A patient’s budding cortex — in a dish?
Neurons and supporting cells in the spheroids form layers and organize themselves according to the architecture of the developing human brain and network with each other.
Image credit goes to: Sergiu Pasca, M.D., Stanford University
A patient tormented by suicidal thoughts gives his psychiatrist a few strands of his hair. She derives stem cells from them to grow budding brain tissue harboring the secrets of his unique illness in a petri dish. She uses the information to genetically engineer a personalized treatment to correct his brain circuit functioning. Just Sci-fi? Yes, but…
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
How racial stereotypes impact the way we communicate
Racial stereotypes and expectations can impact the way we communicate and understand others, according to new research. The new study highlights how non-verbal “social cues” – such as photographs of Chinese Canadians – can affect how we comprehend speech.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Health factors influence ex-prisoners’ chances of returning to jail
Ex-prisoners with a history of risky drug use, mental illness or poverty are more likely to end up back behind bars. Those who are obese, are chronically ill or have attempted suicide are more likely to remain in the community. These are some of the findings from an exploratory study into health-related factors that could be used to predict whether a person released from prison will end up in custody again.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
The new normal? Addressing gun violence in America
Mass shootings have a significant impact on our individual and collective psyche, especially when they happen at schools. Despite the fact that children die every day from gun violence, school shootings upset us in ways that are difficult to comprehend. In our minds, schools serve as safe havens for children. When that image is shattered, the unpredictability and randomness of such heinous acts leave us wondering if anywhere is safe anymore. Thus, the shock and horror expressed following these events is not surprising.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Restricting firearms access for people who misuse alcohol may prevent violence
Restricting access to firearms for people who misuse alcohol could prevent firearm violence, but policies that more clearly define alcohol misuse should be developed to facilitate enforcement, according to a review of existing research and public policies by the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Expanding the code of life with new ‘letters’
Not anymore…
The DNA encoding all life on Earth is made of four building blocks called nucleotides, commonly known as “letters,” that line up in pairs and twist into a double helix. Now, two groups of scientists are reporting for the first time that two new nucleotides can do the same thing — raising the possibility that entirely new proteins could be created for medical uses.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
A Lunatic Laboratories project “semi” reveal
This isn’t a science blog.
Okay, this isn’t just a science blog.
In the just shy of a year that the official Lunatic Laboratories website was set up we have yet to give you, the readers, an update. Some of you are following for the science, some for the conversation (which I must say is top notch thanks to all of you who take the time to leave us here a note), and some of you — we are not sure how many — are here specifically for new, exciting, and innovative… well inventions.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Babies can think before they can speak
Two pennies can be considered the same — both are pennies, just as two elephants can be considered the same, as both are elephants. Despite the vast difference between pennies and elephants, we easily notice the common relation of sameness that holds for both pairs. Analogical ability — the ability to see common relations between objects, events or ideas — is a key skill that underlies human intelligence and differentiates humans from other apes.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Researchers find essential fats for brain growth
The difference between a brain with a normal Mfsd2a gene and a brain with a mutated Mfsd2a gene.
Image credit goes to: Guemez-Gamboa et al./ Nature Genetics
New research has proved that certain special fats found in blood are essential for human brain growth and function. The two studies showed that mutations in the protein Mfsd2a causes impaired brain development in humans. Mfsd2a is the transporter in the brain for a special type of fat called lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs) — composed of essential fatty acids like omega-3. These studies show, for the first time, the crucial role of these fats in human brain growth and function.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
This is your brain, on video games
A new study shows that while video game players (VGPs) exhibit more efficient visual attention abilities, they are also much more likely to use navigation strategies that rely on the brain’s reward system (the caudate nucleus) and not the brain’s spatial memory system (the hippocampus). Past research has shown that people who use caudate nucleus-dependent navigation strategies have decreased grey matter and lower functional brain activity in the hippocampus.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Omega-3 as an intervention for childhood behavioral problems
We don’t usually think of a child’s behavior as a diet issue, but if new findings hold true, then that might be the very case. In a new study, researchers suggest that omega-3, a fatty acid commonly found in fish oil, may have long-term neurodevelopmental effects that ultimately reduce antisocial and aggressive behavior problems in children.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Air pollution is causing your baby problems, but breastfeeding can help
Aitana Lertxundi has conducted her research work within the framework of the INma (Childhood and Environment) programme led by Jesús Ibarluzea of the Department of Health of the Government of the Basque Autonomous Community (region). The aim is to assess how exposure to environmental pollution during pregnancy affects health and also to examine the role of diet in physical and neurobehavioural development in infancy. The study focusses on the repercussions on motor and mental development during the first years of life caused by exposure to the PM2.5 and NO2 atmospheric pollutants.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Are infections making you stupid?
New research shows that infections can impair your cognitive ability measured on an IQ scale. The study is the largest of its kind to date, and it shows a clear correlation between infection levels and impaired cognition. Anyone can suffer from an infection, for example in their stomach, urinary tract or skin. However, a new Danish study shows that a patient’s distress does not necessarily end once the infection has been treated.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Tiny grains of lithium dramatically improve performance of fusion plasma
While fusion might still be a far off dream, a new discovery may help bring that dream closer to reality. Scientists have discovered a phenomenon that helps them to improve fusion plasmas, a finding that could quicken the development of large scale fusion energy. The scientists found that when they injected tiny grains of lithium into a plasma undergoing a particular kind of turbulence then, under the right conditions, the temperature and pressure rose dramatically.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Suicide and skin color, or how being black is killing you
The great racial divide, despite all the evidence showing that racism, hate and frankly plain stupidity is alive and well, there are people who cannot accept it. This probably will not change anything for those people, but for the first time a new study shows that while suicide rates in children younger than 12 have remained steady for the past 20 years, there are significantly higher suicide rates among black children.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Girls suck at science, and other depressing stereotypes
Image credit goes to: xkcd.com
The Netherlands had the strongest stereotypes associating science with men more than women, according to a new Northwestern University study that included data from nearly 350,000 people in 66 nations. These stereotypes are prevalent across the world — even in nations such as Argentina and Bulgaria where women are roughly half of science majors in colleges and universities and employed researchers, according to the study, the largest ever of its kind.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Which is most valuable: Gold, cocaine or rhino horn?
These are elephants in Botswana. Image credit goes to: Blaire Van Valkenburgh
Many of the world’s largest herbivores — including several species of elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses and gorillas — are in danger of becoming extinct. And if current trends continue, the loss of these animals would have drastic implications not only for the species themselves, but also for other animals and the environments and ecosystems in which they live, according to a new report by an international team of scientists.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
The relationship between CEO greed and company performance
That gut feeling many workers, laborers and other underlings have about their CEOs is spot on, according to three recent studies which all suggest that CEO greed is bad for business.But how do you define greed? Are compassionate CEOs better for business? How do you know if the leader is doing more harm than good? And can anybody rein in the I-Me-Mine type leader anyway?
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
The fingerprint drug test
Researchers have demonstrated a new, noninvasive test that can detect cocaine use through a simple fingerprint. For the first time, this new fingerprint method can determine whether cocaine has been ingested, rather than just touched.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Educating the immune system: A vaccine for allergies
With the arrival of spring, millions of people have begun their annual ritual of sneezing and wheezing due to seasonal allergies. However, a Canadian research team is bringing them hope with a potential vaccine that nudges the immune response away from developing allergies. The findings have major clinical implications since allergies and asthma are lifelong conditions that often start in childhood and for which there is presently no cure.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Can drinking alcohol harm the child before the mother knows she is pregnant?
Photo credit goes to: Cute moments photography
These days pregnant “moms to be” have lots of things to worry about, from second hand smoke to the chemicals in their make-up. Well they can unfortunately add one more thing to that list, a new study finds that alcohol drunk by a mouse in early pregnancy changes the way genes function in the brains of the offspring. The early exposure was also later apparent in the brain structure of the adult offspring. The timing of the exposure corresponds to the human gestational weeks 3-6 in terms of fetal development.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Rethinking the rebound: The unexpected effects of rejection
Image credit goes to: Cyanide and happiness … I think?
It’s portrayed in movies again and again – a character gets rejected by someone attractive and then falls willingly into the arms of someone perhaps less attractive. According to a new study, it’s not so simple: Rejection by an attractive man actually led women to socially distance themselves from an unattractive man, even when he offered acceptance.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
GMO beef with the heart benefits of fish, why not?
Sometimes you just want beef, but beef is high in omega-6 fatty acids and low in the omega-3 type. Conversely, different types of fish are high in omega-3, but we all know they don’t compare to that tasty burger flavor. So what’s a beef lover to do, well if you’re in China you might have some options! Chinese scientists have reared beef rich in the beneficial fatty acids associated with fish oils.
What happens in the Lab doesn't have to stay in the Lab!
Research shows more sex does not mean more happiness
Countless research and self-help books claim that having more sex will lead to increased happiness, based on the common finding that those having more sex are also happier. However, there are many reasons why one might observe this positive relationship between sex and happiness. Being happy in the first place, for example, might lead someone to have more sex (what researchers call ‘reverse causality’), or being healthy might result in being both happier and having more sex.
