Physical Activity Can Reduce The Genetic Predisposition To Obesity By 40 Percent
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Compared with changes in biomarkers, changes in cognitive abilities appear to be stronger predictors of whether an individual with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) will develop Alzheimer’s disease, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The biological causes of autism are still not understood. A diagnosis of autism is only possible after ages three or four; and the tests are subjective, based on behavioral symptoms. Now, in research that appeared in Neuron, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of California, San Diego have found, for the first time, a method that can accurately identify a biological sign of autism in very young toddlers.
Siblings of people with autism show a similar pattern of brain activity to that seen in people with autism when looking at emotional facial expressions. The University of Cambridge researchers identified the reduced activity in a part of the brain associated with empathy and argue it may be a ‘biomarker’ for a familial risk of autism. The Medical Research Council funded study is published today, 12th July, in the journal Translational Psychiatry.
In a novel imaging study of sleeping toddlers, scientists at the University of California, San Diego Autism Center of Excellence report that a diminished ability of a young brain’s hemispheres to “sync” with one another could be a powerful, new biological marker of autism, one that might enable an autism diagnosis at a very young age. The results were published in the June 23 issue of the journal Neuron.
Following a low-saturated fat and low–glycemic index diet appears to modulate the risk of developing dementia that proceeds to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), although making a switch to this dietary pattern may not protect those already experiencing cognitive difficulty, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
For the first time in 27 years, clinical diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer’s disease dementia have been revised, and research guidelines for earlier stages of the disease have been characterized to reflect a deeper understanding of the disorder. The National Institute on Aging/Alzheimer’s Association Diagnostic Guidelines for Alzheimer’s Disease outline some new approaches for clinicians and provides scientists with more advanced guidelines for moving forward with research on diagnosis and treatments. They mark a major change in how experts think about and study Alzheimer’s disease.
Mothers’ exposure during pregnancy to pollutants created by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and other organic material may lead to behavioral problems in their children, according to a new study. Researchers found that within a sample of 215 children monitored from birth, those children with high levels of a pollution exposure marker in their cord blood had more symptoms of attention problems and anxiety and depression at ages 5 and 7 than did children with lower exposure.
Results of a study presented at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held from April 2-6, lend credence to the idea that improving quality of life affects stress-related biological markers and possibly the health of people with cancer. Researchers know that telomeres shorten and deteriorate with aging, but they are learning that stress also affects telomere length.
A study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory demonstrated that drug addicted individuals who have a certain genetic makeup have decreased gray matter density – and therefore fewer neurons – in areas of the brain that are essential for decision-making, self-control, and learning and memory. The research, conducted by scientists from Brookhaven Lab, Stony Brook University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is reported in the March 7, 2011 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
A new study shows that one year of moderate physical exercise can increase the size of the brain’s hippocampus in older adults, leading to an improvement in spatial memory. The project – conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois, Rice University, and Ohio State University – is considered the first study of its kind focusing on older adults who are already experiencing atrophy of the hippocampus, the brain structure involved in all forms of memory formation.
