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Cortisol For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Cortisol For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Oct 22 2008 | comment(s)

Cortisol helps our bodies cope with stress, but what about its effects on the brain? A new study appearing in the October 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry, says that in an animal model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), high doses of a cortisol-related substance, corticosterone, prevented negative consequences of stress exposure, including increased startle response and behavioral freezing when exposed to reminders of the stress.

However, low-dose corticosterone potentiated these responses. This finding suggests that corticosterone levels may influence both vulnerability and resilience in a dose-dependent manner through its involvement in memory processes.
Synaesthesia, Cognitive 'Cross Talk' And Using Hypnosis To Induce It

Synaesthesia, Cognitive 'Cross Talk' And Using Hypnosis To Induce It

Oct 22 2008 | comment(s)

People living with synaesthesia (known as synaesthetes) experience abnormal interactions between the senses. Digit-color synaesthetes, for instance, will experience certain numbers in specific colors (for example, they might experience the number seven as red). A possible reason put forward for this phenomenon is the existence of extra connections between brain areas in synaesthetes, but the new study, published in the journal Psychological Science, suggests otherwise.
The Grass Is Sometimes Greener On The Other Side Of The Biofuels Fence

The Grass Is Sometimes Greener On The Other Side Of The Biofuels Fence

Oct 22 2008 | comment(s)

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' (CALS) Bioenergy Feedstock Project, now in its second year, is the only project of its kind devoted to exploring the many species of field grass that grow in the Northeast and their potential as sources for biofuels.

The project has roughly 80 acres of different warm- and cool-season perennial grass varieties, otherwise known as "feedstocks," growing in 11 counties across New York. "Our ultimate goal is to maximize the economic benefit of bioenergy production as an alternative energy source," said Donald Viands, professor of plant breeding and genetics, who heads the project, speaking against a colorful backdrop of a field of blue, green, lavender and beige hues, where some plants were withering, but some were some thriving.
Skin Creams Can Actually Make Skin Drier - Study

Skin Creams Can Actually Make Skin Drier - Study

Oct 22 2008 | comment(s)

Many people believe that as soon as you start using a skin cream, you have to continue with it; if you stop lubricating, your skin becomes drier than when you started. And now there is research to confirm for the first time that normal skin can become drier from creams. Izabela Buraczewska presents these findings in the dissertation she is publicly defending at Uppsala University in Sweden on October 24.
Who's More Fit, Ballet Dancers Or Swimmers?

Who's More Fit, Ballet Dancers Or Swimmers?

Oct 22 2008 | comment(s)

Aesthetics or your personal preferences aside, who do you think is in better physical condition,  international ballet dancers or international swimmers?  

A study led by Professor Tim Watson and Dr Andrew Garrett of University of Hertfordshire involved comparing members of the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet School with a squad of British National and International Swimmers, including members of the Olympic squad.

The results will be announced at the University’s Health and Human Sciences Research Institute Showcase but we'll go ahead and tell you here:  ballet dancers.

ballet dancer
Sorry, swimmers.
Spatial Distribution Of Individual Atoms In Bose-Einstein Condensate Get Some Visibility

Spatial Distribution Of Individual Atoms In Bose-Einstein Condensate Get Some Visibility

Oct 22 2008 | comment(s)

Scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have, for the first time, succeeded in rendering the spatial distribution of individual atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate visible. Bose-Einstein condensates are small, ultracold gas clouds which, due to their low temperatures, can no longer be described in terms of traditional physics but must be described using the laws of quantum mechanics.
Heart Valves From Natural Body Cells Grow With The Patient

Heart Valves From Natural Body Cells Grow With The Patient

Oct 22 2008 | comment(s)

German President Horst Köhler will award the German Future Prize for 2008 on 3 December in Berlin. Professor Axel Haverich, a heart surgeon and Leibniz prizewinner from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) Hannover Medical School (MHH), and his two colleagues Dr. Serghei Cebotari and Dr. Michael Harder are one of four teams who have made the final round of the President's award for engineering and innovation, worth 250,000 euros.
The Great Crash Of 2008 At A Glance

The Great Crash Of 2008 At A Glance

Oct 22 2008 | comment(s)

This autumn's banking panic will take a severe toll on world growth especially in developed economies. GDP growth in the OECD group of mainly rich countries will slow to 0.4 per cent in 2009, the weakest since 1982. Among the G7, the American and British economies will contract next year and the best performer among the other five countries will be Canada, with GDP growth of just 0.5 per cent. The key downside risk is that the bailout packages may not succeed, in which case financial turmoil will persist and the recession will be deeper and more prolonged than we are forecasting.

Gum 29 - Amazing Intricacies Of A Vast Stellar Nursery

Gum 29 - Amazing Intricacies Of A Vast Stellar Nursery

Oct 22 2008 | comment(s)

A new image released by ESO shows the amazing intricacies of a vast stellar nursery, which goes by the name of Gum 29. In the center, a small cluster of stars — called Westerlund 2 — has been found to be the he home of one of the most massive double star systems known to astronomers.

Gum 29 is a huge region of hydrogen gas that has been stripped of its electrons (ionized) by the intense radiation of the hot young stars located at its centre. Astronomers call this an HII (pronounced "H-two") region, and this particularly stunning example stretches out across space for over 200 light-years. The name stems from the fact that it is the 29th entry in the catalogue published by Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum in 1955.
Archaeology - Governor's Palace From 800 BC Uncovered In Turkey

Archaeology - Governor's Palace From 800 BC Uncovered In Turkey

Oct 22 2008 | comment(s)

Within the scope of an international rescue excavation project, a team of four archaeologists specialized in Middle Eastern affairs headed by Dr. Dirk Wicke (Institute of Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies) have unearthed parts of a Neo-Assyrian governor's palace dating back to the 9th to 7th cent. B.C. in a two-month excavation program amongst the ruins on Ziyaret Tepe.
Prairie Voles Confirm Guys Have Feelings Too

Prairie Voles Confirm Guys Have Feelings Too

Oct 21 2008 | comment(s)

Are you missing that special someone? To let him or her know you really care, nothing says 'I love you' like a lab report showing your corticotropin-releasing factor levels are elevated.

A paper published in Neuropsychopharmacology notes that evidence suggests social bonds have a positive impact on health and buffer against stressors. Absence or sudden disruption of those bonds can lead to anxiety-like and depressive-like disorders. "Thus," the authors say, "understanding the neurobiological consequences of partner loss, particularly with respect to increased susceptibility to depression, may be informative for developing strategies for coping with the loss of a loved one."
The Evolution Of The Rectangular Eye

The Evolution Of The Rectangular Eye

Oct 21 2008 | comment(s)

Eyes are the interface between the outside world and our brain's perceptions.   Being the instrument of sight, and therefore a lot of our information, we rely on the functions of our eyes quite obsessively, and why wouldn't we?  They make it possible to observe our beautiful world and really appreciate different species and the unique characteristics they hold - like their eyes. 

Photo by David Reece
Evolution of the Eye
Scholars suggest Human DNA shows signs of being an Invasive Extraterrestrial Parasite

Scholars suggest Human DNA shows signs of being an Invasive Extraterrestrial Parasite

Oct 21 2008 | comment(s)

Many scientists have documented that over 95% of Human DNA does not have a known purpose. This DNA has been colloquially referred to as "Junk DNA".

 

Up to 97% of the human genetic information (DNA) is seemingly needless, repetitive "junk" - only about 3% is known to generate proteins, deserving the name "gene".

ADHD Kids Linked To Higher Divorce Rate

ADHD Kids Linked To Higher Divorce Rate

Oct 21 2008 | comment(s)

You know how people always tell kids it's not their fault when parents get divorced?  It may be partly their fault when it comes to kids with ADHD kids, according to results of a new study in the October issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 

Parents of a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are nearly twice as likely to divorce by the time the child is 8 years old than parents of children without ADHD, the researchers say.  Moreover, among couples in the study who were divorced, marriages involving children with ADHD ended sooner than marriages with no ADHD-diagnosed children. 
Desperate Nanoparticles - The Secret Lives Of Catalysts

Desperate Nanoparticles - The Secret Lives Of Catalysts

Oct 21 2008 | comment(s)

The first-ever glimpse of nanoscale catalysts in action could lead to improved pollution control and fuel cell technologies. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory observed catalysts restructuring themselves in response to various gases swirling around them, like a chameleon changing its color to match its surroundings.

Using a state-of-the-art spectroscopy system at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source, the team watched, for the first time, as nanoparticles composed of two catalytic metals changed their composition in the presence of different reactants. Until now, scientists have had to rely on snapshots of catalysts taken before and after a reaction, never during.
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) People More Likely To Be Addicted To Cigarettes

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) People More Likely To Be Addicted To Cigarettes

Oct 21 2008 | comment(s)

Young people with Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are not only at increased risk of starting to smoke cigarettes, they also tend to become more seriously addicted to tobacco and more vulnerable to environmental factors such as having friends or parents who smoke, according to a study from Massachusetts General Hospital reseachers. The report in the Journal of Pediatrics also found that individuals with more ADHD-related symptoms, even those who don't have the full syndrome, are at greater risk of becoming dependent on nicotine than those with fewer symptoms. 
The Nutrient Exchange Impact Of Climate Change On Lakes

The Nutrient Exchange Impact Of Climate Change On Lakes

Oct 21 2008 | comment(s)

Climate change will have different effects on lakes in warmer and colder regions of the globe, according to Japanese and German researchers following studies of very deep caldera lakes in Japan.

Scientists from Hokkaido University, the Hokkaido Institute of Environmental Sciences, Kagoshima University and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) compared current measurements with measurements taken 70 years ago. This confirmed a rise in temperatures in the deep water layers of lakes in the south of Japan, while the deep water temperatures of lakes in the north remained the same.
More Fertilizers Creating A Nitrogen Threat To Sea Life

More Fertilizers Creating A Nitrogen Threat To Sea Life

Oct 21 2008 | comment(s)

A rise in carbon emissions is not the only threat to the planet. Changes to the nitrogen cycle, caused in large part by the widespread use of fertilizers, are also damaging both water quality and aquatic life. These concerns are highlighted by Professor Grace Brush, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA, in her historical review (1) of landscape changes around Chesapeake Bay, a large estuary on the Atlantic coast of the USA. Her findings are published online this week in Springer's journal Estuaries and Coasts.
Gamma Wave 'Glue' Of Memory And Learning In Children

Gamma Wave 'Glue' Of Memory And Learning In Children

Oct 21 2008 | comment(s)

New studies conducted by April Benasich, professor of neuroscience at Rutgers University in Newark, and her colleagues reveal that gamma wave activity in the brains of children provide a window into their cognitive development, and could open the way for more effective intervention for those likely to experience language problems.

"Research into the adult brain has shown that gamma activity is the 'glue' that binds together perceptions, thoughts and memories," notes Benasich. "Little research, however, has been conducted into the development of gamma activity in the infant brain and its possible connection to cognitive and language skills."
Astronomy Discoveries Sometimes Mean Looking In The Right Place At The Right Time

Astronomy Discoveries Sometimes Mean Looking In The Right Place At The Right Time

Oct 21 2008 | comment(s)

A bit of serendipity has given astronomers a surprise view of a never-before-observed event in the birth of a galaxy.

University of Florida and University of California-Santa Cruz astronomers are the first to discover the onset of a huge flow of gas from a quasar, or the super-bright core of an extremely remote young galaxy still being formed. The gas was expelled from the quasar and its enormous black hole sometime in the space of four years around 10 billion years ago – an extremely brief and ancient blip noticed only by a sharp-eyed undergraduate and the unlikely convergence of two separate observational efforts.