ScienceDaily (Feb. 13, 2009) — When someone speaks to you, do you see what they are saying? We tend to think of speech as being something we hear, but recent studies suggest that we use a variety of senses for speech perception - that the brain treats speech as something we hear, see and even feel.
The San Francisco Chronicle (Feb. 18, 2009) -- Researchers at biotechnology giant Genentech and the Salk Institute have discovered a new mechanism of nerve-cell death that might play a role in Alzheimer's disease, opening the door to a fresh array of possible tactics to battle the devastating neurodegenerative illness.
A protein long suspected as the culprit behind the brain disorder might actually release not just one, but two components that can cause nerve cells to self-destruct. In theory, the breakdown of the protein, called APP for short, could unleash a double whammy of harmful effects on nerve cells.
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ScienceDaily (Feb. 18, 2009) — The day that robot playmates help children with autism learn the social skills that they naturally lack has come a step closer with the development of a system that allows a robot to monitor a child's emotional state.
ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2009) — Children born in areas with increased traffic-related pollution may be at greater risk of developing asthma due to genetic changes acquired in the womb, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
In a study of umbilical cord blood from New York City children, researchers have discovered evidence of a possible new biomarker—an epigenetic alteration in the gene ACSL3—associated with prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These chemical compounds are created as byproducts of incomplete combustion from carbon-containing fuels, resulting in high levels in heavy-traffic areas. Exposure to PAHs has been linked to diseases such as cancer and childhood asthma.
Researchers say this finding provides a potential clue for predicting environmentally related asthma in children—particularly those born to mothers who live in high-traffic areas like Northern Manhattan and South Bronx when pregnant.
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ScienceDaily (Feb. 10, 2009) — Eating a Mediterranean diet appears to be associated with less risk of mild cognitive impairment—a stage between normal aging and dementia—or of transitioning from mild cognitive impairment into Alzheimer's disease, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"Among behavioral traits, diet may play an important role in the cause and prevention of Alzheimer's disease," the authors write as background information in the article. Previous studies have shown a lower risk for Alzheimer's disease among those who eat a Mediterranean diet, characterized by high intakes of fish, vegetables, legumes, fruits, cereals and unsaturated fatty acids, low intakes of dairy products, meat and saturated fats and moderate alcohol consumption.
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ScienceDaily (Feb. 10, 2009) — Using injections of a small derivate of the protein insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), scientists at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have successfully treated a mouse model of the devastating neurological disorder Rett syndrome.
Rett syndrome is an inherited disease affecting one of 10,000 girls born and is the most common basis of autism in girls. Infants with the disease appear to develop normally for their first six to 18 months, at which point their movement and language skills begin to deteriorate. Loss of speech, reduced head size, breathing and heart rhythm irregularities, and autistic-like symptoms are common by age four. Some symptoms may be mediated with prescription drugs, but no cure or truly effective treatment for the disease exists.
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