Now, a small study from UCLA suggests a disturbing effect: Young adult smokers may experience changes in the structures of their brains due to cigarette smoking, dependence and craving. Even worse, these changes can occur in those who have been smoking for relatively short time. Finally, the study suggests that neurobiological changes that may result from smoking during this critical period could explain why adults who began smoking at a young age stay hooked on cigarettes. The study appears in the March 3 online edition of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. MedicalXpress
New evidence confirms link between IQ and brain cortex
The cortex begins to thin after the age of five or six as part of the normal aging process. This study by Professor Karama and his colleagues involved 188 children and adolescents over a period of two years. MRIs of the study participants were taken at six sites across the US. This study is the first to show the association between cortical thickness and development in full scale IQ. They found that within a relatively short period of 2 years:
- people with a significant increase in IQ did not have the expected cortical thinning,
- people whose IQ stayed the same had the normal expected cortical thinning,
- people with a significant decrease in IQ had exaggerated cortical thinning. Eurekalert!
Research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden suggests that the expression of the so called MYC gene is important and necessary for neurogenesis in the spinal cord. The findings are being published in the journal EMBO Reports.
The MYC gene encodes the protein with the same name, and has an important role in many cellular processes such as proliferation, metabolism, cell death and the potential of differentiation from immature stem cells to different types of specialized cells . Importantly it is also one of the most frequently activated genes in human cancer. Eurekalert!
UF researchers find drug therapy that could eventually reverse memory decline in seniors
The drug can’t yet be used in humans, but the researchers are pursuing compounds that could someday help the population of aging adults who don’t have Alzheimer’s or other dementias but still have trouble remembering day-to-day items. Their findings will be published in today’s (March 5) issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. University of Florida
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