ScienceDaily Health Headlines -- for Saturday, May 14, 2011

ScienceDaily Health Headlines

for Saturday, May 14, 2011

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Artificial grammar reveals inborn language sense, study shows (May 13, 2011) -- How human children acquire language remains largely a mystery. A groundbreaking study by cognitive scientists confirms that human beings are born with knowledge of certain syntactical rules that make learning human languages easier. ... > full story

Disruption of nerve cell supply chain may contribute to Parkinson's (May 13, 2011) -- New data offer hints to why Parkinson's disease so selectively harms brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine, say researchers. ... > full story

Stem cells from bone marrow may help treat acute lung injury (May 13, 2011) -- New research investigates the therapeutic use of human stem cells from bone marrow against acute lung injury and identifies TNF-alpha-induced protein 6 as a major molecular component of stem cell action. ... > full story

Do you fear ... now that Friday the 13th is here? (May 13, 2011) -- If you are one of those who carries around a rabbit's foot and strokes it all day long for good luck or makes a wish after blowing away a fallen eyelash -- then you are probably in the midst of bolting your doors, turning on all the lights and hiding under the comforting warmth of your comforter. Today just so happens to be Friday the 13th and if you have friggatriskaidekaphobia -- it's simply not a day to be trifled with. ... > full story

Vulnerability to nicotine addiction appears to have a genetic basis, study suggests (May 13, 2011) -- A person's vulnerability to nicotine addiction appears to have a genetic basis, at least in part. A region in the midbrain called the habenula (from Latin: small reins) plays a key role in this process. Researchers have also shed light on the mechanism that underlies addiction to nicotine. ... > full story

Assessing the risks of wireless and mobile phone radiation more accurately (May 13, 2011) -- Electromagnetic fields and radiation produced by radio antennae or mobile phones can influence biological processes -- for instance, electrical brain activity during sleep, as researchers in Switzerland have shown. However, they have not been able to establish any links between everyday exposure to radiation and health problems. ... > full story

Risking one's neck for better grog: Mutinies reveal tipping points for collective unrest (May 13, 2011) -- Films depicting the 1787 mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty show sailors living cheek by jowl, being forced to dance, enduring storm-ridden Cape of Good Hope crossings to satisfy the ship captain's ego and being flogged for trivial reasons. We may not think that these harsh conditions have much relevance today. But sociologists are studying naval records of mutinies as a way to see how modern-day ill-treatment toward subordinates can lead to violence. ... > full story

Digestive problems early in life may increase risk for depression, study suggests (May 13, 2011) -- Depression and anxiety may result from short-term digestive irritation early in life, according to a study of laboratory rats by researchers. ... > full story

Bacterium found to kill malaria in mosquitoes (May 13, 2011) -- Researchers have identified a bacterium in field-caught mosquitoes that, when present, stops the development of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria in humans. According to the study, the Enterobacter bacterium is part of the naturally occurring microbial flora of the mosquito's gut and kills the parasite by producing reactive oxygen species (or free radical molecules). ... > full story

As time goes by, it gets tougher to remember new information (May 13, 2011) -- The older we get, the more difficulty we seem to have remembering things. We reassure ourselves that our brains' "hard drives" are too full to handle the new information that comes in daily. But a neuroscientist now suggests that our aging brains are unable to process this information as "new" because the brain pathways leading to the hippocampus become degraded over time. As a result, our brains cannot accurately "file" new information. ... > full story

Protein might be key to cutting cancer cells' blood supply (May 13, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered a protein that guides blood vessel development and eventually might lead to a treatment to keep cancer cells from spreading. ... > full story

Finger length clue to motor neuron disease (May 13, 2011) -- People with the commonest form of motor neuron disease, called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are more likely to have relatively long ring fingers, reveals new research. ... > full story