ScienceDaily: Top Health News

Memory helps us evaluate situations on the fly, not just recall the past

Posted: 18 Jun 2021 12:35 PM PDT

Scientists have long known the brain's hippocampus is crucial for long-term memory. Now a new study has found the hippocampus also plays a role in short-term memory and helps guide decision-making. The findings shed light on how the hippocampus contributes to memory and exploration, potentially leading to therapies that restore hippocampal function, which is impacted in memory-related aging and neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, the study authors said.

In the visual thalamus, neurons are in contact with both eyes but respond to only one

Posted: 18 Jun 2021 10:41 AM PDT

The visual thalamus is classically known to relay visual stimuli coming from the retina to the cerebral cortex. Researchers now show that although neurons in the mouse visual thalamus connect to both eyes, they establish strong functional connections only with one retina. These results settle partly contradictory results of earlier studies and demonstrate how important it can be to complement structural data with functional analyses.

How childhood exercise could maintain and promote cognitive function in later life

Posted: 18 Jun 2021 10:40 AM PDT

People who are physically active during childhood have higher cognitive functions in later life. Participants who exercised when they were children did better on cognitive tests regardless of their current age. However, no such relationship was found between task performance and post-childhood exercise -- suggesting that exercise during childhood is particularly important for brain development and long-term cognitive health.

Researchers find losartan is not effective in reducing hospitalization from mild COVID-19

Posted: 18 Jun 2021 10:40 AM PDT

In a new study, researchers determined that the common blood pressure medication, losartan, is not effective in reducing hospitalization for mildly-ill COVID-19 outpatients.

Science-based hiccups intervention

Posted: 18 Jun 2021 10:39 AM PDT

A science-based intervention relieved hiccups for 92% of 249 users who self-reported the effectiveness of the tool. =

Researchers translate a bird's brain activity into song

Posted: 18 Jun 2021 06:17 AM PDT

It is possible to re-create a bird's song by reading only its brain activity, shows a first proof-of-concept study. The researchers were able to reproduce the songbird's complex vocalizations down to the pitch, volume and timbre of the original. The study is a first step towards developing vocal prostheses for humans who have lost the ability to speak.

Most cancer cells grown in a dish have little in common with cancer cells in people, research finds

Posted: 18 Jun 2021 06:17 AM PDT

In a bid to find or refine laboratory research models for cancer that better compare with what happens in living people, scientists report they have developed a new computer-based technique showing that human cancer cells grown in culture dishes are the least genetically similar to their human sources.

Vaccination, previous infection, protect against COVID-19 gamma/P.1 variant in animal model

Posted: 18 Jun 2021 06:16 AM PDT

In a new study using variant virus recovered from one of the original travelers, researchers in the US and Japan have found that vaccination with an mRNA vaccine induces antibody responses that would protect humans from infection with the gamma/P.1 variant.

New study finds SARS-CoV-2 can infect testes

Posted: 18 Jun 2021 06:16 AM PDT

Researchers have found SARS-CoV-2 in the testes of infected hamsters. The authors think this may represent what could occur in men with mild to moderate COVID-19 disease.

Blood cancer patients with COVID-19 fare better with convalescent plasma

Posted: 17 Jun 2021 01:37 PM PDT

A new study finds that convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients can dramatically improve likelihood of survival among blood cancer patients hospitalized with the virus. The therapy involves transfusing plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 into patients who have leukemia, lymphoma or other blood cancers and are hospitalized with the viral infection.

'Nanodecoy' therapy binds and neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 virus

Posted: 17 Jun 2021 01:35 PM PDT

Nanodecoys made from human lung spheroid cells (LSCs) can bind to and neutralize SARS-CoV-2, promoting viral clearance and reducing lung injury in a macaque model of COVID-19. By mimicking the receptor that the virus binds to rather than targeting the virus itself, nanodecoy therapy could remain effective against emerging variants of the virus.

Yellow fever mosquitoes evolve different strategies to resist pesticides

Posted: 17 Jun 2021 11:36 AM PDT

The yellow fever mosquito spreads multiple untreatable viruses in humans and is primarily controlled using a pesticide called permethrin. However, many mosquitoes are evolving resistance to the pesticide. A new study identifies mutations linked to different permethrin resistance strategies, which threaten our ability to control disease outbreaks.

Targeting cellular response to SARS-CoV-2 holds promise as new way to fight infection

Posted: 17 Jun 2021 11:36 AM PDT

A new treatment approach focused on fixing cell damage, rather than fighting the virus directly, is effective against SARS-CoV-2 in lab models. If found safe for human use, this anti-viral treatment would make COVID-19 symptoms milder and speed up recovery times.

'Mosquito smoothie' innovation boosts future malaria vaccine potential

Posted: 17 Jun 2021 10:38 AM PDT

A faster method for collecting pure malaria parasites from infected mosquitos could accelerate the development of new, more potent malaria vaccines.

Highly sensitive test for SARS-CoV-2 may enable rapid point-of-care testing for COVID

Posted: 17 Jun 2021 07:36 AM PDT

Researchers have created an intelligent nanopore system sensitive enough to detect single SARS-CoV-2 virus particles. By training a machine-learning algorithm, the platform was able to identify between various coronaviruses in just five minutes. This work may lead to fast and accurate point-of-care testing for COVID and other communicable diseases.

Cell death discovery could lead to new treatment for COPD

Posted: 17 Jun 2021 07:12 AM PDT

Inhibiting necroptosis, a form of cell death, could yield a new treatment approach for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an inflammatory lung condition also known as emphysema, new research shows. The study revealed elevated levels of necroptosis in patients with COPD. By inhibiting necroptosis activity in the lung tissue of COPD patients the researchers found a significant reduction in chronic airway inflammation and lung damage.

Stress during pandemic linked to poor sleep

Posted: 17 Jun 2021 05:27 AM PDT

A study found that stress, anxiety and depression during the first few weeks of the pandemic were associated with less and lower quality sleep. In a survey of more than 900 twins, about half of the respondents reported no change in sleep patterns, but 32.9 percent reported decreased sleep. Another 29.8 percent reported sleeping more. The researchers found that any change in sleep was connected to self-reported mental health issues, though more strongly associated with decreased sleep.

Tailored optical stimulation for the blind

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 08:38 AM PDT

European scientists propose a personalized protocol for optimizing stimulation of optic nerve fibers, for the blind, which takes into account feedback from the viewer's brain. The protocol has been tested on artificial neural networks known to simulate the physiology of the entire visual system, from the eye to the visual cortex. The stimulation protocol will be tested in clinical trials with partners in Rome.