Breastfeeding Boost IQ In Infants With ‘Helpful’ Genetic Variant

The known association between breast feeding and slightly higher IQ in children has been shown to relate to a particular gene in the babies, according to a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In two studies of breast-fed infants involving more than 3,000 children in Britain and New Zealand, breastfeeding was found to raise intelligence an average of nearly 7 IQ points if the children had a particular version of a gene called FADS2.

Stress Increases Cocaine Addiction

According to the Trimbos Institute, anyone who sniffs cocaine once has a 15 to 20% likelihood of becoming addicted to this hard drug. Why does the recreational user only try it once whereas another person becomes physically and mentally dependent on the drug? Behavioural Pharmacologist Inge de Jong, attached to the LUMC (Leiden University Medical Center) and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, sought an explanation in the effect of stress hormones.

Energy Drink ‘Cocktails’ Lead To Increased Injury Risk, Study Shows

College students who drink alcohol mixed with so-called “energy” drinks are at dramatically higher risk for injury and other alcohol-related consequences, compared to students who drink alcohol without energy drinks, according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Gene Behind Rheumatoid Arthritis Identified

University of Manchester researchers have identified a genetic variant in a region on chromosome 6 that is associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most common inflammatory arthritis affecting 387,000 people in the UK.

Older Adults Not More Distractible, Research Shows

Despite previous research suggesting that older adults are more distractible, new research shows they are no more distractible than younger adults when asked to focus their attention on their sense of sight or sound, or when asked to switch their attention from one sense to the other.

Molecular Medical Research Points To Treatment Of Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy is the second most prevalent genetic cause of infant death in the UK, after cystic fibrosis.

Studies show that between 1:50 and 1:34 of the population are carriers of the disease, and that it affects in the region of 1:10,000 children born in the UK. In the USA, 1:40 are carriers and 1:6,000 children are affected by the disease.

Epilepsy Genes May Cancel Each Other

Inheriting two genetic mutations that can individually cause epilepsy might actually be “seizure-protective,” said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

“In the genetics of the brain, two wrongs can make a right,” said Dr. Jeffrey L. Noebels, professor of neurology, neuroscience and molecular and human genetics at BCM. “We believe these findings have great significance to clinicians as we move toward relying upon genes to predict neurological disease.”

Multiple Fluorescent Proteins Blend In Fantastic Images Of Neurons

By activating multiple fluorescent proteins in neurons, neuroscientists at Harvard University are imaging the brain and nervous system as never before, rendering their cells in a riotous spray of colors dubbed a “Brainbow.”

Brainbow allows researchers to tag neurons with roughly 90 distinct colors, a huge leap over the mere handful of shades possible with current fluorescent labeling. By permitting visual resolution of individual brightly colored neurons, this increase should greatly help scientists in charting the circuitry of the brain and nervous system.

Tuberculosis Breaches Borders, But Not Public Health

Immigrants from countries with high rates of tuberculosis who move to countries of low TB incidence do not pose a public health threat to native citizens, according to researchers in Norway, who analyzed the incidence and genetic origins of all known cases of TB in the country between 1993 and 2005.

Doctors Use Stem Cell Therapy For Genetic Skin Disease

University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview physicians have performed the first bone marrow and cord blood transplant to treat recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB).