Bacteria found in the soil activated a group of neurons that produce the brain chemical serotonin.
Treatment of mice with a 'friendly' bacteria, normally found in the soil, altered their behavior in a way similar to that produced by antidepressant drugs, reports research published in the latest issue of Neuroscience.
These findings, identified by researchers at the University of Bristol and colleagues at University College London, aid the understanding of why an imbalance in the immune system leaves some individuals vulnerable to mood disorders like depression.
Dr Chris Lowry, lead author on the paper from Bristol University, said: "These studies help us understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health. They also leave us wondering if we shouldn't all be spending more time playing in the dirt."
WASHINGTON - Retired Army Sgt. Edward Wade has adjusted to his prosthetic right arm, his nagging foot pain and most of the other ailments caused by a roadside bomb in Iraq three years ago.
What he hasn't been able to get used to is the lingering fogginess in his mind from the brain injury he sustained in that blast.
MEXICO CITY - The deadly hemorrhagic form of dengue fever is increasing dramatically in Mexico, and experts predict a surge throughout Latin America fueled by climate change, migration and faltering mosquito-eradication efforts.
Overall dengue cases have increased by more than 600 percent in Mexico since 2001, and worried officials are sending special teams to tourist resorts to spray pesticides and remove garbage and standing water where mosquitoes breed ahead of the peak Easter week vacation season.
Scientists have developed a simple method of converting blood from one group to another.
An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Vanderbilt University has analyzed the simplest known biological clock and figured out what makes it tick. The results of their analysis are published in the March 27 issue of the journal Public Library of Science Biology.
Biological clocks are microscopic pacemakers. They are found in everything from pond scum to human beings and appear to help organize a dizzying array of biochemical processes. A traveler experiences jet lag when his or her internal clock becomes out of synch with the environment. Seasonal Affective Disorder, some types of depression, sleep disorders and problems adjusting to changes in work cycles all can occur when an individual's biological clock acts up. Recent studies have even found links between these molecular timepieces and cancer.
In 2005, a group of Japanese researchers surprised the scientific community by showing that the three proteins which make up the biological clock in blue green algae will establish a 24-hour cycle on their own when placed in a test tube with adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the chemical that powers biological reactions.
Sleep continuity disturbance impairs endogenous pain-inhibitory function and increases spontaneous pain in women. This supports a possible pathophysiologic role of sleep disturbance in chronic pain, according to a study published in the April 1st issue of the journal SLEEP.
The study, conducted by Michael T. Smith, PhD, and colleagues at John's Hopkins University, focused on 32 healthy females, who were studied polysomnographically for seven nights. On the first two nights, the subjects slept undisturbed for eight hours. Then, the women were assigned to one of three groups: "Control", "Forced Awakening" (FA) and "Restricted Sleep Opportunity" (RSO). From nights three-to-five, the "Control" group continued to sleep undisturbed, while the "Forced Awakening" group underwent eight forced awakenings, one per hour, and the "Restricted Sleep Opportunity" group received partial sleep deprivation by delayed bedtime. On night six, both the FA and RSO groups underwent 36 hours of total sleep deprivation, followed by 11-hour recovery sleep.
In an assessment of the subjects' completion of twice-daily psychophysical assessments of mechanical pain thresholds and pain inhibition, it was discovered that the FA group demonstrated an increase in spontaneous pain, while neither the "Control" nor the RSO group showed changes in pain inhibition or spontaneous pain during partial sleep deprivation.
MEXICO CITY - The deadly hemorrhagic form of dengue fever is increasing dramatically in Mexico, and experts predict a surge throughout Latin America fueled by climate change, migration and faltering mosquito eradication efforts.
Hospitals around the world are drawing new patients with topnotch doctors, high-tech equipment and low costs.
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| ©Agnes Dherbeys
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| It's Not Just Doctors: Bumrungrad is redolent of a five-star hotel
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Comment: This is an obscenely Western biased article - yet it points out a rather important issue. The ponerization of the U.S. has resulted in the systemic degradation of the quality of all industries and organizations, including health care - the influence of a ponerological system reaches every region of the affected country. The health care system in the U.S. is past a point of collapse - it is beyond the financial reach of most of its citizens and even for those who can afford it, it is riddled with incompetence and lack of empathy and compassion. Newsweek presents 'developing world' international health care as a viable option - very telling indeed.
Is there a specific memory for events involving people? Researchers in the Vulnerability, Adaptation and Psychopathology Laboratory (CNRS/University Paris VI France ) and a Canadian team at Douglas Hospital, McGill University (Montreal), have identified the internal part of the prefrontal cortex as being the key structure for memorising social information. Published in Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, February 2007
Social events such as a party with friends, a work meeting or an argument with a partner form an integral part of daily life. Our ability to remember these events, and more precisely to remember the people and the relationships we had with them, is essential to ensure satisfactory adaptation to our social existence. At a cerebral level, various regions of the brain, and particularly the hippocampus, are directly involved in learning and memory. Some of these regions are specialised in learning certain types of information, such as the amygdale and our memory for emotions.
BBCFri, 30 Mar 2007 13:52 UTC
Scientists have revealed details of the world's only known case of "semi-identical" twins.
The journal Nature says the twins are identical on their mother's side, but share only half their genes on their father's side.
They are the result of two sperm cells fertilising a single egg, which then divided to form two embryos - and each sperm contributed genes to each child.
Each stage is unlikely, and scientists believe the twins are probably unique.
Comment: This is an obscenely Western biased article - yet it points out a rather important issue. The ponerization of the U.S. has resulted in the systemic degradation of the quality of all industries and organizations, including health care - the influence of a ponerological system reaches every region of the affected country. The health care system in the U.S. is past a point of collapse - it is beyond the financial reach of most of its citizens and even for those who can afford it, it is riddled with incompetence and lack of empathy and compassion. Newsweek presents 'developing world' international health care as a viable option - very telling indeed.