Study finds regions of DNA that appear linked to autistic spectrum disorders
...its, language problems and repetitive, stereotyped behaviors affects around one in 1,000 children. And the combined incidence of autism spectrum disorders, which include Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder, brings the total number of affected children to one in every 150 births. Boys are af...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...lso controlling vocalization and airway protective behaviors like coughing. In this weeks Journal , Shiba et a...atory network also contribute to several patterned behaviors that converge on the same laryngeal motor neurons. Swallowing, however, is apparently a matter for ...Gene malfunctions cause schizophrenia, depression symptoms in mice
... Similarly, the other mutant mouse strain showed behaviors that reflected depressive symptoms. These symptoms could be alleviated by an antidepressant, found the researchers. Both types of DISC1 mutant mice exhibited the same kind of reduced brain volume seen in people with schizophrenia and depression, th...Army research mission focused on autism
...function operating optimally, many of the residual behaviors we see in children with autism decrease significantly." Reynolds speaks from experience. With biomedical and behavior intervention, her son is now a well-functioning 11 year old. "We were lucky to find what worked best for him," she said. "I have f...New understanding of schizophrenia could lead to new treatment approaches
...ead to alterations in biochemical signaling and to behaviors suggestive of mental illness. "We show that cau...iative and social withdrawal. The mice also showed behaviors suggestive of anxiety, a symptom seen in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and incre...Similar brain chemicals influence aggression in fruit flies and humans
...nvertebrates), is also known to affect an array of behaviors in many species, including territoriality in mice. A new study by Drs. Herman Dierick and Ralph Greenspan of The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego shows that these two chemicals also regulate aggression in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. ...UTSA neurobiologist awarded $225,000 from Whitehall Foundation
...nerate the network of neurons that produce complex behaviors associated with the head, " said Gaufo. "With over 10 percent of birth defects in the US affecting the cranial-facial region, we hope that our research will also provide insight into developmental disorders associated with the genes that we are curr...Good behavior, religiousness may be genetic
...s study shows that religiousness occurs with these behaviors also because there are genes that predispose them to it." "There is, of course, no specific gene for religiousness, but individuals do have biological predispositions to behave in certain ways," says Koenig. "The use of twins in the current study a...UT Metroplex institutions to collaborate on biomedical research
...xplores the neurobiological basis for self-harming behaviors among depressed pediatric patients. "Fabrication and evaluation of a combined near infrared fluorescence and hyperspectral imaging system for carbon nanotube vectors" Dr. Harold "Skip" Garner, professor of internal medicine and biochemistry at...In young mice, gregariousness seems to reside in the genes
...ents have been studied primarily in the context of behaviors associated with sexual reproduction, territorial defense and parental care. Those studies, say Lahvis and Panksepp, do not account for the many forms of social interaction that occur prior to sexual maturity, nor do they account for the many kinds of...MIT: Pulsing light silences overactive neurons
...h brain regions and neurons contribute to specific behaviors or pathological states, Boyden said. The halorhodopsin gene was originally discovered in the 1980s, but Boyden didn't think its full potential had been explored. The protein expressed by the gene turned out to have exactly the right characteristics...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...batini et al. investigated the neural substrate of behaviors caused by maternal separation of monkeys at either 1 week or 1 month of age. Using DNA microarrays, the authors identified a single gene that was differentially regulated in 1 week and 1 month separation animals: the nitric oxide signaling molecule ...Gene controlling circadian rhythms may be involved in onset of bipolar disorder
...l clocks in mice and they become manic, exhibiting behaviors similar to humans with bipolar disorder, UT Southw... of substances such as cocaine and sugar. "These behaviors correlate with the sense of euphoria and mania that bipolar patients experience," said Dr. McClung. ...Researchers find suntan's 'master regulator'
...thway," Fisher said. "This might explain addictive behaviors associated with sun-seeking or the use of tanning salons." The researchers found evidence that similar events to those seen in the mice also occur in human skin. They showed that p53 is rapidly induced in virtually every keratinocyte of human skin ...Potential genetic testing for substance abuse raises hope, concern
...ht have a greater biological basis for engaging in behaviors such as smoking and alcohol or marijuana use," Phi...nefit in early identification of people at risk of behaviors such as substance abuse. "Physicians could implement individualized prevention plans and provide ...Study advances evidence for receptor's role in alcohol pleasure and problems
...ariants of mu-opioid receptors and alcohol-related behaviors in a group of 82 rhesus monkeys. "A mu-opioid receptor variant that is functionally similar to the human 118G variant occurs in these animals," explained Dr. Barr. "That is, it also has a greatly enhanced ability to bind opioid peptides. We hypot...New study rewrites evolutionary history of vespid wasps
...llenges long-held views about how the wasps social behaviors evolved. In the study, published in the Feb. 21 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers found genetic evidence that eusociality (the reproductive specialization seen in some insects and other animals) evolved independently...Experimental Biology 2007: Today's Research, Tomorrow's Health, April 28-May 2
...presentations and symposia on a wide range of cell behaviors affecting health. Keynote speaker Darwin Prockop, Director of Gene Therapy Center at Tulane University, speaks on successes in his and other laboratories with the use of adult stem cells in tissue regeneration and repair. Based on an increasing rec...Scientists will discuss creating a culture of sustainability February 19 at AAAS
...an behavior to "close the gap between the sorts of behaviors recommended by scientists, based on extensive climate research, and the actual conduct of society. It is clearly a time for action." President of the Stanford Center for Conservation Biology, Ehrlich recently proposed the creation of a global Mille...Studies of population genetics, evolution are an exercise in bad taste
...tion and may today account for such health-related behaviors as smoking and vegetable consumption, Dr. Wooding said. He will present an overview of his research on the bitter-taste receptor today in San Francisco at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The title of his...