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. The nation's preterm birth rate dropped for the second consecutive year. http://phys.org/news189794078.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:50:01 EST news189794078 Christopher Fasano, PhD, from the New York Neural Stem Cell Institute, is lead author on a study that investigating human neural development. Dr. Fasano conducted this work while working as a post-doctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the lab of Dr. Lorenz Studer. Dr. Fasano and his colleagues used human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to derive floor plate tissue, an important signaling center during brain development. http://phys.org/news189360281.html Biology Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:50:06 EST news189360281 Two genes have been associated with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in a new study of 661 families. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's journal Molecular Autism found that variations in the genes for two brain proteins, LRRN3 and LRRTM3, were significantly associated with susceptibility to ASD. http://phys.org/news188731240.html Medicine & Health Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:21:30 EST news188731240 Who's in charge? Who's got food? The brain region responsible for learning and memory is bigger in social bee queens who may have to address these questions than in solitary queens, report scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute who study the tropical sweat bee species, Megalopta genalis in Panama. Their study is the first comparison of the brain sizes of social and non-social individuals of the same species. http://phys.org/news188597799.html Biology Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:16:59 EST news188597799 Children whose mothers abused methamphetamine (meth) during pregnancy show brain abnormalities that may be more severe than that of children exposed to alcohol prenatally, according to a study in the March 17 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. While researchers have long known that drug abuse during pregnancy can alter fetal brain development, this finding shows the potential impact of meth. Identifying vulnerable brain structures may help predict particular learning and behavioral problems in meth-exposed children. http://phys.org/news187978787.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:50:04 EST news187978787 (PhysOrg.com) -- Normal vertebrate brain ventricle formation relies upon the stretchiness or "relaxation" of the neuroepithelium, which is regulated by the motor protein myosin. This process was discovered in zebrafish and may play a role in the proper expansion of tubes in other organs throughout development. http://phys.org/news187605555.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:39:41 EST news187605555 Schizophrenia is an incredibly complex and profoundly debilitating disorder that typically manifests in early adulthood but is thought to arise, at least in part, from pathological disturbances occurring during very early brain development. Now, a new study published by Cell Press in the February 25 issue of the journal Neuron, manipulates a known schizophrenia susceptibility gene in the brains of fetal mice to begin to unravel the complex link between prenatal brain development and maturation of information processing and cognition in adult animals. http://phys.org/news186236748.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:26:13 EST news186236748 Iodine is an essential element for synthesising thyroid hormones. A team of researchers from the Childhood and Environment Project (INMA) has studied the consequences of pregnant women consuming it in their diet and in supplements. The results suggest the need to evaluate their iodine nutritional status before systematically recommending taking it during pregnancy. http://phys.org/news186227304.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:48:38 EST news186227304 Brain researcher Hiroshi Kawabe has discovered the workings of a process that had been completely overlooked until now, and that allows nerve cells in the brain to grow and form complex networks. The study shows that an enzyme which usually controls the destruction of protein components has an unexpected function in nerve cells: it controls the structure of the cytoskeleton and thus ensures that nerve cells can form the tree-like extensions that are necessary for signal transmission in the brain. http://phys.org/news185802597.html Medicine & Health Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:50:27 EST news185802597 A new study reveals that a common underlying mechanism is shared by a group of previously unrelated disorders which all cause complex defects in brain development and function. Rett syndrome (RTT), Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) and Alpha-Thalassemia mental Retardation, X-linked syndrome (ATR-X) have each been linked with distinct abnormalities in chromatin, the spools of proteins and DNA that make up chromosomes and control how genetic information is read in a cell. http://phys.org/news185459187.html Medicine & Health Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:26:42 EST news185459187 The amount of time children spend in institutional care may affect how their brains develop. http://phys.org/news184570771.html Medicine & Health Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:30:01 EST news184570771 Exposure to severe stress early in life increases the risk of alcohol and drug addiction. Yet surprisingly, some adults sexually abused as children — and therefore at high risk for alcohol problems — carry gene variants that protect them from heavy drinking and its effects, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. http://phys.org/news184337362.html Medicine & Health Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:50:01 EST news184337362 A new study from UC Davis Health System identifies for the first time a brain protein called SynDIG1 that plays a critical role in creating and sustaining synapses, the complex chemical signaling system responsible for communication between neurons. The research, published in the Jan.14 issue of the journal Neuron, fills a major gap in understanding the molecular foundations of higher cognitive abilities as well as some brain disorders. http://phys.org/news183999514.html Medicine & Health Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:10:01 EST news183999514 (PhysOrg.com) -- Infant intelligence is more likely to be shaped by family environment than by the amount of docosahexoic acid (DHA), an omega 3 fatty acid, fed in breast milk or fortified formula, according to new research at the University of Southampton. http://phys.org/news183386799.html Medicine & Health Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:47:02 EST news183386799 (AP) -- Reports of high cadmium content in children's jewelry imported from China have prompted a senior U.S. senator to press for legislation that would ban the toxic heavy metal as a hazardous substance from those products and toys. http://phys.org/news182596199.html Medicine & Health Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:30:01 EST news182596199 (AP) -- Federal and state watchdogs opened a new front Monday in the campaign to keep poisons out of Chinese imports, launching inquiries into high levels of cadmium in children's jewelry while Walmart pulled many suspect items from its store shelves. http://phys.org/news182495360.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:12:00 EST news182495360 (AP) -- Barred from using lead in children's jewelry because of its toxicity, some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting the more dangerous heavy metal cadmium in sparkling charm bracelets and shiny pendants being sold throughout the United States, an Associated Press investigation shows. http://phys.org/news182367485.html Medicine & Health Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:38:44 EST news182367485 (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 (PhysOrg.com) -- Oxford University scientists are using brain-scanning technology to understand how we learn to recognise and 'read' faces as children. http://phys.org/news177940432.html Medicine & Health Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:54:55 EST news177940432 A study of 145 preschool children reports, for the first time, that when the concentrations of two common phthalates in mothers' prenatal urine are elevated their sons are less likely to play with male-typical toys and games, such as trucks and play fighting. http://phys.org/news177573699.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:02:35 EST news177573699 (PhysOrg.com) -- Baby Einstein videos have become a staple in many American households until recently when the Walt Disney Company decided to refund the product, acknowledging that these ever-popular videos were not intended to be educational or promote better brain development among young children. http://phys.org/news176624111.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:20:00 EST news176624111 Prenatal sex-based biological differences extend to genetic expression in cerebral cortices. The differences in question are probably associated with later divergences in how our brains develop. This is shown by a new study by Uppsala University researchers Elena Jazin and Björn Reinius, which has been published in the latest issue of the journal Molecular Psychiatry. http://phys.org/news175527913.html Medicine & Health Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:46:41 EST news175527913 For decades, scientists have thought the faulty neural wiring that predisposes individuals to behavioral disorders like autism and psychiatric diseases like schizophrenia must occur during development. Even so, no one has ever shown that a risk gene for the disease actually disrupts brain development. http://phys.org/news174908711.html Medicine & Health Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:20:03 EST news174908711 The cerebral cortex, the largest and most complex component of the brain, is unique to mammals and alone has evolved human specializations. Although at first all stem cells in charge of building the cerebral cortex—the outermost layer of neurons commonly referred to as gray matter—are created equal, soon they irrevocably commit to forming specific cortical regions. But how the stem cells' destiny is determined has remained an open question. http://phys.org/news174665793.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:17:33 EST news174665793 Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a key molecular player in guiding the formation of synapses — the all-important connections between nerve cells — in the brain. This discovery, based on experiments in cell culture and in mice, could advance scientists' understanding of how young children's brains develop as well as point to new approaches toward countering brain disorders in adults. http://phys.org/news174223835.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:33:06 EST news174223835 Two University of Southern California (USC) neuroscientists have been awarded nearly $9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to map how genes are expressed in different regions of the human brain throughout development. http://phys.org/news173724588.html Medicine & Health Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:50:35 EST news173724588 A derivative of cholesterol is necessary for the formation of brain cells, according to a study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. The results, which are published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, can help scientists to cultivate dopamine-producing cells outside the body. http://phys.org/news173695955.html Medicine & Health Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:52:58 EST news173695955 UCSF researchers have successfully used protease inhibitors to restore to normal levels a key protein involved in early brain development. Reduced levels of that protein have been shown to cause the rare brain disorder lissencephaly, which is characterized by brain malformations, seizures, severe mental retardation and very early death in human infants. http://phys.org/news171459656.html Medicine & Health Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:41:58 EST news171459656 In laying down the neural circuitry of the developing brain, billions of neurons must first migrate to their correct destinations and then form complex synaptic connections with their new neighbors. http://phys.org/news171285199.html Medicine & Health Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:15:07 EST news171285199 In a new study, researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro), McGill University have found an important mechanism involved in setting up the vast communications network of connections in the brain. http://phys.org/news170503954.html Medicine & Health Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:13:27 EST news170503954