Category Biology/Biotechnology

These are divergent patterns in overlapping areas of anterior prefrontal cortex. Credit: Center for BrainHealth

The age at which an adolescent begins using marijuana may affect typical brain development. Findings show study participants who began using marijuana at the age of 16 or younger demonstrated brain variations that indicate arrested brain development in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for judgment, reasoning and complex thinking. Individuals who started using marijuana after age 16 showed the opposite effect and demonstrated signs of accelerated brain aging.

“Our findings suggest that the timing of cannabis use can result in very disparate patterns of effects,” explained Francesca Filbey, Ph.D...

This model car’s carbon fibre roof and battery electrodes are made with wood. Credit: Image courtesy of KTH The Royal Institute of Technology

Swedish researchers have produced the world’s first model car with a roof and battery made from wood-based carbon fibre – a lightweight and renewable alternative to metals and other composites. Remember wood paneled station wagons? Well, wood is back, but this time it’s not for aesthetics – it’s for reducing vehicle weight with renewable materials. Swedish researchers have just produced the world’s first model car with a roof and battery made from wood-based carbon fibre.

Although it’s built on the scale of a toy, the prototype vehicle represents a giant step towards realizing a vision of new lightweight materials from the forest, one of the benefits...

Highlights •Prevotella/Bacteroides is associated with a beneficial response to barley kernels •Prevotella-enriched microbial interactions are higher in barley kernel responders •Prevotella protects against Bacteroides-induced glucose intolerance •Prevotella promotes increased hepatic glycogen storage in mice

A recent study from Lund University in Sweden shows that barley can rapidly improve people’s health by reducing blood sugar levels and the risk for diabetes. The secret lies in the special mixture of dietary fibres found in barley, which can also help reduce people’s appetite and risk for cardiovascular disease.

The study was conducted with healthy middle-aged participants who were asked to eat bread largely made out of barley kernels for 3 days – at breakfast, lunch and dinner...

Anatomical sites of brown, white and beige adipocytes in mice and humans.

Mild stress stimulates the activity and heat production by brown fat associated with raised cortisol. Brown adipose tissue (BAT), also known as brown fat, is 1 of 2 types of fat in humans and other mammals. Initially only attributed to babies and hibernating mammals, it was discovered in recent years that adults can have brown fat too. Its main function is to generate body heat by burning calories (opposed to white fat, which is a result of storing excess calories. People with a lower body mass index (BMI) therefore have a higher amount of brown fat.

To induce a mild psychological stress, 5 healthy lean women had to solve a short maths test in the first run, but in the second run, the test was substituted with a rela...