The brain is bombarded by information about the physical proportions of our bodies. The most familiar sensations, such as a puff of wind or the brush of our own shirt sleeve, serve to constantly remind the brain of the body’s outer bounds, creating a sense of what is known as proprioception. In a new study, researchers report this week that the brain’s ability to interpret external signals and update its sense of bodily self is more dynamic than had been previously thought and that such u
Researchers have found new evidence suggesting that the ability to taste bitter compounds has been strongly advantageous in human evolution.
Animals rely on chemical perception, including the senses of taste and smell, for protection against the harmful compounds found in nature. It is widely believed that behavioral and dietary choices may have reduced the importance of such chemical perception in higher primates, and particularly in humans.
In new work, researchers
An innovative new statistical method, described in the open-access journal PLoS Biology, streamlines the computation required to identify all the potential locations in the genome that influence a particular physical trait, or phenotype. Thanks to the new method developed by John Storey, Joshua M. Akey, and Leonid Kruglyak, researchers have a more efficient genome-mining technique to help them identify all the genomic elements that produce specific traits. In brewer’s yeast alone, Storey and collea
The Inasmet Technology Centre (Basque Country) has participated in the METAFLEX project. The aim of this project is to research photovoltaic solar cells to use in building, transport and space sectors. The main innovation of this project is the flexibility that materials by which cells are manufactured provide, and the additional advantage is a weight reduction, comparing to other materials already used, such as glass.
The secret of this flexibility consists on the combination of su
The latest value of the EuroCOIN™ indicator released by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) shows:
– CEPR’s EuroCOIN reading for June 2005 points to a slowdown of economic activity for the 12 countries that make up the euro area. The upturn signals given for March and April have been more than offset by a decrease in the May and June readings for EuroCOIN, indicating that the direction of euro area economic growth remains uncertain.
– In the euro area, the cyc
Blinking temporarily switches off parts of your brain, according to a study published in the latest issue of Current Biology. The University College London (UCL) team found that the brain actively shuts down parts of the visual system each time you blink, even if light is still entering the eyes. Their findings could explain why you don’t notice your own blinks.
Scientists from the UCL Institute of Neurology designed a special device to study the effects of blinking on the brain.
In a study published in the latest issue of Current Biology, University College London (UCL) scientists have shown that the human brain holds and continuously updates an internal map of the body. The UCL team hope their findings will help explain how the processes in the brain which create a coherent body map may go wrong in people with neurological or psychiatric disorders.
Using a body illusion to fool volunteers, UCL researchers found that volunteers’ brains rapidly adjusted t
Scientists at University College London (UCL) have developed a method of tracking someone’s stream of consciousness based on their brain activity alone. In a study published in the latest issue of Current Biology, the UCL team found that brain activity measured in volunteers who were viewing a visual illusion could be used to accurately track their subjective experience while it underwent many spontaneous changes
In the study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, John-Dylan Haynes and Gerai
Development, the process that gives rise to an adult organism also causes aging, according to Harvard Medical School researchers Joao Pedro de Magalhaes and George Church. Joao Pedro de Magalhaes is a Portuguese microbiologist.
In “Genomes Optimize Reproduction: Aging as a Consequence of the Developmental Program,” appearing in the August issue of the journal Physiology, Joao Pedro de Magalhaes and George Church assert that the aging process is driven by the same genetic processes t
Researchers at the University of Dundee have developed new technology which could revolutionise the treatment of middle ear problems.
A team led by Professor Eric Abel have created the SMARTFIT system, a radically new approach to the design of ossicular replacement prostheses (the tiny bones in the ear), which aims to be the first commercial product to give a genuine replication of the physiological function of the middle ear.
“Hearing loss affects a large number of p
Choosing a hospital that either performs many cystectomies–the surgical removal of the urinary bladder–or has a high nurse-to-patient ratio minimizes post-operative complications after the procedure, according to a new study. The report, published in the September 1, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, indicates that post-operative mortality and complications were reduced by up to 75 percent in the best-case scenarios.
This year more
Half of New York City residents over 50, the age at which the American Cancer Society recommends beginning screening tests, have not received a colon cancer-screening test within the recommended time intervals, according to a new study. The report, published in the September 1, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, says those New Yorkers least likely to have received screening include those with low-income, the uninsured, Asians and current smokers.
A mechanism that lets herpes simplex virus infect most cells — and 45 million Americans — is discovered
It’s one of the most common viruses in America, and one that causes the most guilt and shame. It can get inside almost any kind of human cell, reproduce in vast numbers, and linger for years in the body, causing everything from recurrent genital blisters to sores around the mouth. Its complications can kill, and it may increase susceptibility to many nerve and brain disor
University of Colorado at Boulder scientists have used a fluorescent marker to predict the individual life spans of identical worms that were genetically engineered to illuminate stress levels, implying living organisms have “hidden physiological states” that dictate their ability to deal with the rigors of life.
According to CU-Boulder Research Associate Shane Rea, the genetically identical nematodes were engineered with a green fluorescent “reporter” protein coupled to a st
From thousands of genes to a single compelling new target
It started several years ago with the observation that a large group of seemingly unconnected genes were behaving differently in patients with stomach cancer. Now a multi-national research team led by the Melbourne Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) has joined the proverbial dots and identified a potential new target for stomach cancer therapy, according to a paper published today in the prestigious
Although domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) possess an otherwise functional sense of taste, they, unlike most mammals, do not prefer and may be unable to detect the sweetness of sugars. One possible explanation for this behavior is that cats lack the sensory system to taste sugars and therefore are indifferent to them. Drawing on work in mice, demonstrating that alleles of sweet-receptor genes predict low sugar intake, we examined the possibility that genes involved in the initial transduction of
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