Psychology

A Beautiful but deadly frog that sings for its mate. Here is what I am reading today: animals that learn to avoid poisons “Researchers soon realized that some roaches had developed an aversion to glucose—the sugary bait disguising the poison—and that the insects were passing that trait on to their young. Now, scientists have figured out how this behavior evolved. Roaches, like other insects, detect taste through special receptors that line hairlike appendages on their mouthparts. The receptors differentiate between sweet and bitter flavors, which signal to the roach whether to eat or avoid the food, respectively” blue eyes came from one ancestor “Variation in the colour of the eyes from brown to green can all be explained by the amount of melanin in the iris, but blue-eyed individuals only have a small degree of variation in the amount of melanin in their eyes. “From this we can conclude that all blue-eyed individuals are linked to the same ancestor,” says Professor Eiberg. “They have all inherited the same switch at exactly the same spot in their DNA.” Brown-eyed individuals, by contrast, have considerable individual variation in the area of their DNA that controls melanin production. Professor Eiberg and his team examined mitochondrial DNA and compared the eye colour of blue-eyed individuals in countries as diverse as Jordan, Denmark and Turkey. His findings are the latest in a decade of genetic research, which began in 1996, when Professor Eiberg first implicated the OCA2 gene as being responsible for eye colour.” we all think we are beautiful… or more beautiful than we really are? “In April 15, 2013 Dove launched a 3-minute video entitled “Dove Real Beauty Sketches.” The video achieved instant popularity and has been watched millions of times — a successful viral campaign which has beenwidely talked about. In the video, a small group of women are asked to describe their faces to a person whom they cannot see. The person is a forensic artist who is there to draw pictures of the women based on their verbal descriptions” everything you wanted to know about breastfeeding neadertals “A team led by Manish Arora, an environmental health dentist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, hypothesized that it might be possible to detect when a child was weaned from the amount of barium in its growing teeth. Barium is an element similar to calcium and is present in water sources and many types of soils, explains co-author Christine Austin, a dental researcher at Westmead Hospital in near Sydney, Australia. Barium makes its way into both teeth and bone in small amounts. As a tooth grows, both dentine, which makes up the center of a tooth, and enamel, which forms its hard surface, are laid down in daily layers, which are clearly visible under a microscope.” empathy and morality? “In their new report, co-authors Liane Young, an assistant professor of psychology at Boston College, and Ezequiel Gleichgerrcht of the Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Favaloro University in Argentina, address two key questions related to moral decision-making: First, what specific aspect of emotional responding is relevant for these judgments? Second, is this aspect of emotional responding selectively reduced in utilitarian respondents or enhanced in non-utilitarians?” delaying nerve cell loss by dieting? “”There has been great interest in finding compounds that mimic the benefits of caloric restriction that could be used to delay the onset of age-associated problems and/or diseases,” said Luigi Puglielli, MD, PhD, who studies aging at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and was not involved in this study. “If proven safe for humans, this study suggests such a drug could be used as a preventive tool to delay the onset of neurodegeneration associated with several diseases that affect the aging brain,” Puglielli added.”

The other weekend, I was trying to remember something I’d read in Tyler Cowen’s book, Discover Your Inner Economist: Using Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist. And I looked it up — so interesting! Sometimes when we ask a question, we know that people might be reluctant to give a true opinion. Maybe they’re worried about angering someone else, or appearing unsophisticated, or admitting what they actually think or do. Tyler Cowen made an observation that I think is absolutely fascinating, and one that provides one clever solution to this non-disclosure problem. Click through to read what it is. He writes: To get a person’s real opinion, ask what she thinks everyone else believes… If people truly hold a particular belief, they are more likely to think that others agree or have had similar experiences. For instance, if a man has had more than thirty sexual partners, he will more likely think that such behavior is common. After all, his life is one ‘data point,’ and that data point presumably weighs heavily in his mind. Furthermore the man with more than thirty partners probably knows a higher percentage of other people with thirty partners or more. This will further encourage him to make a high estimate of how many partners other people have had… [People] tend to assume that other people have had life histories at least somewhat similar to their own. When we talk about other people, we are often talking about ourselves, whether we know it ourselves. So imagine that you’re considering sending your children to a particular school. Asking your friend, “What complaints do parents have about the school?” instead of asking, “How do you like the school?” might elicit a better answer. Or maybe you’re considering going to a particular doctor. A person might not want personally to express criticism, but if you said, “How do most patients feel about that doctor’s office?” you might hear more. This sounds surprising, but imagine how you would answer questions such as, “Do you think most people get along well with their in-laws?” “Do you think most people cheat on their taxes?” “Do you think most people love music?” “Do you think most people go to sleep after midnight?” Isn’t your inclination to respond with an answer that’s true for you? And yet the answer doesn’t feel like self-disclosure! If this kind of thing interests you, you might also enjoy reading about why a mirror can make you behave better, and five more tips for boosting self-control. What do you think? Do you think most people would be interested in trying this strategy? Are you interested in launching a group for people doing happiness projects together? These groups have sprung up all over the world, and one of my favorite things on my book tour was to meet some of the groups. Intrigued? Email me, and I’ll send you the “starter kit.” Read more here.

Through a recent study, experts found that those with tinnitus were more likely to perform well on cognitive tasks when they used acceptance, rather than suppression, of tinnitus symptoms....

Hey Julie,I hope you've had a fun week. I saw a new in-press publication with your name on it - "Smelling more or less: Investigating the olfactory experience of the domestic dog" - looks like a really great study, and so timely after my last post about dogs and olfactory enrichment! Looking forward to reading it (and all those other cool Learning and Motivation articles) over the weekend. So did you do your homework? Did you watch this clip from the Sydney Opera House's Ship Song Project? I wanted you to watch this clip, and more importantly, LISTEN to it, because it features lots of different musical styles. I don't know about you, but I certainly have a different reaction to the different styles. Some appeal to me more than others. Some I find relaxing, while others make me want to nod my head to keep the beat or even hum along. I was talking about this clip recently with my friend Mark (from SARC, in my head that always runs together "Mark-from-SARC") and of course we shifted to talking about dogs and music. As you do. That's normal - right?! What kind of music do dogs prefer? As part of my PhD research into kennel enrichment, I looked into this very question. The research in this area has been conducted in two kennel environments. Headphones on dog = silly (they hear around x4 better than us!) sourceIn the first study, scientists played five different recordings to dogs housed in a shelter kennel: - a control (nothing) - human speech- classical music- pop music- heavy metal musicto the dogs and recorded the behaviours of the dogs using an ethogram. Then they looked at the differences in the behaviour of the dogs during each condition. The dogs were significantly more likely to run around barking when the heavy metal music was played; and lie down, apparently resting quietly, when the classical music was on. There was no difference to their behaviour when the control, human speech or pop music were played. The second study showed similar results, with classical music linked to more sleeping and heavy metal correlating with more body shaking.(source)It's probably worth noting that these changes in behaviour may not reflect dogs' actual PREFERENCE for music. To assess that, we'd need to set up a study design that offered dogs a choice of multiple sound environments. But it certainly suggests that if we want to encourage behaviours associated with relaxation, like lying down, not barking, and sleeping; we should be piping some gentle classical music to the environment our dogs are in. I reckon my dogs quite like Chopin's Nocturnes... Kogan Lori R., Schoenfeld-Tacher Regina, & Simon Allen A. (2012) Behavioral effects of auditory stimulation on kenneled dogs. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 7(5), 268-275. DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2011.11.002 Behavioral effects of auditory stimulation on kenneled dogs Wells D, Graham L, & Hepper P. (2002) The influence of auditory stimulation on the behaviour of dogs housed in a rescue shelter. Animal Welfare, 11(4), 385-393. http://www.ufaw.org.uk/v11main.php

by Vanessa Segura, Miguel Pérez-Aso, Fermí Montó, Elena Carceller, María Antonia Noguera, John Pediani, Graeme Milligan, Ian Christie McGrath, Pilar D’Ocon Aims To compare the constitutive and agonist-dependent endosomal trafficking of ?1A- and ?1B-adrenoceptors (ARs) and to establish if the internalization pattern determines the signaling pathways of each subtype. Methods Using CypHer5 technology and VSV-G epitope tagged ?1A- and ?1B-ARs stably and transiently expressed in HEK 293 cells, we analyzed by confocal microscopy the constitutive and agonist-induced internalization of each subtype, and the temporal relationship between agonist induced internalization and the increase in intracellular calcium (determined by FLUO-3 flouorescence), or the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38 MAP kinases (determined by Western blot). Results and Conclusions Constitutive as well as agonist-induced trafficking of ?1A and ?1B ARs maintain two different endosomal pools of receptors: one located close to the plasma membrane and the other deeper into the cytosol. Each subtype exhibited specific characteristics of internalization and distribution between these pools that determines their signaling pathways: ?1A-ARs, when located in the plasma membrane, signal through calcium and ERK1/2 pathways but, when translocated to deeper endosomes, through a mechanism sensitive to ?-arrestin and concanavalin A, continue signaling through ERK1/2 and also activate the p38 pathway. ?1B-ARs signal through calcium and ERK1/2 only when located in the membrane and the signals disappear after endocytosis and by disruption of the membrane lipid rafts by methyl-?-cyclodextrin

by Li Yang, Dongxiao Liu, Song Liang, Renhua Guo, Zhihong Zhang, Hao Xu, Chao Yang, Yi Zhu Aim To evaluate the impact of the Janus kinase 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on gastric cancer risk. Methods In this hospital-based, case–control study, the genotypes were identified by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism protocols in 661 individuals (359 gastric cancer patients and 302 age and sex matched cancer-free controls). Results Both the frequency of A allele in rs2230724 and G allele in rs1887427 were more frequent in patients with gastric cancer (P?=?0.013 and 0.001, respectively). Compared with the common genotype, subjects with the (AG+AA) genotypes of rs2230724 and the (AG+GG) genotypes of rs1887427 had a 59% and 98% increased risk of developing gastric cancer, respectively (P?=?0.010, adjusted OR?=?1.59, 95% CI?=?1.12–2.27; P56 years), males, nonsmokers and urban subjects, while the association between the risk and the rare genotypes of rs1887427 persisted in subgroups of younger individuals (?56 years), males, nonsmokers and both of rural and urban subjects. Conclusion The JAK2 gene rs2230724 and rs1887427 polymorphisms are associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer in a Chinese Han population.

by Jieun Koh, Jong Rak Choi, Kyung Hwa Han, Eun-Kyung Kim, Jung Hyun Yoon, Hee Jung Moon, Jin Young Kwak Background The aim of this study was to evaluate the proper indication of adjunctive BRAFV600E mutation analysis at the time of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Methods This study included 518 nodules in 479 patients who underwent ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration with BRAFV600E mutation. We calculated and compared the diagnostic performances of cytology and cytology with BRAFV600E mutation analysis to detect malignancy among thyroid nodules according to ultrasound features and size. Results Sensitivity, negative predictive value, and accuracy of cytology with BRAFV600E mutation analysis were significantly higher than those of cytology alone in thyroid nodules with suspicious ultrasound features, regardless of size. Diagnostic performances did not show significant differences between cytology and cytology with BRAFV600E mutation analysis in nodules without any suspicious ultrasound features, regardless of size. Conclusion The BRAFV600E mutation analysis was a useful adjunctive diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules with suspicious ultrasound features regardless of size.

by Takayuki Hirai, Kenzo Uchida, Hideaki Nakajima, Alexander Rodriguez Guerrero, Naoto Takeura, Shuji Watanabe, Daisuke Sugita, Ai Yoshida, William E. B. Johnson, Hisatoshi Baba Background Cervical compressive myelopathy, e.g. due to spondylosis or ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament is a common cause of spinal cord dysfunction. Although human pathological studies have reported neuronal loss and demyelination in the chronically compressed spinal cord, little is known about the mechanisms involved. In particular, the neuroinflammatory processes that are thought to underlie the condition are poorly understood. The present study assessed the localized prevalence of activated M1 and M2 microglia/macrophages in twy/twy mice that develop spontaneous cervical spinal cord compression, as a model of human disease. Methods Inflammatory cells and cytokines were assessed in compressed lesions of the spinal cords in 12-, 18- and 24-weeks old twy/twy mice by immunohistochemical, immunoblot and flow cytometric analysis. Computed tomography and standard histology confirmed a progressive spinal cord compression through the spontaneously development of an impinging calcified mass. Results The prevalence of CD11b-positive cells, in the compressed spinal cord increased over time with a concurrent decrease in neurons. The CD11b-positive cell population was initially formed of arginase-1- and CD206-positive M2 microglia/macrophages, which later shifted towards iNOS- and CD16/32-positive M1 microglia/macrophages. There was a transient increase in levels of T helper 2 (Th2) cytokines at 18 weeks, whereas levels of Th1 cytokines as well as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF) and macrophage antigen (Mac) ?2 progressively increased. Conclusions Spinal cord compression was associated with a temporal M2 microglia/macrophage response, which may act as a possible repair or neuroprotective mechanism. However, the persistence of the neural insult also associated with persistent expression of Th1 cytokines and increased prevalence of activated M1 microglia/macrophages, which may lead to neuronal loss and demyelination despite the presence of neurotrophic factors. This understanding of the aetiopathology of chronic spinal cord compression is of importance in the development of new treatment targets in human disease.

by Shweta Shah, Nathaniel M. Butler, David J. Hannapel, A. Gururaj Rao Polypyrimidine tract-binding (PTB) proteins are RNA-binding proteins that generally contain four RNA recognition motifs (RRMs). In potato, six cDNAs encoding full-length PTB proteins have been identified. In the present study Nova1-like protein, designated StNova1, was identified as a potential interacting partner of the StPTB proteins via yeast two-hybrid screening. Nova protein is a RNA-binding protein that contains three K-homology (KH) domains. In humans, these proteins are involved in regulation of neuronal RNA metabolism but the role of Nova-like proteins in plants is poorly understood. We have validated this interaction and mapped the protein binding region on StNova1 and StPTB1 and ?6 using a novel domain interaction phage display (DIPP) technique. The interaction between the two RNA-binding proteins StPTB1/6 and StNova1 is mediated through linker regions that are distinctly separated from the RRMs. Furthermore, using a random 21-mer phage-peptide library, we have identified a number of peptides with the consensus sequence motif [S/G][V/I][L/V]G that recognize the StPTB proteins. One over-represented peptide that recognizes StPTB6 contains the GVLGPWP sequence that is similar to the GIGGRYP sequence in the glycine-rich linker region between the KH2 and KH3 domains of StNova1. We show, through site-specific mutations, the importance of glycine and proline residues in StNova1-StPTB interactions.

by Julia Jaekel, Nicole Baumann, Dieter Wolke Objective Cognitive deficits have been inconsistently described for late or moderately preterm children but are consistently found in very preterm children. This study investigates the association between cognitive workload demands of tasks and cognitive performance in relation to gestational age at birth. Methods Data were collected as part of a prospective geographically defined whole-population study of neonatal at-risk children in Southern Bavaria. At 8;5 years, n?=?1326 children (gestation range: 23–41 weeks) were assessed with the K-ABC and a Mathematics Test. Results Cognitive scores of preterm children decreased as cognitive workload demands of tasks increased. The relationship between gestation and task workload was curvilinear and more pronounced the higher the cognitive workload: GA2 (quadratic term) on low cognitive workload: R2?=?.02, pR2?=?.09, pR2?=?.14, p Conclusions The cognitive workload model may help to explain variations of findings on the relationship of gestational age with cognitive performance in the literature. The findings have implications for routine cognitive follow-up, educational intervention, and basic research into neuro-plasticity and brain reorganization after preterm birth.