Thinking the pain away? Study shows the brain's painkillers may cause 'placebo effect'
...ies at U-M and elsewhere have shown that the brain reacts physically when a person is given a sham pain treatment, which they believe will help them. But the new study is the first to pinpoint a specific brain chemistry mechanism for a pain-related placebo effect. It may help explain why so many people say...Brain remembers familiar faces when choosing potential mate
... separate images of both male and female faces and reacts to them differently depending on how familiar it is with their facial features. Dr Anthony Little, from the University's School of Biological Sciences, examined whether early visual experience of male and female faces affected later preferences. The...Researchers: Deep sleep short-circuits brain's grid of connectivity
...pulses elicited a significant response: "The brain reacts in a strong and specific manner," Tononi explains. "There is a very interesting set of activations that occur over great distances in the cortex. "During deep sleep early in the night," he adds, "the response is short-lived and doesn't propagate at a...DNA size a crucial factor in genetic mutations, study finds
...to the template. Kool wanted to see how the enzyme reacts if the bases are not the usual size. ''The idea was to see how DNA replication depends on size,'' Kool says. The researchers investigated it by offering bases of different sizes to the DNA polymerase I enzyme and measuring how accurately the enzyme m...Innovative research set to push boundaries of cancer care
...iated proteins that the immune system specifically reacts to, and modify the vaccine to display those antigens, he says. A phase III trial might also test use of the vaccine against traditional chemo-radiation treatment, he adds. In vivo Evaluation of Radioprotection by the Fullerene CD60_DF1 Using a Zebr...Number of serotonin receptors influences brain's response to fear and stress
... highly sensitive tool that shows how the amygdala reacts to important environmental stimuli. Those subjects in whom PET showed a higher number of serotonin 5-HT1A receptors relative to 5-HT2A receptors in the subgenual prefrontal cortex had less brain activity in this region during fMRI, as would be expect...New evidence extends greenhouse gas record from ice cores by 50 percent, adding 210,000 years
...vity, which is a measure of how the climate system reacts when atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations double, explained Science author Dominique Raynaud from LGGE in Grenoble, France. The new atmospheric and climate records from the EPICA Dome C ice core also indicate that the response of the natural c...From intelligent cars to the prevention of heart attacks
...n scenario: a car senses an impending accident and reacts immediately, without requiring any driver intervention. Though this seems entirely inconceivable at present, this is what the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre "Cognitive automobiles" hopes to make possible. Engineers and computer scientist...Learning about sex from an elegant worm
... In mammals there may be two checkpoints, one that reacts to synaptic failure and another to DNA damaged during recombination. In both yeast and mice, however, the processes of synapsis and recombination are so intimately coupled that it is uncertain whether their checkpoints are triggered by failure of syn...Infectious agent thwarts typical defense mechanisms; Sheds light on immune system function
...he skin. Understanding how the human immune system reacts to F. tularensis may help scientists to better comprehend how the body reacts to other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and the plague. This ultimately could lead to bet...Light-sensing cells in retina develop before vision
...Those studies have revealed a cell population that reacts quickly and consistently to light. "If you give t...distinct populations of ipRGCs, and each cell type reacts to light differently. Some fire quickly when a light turns on but take longer to stop firing when it...A step forward in the fight against bacterial infections
...health, and the speed with which our immune system reacts determine whether or not we become sick after contact with a bacterium. Upon contact with a bacterium, or a bacterial component, the immune system springs into action. One such component of the bacterial cell wall is LPS. The binding of LPS with its ...Ovarian cancer responds to aspirin derivative with chemo
...xide released from the aspirin derivative NCX-4016 reacts with the cellular thiols, which causes the cancer cells to stop proliferating. In addition, the nitric oxide depletes the thiols, making the cancer cells more susceptible to the chemotherapy. "The nitric oxide-releasing ability of the aspirin deriva...A case of mistaken molecular identity
... rhodopsin, which is similar to the human protein, reacts with antibodies produced by Chagas patients. "We showed that the same antibodies that attack heart cells can also interfere with rhodopsin," Levin said. "This is important, because it enlarges the concept of molecular mimicry in Chagas disease." Rho...Alzheimer's study first to explain death of brain cells
...iscover it was a peroxidase--a type of enzyme that reacts harmfully with biological materials essential for proper brain function such as serotonin and L-DOPA. Dr. Atamna believes that the combination of functional heme deficiency, which harms mitochondria needed to produce energy, together with the increas...From Europa to the lab, a new recipe for oxygen on icy moons
...ct to produce hydrogen peroxide. Third, another OH reacts with the hydrogen peroxide to form HO2 (hydrogen coupled to two oxygen atoms), plus a water molecule. And, finally, an energetic particle splits an oxygen molecule from the HO2. The experiment introduced another new twist. "One might have expected O2...Finally, JAP study shows headdown bedrest precisely mimics human physiology in spaceflight
...he first time that a person at "reclining bedrest" reacts almost exactly the way an astronaut's body adapts to space. According to lead author Todd Trappe: "Over 17 days in space, like in bedrest, we found that our ability to work or exercise began to fall almost immediately. It reached a low point at 13 d...Highlights of American Chemical Society meeting in Atlanta, March 26-30
...be formed in the laboratory when ultraviolet light reacts with desert soils or titanium dioxide (a common ingredient in sand). The finding may account for a portion of the natural perchlorate occurring throughout the desert southwest, the scientists say. ( AGRO 78 , Wednesday, March 29, 1:30 p.m., Georgia W...Worm's hunger response provides clue to eating disorders
...k in its prey. When it can't find food, C. elegans reacts by pumping the pharynx harder. "Despite the prevalence of eating disorders from obesity to anorexia, the identity and mechanism of action of starvation signals are largely unknown," the researchers wrote in the paper, which will appear in the April ......rotein-enzyme, in this case glucose oxidase, which reacts in the presence of blood sugar. The catalyzed products from the reaction ping the carbon nanotube; if the tube is connected to an electrode, the tube will carry a signal that corresponds precisely with the amount of glucose detected. The first polym...