Key protein enhances memory
Case Western Reserve researchers have discovered that a protein previously implicated in disease plays such a positive role in learning and memory that it may someday contribute to cures of cognitive impairments. The findings regarding the potential virtues of fatty acid binding protein 5 (FABP5) — usually associated with cancer and psoriasis — appear in The Journal of Biological Chemistry. “Overall, our data shows that FABP5 enhances cognitive function and that FABP5 deficiency impairs learning and memory functions in the brain hippocampus region,” said senior author Noa Noy, PhD, a professor of pharmacology at the School of Medicine. “If we could find a way to regulate the expression of FABP5, we might have a therapeutic handle on memory impairment in some human diseases,” he said.
Humans have a nose for gender
The human body produces chemical cues that communicate gender to members of the opposite sex, according to researchers who report their findings in the Cell Press journal Current Biology. Whiffs of the active steroid ingredients (androstadienone in males and estratetraenol in females) influence our perceptions of movement as being either more masculine or more feminine. The effect, which occurs completely without awareness, depends on both our biological sex and our sexual orientations. “Our findings argue for the existence of human sex pheromones,” says Wen Zhou of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “They show that the nose can sniff out gender from body secretions even when we don't think we smell anything on the conscious level.”
Brain atrophy affects diabetes
Type 2 diabetes may be associated with brain degeneration, according to a new multicenter study published online in the journal Radiology. The study also found that, contrary to common clinical belief, diabetes may not be directly associated with small vessel ischemic disease, where the brain does not receive enough oxygenated blood. “We found that patients having more severe diabetes had less brain tissue, suggesting brain atrophy,” said lead author R Nick Bryan, MD, PhD, professor of radiology at the Perleman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “They did not seem to have more vascular disease due to the direct effect of diabetes.” According the American Diabetes Association (ADA), nearly 26 million people in the United States have diabetes, and 1.9 million more are diagnosed with the disease each year.
Teen drinking alters brain chemistry
A new study conducted in rats offers clues about how teen drinking alters brain chemistry, suggesting early alcohol use has long-term effects on decision making. “Early life experiences can alter the brain in the long term, with profound implications for behavior in adulthood,” said Abigail Schindler, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington who conducted the research. “This study points to the potential effects of alcohol on brain development in adolescence, a period of exploration when young adults are often experiencing alcohol for the first time.” The researchers gave alcohol-laced “Jell-O shots” to a group of rats 30-50 days of age, the equivalent of the teen years in humans.
Pain curbs sex drive in females
Not tonight, dear, I have a headache.” Generally speaking, that line is attributed to the wife in a couple, implying that women's sexual desire is more affected by pain than men's. Now, researchers from McGill University and Concordia University in Montreal have investigated, possibly for the first time in any species, the direct impact of pain on sexual behaviour in mice. Their study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, found that pain from inflammation greatly reduced sexual motivation in female mice in heat — but had no such effect on male mice. To conduct the study, the researchers placed mice in a mating chamber divided by a barrier with openings too small for male mice to squeeze through.