MCG Brain & Behavior Discovery Institute and co-corresponding author on the paper published Oct. 19 in PLoS ONE (see http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007486). Dr. Xiaohua Cao at East China Normal University also is a co-corresponding author.
The finding validates NR2B as a drug target for improving memory in healthy individuals as well as those struggling with Alzheimer’s or mild dementia. Although it could take decades to develop a safe drug, the study is seen as an exciting development.
Source: University of Georgia
Published: November 19, 2009
Researchers at the University of Southampton have developed a new social networking tool that users have described as not only improving reflection and awareness of their own well-being, but also raising their interest in others.
Researchers at the University of Southampton have developed a new social networking tool that users have described as not only improving reflection and awareness of their own well-being, but also raising their interest in others.
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Published: November 19, 2009
Let us start with a little quiz. How many of these conditions have you heard of?
Taijin kyofusho, hikikomori, hwa-byung, or qi-gong psychotic reaction.
If your score was 0 out of 4, do not feel bad: your culture may be to blame. The first two conditions are mental illnesses largely endemic to Japan; the second two are endemic to China. Psychological disorders, or at least our labels for them, differ across cultures. But are these and other non-Western conditions truly distinct from those in the U.S. and Europe? Or does every mental malady, no matter how foreign-sounding in name, vary only in minor ways from a problem that is more familiar to us, such as depression or schizophrenia? link to read this article in Scientific American
Source: Scientific American
Published: November 19, 2009
The type of drink did not appear to change the results
Drinking alcohol every day cuts the risk of heart disease in men by more than a third, a major study suggests.
The Spanish research involving more than 15,500 men and 26,000 women found large quantities of alcohol could be even more beneficial for men.
Female drinkers did not benefit to the same extent, the study in Heart found.
Experts are critical, warning heavy drinking can increase the risk of other diseases, with alcohol responsible for 1.8 million deaths globally per year. ….continue reading
Source: BBC
