http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (Phys.org) —If you've owned a pet guppy, you know they often jump out of their tanks. Many a child has asked why the guppy jumped; many a parent has been stumped for an answer. Now a study by University of Maryland biologist Daphne Soares reveals how guppies are able to jump so far, and suggests why they do it. http://phys.org/news286107047.html Biology Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:11:07 EST news286107047 Germany's leading research institute opened the doors to its first U.S. center Wednesday, bolstered by hope its world-class science could bring cures for neurological diseases and invigorate the economy. http://phys.org/news273939618.html Other Sciences Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:20:36 EST news273939618 (PhysOrg.com) -- Many meat-eating animals have unique ways of hunting down a meal using their senses. To find a tasty treat, bats use echolocation, snakes rely on infrared vision, and owls take advantage of the concave feathers on their faces, the better to help them hear possible prey. Leeches have not just one but two distinct ways of detecting dinner and, according to new findings from biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), their preferred method changes as they age. http://phys.org/news239350612.html Biology Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:17:21 EST news239350612 Stimulation of a distinct brain circuit that lies within a brain structure typically associated with fearfulness produces the opposite effect: Its activity, instead of triggering or increasing anxiety, counters it. http://phys.org/news218899705.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:20:04 EST news218899705 (PhysOrg.com) -- Why do some people fret over the most trivial matters while others remain calm in the face of calamity? Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified two different chinks in our brain circuitry that explain why some of us are more prone to anxiety. http://phys.org/news216543736.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Feb 2011 07:02:43 EST news216543736 Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital and the University of Utah have developed the best biologically based test for autism to date. The test was able to detect the disorder in individuals with high-functioning autism with 94 percent accuracy. The study will be published online the week of November 29th in Autism Research. http://phys.org/news210488108.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Dec 2010 04:55:43 EST news210488108 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have identified key components of a signaling pathway that controls the departure of neurons from the brain niche where they form and allows these cells to start migrating to their final destination. Defects in this system affect the architecture of the brain and are associated with epilepsy, mental retardation and perhaps malignant brain tumors. http://phys.org/news209917640.html Medicine & Health Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:27:35 EST news209917640 (PhysOrg.com) -- The brains of newborn humans and Neanderthals are about the same size and appear rather similar overall. It's mainly after birth, and specifically in the first year of life, that the differences between our brains and those of our extinct relatives really take shape, according to a report published in the Nov. 9 issue of Current Biology. http://phys.org/news208440814.html Biology Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:13:55 EST news208440814 (PhysOrg.com) -- One of DARPA's latest pursuits of cutting-edge research involves a neurotechnology lab at Arizona State University that specializes in ultrasonic brain stimulation. By implementing the technology in soldiers' helmets, DARPA hopes to provide advantages to US troops by enhancing cognitive abilities; improving long-term alertness; and reducing stress, anxiety, and pain. http://phys.org/news203310660.html Medicine & Health Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:42:52 EST news203310660 Abnormal eye movements and other sensorimotor and neurobehavioral impairments appear common in unaffected family members of individuals with autism, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. http://phys.org/news199985700.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:35:19 EST news199985700 Scientists have discovered a compound that restores the capacity to form new memories in aging rats, likely by improving the survival of newborn neurons in the brain's memory hub. The research, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, has turned up clues to a neuroprotective mechanism that could lead to a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. http://phys.org/news197793408.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:00:01 EST news197793408 Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have discovered that injecting a simple hormone into leeches creates a novel way to study how hormones and the nervous system work together to produce species-specific reproductive behavior. http://phys.org/news187964470.html Biology Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:21:26 EST news187964470 Scientists know little about how the brain creates and controls emotions - an uncertainty that presents a major obstacle in the effort to develop treatments for emotional disorders. "The study of the brain science of emotion is in its infancy," says Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator David Anderson, "yet emotional and psychiatric disorders continue to take an enormous toll on human society." http://phys.org/news185943692.html Medicine & Health Sun, 21 Feb 2010 07:40:01 EST news185943692 (PhysOrg.com) -- You wouldn't want a car with no brakes. It turns out that the developing brain needs them, too. http://phys.org/news178374711.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:35:23 EST news178374711 After exposure to extreme life stresses, what distinguishes the individuals who do and do not develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? A new study, published in the October 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, suggests that it has something to do with the way that we control the activity of the prefrontal cortex, a brain region thought to orchestrate our thoughts and actions. http://phys.org/news175425974.html Medicine & Health Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:30:01 EST news175425974 New imaging technology provides insight into abnormalities in the brain circuitry of patients with anorexia nervosa (commonly known as anorexia) that may contribute to the puzzling symptoms found in people with the eating disorder. In a review paper published on line in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Walter Kaye, MD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Eating Disorders Program at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues describe dysfunction in certain neural circuits of the brain which may help explain why people develop anorexia in the first place, and behaviors such as the relentless pursuit of dieting and weight loss. http://phys.org/news167407077.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:58:24 EST news167407077 What is going on in teenagers' brains as their drive for peer approval begins to eclipse their family affiliations? Brain scans of teens sizing each other up reveal an emotion circuit activating more in girls as they grow older, but not in boys. The study by Daniel Pine, M.D., of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of National Institutes of Health, and colleagues, shows how emotion circuitry diverges in the male and female brain during a developmental stage in which girls are at increased risk for developing mood and anxiety disorders. http://phys.org/news166866979.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:56:40 EST news166866979 If a drug took the fun out of stealing, would it reduce crime? A new study scheduled for the April 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, suggests that this may be so. http://phys.org/news157805443.html Medicine & Health Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:51:16 EST news157805443 A gene that is arguably the most studied "schizophrenia gene" plays an unanticipated role in the brain: It controls the birth of new neurons in addition to their integration into existing brain circuitry, according to a report in the March 20th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. The finding suggests that loss of the gene, as occurs in some cases of schizophrenia as well as bipolar disorder and major depression, may "tip the balance" in the brain, leading to an increased risk of compromised cognition and behavioral abnormalities, the researchers said. http://phys.org/news156687739.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:25:08 EST news156687739