Psychiatric Medication Linked to Weight Gain in Kids

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“Drugs that alleviate severe mental disorders can also result in troubling metabolic changes,” says ScienceNews.org in an article released today.  According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, children who are on psychiatric medication often gain a substantial amount of weight and may have high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.

It’s worth mentioning that this data is in the early stages of study, and it must be replicated over a larger area of study until results can be completely conclusive.  However, the information provided in this study has certainly raised some worrisome thoughts.

How Neurons View the World

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By eavesdropping on the activity of single neurons in the human brain, scientists have figured out which brain cells go wild for superstars such as the popular actress Halle Berry, leading to the nickname “Halle Berry Neurons.” And the newest research shows that people can activate those cells selectively.

The results of the experiments were made public at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting by Moran Cerf of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena on October 19.  In summary of the study, researchers wrote, “This study is the first demonstration of humans’ ability to control the activity of single neurons.”  The results may aid researchers in understanding how each individual cell in the brain sees and responds to the world.

Cheating Death

Image Credit: Barnes and Noble

Popular M.D. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has recently released a book called Cheating Death.  In it, he explains how recent advances in medical technology can increase our survival rate in accidents and health issues tenfold.  The path this technology is on will eventually lead to the human race being able to effectively “cheat death” and die on their own terms–or not at all.

Of course this will create some philosophical issues, but for now, I’m simply examining the book itself.

CompSci: Virtual Reality and the Medical Field

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I was inspired to write this article after reading one of the closing chapters in Unweaving the Rainbow:  Science, Delusion, and the Appetite for Wonder by Richard Dawkins that I mentioned in a previous post.  Dawkins discusses the implications virtual reality has on areas of science, medicine, and everyday life.  The ideas he posed about this in Unweaving the Rainbow were mere hypothetical and “in theory” situations 13 years ago, but now, I curiously wonder why his ideas aren’t given more attention.

I say “his” ideas, but what I mean to say is the ideas of those in the virtual reality field, which is all too often overlooked as a branch of science intended for computer nerds intent on making the next great video game console.  It’s a sad reality that such a groundbreaking science isn’t respected enough.  Thankfully, those doing the research for virtual reality don’t seem too affected by the stereotype.

Medical Care Threatened by Isotope Crisis

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In only two weeks time, the vast majority of radioactive medical treatment/scans could be severely delayed or rescheduled or replaced by less desirable and efficient procedures.  The reason: temporary shutdowns of Canadian and Dutch reactors that together normally provide some 70 percent of the world’s supplies of the isotope molybdenum-99 and at least 80 percent of North American supplies.

The Pain of an Itch, not so painful?

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For years it has been thought that the itching sensation one has is essentially the same neurological path that pain follows, with the difference lying in that an itching sensation is actually a pain so intense that the brain doesn’t interpret it as pain, and you instead get that awkward feeling of an itch.

New research has suggested something different, however.  Scientists are now discovering a possible “itch gene” that follows a completely separate pathway than pain.  In a recent article in Science magazine, researchers published their findings in a study done using mice.  The study found that not only do pain and itching use different neuron pathways, they may use different cellular pathways as well.

Salamanders and Regeneration

Image Credit: Dunja Knapp and Elly Tanaka

It is a well known fact among the scientific community, as well as the public, that many types of salamanders are capable of regrowing limbs after losing them.  For years (since the 18th century to be exact) this phenomenon has baffled scientists.  Now, new research into how exactly the salamander goes about this regeneration of limbs could provide information into helping human amputees.

It was once thought salamanders had the intriguing ability to simply spontaneously regrow limbs, and until recently, this idea remained unchanged.  Researchers were convinced they knew part of the science behind this process:  Cells at the wound site would lose their identities as they turned back their developmental clocks to become pluripotent stem cells — capable of developing into many cell types in the body — and then recreate the lost limb.

However, new studies have revealed something to the contrary.

CompSci/Neuroscience: Brain Hackers

…or for the gaming type 0mg brain h4ax0rz!??  According to some scientists, it’s apparently something that should be taken serious in an age when neural devices are going wireless.  Technology has already allowed us to control computers using our brain waves for a few years now, and with hackers in the digital world increasing in number each year, it may indeed only be a short while before they go for one’s brain.

CNN is calling it “The Next Hacking Frontier,” but let’s hear what the experts have to say about this issue.

Truth Serum?

A recent report from India indicates that officials will inject a captured Mumbai terrorist with “truth serum.”  However, scientific evidence over years points to this technique being a feeble attempt at obtaining answers.

Azam Amir Kasab, the only surviving attacker of a 3-day rampage that left several injured and over 170 dead, is currently in custody in India.  India immediately suspected their longtime rival, Pakistan, as the source of the attackers, shortly after the attack ended.

The president of Pakistan denied this allegation on CNN, but Kasab himself said he was from the Punjab region of Pakistan and also trained there.   Obviously Kasab could be making this up.  That said, Indian officials have unveiled a new technique that they believe will allow them to obtain the answers the seek:  truth serum.

OPEN DISCUSSION: Is Abortion Murder?

Is abortion murder?  What do you guys think?