Physical Activity Can Reduce The Genetic Predisposition To Obesity By 40 Percent
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Feeling safer is a tricky subject, with complications that can be both personal and political.
(This topic and others are explored in depth in my interview with New Dimensions.)
Each time we perform a simple task, like pushing an elevator button or reaching for a cup of coffee, the brain races to decide whether the left or right hand will do the job. But the left hand is more likely to win if a certain region of the brain receives magnetic stimulation, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley.
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that high levels of a stress hormone in recovering alcoholics could increase the risk of relapse. The study showed that cortisol, a hormone produced by the adrenal gland within the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) in response to stress, is found in high levels in chronic alcoholics, as well as those recovering from the condition. Researchers found that this could result in impaired memory, attention and decision-making functions, which could decrease the patient’s ability to engage with treatment.
Research published today provides the first direct evidence that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a genetic condition. Scientists at Cardiff University found that children with ADHD were more likely to have small segments of their DNA duplicated or missing than other children. Included in this report is a video interview with the lead researcher who discusses the findings.
Social rejection is not just emotionally upsetting; it also upsets your heart. A new study finds that being rejected by another person makes your heart rate drop for a moment. The study is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Playing white noise in class can help inattentive children learn. Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Behavioral and Brain Functions tested the effect of the meaningless random noise on a group of 51 schoolchildren, finding that although it hindered the ability of those who normally pay attention, it improved the memory of those that had difficulties in paying attention. Check the end of this report for a link to download this open access article.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have found that exposure to lead in childhood may delay the onset of puberty in young girls, with higher doses increasing the chance for later maturation. Their findings appear in Environmental Health Perspectives, published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
About 20 percent of United States youth during their lifetime are affected by some type of mental disorder to an extent that they have difficulty functioning, according to a new NIMH survey published in the October 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by Kathleen Merikangas, Ph.D., of NIMH and colleagues. The data support the observation from surveys of adults that mental disorders most commonly start in early life.
A study by researchers at Royal Holloway, University of London, University College London and Oxford University, has found that a genetic variant which reduces the chance of contracting diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy is more prevalent in populations with long histories of urban living. The results are published in the journal ‘Evolution.’
Learning mindfulness meditation may help people who have multiple sclerosis (MS) with the fatigue, depression and other life challenges that commonly accompany the disease, according to a study published in the September 28, 2010, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
