NEWS & VIEWS

Neuroscience - Suddenly, stunning investment insights are coming from the frontiers of one of the least likely fields you could imagine: neuroscience. [more]

Neurology (4 Oct) - Some patients who suffer brain injuries occasionally lose the ability to talk in their native accent - but now scientists may know why. [more]

Psychiatry (4 Oct) - All of the latest new from the American Psychiatric Association, Psychiatric News, 4 October 2002; Vol. 37, No. 19. [more]

Profile - Ira Flatow talks with renowned primatologist Jane Goodall about her life, work, and goals. They also discuss a new IMAX movie featuring her work with chimpanzees in the Gombe region of Africa. [more] and [audio]

Violence (3 Oct) - More than 1.6 million people are killed by violence around the world each year, a major report reveals. [more] and [more]

Humor (3 Oct) - A year-long online search for the world's funniest joke is over. The winning rib-tickler emerged from two million ratings of 40,000 entries, submitted by people from more than 70 countries. [more]

Cheater detection (1 Oct) - Humans appear to have developed a brain mechanism to detect social cheating. [more]

Jealousy (1 Oct) - Which would upset you more: (A) Finding out that your romantic partner was having passionate sex with someone else, or (B) Finding out that your partner was falling in love with someone else? [more]

Hormones and behavior (1 Oct) - Pheromones in context. [more] A pheromone by any other name. [more] More male than male. [more] Behavioral scientists are busy mining data from the Women's Health Initiative's halted hormone-replacement therapy trial. [more] Hormone therapy for men. [more] The postpartum cuddle: inspired by hormones? [more] Is PMDD real? [more]

Nutrigenomics (2 Oct) - scientists are beginning to apply genetics to diet, a new field known as nutritional genomics, or nutrigenomics. In the near term, the study is expected to reveal how particular diet ingredients affect health. The ultimate goal will be to tailor one's diet to genetic makeup. [more]

Penis size (2 Oct) - Men with big feet do not necessarily have a large manhood, a study suggests. Researchers at University College London say there is no evidence linking a man's shoe size to the length of his penis. [more]

Human genetics (2 Oct) - Parents should not be allowed to select embryos for IQ or personality, an ethical watchdog in the UK has warned. [more] Parents should not be allowed to choose, or even know about the intelligence, sexual orientation or personality traits of their future children, according to advice to the government today. [more]

Marriage (2 Oct) - Being married to a clever woman is good for men's hearts, researchers have found. [more]

Human genetics (1 Oct) - A company in Sarasota, Fla., is offering a DNA test that it says will measure customers' racial ancestry and their ancestral proportions if they are of mixed race. [more]

Childbirth (1 Oct) - Women are "terrified" of giving birth, and find it "more painful than they ever imagined", a survey has shown. [more]

Animal rights (1 Oct) - Among the high-flying lawyers who roam the halls of Harvard Law School, Steven M. Wise, 51, is an oddity. Instead of devoting himself to the fine points of torts or contracts, he teaches the school's first ever course in animal rights law. [more]

Language (1 Oct) - Are people are born with an innate ability to use language? Or do they gain that ability as they mature? [more]

Human genetics (30 Sep) - DNA is famously susceptible to radioactive damage, but what happens to apparently healthy people who live in areas where radiation levels are naturally high? An international group of researchers from England, Germany, and India, set about answering the question, and now conclude that turning up the radioactivity makes people evolve faster. [more]

Body image (30 Sep) - Men are increasingly at risk of developing body image disorders as they worry about building muscle, researchers warn. [more]

Chimpanzees (30 Sep) - The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced the award of a contract to Chimp Haven, Inc., a private, non-profit organization, to establish and operate a chimpanzee sanctuary. [more]

Human evolution (26 Sep) - What special circumstance, what unperceived evolutionary force, nudged our hulking, hairy ancestors toward intelligence, and silently trebled the size of their brains in two million years or less? [more]

Gulf War Syndrome (24 Sep) - So far, according to an April 2002 Veterans Affairs report, an additional 7,758 Desert Storm vets have died, while 198,716 vets have filed claims for medical and compensation benefits. Of the claims filed, 156,031 have been granted as service-connected, with more vets being designated casualties as each day passes. The 198,716 figure represents a staggering 28 percent of the 696,579 vets who fought in the Gulf War conflict! [more]

Depression (30 Sep) - Contemplating a pile of washing-up or cleaning the bathroom lightens few hearts - but scientists have found housework actually makes people depressed. [more]

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Genetics - The Report, Genetics and human behaviour: the ethical context, was published on 2 October 2002. [more]

Researchers in the field of behavioural genetics are attempting to locate specific genes, or groups of genes, associated with behavioural traits and to understand the complex relationship between genes and the environment. This Report considers the ethical, legal and social issues that are raised by research into behavioural genetics. It focuses on human behaviour within the normal range of variation, looking at traits such as intelligence, antisocial behaviour, personality and sexual orientation. After discussing the historical and scientific background to this research, the Report considers its implications and possible applications. It considers the issues raised by changing or selecting behavioural traits on the basis of genetic information and examines the possible uses of such information in the criminal justice system, and in the contexts of education, employment and insurance.

Development (5 Oct) - Small size at birth and slow growth in early childhood are associated with higher levels of psychological distress in adults, finds a study in this week's British Medical Journal. [more]

Schizophrenia (4 Oct) - When it comes to schizophrenia, Albertans have proven to be among the most accepting & supportive in the world, says a University of Alberta researcher. Dr. Gus Thompson, from the Departments of Psychiatry and Public Health Sciences at the U of A, compared medical students, advocates of a local schizophrenic society and the general public. Participants answered questions about symptoms of schizophrenia, perceived dangerousness of schizophrenics, increasing taxes for better services and more. [more]

Neuroscience (3 Oct) - Researchers at the University of Toronto and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have discovered a communication link between proteins in the brain that could lead to improved treatments for psychiatric disorders and stroke. [more]

Child abuse (3 Oct) - Contrary to what some health experts have believed, child abuse is a global problem that is essentially universal rather than one limited chiefly to North America, a first-of-its-kind new report shows. [more]

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Anorexia nervosa (3 Oct) - Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have been chosen to lead the first-ever government-funded genetic study of anorexia nervosa. [more]

Anxiety (2 Oct) - A super-bold lab mouse could lead to a new generation of anti-anxiety drugs. By altering the genes of rodents, US scientists have shown that blocking a key enzyme in the brain reduces anxiety. BBC News Online, EurekAlert.

Economics (1 Oct) - Two physicists have an explanation for the convulsion of the stock market just ten days ago that left traders reeling and economists scratching their heads. The market was behaving like a muffled guitar string, they suggest, thanks to short-termism and technological limitations. [more]

PTSD (1 Oct) - Although boys with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) greatly outnumber girls, girls have been underdiagnosed and their condition is greatly under appreciated, according to a pair of studies in the October issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. [more]

Language (30 Sep) - "The Neural Basis of Predicate-Argument Structure" by James R. Hurford. [more]

Microcephaly (30 Sep) - An international team, led by researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), has discovered the genetic cause for a rare form of microcephaly, a devastating brain disorder that has stricken infants among the Older Order Amish for nine generations. [more]

Consciousness - William S. Robinson reviews Understanding Consciousness by Max Velmans. [more]