Boys of the bottle: Why men are more susceptible to alcoholism
Alcoholism is a disease marked by a physical dependence on alcohol, leading to uncontrolled drinking in spite of serious health and social consequences. Past research suggests that men are twice as likely as women to develop alcoholism within their lifetime, but the reasons for this discrepancy are not well understood.
To address this issue, Dr. Nina Urban and her colleagues from the New York State Psychiatry Institute conducted a study examining how men and women respond to the rewarding effects of alcohol. Since dopamine mediates some of alcohol’s rewarding effects, its release within the brain following alcohol consumption was selected as a marker for the degree of reward experienced.
By measuring the amount of dopamine released in the brain with positron emission topography scans, the researchers found that men’s brains released larger quantities of dopamine than woman following alcohol consumption. This research suggests that men may find alcohol more rewarding than women, which may help to explain why men are at a higher risk of developing alcoholism. — Ken Euler
Source: Elsevier
The Holograph: A new hope
Remember when Princess Leia sent her “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” message via that crazy, futuristic holographic system? Well, that craziness is no longer reserved for science fiction.
Nasser Peyghambarian and his team from the University of Arizona have created a holograph that can transport a moving 3D image from one location to another in near-real time.
The new device projects a 3D colour image onto a special sheet of plastic using a fast-flashing laser. Unlike past holographic devices, which show only a static image, this can update its image every two seconds, or in less than one second over the Internet, giving the image the appearance of movement.
Bell Labs transmitted the first hologram over a television system in 1966. Since then, the idea of holographic movies has been a hopeful goal, with Stephen Brenton developing the first updatable holographic display at the MIT Media Lab in 1989. This new technique shows promise to advance the development of 3D film, if not at least revolutionise the industry of Star Wars paraphernalia. — Ariel Lewis
Source: Wired Magazine
From Zero to love in 0.2 seconds
To what degree is love biologically based? Newly published results from a multi-national team in the Journal of Sexual Medicine may hold an important piece in the puzzle.
According to Stephanie Ortigue, the study’s chief researcher, falling in love elicits a similar chemical response in the brain to euphoria induced by stimulants such as cocaine in less than a fifth of a second.
While psychologists often define love as a socio-cultural process, the study’s results show that a person who falls in love also activates up to twelve areas of the brain to release euphoric chemicals like adrenaline, dopamine, oxytocin, and vasopressin. These chemicals affect cognitive processes such as social imaging, metaphors, and self-perception.
Love also stimulated blood levels of nerve growth factor, a chemical important in human relations.
The findings ground love on a scientific basis, not only helping to explain the effects of interpersonal relations, but also aiding mental health and neuroscientific research on depression and emotional stress. — Keegan Williams
Source: Science Daily
Tipping the balance between male and female organ development in plants
The duplication of genes and their subsequent ability to take on new roles is regarded as a major driving force of evolutionary change. But how are these new functions acquired and what sorts of effects can they exert? A new study by the University of Leeds suggests that even the slightest adjustment in the coding sequence of a gene following duplication can have a profound influence on its function.
By studying a gene that controls the development of male and female organs in the plant species Arabidopsis (rockcress) and Antirrhinum (snapdragon), the research demonstrated that just a single amino acid change between otherwise identical duplicates can determine whether the gene specifies both male and female organs, or only male ones.
The study thus provides an elegant example of the subtle factors that tip the balance between male and female organ development in flowers, while also highlighting the dramatic changes in function that can stem from the simplest of alterations in a gene. — ED PARKER
Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Homeless youths most often victims of crime: study led by York U researcher
According to a new report by researchers at York University and the University of Guelph, homeless young people — often perceived as delinquents themselves — are the most vulnerable to violence. The report states that they are victims of crime at rates that society would consider unacceptable for any other group.
The researchers interviewed 244 homeless youths across Toronto about life on the streets. Female street youth, especially lesbians and bisexuals, were more likely than males — 85.9 per cent, compared to 71.8 per cent — to be victims of crime, especially sexual assault. They were also more likely to report extremely high levels of violence and abuse from intimate partners. Most alarmingly, only 20 per cent alerted police about their victimizations.
The report concludes that the solution calls for a balanced response that, instead of relying mostly on emergency services, would balance preventive measures, an emergency response, and transitional support to move young people out of homelessness quickly.
The study was commissioned by Justice for Children and Youth, a not-for-profit clinic providing legal advice and support to homeless youth in Toronto. — Kim Tran
Source: York University
