Earning less than your peers can make you happy

(Medical Xpress) -- Knowing that your colleagues and peers earn more than you can actually raise your satisfaction levels, but only if you are under 45, according to new research from the University of St Andrews.

A study by leading economists has discovered that far from being disheartened by or jealous of peers who earned bigger salaries, younger workers were incentivised by the belief that they might one day earn the same.

However, for the over 45s, the bigger salaries of high flying colleagues have been found to harm self-esteem and reduce life satisfaction, because career opportunities are much more limited for older employees.

The study called ‘So Far So Good: Age, Sex, Happiness and Relative Income’ is the work of Professors Felix FitzRoy and David Ulph of the School of Economics at the University of St Andrews with Dr Michael Nolan of the University of Hull, and Dr Max Steinhardt of the Hamburg Institute of International Economics.

Recently presented at the Royal Economic Society Conference in Cambridge, it drew its data from major household surveys carried out in Germany.

Previous studies found that the income of peers can have a positive overall effect on satisfaction in transition economies of Eastern Europe, typified by high growth, inequality and social mobility. By contrast, peer group income was believed to have generally negative effects on happiness at all ages in developed economies.

However, this new research from St Andrews shows the negative effect to be restricted to older workers, who are usually less mobile and can foresee their lifetime income. Retired people were much less concerned about income comparison, probably because of more urgent ageing and health issues.

Professor FitzRoy said: “This research provides a more nuanced picture of relative income effects on happiness, and underlines the importance of career aspirations and opportunities for young people.

“This is particularly significant at a time when these opportunities for so many young people are threatened by extreme austerity in the UK and other countries, though notably not in Germany with its export-led boom.”

Provided by University of St Andrews

"Earning less than your peers can make you happy." April 4th, 2012. http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-04-peers-happy.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Big energy cuts in green homes

QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

"The key to reducing a home's carbon footprint was to build a home that was naturally comfortable to live in, eliminating the need for air conditioning." Image: alexsliStockphoto Clever, inexpensive design can cut the energy used in new homes by up to 80 per cent, says a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researcher. QUT science and engineering researcher Wendy Miller, from the Science and Engineering Faculty, has completed a PhD on sustainable housing, tracking the development of homes at The Ecovillage in Currumbin, and is monitoring the design, construction and liveability of various environmentally-friendly houses in South East Queensland and Townsville. Ms Miller found good design, solar hot water and energy efficient appliances in houses can reduce energy consumption by 50-80 per cent compared to the average Queensland household. She said the key to reducing a home's carbon footprint was to build a home that was naturally comfortable to live in, eliminating the need for air conditioning. "The study found the best houses in The Ecovillage used 80 per cent less energy, while the average electricity consumption of Ecovillage houses was less than 50 per cent of the average home in Queensland," Ms Miller said. "These houses were built under guidelines which specified they use natural breezes, energy efficient appliances, solar power, solar hot water and no air conditioning." Ms Miller said these same results were possible in regular housing estates, providing the land was used well. "Good architecture is essential, but green houses are also dependent on good urban planning," she said. "Housing estates need to be carved up to accommodate environmentally friendly architecture, allowing for as many north facing blocks as possible. "Also, it is important that the house doesn't take up the whole of the block. Keeping the house to 50 per cent or less of the block size allows for breezes, shady trees and gardens that help to keep the house cool in summer." Ms Miller followed a number of Ecovillage families over three years through the process of design, construction and occupation. The houses had monitoring equipment installed to track the use of lighting, power, solar energy, hot water, rainwater and recycled water. "It is most important to get the house design right first, then to add solar hot water, energy efficient appliances and light bulbs, because once you have these thing, your electricity use is very low, and you don't need as many solar panels to meet your needs," she said. "An environmentally friendly home needn't cost more to build, or could even be cheaper to build, with good planning, and architects and builders who are familiar with building green houses. And they are cheaper to run since they use much less electricity." Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Cursed To Wait For Krishna

“While mother Yashoda was very busy with household affairs, the Supreme Lord, Krishna, observed twin trees known as yamala-arjuna, which in a former millennium had been the demigod sons of Kuvera.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.9.22)

The mother’s work was finally done, at the behest of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who remain tied to a mortar in the courtyard as punishment for having broken a pot of butter. The same Bhagavan cannot be so easily captured by even the most exalted figures of the world, but due to the spontaneous affection of the dear mother, Krishna agreed to her desires, allowing her to perform her motherly duties. As the saying goes, “Everything happens for a reason”, Krishna staying in that courtyard as punishment fulfilled so many purposes simultaneously. The two sons of Kuvera were awaiting atonement, and after many years of punishment, their time for deliverance was set to arrive.

Though one may be born into a pious family, if they should fall victim to false pride and ego, their fortunate surroundings still cannot safeguard them from unhappiness and distress. If you are born into a wealthy family, not having to worry about procuring material possessions obviously should be a good thing, but say that you get spoiled by what your parents give you. Instead of learning that hard work is required to earn money and that because of this the fruits of labor should not be spent frivolously, you think that you can get whatever you want, whenever you want it.

On one birthday you demand from your parents an expensive luxury car. Though you’re not old enough to work to earn enough money for the car, because you have grown up in wealth, you don’t find the request to be odd. If the parents are kind enough to give you the gift, though, the blessing can turn out to be a curse fairly quickly. The luxury car can reach high speeds in a short amount of time. Since the handling is so smooth, you don’t feel like you’re travelling that fast. Therefore, you are more prone to getting into an accident, causing injury to yourself. The potential for the same misfortune is absent in those who don’t grow up in wealth, who don’t have parents that could supply them with expensive gifts.

Nalakuvara and Manigriva grew up as sons of the treasurer of the demigods, Kuvera. Though we don’t see an intelligent force behind the operation of nature, there are elevated living beings in charge of it. This information is provided to us by the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India. It is easy to discount this information as being mythology. “Perhaps primitive people didn’t know any better, so they came up with these stories to explain how nature worked.” The same tact can be taken with any information received, so we have to determine authority through other means. If someone presents us information and that knowledge ends up benefitting us, we can extend more faith to the same authority source in the future.

The Vedas, with their most celebrated work being the Bhagavad-gita, provide so much valuable information that cannot be found from any other source. While one tradition may say that God gave up His one and only son, the Vedas reveal that God can never be limited in this way. He is the source of everything, so the infinite number of creatures we see all come from Him. If they are not sons of God, then God has no relation to them. If there is no relation to God, then the very definition of God is not valid. The Supreme Being is the Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of all energy, including pleasure. If a particular living entity does not come from Him, i.e. they are not His son or daughter, then what business does God have in their life?

Along with the in-depth study of the differences between matter and spirit and God’s actual position as the Lord of all creatures, the Vedas provide information about elevated living entities and how long they can live. The “heaven” we commonly speak of is just another area of space where the living conditions are better than they are now. Because of the enhanced conditions, the residents can live longer. Since they can live longer they are given greater responsibilities, which include managing the material nature.

Kuvera is in charge of wealth, and his sons Nalakuvara and Manigriva took advantage of their relation to the treasurer of the demigods by living comfortably. One time they were intoxicated and sporting naked with women in a lake. The famous rishi Narada saw them, and since they were too intoxicated to follow the proper etiquette, they were cursed by him for the behavior. Since they liked to remain naked, Narada granted them the forms of trees in their next life. A tree can live for a very long time without requiring much. In this way we see that living long within a particular form of body is not a sign of evolution. Just because someone can survive in a prison-like environment doesn’t mean that they have a superior quality of life.

The curse was two-sided, though. The brothers also received a blessing through the contact with Narada. The two sons would gain release from their curse through meeting the Supreme Lord Himself. Krishna wouldn’t arrive on the scene just to liberate them, but He would include their deliverance as part of His pastimes in the holy land ofVrindavana. Thus the two sons would see Krishna in His most adorable form of a small child who kindly acted under the control of His dear mother.

A good son delights the parents. The naughty child may sometimes provide a nuisance to the caretakers, but then again they also provide reasons for the application of guardianship. If you have a young child that can feed itself, determine when to go to sleep, when to wake up, and when to study, what work will you as a parent have to do? How will you offer your love? If you should have the “perfect” child, you will still try to give them some instruction, for what then would be the purpose of being a parent?

In Krishna’s case, He was sweet and adorable, and yet naughty too. Thus mother Yashoda swam in an ocean of transcendental nectar whenever she was in her son’s company. The boy loved His mother as well, so the reciprocal feelings made for a a pleasant atmosphere. The curious Krishna did not cry after His mother tied Him to a mortar and returned to the kitchen. Rather, He looked over and saw two arjunatrees nearby. Krishna knew who the trees were, and He knew that the mortar could help Him accomplish His task.

“Although He was able to pass through the passage, the large wooden mortar stuck horizontally between the trees. Taking advantage of this, Lord Krishna began to pull the rope which was tied to the mortar. As soon as He pulled, with great strength, the two trees, with all branches and limbs, fell down immediately with a great sound. Out of the broken, fallen trees came two great personalities, shining like blazing fire.”  (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 10)

By placing the mortar in between the trees and using it as a sort of lever, Krishna was able to knock down the trees. Normally this is a dangerous situation for a child to be in, but for Krishna there had been past incidents involving much greater danger. The female witch Putana tried to give Him poison through her breast and the demon Trinavarta took Him in a whirlwind all the way up into the air. Yet Krishna was still living and these demons were long since dead. The miraculous feats of the jewel of Vrindavana only increased everyone’s attachment to Him. That affection for God is every person’s birthright, but only in the proper conditions can it be aroused and remain active perpetually. When it is at the strongest levels at the time of death, the living being no longer has to suffer through the cycle of reincarnation.

“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.”  (Lord Krishna, Bg. 8.5)

When the trees fell down, the forms of Nalakuvara and Manigriva came out, and they offered prayers to the Lord and then returned to their previous position by Krishna’s benediction. Only Krishna and some neighboring children saw them, and when the elders arrived on the scene, they were amazed at how the young boy could knock down two large trees such as those. The punishment period was over, and now Krishna could return to roaming freely through Vrindavana, playing with His friends and getting into trouble.

The curse applied by Narada Muni made the two sons live in sorrow as lonely and helpless trees for a long period of time. But just one moment’s contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead makes a seemingly endless amount of suffering and penance worth it. Kuvera’s sons were in a similar circumstance to Ahalya, Gautama Muni’s wife. She was also cursed to remain idle for many years until she was graced by the Supreme Lord, the same Krishna, in the form of Rama, the son of King Dasharatha.

Though we are condemned by the fact that we must suffer through birth and death, a moment’s contact with a devotee who can lead us to the spiritual land of Goloka Vrindavana can make all the suffering worth it. Many lifetimes have been spent in previous bodies searching for sense gratification that doesn’t bring any lasting happiness, so if we can make this stint within a material body worth it, all the past transgressions will be a distant memory. Hold on to the holy name, chant it regularly, and remember the sweetheart of Vrindavana, who delighted everyone with His pastimes.

In Closing:

Nalakuvara and Manigriva, of Kuvera were sons,

Ran into trouble when having intoxicated fun.

With prestige of higher parentage sons were drunk,

From Narada’s curse to forms of trees they sunk.

In that large and immovable state,

For sight of Krishna they had to wait.

In Yashoda’s courtyard, trees’ history boy could tell,

Moving mortar in between, trees to ground fell.

Sage’s curse to be a blessing it turned out,

As trees’ meeting with Supreme Lord came about.

Keep aging brains sharp: Brain games, exercise and diet help prevent cognitive slide

Exercising, eating a healthy diet and playing brain games may help you keep your wits about you well into your 80s and even 90s, advises a new book by researchers at George Mason University.

"These are all cheap, easy things to do," says Pamela Greenwood, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology on Mason's Fairfax, Va. campus. "We should all be doing them anyway. You should do them for your heart and health, so why not do them for your brain as well?"

For the past 20 years, Greenwood and Raja Parasuraman, University Professor of Psychology, have studied how the mind and brain age, focusing on Alzheimer's disease. Their book, "Nurturing the Older Brain and Mind" published by MIT Press, came out in March. The cognitive neuroscientists geared the book to middle-aged readers who want to keep their mental snap.

"We know that if we can put off dementing illnesses even by a year or two through lifestyle changes, that will reduce the number of people with Alzheimer's disease, which is reaching epidemic proportions," Parasuraman says.

Not everyone's brain declines when retirement age hits. "You can look at a group of 65-year-olds — some are in nursing homes, and some are running the world," Greenwood says.

Now that more workers are staying on the job longer for economic reasons and because countries are upping the retirement age, keeping the mind agile becomes paramount, Parasuraman says.

For the book, Parasuraman and Greenwood examined only scientific studies, theirs and others, ranging from neurological to physiological. A few surprises leaped out of the data.

"Several old dogmas were overturned," Parasuraman says. "There's the tired old joke that we're losing brain cells as we age — maybe starting as young as 20 or 30 — and it's all downhill after that."

Not so, new research reveals. Not only are some 60-year-olds as sharp as 20-year-olds, but their brains still create new cells. Brain cells may not grow as fast as bone or skin cells, but grow they do, particularly in the hippocampus. "It's the area of the brain that's very important to memory and is affected by Alzheimer's disease," Parasuraman says.

Novel experiences and new learning help new brain cells become part of the circuitry. Parasuraman points to a study of terminally ill cancer patients whose brains were still forming new neurons. "If a person who's in a terminally ill state can generate new neurons, then surely healthy people can," Parasuraman says.

Brain games and new experiences may build up "white matter," which insulates neurons as they carry signals, Greenwood says. In older brains, this white matter insulation develops holes and signals go awry.

Older adult gamers are winning skills to help them move through life, Parasuraman says. "We are looking at everyday problem solving," he says. "Are you better at balancing a checkbook? Are you better at making decisions in a grocery store? We're finding you get better at those tasks (after playing the video games in the study)."

Moving large muscle groups also builds brain matter. In one study detailed in the book, older, sedentary people began walking or did stretching exercises for 45 minutes, three times a week. "Those people actually became smarter over time," Greenwood says. "You don't have to be running Ironman marathons. You can just walk briskly three or four times a week."

Another best bet for an active mind is a nutritious diet that limits calories to the minimum amount needed to keep a body healthy. No starvation diets, though. "The strongest evidence we have is not very pleasant, which is dietary restriction, reducing calories," Parasuraman says. "That clearly improves longevity and cognition. The evidence in animals is very strong. Such dietary restriction may never be popular. But perhaps every-other-day fasting as an approximation to it is something people would tolerate: You eat normally one day, and the next day you don't."

Popping supplements won't fill a nutritionally deficient diet, Parasuraman says. "A lot of people think, 'I can eat junk food and then take a pill.' No. You have to eat fruits and vegetables, leafy vegetables. It has to be part of the regular diet because otherwise it's not absorbed."

Fat cells help make up cell membranes. The unsaturated fats found in fish and olive oils may boost flexibility in these membranes. The more flexible membranes are, the better they may work, scientists theorize. Saturated fats such as butter have to go because these fats vie with healthy fats for a place in the cell membrane, Greenwood explains.

Greenwood and Parasuraman want people to know that getting old doesn't mean getting senile. "The bottom line message of the book is really a hopeful one," Greenwood says. "There are lots of things that you can do (to keep your brain healthy)."

Provided by George Mason University

"Keep aging brains sharp: Brain games, exercise and diet help prevent cognitive slide." April 4th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-aging-brains-sharp-brain-games.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Therapeutic approach for patients with severe depression

Brain pacemakers have a long-term effect in patients with the most severe depression. This has now been proven by scientists from the Bonn University Medical Center. Eleven patients took part in the study over a period of two to five years. A lasting reduction in symptoms of more than 50 percent was seen in nearly half of the subjects. The results are now being presented in the current edition of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

People with severe depression are constantly despondent, lacking in drive, withdrawn and no longer feel joy. Most suffer from anxiety and the desire to take their own life. Approximately one out of every five people in Germany suffers from depression in the course of his/her life – sometimes resulting in suicide. People with depression are frequently treated with psychotherapy and medication. "However, many patients are not helped by any therapy," says Prof. Dr. Thomas E. Schläpfer from the Bonn University Medical Center for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. "Many spend more than ten years in bed – not because they are tired, but because they have no drive at all and they are unable to get up."

One possible alternative is "deep brain stimulation," in which electrodes are implanted in the patient's brain. The target point is the nucleus accumbens - an area of the brain known as the gratification center. There, a weak electrical current stimulates the nerve cells. Brain pacemakers of this type are often used today by neurosurgeons and neurologists to treat ongoing muscle tremors in Parkinson's disease.

A 2009 study proved an antidepressive effect

In 2009, the Bonn scientists were able to establish that brain pacemakers also demonstrate an effect in the most severely depressed patients. Ten subjects who underwent implantation of electrodes in the nucleus accumbens all experienced relief of symptoms. Half of the subjects had a particularly noticeable response to the stimulation by the electrodes.

"In the current study, we investigated whether these effects last over the long term or whether the effects of the deep brain stimulation gradually weaken in patients," says Prof. Schläpfer. There are always relapses in the case of psychotherapy or drug treatment. Many patients had already undergone up to 60 treatments with psychotherapy, medications and electroconvulsive therapy, to no avail. "By contrast, in the case of deep brain stimulation, the clinical improvement continues steadily for many years." The scientists observed a total of eleven patients over a period of two to five years. "Those who initially responded to the deep brain stimulation are still responding to it even today," says the Bonn psychiatrist, summarizing the results. During the study, one patient committed suicide. "That is very unfortunate," says Prof. Schläpfer. "However, this cannot always be prevented in the case of patients with very severe depression."

The current study shows that the positive effects last for years

Even after a short amount of time, the study participants demonstrated an improvement in symptoms. "The intensity of the anxiety symptoms decreased and the subjects' drive improved," reports the psychiatrist. "After many years of illness, some were even able to work again." With the current publication, the scientists have now demonstrated that the positive effects do not decrease over a longer period of time. "An improvement in symptoms was recorded for all subjects; for nearly half of the subjects, the extent of the symptoms was more than 50 percent below that of the baseline, even years after the start of treatment," says Prof. Schläpfer. "There were no serious adverse effects of the therapy recorded."

The long-term effect is now confirmed with the current study. How precisely the electrical stimulation is able to alter the function of the nucleus accumbens is not yet known. "Research is still needed in this area," says Prof. Schläpfer. "Using imaging techniques, it was proven that the electrodes actually activate the nucleus accumbens." The deep brain stimulation method may signify hope for people who suffer from the most severe forms of depressive diseases. "However, it will still take quite a bit of time before this therapeutic method becomes a part of standard clinical practice," says the Bonn scientist.

More information: Long-term Effects of Nucleus Accumbens Deep Brain Stimulation in Treatment Resistant Depression – Evidence for Sustained Efficacy, Neuropsychopharmacology, DOI: 10.1038/npp.2012.44

Provided by University of Bonn

"Therapeutic approach for patients with severe depression." April 4th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-therapeutic-approach-patients-severe-depression.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Studies: Memory declines faster in years closest to death

Two new studies published in the April 4 online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, suggest that a person's memory declines at a faster rate in the last two-and-a-half years of life than at any other time after memory problems first begin. The second study shows that keeping mentally fit through board games or reading may be the best way to preserve memory during late life. Both studies were conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Center.

"In our first study, we used the end of life as a reference point for research on memory decline rather than birth or the start of the study," said study author Robert S. Wilson, PhD, study author and neuropsychologist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

For the study, 174 Catholic priests, nuns and monks without memory problems had their memory tested yearly for six to 15 years before death. After death, scientists examined their brains for hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease called plaques and tangles.

The study found that at an average of about two-and-a-half years before death, different memory and thinking abilities tended to decline together at rates that were 8 to 17 times faster than before this terminal period. Higher levels of plaques and tangles were linked to an earlier onset of this terminal period but not to rate of memory decline during it.

The second study, also conducted by Wilson, showed that keeping mentally fit through board games or reading may be the best way to preserve memory during late life.

The study, which focused on mental activities, involved 1,076 people with an average age of 80 who were free of dementia. Participants underwent yearly memory exams for about five years. They reported how often they read the newspaper, wrote letters, visited a library and played board games such as chess or checkers. Frequency of these mental activities was rated on a scale of one to five, one meaning once a year or less and five representing every day or almost every day.

"The results suggest a cause and effect relationship: that being mentally active leads to better cognitive health in old age," said Wilson.

The results showed that people's participation in mentally stimulating activities and their mental functioning declined at similar rates over the years. The researchers also found that they could predict participants' level of cognitive functioning by looking at their level of mental activity the year before but that level of cognitive functioning did not predict later mental activity.

Provided by Rush University Medical Center

"Studies: Memory declines faster in years closest to death." April 4th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-memory-declines-faster-years-closest.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Antipsychotic drug may be helpful treatment for anorexia nervosa

Low doses of a commonly used atypical antipsychotic drug improved survival in a mouse model of anorexia nervosa, University of Chicago researchers report this month. The result offers promise for a common and occasionally fatal eating disorder that currently lacks approved drugs for treatment.

Mice treated with small doses of the drug olanzapine were more likely to maintain their weight when given an exercise wheel and restricted food access, conditions that produce activity-based anorexia (ABA) in animals. The antidepressant fluoxetine, commonly prescribed off-label for anorexic patients, did not improve survival in the experiment.

"We found over and over again that olanzapine was effective in harsher conditions, less harsh conditions, adolescents, adults — it consistently worked," said the paper's first author Stephanie Klenotich, graduate student in the Committee on Neurobiology at the University of Chicago Biological Sciences.

The study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, was the product of a rare collaboration between laboratory scientists and clinicians seeking new treatment options for anorexia nervosa. As many as one percent of American women will suffer from anorexia nervosa during their lifetime, but only one-third of those people will receive treatment.

Patients with anorexia are often prescribed off-label use of drugs designed for other psychiatric conditions, but few studies have tested the drugs' effectiveness in animal models.

"Anorexia nervosa is the most deadly psychiatric disorder, and yet no approved pharmacological treatments exist," said Stephanie Dulawa, PhD, assistant professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago Medicine and senior author of the study. "One wonders why there isn't more basic science work being done to better understand the mechanisms and to identify novel pharmacological treatments."

One challenge is finding a medication that patients with anorexia nervosa will agree to take regularly, said co-author Daniel Le Grange, PhD, professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience and director of the Eating Disorders Clinic at the University of Chicago Medicine. Drugs that directly cause weight gain or carry strong sedative side effects are often rejected by patients.

"Patients are almost uniformly very skeptical and very reluctant to take any medication that could lower their resolve to refrain from eating," Le Grange said. "There are long-standing resistances, and I think researchers and clinicians have been very reluctant to embark on that course, since it's just littered with obstacles."

Both fluoxetine and olanzapine have been tried clinically to supplement interventions such as family-based treatment and cognitive-behavioral therapy. But their direct effect on anorexia nervosa behavior — in humans or animals — is lacking in sufficient data.

To test the effectiveness of these drugs in laboratory mice, Klenotich adapted the ABA protocol from previously published rat studies: Mice given 24-hour access to a running wheel but only six hours a day of food access become hyperactive, eat less and rapidly lose weight, with a 25 percent reduction from baseline considered to be the "drop-out" survival point.

In Klenotich's study, mice were pretreated with fluoxetine, olanzapine or saline before starting the ABA protocol, and treatment continued throughout the ABA period. Researchers then measured how many mice in each group reached the drop-out point for weight loss over 14 days of food restriction and exercise wheel access. Treatment with the antipsychotic olanzapine significantly increased survival over the control group, while fluoxetine treatment produced no significant effects on survival.

Importantly, a low dose of olanzapine did not decrease overall running activity in the mice, indicating that sedative effects of the drug were minimal. In future experiments, the researchers hope to use different drugs and genetic methods to determine exactly how olanzapine is effective against symptoms of anorexia nervosa, perhaps pointing toward a better drug without the negative image or side effects of an antipsychotic.

"We can dissect the effect of olanzapine and hopefully identify the mechanisms of action, and identify what receptor systems we want to target," Klenotich said. "Hopefully, we can develop a newer drug that we can aim towards the eating disorders clinic as an anorexic-specific drug that might be a little more acceptable to patients."

The study offers support for the clinical use of olanzapine, for which clinical trials are already under way to test in patients. Le Grange said the development of a pharmacological variant that more selectively treats anorexia nervosa could be a helpful way to avoid the "stigma" of taking an antipsychotic while giving clinicians an additional tool for helping patients.

"I think the clinical field is certainly very ready for something that is going to make a difference," Le Grange said. "I'm not saying there's a 'magic pill' for anorexia nervosa, but we have been lacking any pharmacological agent that clearly contributes to the recovery of our patients. Many parents and many clinicians are looking for that, because it would make our job so much easier if there was something that could turn symptoms around and speed up recovery."

Additionally, the study demonstrated the innovative experimental design and translational results that can come from a collaboration of laboratory and clinical experts.

"We don't talk to one another often enough in basic science and clinical science," Le Grange said. "More of that would be helpful for clinicians to understand the neurobiology of this disease. I'm very excited about the way this project is going, and I think it's going to be clinically very informative."

More information: The paper, "Olanzapine, but not fluoxetine, treatment increases survival in activity-based anorexia in mice," was published online March 7 by Neuropsychopharmacology ( doi: 10.1038/npp.2012.7 ). 

Provided by University of Chicago Medical Center

"Antipsychotic drug may be helpful treatment for anorexia nervosa." April 4th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-antipsychotic-drug-treatment-anorexia-nervosa.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Once considered mainly 'brain glue,' astrocytes' power revealed

A type of cell plentiful in the brain, long considered mainly the stuff that holds the brain together and oft-overlooked by scientists more interested in flashier cells known as neurons, wields more power in the brain than has been realized, according to new research published in Science Signaling.

Neuroscientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center report that astrocytes are crucial for creating the proper environment for our brains to work. The team found that the cells play a key role in reducing or stopping the electrical signals that are considered brain activity, playing an active role in determining when cells called neurons fire and when they don't.

That is a big step forward from what scientists have long considered the role of astrocytes – to nurture neurons and keep them healthy.

"Astrocytes have long been called housekeeping cells – tending to neurons, nurturing them, and cleaning up after them," said Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., D.M.Sc., professor of Neurosurgery and leader of the study. "It turns out that they can influence the actions of neurons in ways that have not been realized."

Proper brain function relies on billions of electrical signals – tiny molecular explosions, really – happening remarkably in sync. Recalling the face of a loved one, swinging a baseball bat, walking down the street – all those actions rely on electrical signals passed instantly along our nerves like a molecular hot potato from one brain cell to another.

For that to happen, the molecular brew of chemicals like sodium, calcium and potassium that brain cells reside in must be just right – and astrocytes help to maintain that balanced environment. For instance, when a neuron sends an impulse, or fires, levels of potassium surrounding the cell jump dramatically, and those levels must come down immediately for the brain to work properly. Scientists have long known that that's a job for astrocytes – sopping up excess potassium, ending the nerve pulse, and restoring the cells so they can fire again immediately.

In the paper in Science Signaling, Nedergaard's team discovered an expanded role for astrocytes. The team learned that in addition to simply absorbing excess potassium, astrocytes themselves can cause potassium levels around the neuron to drop, putting neuronal signaling to a stop.

"Far from only playing a passive role, astrocytes can initiate the uptake of potassium in a way that affects neuronal activity," said Nedergaard. "It's a simple, yet powerful mechanism for astrocytes to rapidly modulate neuronal activity."

Nedergaard has investigated the secret lives of astrocytes for more than two decades. She has shown how the cells communicate using calcium to signal. Nearly 20 years ago in a paper in Science, she pioneered the idea that glial cells like astrocytes communicate with neurons and affect them. Since then, has been a lot of speculation by other scientists that chemicals call gliotransmitters, such as glutamate and ATP, are key to this process.

In contrast, in the latest research Nedergaard's team found that another signaling system involving potassium is at work. By sucking up potassium, astrocytes quell the firing of neurons, increasing what scientists call "synaptic fidelity." Important brain signals are crisper and clearer because there is less unwanted activity or "chatter" among neurons that should not be firing. Such errant neuronal activity is linked to a plethora of disorders, including epilepsy, schizophrenia, and attention-deficit disorder.

"This gives us a new target for a disease like epilepsy, where signaling among brain cells is not as controlled as it should be," said Nedergaard, whose team is based in the Division of Glia Disease and Therapeutics of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine of the Department of Neurosurgery.

The first authors of the paper are Fushun Wang, Ph.D., research assistant professor of Neurosurgery; and graduate student Nathan Anthony Smith. They did much of the work by using a sophisticated laser-based system to monitor the activity of astrocytes in the living brain of rats and mice. The work by Smith, a graduate student in the University's neuroscience program, was supported by a Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

Other authors from Rochester include Takumi Fujita, Ph.D., post-doctoral associate; Takahiro Takano, Ph.D., assistant professor; Qiwu Xu, technical associate; and Lane Bekar, Ph.D., formerly research assistant professor, now at the University of Saskatchewan. Also contributing were Akemichi Baba of Hyogo University of Health Sciences in Japan, and Toshio Matsuda of Osaka University in Japan.

Nedergaard notes that the complexity and size of our astrocytes is one of few characteristics that differentiate our brains from rodents. Our astrocytes are bigger, faster, and much more complex in both structure and function. She has found that astrocytes contribute to conditions like stroke, Alzheimer's, epilepsy, and spinal cord injury.

"Astrocytes are integral to the most sophisticated brain processes," she added.

The latest paper caps a remarkable run for the Nedergaard group. In two months the team has published a paper on adenosine in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a paper on spinal cord injury in the Journal of Neuroscience, and two papers in Science Signaling on communication between neurons and astrocytes.

Provided by University of Rochester Medical Center

"Once considered mainly 'brain glue,' astrocytes' power revealed." April 4th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-brain-astrocytes-power-revealed.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Brain stores objects by color, too

(Medical Xpress) -- How do we know what a lemon is, or a baseball? “Theories that explain how our brains store knowledge say that similar knowledge is stored in similar places. So things that are related – in how they look, how they smell, and so on – should overlap in the brain,” says Eiling Yee of the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, & Language. In other words, the same part of your brain might store the information that both lemons and canaries are yellow.

This sort of overlap has been shown for certain properties of objects, like their shape and function, or even for how you manipulate them with your hands. But scientists have mostly failed to find evidence that this is true for objects of the same color. One reason might be that color is not so important for how we interpret the world around us; after all, we have very little difficulty recognizing objects in black and white photos.

But a new study by Yee, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, shows that color is in fact a part of how our brains organize knowledge of objects. And their attempt to prove this showed something even more important.

Yee says: “Ordinarily, when you’re thinking about emeralds, you don’t also think about cucumbers. Even though they share the same color, that overlap is just not enough for one to make you think about the other”. What Yee and co-authors Sarah Z. Ahmed and Sharon L. Thompson-Schill of the University of Pennsylvania discovered was that there are circumstances in which thinking about emeralds does make you think, just a little, about cucumbers. The trick was to get people to first perform a (separate and unrelated) task in which color was relevant. After doing this, hearing words like “emerald” helped people retrieve the meanings of words like “cucumber” – that is, they recognized the second word of a pair faster if the objects referred to by the two words shared the same color.

This shows that color does play a part in how our brains organize knowledge about objects—cucumbers and emeralds do overlap, and in the right circumstances, thinking about one makes you think a little about the other. But, Yee says “it’s particularly interesting that this only happened when people had already been pushed to think about color, because it shows that the relationships between things change depending on the context. If you’ve just been thinking about color (even unconsciously), emeralds and cucumbers become more closely related than they would be if you hadn’t been thinking about color. This shows just how malleable the brain’s representations are.”

So what it means for a lemon to be a lemon might very well change depending on what you were doing five minutes ago – if you had just been trying to decide on colors for your dining room the color of the lemon becomes salient, whereas if you had been outside playing ball its shape may become more important. But, of course, if you had just mixed a batch of cocktails, its taste would be what really counts.

More information: http://www.psychol … ical_science

Provided by Association for Psychological Science

"Brain stores objects by color, too." April 4th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-brain.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Primitive consciousness emerges first as you awaken from anesthesia

This image shows one returning from oblivion -- imaging the neural core of consciousness. Positron emission tomography (PET) findings show that the emergence of consciousness after anesthesia is associated with activation of deep, phylogenetically old brain structures rather than the neocortex. Left: Sagittal (top) and axial (bottom) sections show activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (i), thalamus (ii) and the brainstem (iii) locus coeruleus/parabrachial area overlaid on magnetic resonance image (MRI) slices. Right: Cortical renderings show no evident activations. Credit: Turku PET Center

Awakening from anesthesia is often associated with an initial phase of delirious struggle before the full restoration of awareness and orientation to one's surroundings. Scientists now know why this may occur: primitive consciousness emerges first. Using brain imaging techniques in healthy volunteers, a team of scientists led by Adjunct Professor Harry Scheinin, M.D. from the University of Turku, Finland in collaboration with investigators from the University of California, Irvine, have now imaged the process of returning consciousness after general anesthesia. The emergence of consciousness was found to be associated with activations of deep, primitive brain structures rather than the evolutionary younger neocortex.

These results may represent an important step forward in the scientific explanation of human consciousness.

"We expected to see the outer bits of brain, the cerebral cortex (often thought to be the seat of higher human consciousness), would turn back on when consciousness was restored following anesthesia. Surprisingly, that is not what the images showed us. In fact, the central core structures of the more primitive brain structures including the thalamus and parts of the limbic system appeared to become functional first, suggesting that a foundational primitive conscious state must be restored before higher order conscious activity can occur" Scheinin said.

Twenty young healthy volunteers were put under anesthesia in a brain scanner using either dexme-detomidine or propofol anesthetic drugs. The subjects were then woken up while brain activity pictures were being taken. Dexmedetomidine is used as a sedative in the intensive care unit setting and propofol is widely used for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. Dexmedetomidineinduced unconsciousness has a close resemblance to normal physiological sleep, as it can be reversed with mild physical stimulation or loud voices without requiring any change in the dosing of the drug. This unique property was critical to the study design, as it enabled the investigators to separate the brain activity changes associated with the changing level of consciousness from the drugrelated effects on the brain. The staterelated changes in brain activity were imaged with positron emission tomography (PET).

The emergence of consciousness, as assessed with a motor response to a spoken command, was associated with the activation of a core network involving subcortical and limbic regions that became functionally coupled with parts of frontal and inferior parietal cortices upon awakening from dexme-detomidine-induced unconsciousness. This network thus enabled the subjective awareness of the external world and the capacity to behaviorally express the contents of consciousness through voluntary responses.

Interestingly, the same deep brain structures, i.e. the brain stem, thalamus, hypothalamus and the anterior cingulate cortex, were activated also upon emergence from propofol anesthesia, suggesting a common, drugindependent mechanism of arousal. For both drugs, activations seen upon regaining consciousness were thus mostly localized in deep, phylogenetically old brain structures rather than in the neocortex.

The researchers speculate that because current depth-of-anesthesia monitoring technology is based on cortical electroencephalography (EEG) measurement (i.e., measuring electrical signals on the sur-face of the scalp that arise from the brain's cortical surface), their results help to explain why these devices fail in differentiating the conscious and unconscious states and why patient awareness during general anesthesia may not always be detected. The results presented here also add to the current understanding of anesthesia mechanisms and form the foundation for developing more reliable depth-of-anesthesia technology.

The anesthetized brain provides new views into the emergence of consciousness. Anesthetic agents are clinically useful for their remarkable property of being able to manipulate the state of consciousness. When given a sufficient dose of an anesthetic, a person will lose the precious but mysterious capacity of being aware of one's own self and the surrounding world, and will sink into a state of oblivion. Conversely, when the dose is lightened or wears off, the brain almost magically recreates a subjective sense of being as experience and awareness returns. The ultimate nature of consciousness remains a mystery, but anesthesia offers a unique window for imaging internal brain activity when the subjective phenomenon of consciousness first vanishes and then re-emerges. This study was designed to give the clearest picture so far of the internal brain processes involved in this phenomenon.

The results may also have broader implications. The demonstration of which brain mechanisms are involved in the emergence of the conscious state is an important step forward in the scientific explanation of consciousness. Yet, much harder questions remain. How and why do these neural mechanisms create the subjective feeling of being, the awareness of self and environment the state of being conscious?

More information: Jaakko W. Långsjö, Michael T. Alkire, Kimmo Kaskinoro, Hiroki Hayama, Anu Maksimow, Kaike K. Kaisti, Sargo Aalto, Riku Aantaa, Satu K. Jääskeläinen, Antti Revonsuo and Harry Scheinin. Re-turning from Oblivion: Imaging the Neural Core of Consciousness. The Journal of Neuroscience 2012;32(14):4935-4943.

Provided by Academy of Finland

"Primitive consciousness emerges first as you awaken from anesthesia." April 4th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-primitive-consciousness-emerges-awaken-anesthesia.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek