Neuroscientists at Vanderbilt University are stepping into the national limelight with the establishment of a Silvio O. Conte Center for Neuroscience Research. The new center, funded by a $10 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), will support interdisciplinary studies aimed at understanding the gene networks that control serotonin systems in the brain.
In response to a debate over whether all pregnant women should be screened for subclinical hypothyroid disease, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended against routine screening in a Committee Opinion in the October issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
New research is giving scientists fresh insights into how genetics are a prime factor in how we learn. Michael Frank, an assistant professor of psychology and director of the Laboratory for Neural Computation and Cognition at The University of Arizona, headed a team whose results are reported in the Oct. 1 issue of Early Edition, an online site hosted by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Playing with toy blocks may lead to improved language development in middle- and low-income children, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that high-normal uric acid levels may cause barely-detectable mini-strokes that potentially contribute to mental decline in aging adults.
When a child is farsighted or has astigmatism or has both conditions in both eyes, bilateral amblyopia may develop. In contrast to single-eye amblyopia or “lazy eye,” where one eye presents an unclear image to the brain, bilateral amblyopia affects both eyes and is less common.
Infection with West Nile Virus (WNV) can cause lethal encephalitis and there are currently no vaccines or specific therapeutics for use in humans. However, data generated by Erol Fikrig and colleagues at Yale University School of Medicine has provided evidence that the proinflammatory soluble factor MIF might provide a target for developing therapeutics to treat WNV encephalitis.
The new study reveals that, in rats, chronic nicotine use recruits a major brain stress system, the extrahypothalamic corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) system, which contributes to continued tobacco use by exacerbating anxiety and craving upon withdrawal. The researchers found that administering a compound that blocked the receptors involved in this stress system alleviated withdrawal symptoms.
Researchers here have linked an increase in two immune system proteins essential for inflammation to a latent viral infection and proposed a chain of events that might accelerate cardiovascular disease. The same process may be involved in a host of other ailments plaguing the elderly.
A new Joslin-led study has shown that leptin, a hormone known mainly for regulating appetite control and energy metabolism, plays a major role in islet cell growth and insulin secretion. This finding opens up new avenues for studying leptin and its role in islet cell biology, which may lead to new treatments for diabetes.