Health & Medicine
- Life
Light shows fMRI works as advertised
Optogenetic method validates assumption underlying brain imaging technique.
- Life
Eureka, brain makes real mental leaps
Studies of rats reveal neuron activity changes en masse during aha moments.
- Animals
Mirror, mirror on the wall, you’re the scariest fish of all
That thing in the mirror may be more upsetting than a real fish.
- Health & Medicine
Global child deaths on decline
Infectious diseases kept numbers for 2008 staggeringly high, with 8.8 million children dying before age 5, a new survey shows.
- Health & Medicine
Sickle-cell anemia tied to cognitive impairment
Patients with the hereditary condition score worse on standardized tests than people without it.
- Health & Medicine
Taste of power goes to the head, then muscles
Just a swish of the carbohydrates in an energy drink can increase muscle performance, a study suggests.
- Health & Medicine
Genetic switch makes old mice forgetful
Reversing a chemical change restored the animals’ memory-making ability.
- Life
Undereducated immune cells get aggressive with HIV
Scientists discover a mechanism that makes some people resistant to infection with the AIDS virus.
- Health & Medicine
U.S. childhood obesity rate continues to rise
Only a few states buck the trend toward greater weight gain in kids age 10 to 17, a new survey shows.
- Health & Medicine
Epigenetic changes show up in people with PTSD
Study finds alterations in genes tied to immune system and brain development, but whether they cause the disorder remains unclear.
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin D: Obese and ‘uniform’ risks
Although Vitamin D insufficiency has reached what might be considered epidemic proportions, it’s failed to move onto the radar screens of most physicians, much less consumers. A host of new studies now link excess weight with a deficiency in this, the sunshine vitamin. But that wouldn’t explain why female soldiers become increasing D-ficient during basic combat training. For them, an Army study suggests, the problem may trace to what they wear.
- Life
DNA comparison of identical twins finds no silver bullet for MS
The first study of its kind suggests an unknown environmental cause for multiple sclerosis, but future research could still yield a genetic trigger.
