Animal research suggests new treatment target for epilepsy
...cuits. They will continue the research by studying animals that are genetically predisposed to epilepsy....Why good cells go bad in progression of MS
... by T-regulatory cells, scientists have shown that animals are more prone to develop autoimmune diseases like MS. A drug that inhibits IL12, like the one under development by Centocor, could restore the function of the T-regulatory cells, allowing them to be more effective in clamping down on rogue T-effecto...Size of brain structure could signal vulnerability to anxiety disorders
...f PTSD, when hearing the sounds. Prior studies in animals have suggested that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) an area on the lower surface of the brain may be involved in extinction memory. The vmPFC may help to quell potential fears by inhibiting the activity of the amygdala, an area known to...Calcium may prevent polyps, but effect on cancer still not known, study finds
...predictor of later cancer. Previous experiments in animals and surveys of people who had high calcium diets have indicated a possible protective effect. In looking at the two best studies done so far, Weingarten and colleagues found results that "suggest a clinically relevant protective effect of dietary cal...Emory researchers offer new approach for testing potential HIV vaccines in animals
...ve proposed a new design for HIV vaccine trials in animals that would more closely mimic how humans are expos...lations, developed an experimental design in which animals are repeatedly exposed to low doses of HIV (similar to how humans are exposed and infected). The bel...Penn named a 'Breast Cancer Center of Excellence' by Department of Defense
...soundto visualize and follow tumor cells in living animals from their origins to their eventual progression to metastasis and recurrence. These animal models mimic key features of human breast cancer progression. "Understanding the mechanisms that underlie breast-cancer progression will help us to understand...Research may provide new link between soft drinks and weight gain
...ater and soft drinks--despite that fact that these animals decreased the amount of calories they consumed fro...r than in the other groups, except for the control animals provided with water only. "We were surprised to see that mice actually ate less when exposed to fru...Rats' response to 'stop snacking' signal diminished by high fat diet
... access to a high calorie, high fat snack that the animals find yummy. Dr. Mihai Covasa, assistant professor of nutritional sciences and a member of the Penn State Neuroscience Institute, led the study. He says, "When we gave the rats doses of a 'stop eating' hormone, the rats on the low fat diet signifi...Researchers model avian flu outbreak, impact of interventions
...author of the Nature paper. "A large percentage of animals and people infected with this virus have died," he explained. "The consequences of an H5N1-based pandemic could be catastrophic." With bird flu continuing to spread in Southeast Asia, the MIDAS network decided to model a hypothetical human outbreak ...New drug reverses effects of sleep deprivation on brain
...y (PET) to gain images of brain activity while the animals were performing the matching task. These scans showed that the drug was able to reverse most of the changes in activity patterns that occurred with sleep deprivation which may explain its success at increasing performance. The PET images showed that...Nicotine exposure can increase motivation to respond for food weeks after the last exposure
...itical role in nicotine and tobacco consumption in animals and humans," said Brunzell. "These studies show that Beta 2 nicotinic receptors are necessary for nicotine's ability to increase the control that cues have over behavior." said Dr. Darlene Brunzell, Ph.D., first author of the study. he also said, in...UCI neurobiologists find treatment to block memory-related drug cravings
...e of the drug's strong rewarding properties, these animals quickly learned which of the two compartments was associated with the cocaine and preferred to spend time in that environment. The researchers were then able to block the rats' strong memory for the cocaine-associated environment by infusing a drug......were less hesitant to avoid shocks. "We tested the animals using both spatial and auditory cues," Zhuo says. "In one experiment, the mice received small shocks when entering a chamber and they developed fear memory. In another experiment, we used sound tones to be associated with shocks. When NR2B was blocke...Enhanced imaging techniques could improve medical diagnosis
...f macaque monkeys and verify his results using the animals in ongoing studies of alcohol abuse and alcoholism. "Monkeys are a unique tool for alcoholism research because several aspects of their alcohol consumption closely mimic those of humans," Wyatt said. "Using monkey models and magnetic resonance imagi...Researchers pinpoint molecular basis for phantom pain
...gh these studies must be validated in higher-order animals before testing in humans, this represents an important step forward in the understanding and treatment of phantom pain."...'Noise' affects how brain directs body to move
...ries of exercises with rhesus monkeys in which the animals would fixate on and track visual targets, the rese...analyzed the difference between how accurately the animals actually tracked a moving object and how accurately the brain perceived the trajectory. Findings s...High exposure to motor oil increases chances of developing arthritis
...the disease. This study confirms results found in animals - exposure to mineral oil had been shown to induce arthritis in rats and raises questions regarding exposure to other environmental or occupational agents, such as infectious agents that contain molecules that may activate the immune system in simil...Orlando meeting highlights work about making systems, tools, and products safe and easy to use
...r 27, 1:30PM-3:00PM Dogs are unique among nonhuman animals for their ability to adapt to human culture, sometimes even serving as human surrogates. Human factors researchers are using the study of canines to better understand the relationships between humans and their environments while performing occupation...Can pomegranates prevent prostate cancer? A new study offers promise
...ol group received normal drinking water, while the animals in the second and third groups had their drinking ...te the presence of prostate cancer in humans. The animals that received only water had tumors that grew much faster than those in the animals treated with pom......involving the implantation of medical devices into animals can prove that a device functions, but such in vivo trials are lengthy and costly as well as not always being indicative of the effects the implant will have in humans. Complications, ranging from the minor to the potentially fatal, are widespread am...