Scientists have shown for the first time that small clumps of abnormal prion proteins called oligomers cause the widespread death of neurons. In contrast, much larger prion aggregates known as fibrils proved to be far less toxic. The findings suggest that small protein aggregates play a central role in prion diseases; similar mechanisms have been proposed for the so-called "amyloid"...

Neurons, or nerve cells, communicate with each other through contact points called synapses. When these connections are damaged, communication breaks down, causing the messages that would normally help our feet push our bike pedals or our mind locate our car keys to fall short. Scientists have now shown that a protein called neurexin is required for nerve cell connections to form and function...

Scientists have unlocked one of the secrets of how memory is formed. Working with a unique breed of transgenic mice, the new study has shown for the first time that the same neurons activated during fear conditioning are, in fact, reactivated during memory retrieval. The findings could potentially be used to uncover precisely how drugs such as antidepressants work in the brain, allowing clinicians...

Consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks, not including 100 percent fruit juice, may be associated with insulin resistance, even in otherwise healthy adults, according to nutritional experts.

Counseling and support for people caring for a spouse with Alzheimer's disease helps to preserve their health, according to a new study. Spouses of people with Alzheimer's disease usually are older adults. While people who take on the caregiving role tend to be healthier than those who do not, caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease is difficult in the best of circumstances, and can take a...

The wily dingo out competed the much larger marsupial Tasmanian tiger (thylacine) by being better built anatomically to resist the "mechanical stresses" associated with killing large prey, say Australian scientists.

A little dirt never hurt. But in today's super-clean world, vaccinations, anti-bacterial soaps, and airtight doors and windows are keeping dirt and disease-causing germs at bay. While staying germ-free can prevent the spread of disease and infections, leading a cleanlier lifestyle may be responsible for an increase in allergies among children.

In years past, family physician Pamela Rockwell told parents not to let their children drink too much fruit juice because of its link to obesity. These days, though, she has changed her advice. A study this year found no association between childhood obesity and 100 percent fruit juice with no sugar added.

Agencies like the US Census Bureau produce a voluminous amount of data, much of which is of tremendous value to researchers. But the data also includes personal information that could be harmful were it to fall into the wrong hands. Thus, organizations that maintain such databases need to devise ways to protect individuals' privacy while preserving the value of the information to researchers,...

Eating together as a family during adolescence is associated with lasting positive effects on dietary quality in young adulthood, according to researchers. The researchers found eating family meals together during adolescence resulted in adults who ate more fruit, dark-green and orange vegetables and key nutrients, and drank less soft drinks. Frequency of family meals predicted females would eat...

The mating ritual of the honey bee is a mysterious affair, occurring at dizzying heights in zones identifiable only to a queen and the horde of drones that court her. Now a research team has identified an odorant receptor that allows male drones to find a queen in flight. The receptor, on the male antennae, can detect an available queen up to 60 meters away.

Researchers armed with data from two NASA satellites have invented a way to map the fleeting changes in coastal water quality from space. Sediments entering the water as a result of coastal development or pollution can cause changes in water turbidity – a measure of the amount of particles suspended in the water. Sediments suspended from the bottom by strong winds or tides may also cause...

Nicotine in the breast milk of lactating mothers who smoke cigarettes disrupts their infants' sleep patterns, according to a new study. The findings raise new questions regarding whether nicotine exposure through breast milk affects infant development. While many women quit or cut down on smoking while pregnant, they often relapse following the birth of the baby.

Poor airway function shortly after birth should be recognised as a risk factor for airflow obstruction in young adults, and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may need to start in fetal life. The authors conclude that individuals born with poorer lung function continue this trend up to 22 years of age, and that further research is needed into how the lungs develop in the...

Children under the age of 5 who receive an annual flu shot have a greatly reduced risk of needing to see their doctor or be admitted to the hospital because of flu-related illness. Vaccinating only half US children against influenza could eliminate as many as 650,000 doctor's office visits and 2,250 hospitalizations in a year, according to the study.

When it comes to recognizing faces, children with autism aren't as readily adaptable as are normal kids, according to a new article. That's despite the fact that kids with autism can identify similarities among related faces just as well as other children, the researchers found.

Both sex and handedness influences on the relative size of the corpus callosum. Capuchin monkeys are playful, inquisitive primates known for their manual dexterity, complex social behavior, and cognitive abilities. New research now shows that just like humans, they display a fundamental sex difference in the organization of the brain, specifically in the corpus callosum, the region that connects...

A routine check-up for a businessman three years ago revealed prostate cancer. The cancer was caught in time, but a side effect of his successful surgery was "driving him nuts." Losing urine control because of coughing, laughing, sneezing, or lifting is both frustrating and debilitating for the more than 2 million men worldwide afflicted with the condition. Many of these men are prostate-cancer...

A small study suggests that adults whose parents are Holocaust survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder appear to have lower average levels of the stress hormone cortisol than the adult offspring of parents without PTSD.

Down in the green, rolling hills and farmlands of Kentucky, Darrell Taulbee can often be found mixing up a batch of his homegrown fertilizer. But Taulbee isn't looking to grow a better Big Boy or distill a smoother bourbon, he tells us. He sets his sights on something far more sinister. Darrell Taulbee putters with this stuff to make sure another Oklahoma bombing never happens again.

Fat in the stomach may cause vitamin C to promote, rather than prevent, the formation of certain cancer causing chemicals, reveals new research. Fat remains in the proximal stomach for some time after a meal and also makes up a substantial amount of the cells lining the stomach, say the authors.

IBM has announced two major scientific achievements in the field of nanotechnology that could one day lead to new kinds of devices and structures built from a few atoms or molecules. Although still far from making their way into products, these breakthroughs will enable scientists at IBM and elsewhere to continue driving the field of nanotechnology, the exploration of building structures and...

Exposure to smoking in movies appears to be associated with adolescents' risk of becoming established smokers who have used at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetimes, according to a new report.

The earliest domesticated pigs in Europe, which many archaeologists believed to be descended from European wild boar, were actually introduced from the Middle East by Stone Age farmers, new research suggests. While archaeologists already know that agriculture began about 12,000 years ago in the central and western parts of the Middle East, spreading rapidly across Europe between 6,800 -- 4000 BC,...