Category Health/Medical

As shown in this functional MRI image, the amygdala, a part of the brain involved in processing emotions, is more active in people who are blaming others for their negative actions. Credit: Lawrence Ngo

Judgment hinges on whether action was intentional or unintentional. We constantly read others’ intentions in what they do, especially political candidates. The Duke study is “the first to use neuroscience research tools to try to explain why people are biased toward treating negative actions as intentional but positive actions as unintentional,” said Lawrence Ngo.

Take this scenario commonly used in the field of experimental philosophy: The CEO knew the plan would harm the environment, but he did not care at all about the effect the plan would have on the environment...

Few studies have investigated the association between physical activity in early adulthood and cognitive function later in life. Watching a lot of TV and having a low physical activity level as a young adult were associated with worse cognitive function 25 years later in midlife. The study of 3,247 adults (ages 18 to 30) used a questionnaire to assess television viewing and physical activity during repeated visits over 25 years. High television viewing was defined as watching TV for more than 3 hours per day for more than 2/3 of the visits and exercise was measured as units based on time and intensity. Cognitive function was evaluated at year 25 using three tests that assessed processing speed, executive function and verbal memory.

Participants with high television viewing during 25 ...

The new intestinal bacterium is a member of a newly discovered genus Intestinimonas and is able to efficiently produce butyrate from the amino acid lysine, the most abundant amino acid. Credit: Image courtesy of Wageningen University and Research Centre

Fibers in our food are thought to be good for health since they are converted in the intestinal tract into the favorable compound butyrate, that is crucial to maintain intestinal health. In contrast, protein is believed to be less healthy since intestinal fermentation of amino acids, generates undesired compounds. This latter picture is now changing since a novel intestinal bacterium has been isolated by researchers.

The new intestinal bacterium is a member of a newly discovered genus Intestinimonas and is able to efficiently produce butyra...

The stonefish is one of the world’s ugliest and deadliest fish. You’ll know if you step on one; the fish protects itself using 13 razor sharp venom filled spines capable of slicing through reef shoes. The resulting pain is crippling, can last for days and may result in amputation of a limb or death.

Structural Insights of the Stonefish toxin may help combat Transplant Rejection, ie the unexpected insight into a crucial human immune response that is responsible for the failure of up to 30% of bone marrow transplant therapies for treating leukaemia. The knowledge has been used to develop immunosuppressants to improve the success rate of transplant therapies.

The work reveals that the lethal component, a protein, Stonustoxin, is an ancient relative of the human immune protein perforin...