558 posts · 173,670 views
I have big dreams [don't we all?], I want to change the world. That is why I started Lunatic Laboratories, a little project that I hope will one day be a household name. Who knows, maybe it will work out, but even if it doesn't, at least it will be fun to try.
Lunatic Laboratories
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- September 9, 2015
- 03:12 PM
- 12 views
Cells from human umbilical cord blood improve cognition in Alzheimer’s disease model mice
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which affects an estimated 26 million people worldwide, is the fourth leading cause of death among the elderly and the leading cause of dementia. Predictions are that the number of AD cases will quadruple by 2050. Although pharmacological methods for treating AD have been discovered, none significantly delay the progression of the disease.... Read more »
Donna Darlington, Song Li2, Huayan Hou, Ahsan Habib, Jun Tian, Yang Gao, Jared Ehrhart, Paul R Sanberg, Darrell Sawmiller, Brian Giunta.... (2015) Human umbilical cord blood-derived monocytes improve cognitive deficits and reduce ß-amyloid pathology in PSAPP mice. Cell Transplantation. DOI: http://dx.org/10.3727/096368915X688894
- September 8, 2015
- 03:12 PM
- 35 views
Artificial ‘plants’ could fuel the future
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Imagine creating artificial plants that make gasoline and natural gas using only sunlight. And imagine using those fuels to heat our homes or run our cars without adding any greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. By combining nanoscience and biology, researchers led by scientists at University of California, Berkeley, have taken a big step in that direction.... Read more »
Liu, C., Gallagher, J., Sakimoto, K., Nichols, E., Chang, C., Chang, M., & Yang, P. (2015) Nanowire–Bacteria Hybrids for Unassisted Solar Carbon Dioxide Fixation to Value-Added Chemicals. Nano Letters, 15(5), 3634-3639. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b01254
- September 7, 2015
- 03:42 PM
- 52 views
Tree of life study unveils inner workings of a cell
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
A multinational team of scientists have sifted through cells of vastly different organisms, from amoebae to worms to mice to humans, to reveal how proteins fit together to build different cells and bodies. This tour de force of protein science, a result of a collaboration between seven research groups from three countries, led by Professor Andrew Emili from the University of Toronto’s Donnelly Centre, uncovered tens of thousands of new protein interactions, accounting for about a quarter of al........ Read more »
Wan, C., Borgeson, B., Phanse, S., Tu, F., Drew, K., Clark, G., Xiong, X., Kagan, O., Kwan, J., Bezginov, A.... (2015) Panorama of ancient metazoan macromolecular complexes. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature14877
- September 6, 2015
- 03:35 PM
- 56 views
Guilting teens into exercise won’t increase activity
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Just like attempts at influencing hairstyles or clothing can backfire, adults who try to guilt middle-schoolers into exercising won’t get them to be any more active. The study found students who don’t feel in control of their exercise choices or who feel pressured by adults to be more active typically aren’t.... Read more »
DISHMAN, R., MCIVER, K., DOWDA, M., SAUNDERS, R., & PATE, R. (2015) Motivation and Behavioral Regulation of Physical Activity in Middle School Students. Medicine , 47(9), 1913-1921. DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000000616
- September 5, 2015
- 03:03 PM
- 80 views
The science of stereotyping: Challenging the validity of ‘gaydar’
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
“Gaydar” — the purported ability to infer whether people are gay or straight based on their appearance — seemed to get a scientific boost from a 2008 study that concluded people could accurately guess someone’s sexual orientation based on photographs of their faces. In a new paper researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison challenge what they call “the gaydar myth.” William Cox, an assistant scientist in the Department of Psychology and the lead author, says gaydar isn’t ........ Read more »
Cox, W., Devine, P., Bischmann, A., & Hyde, J. (2015) Inferences About Sexual Orientation: The Roles of Stereotypes, Faces, and The Gaydar Myth. The Journal of Sex Research, 1-15. DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2015.1015714
- September 4, 2015
- 02:28 PM
- 84 views
Common antidepressant may change brain
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
A commonly prescribed antidepressant may alter brain structures in depressed and non-depressed individuals in very different ways, according to new research. The study – conducted in nonhuman primates with brain structures and functions similar to those of humans – found that the antidepressant sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) marketed as Zoloft, significantly increased the volume of one brain region in depressed subjects but decreased the volume of two brain areas........ Read more »
Willard, S., Uberseder, B., Clark, A., Daunais, J., Johnston, W., Neely, D., Massey, A., Williamson, J., Kraft, R., Bourland, J.... (2015) Long term sertraline effects on neural structures in depressed and nondepressed adult female nonhuman primates. Neuropharmacology, 369-378. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2015.06.011
- September 3, 2015
- 02:06 PM
- 90 views
Do antipsychotic medications affect cortical thinning?
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
People diagnosed with schizophrenia critically rely upon treatment with antipsychotic medications to manage their symptoms and help them function at home and in the workplace. But despite their benefits, antipsychotic medications might also have some negative effects on brain structure or function when taken for long periods of time.... Read more »
Vita, A., De Peri, L., Deste, G., Barlati, S., & Sacchetti, E. (2015) The Effect of Antipsychotic Treatment on Cortical Gray Matter Changes in Schizophrenia: Does the Class Matter? A Meta-analysis and Meta-regression of Longitudinal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies. Biological Psychiatry, 78(6), 403-412. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.02.008
- September 2, 2015
- 02:23 PM
- 99 views
Feeling blue and seeing blue: Sadness may impair color perception
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
The world might seem a little grayer than usual when we’re down in the dumps and we often talk about “feeling blue” — new research suggests that the associations we make between emotion and color go beyond mere metaphor. The results of two studies indicate that feeling sadness may actually change how we perceive color. Specifically, researchers found that participants who were induced to feel sad were less accurate in identifying colors on the blue-yellow axis than those who were led to ........ Read more »
Thorstenson CA, Pazda AD, & Elliot AJ. (2015) Sadness Impairs Color Perception. Psychological science. PMID: 26307592
- September 1, 2015
- 01:34 PM
- 92 views
Researchers help identify neural basis of multitasking
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
What makes someone better at switching between different tasks? Looking for the mechanisms behind cognitive flexibility, researchers have used brain scans to shed new light on this question. By studying networks of activity in the brain’s frontal cortex, a region associated with control over thoughts and actions, the researchers have shown that the degree to which these networks reconfigure themselves while switching from task to task predicts people’s cognitive flexibility.... Read more »
Uddin LQ, Supekar KS, Ryali S, & Menon V. (2011) Dynamic reconfiguration of structural and functional connectivity across core neurocognitive brain networks with development. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 31(50), 18578-89. PMID: 22171056
- August 31, 2015
- 02:24 PM
- 89 views
Television viewing linked to higher injury risk in hostile people
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
People with hostile personality traits who watch more television than their peers may be at a greater risk for injury, potentially because they are more susceptible to the influence of television on violence and risk-taking behaviors, a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health analysis discovered.... Read more »
Fabio, A., Chen, C., Dearwater, S., Jacobs, D., Erickson, D., Matthews, K., Iribarren, C., Sidney, S., & Pereira, M. (2015) Television viewing and hostile personality trait increase the risk of injuries. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 1-10. DOI: 10.1080/17457300.2015.1061560
- August 30, 2015
- 02:34 PM
- 89 views
The alien within: Fetal cells influence maternal health during pregnancy (and long after)
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Parents go to great lengths to ensure the health and well-being of their developing offspring. The favor, however, may not always be returned. Dramatic research has shown that during pregnancy, cells of the fetus often migrate through the placenta, taking up residence in many areas of the mother’s body, where their influence may benefit or undermine maternal health.... Read more »
Boddy, A., Fortunato, A., Wilson Sayres, M., & Aktipis, A. (2015) Fetal microchimerism and maternal health: A review and evolutionary analysis of cooperation and conflict beyond the womb. BioEssays. DOI: 10.1002/bies.201500059
- August 29, 2015
- 01:48 PM
- 115 views
Confidence in parenting could help break cycle of abuse
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
To understand how confidence in parenting may predict parenting behaviors in women who were abused as children, psychologists have found that mothers who experienced more types of maltreatment as children are more critical of their ability to parent successfully. Intervention programs for moms at-risk, therefore, should focus on bolstering mothers’ self-confidence–not just teach parenting skills, the researchers said.... Read more »
Michl, L., Handley, E., Rogosch, F., Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. (2015) Self-Criticism as a Mechanism Linking Childhood Maltreatment and Maternal Efficacy Beliefs in Low-Income Mothers With and Without Depression. Child Maltreatment. DOI: 10.1177/1077559515602095
- August 28, 2015
- 01:59 PM
- 111 views
Fish oil-diet benefits may be mediated by gut microbes
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Diets rich in fish oil versus diets rich in lard produce very different bacteria in the guts of mice, reports a new study. The researchers transferred these microbes into other mice to see how they affected health. The results suggest that gut bacteria share some of the responsibility for the beneficial effects of fish oil and the harmful effects of lard.... Read more »
Caesar, R., Tremaroli, V., Kovatcheva-Datchary, P., Cani, P., & Bäckhed, F. (2015) Crosstalk between Gut Microbiota and Dietary Lipids Aggravates WAT Inflammation through TLR Signaling. Cell Metabolism. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2015.07.026
- August 27, 2015
- 01:45 PM
- 119 views
HIV particles do not cause AIDS, our own immune cells do
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Researchers have revealed that HIV does not cause AIDS by the virus’s direct effect on the host’s immune cells, but rather through the cells’ lethal influence on one another. HIV can either be spread through free-floating virus that directly infect the host immune cells or an infected cell can pass the virus to an uninfected cell.... Read more »
Nicole L.K. Galloway et. al. (2015) Cell-to-Cell Transmission of HIV-1 Is Required to Trigger Pyroptotic Death of Lymphoid-Tissue-Derived CD4 T Cells. Cell Reports. DOI: http://dx.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2015.08.011
- August 26, 2015
- 01:30 PM
- 78 views
Fertilization discovery: Do sperm wield tiny harpoons?
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Could the sperm harpoon the egg to facilitate fertilization? That’s the intriguing possibility raised by the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s discovery that a protein within the head of the sperm forms spiky filaments, suggesting that these tiny filaments may lash together the sperm and its target.... Read more »
Zheng, H., Mandal, A., Shumilin, I., Chordia, M., Panneerdoss, S., Herr, J., & Minor, W. (2015) Sperm Lysozyme-Like Protein 1 (SLLP1), an intra-acrosomal oolemmal-binding sperm protein, reveals filamentous organization in protein crystal form. Andrology, 3(4), 756-771. DOI: 10.1111/andr.12057
- August 25, 2015
- 01:07 PM
- 122 views
Predicting who will murder his wife or his family
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Murderers who kill intimate partners and family members have a significantly different psychological and forensic profile from murderers who kill people they don’t know, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study that examined the demographics, psychiatric history and neuropsychology of these individuals.... Read more »
West-Smith, M. (2014) Book Review: Survived by one: The life and mind of a family mass murderer. Criminal Justice Review, 39(2), 222-224. DOI: 10.1177/0734016814523119
- August 24, 2015
- 01:15 PM
- 103 views
Genetic overlaps in autoimmune diseases may suggest common therapies
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Scientists who analyzed the genes involved in 10 autoimmune diseases that begin in childhood have discovered 22 genome-wide signals shared by two or more diseases. These shared gene sites may reveal potential new targets for treating many of these diseases, in some cases with existing drugs already available for non-autoimmune disorders.... Read more »
Yun R Li,, Jin Li,, Sihai D Zhao,, Jonathan P Bradfield,, Frank D Mentch,, S Melkorka Maggadottir,, Cuiping Hou,, Debra J Abrams,, Diana Chang,, Feng Gao,.... (2015) Meta-analysis of shared genetic architecture across ten pediatric autoimmune diseases. Nature Medicine. DOI: http://.org/10.1038/nm.3933
- August 23, 2015
- 01:49 PM
- 146 views
Want a better relationship and a better sex life?
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
If men take up more of the child-care duties, splitting them equally with their female partners, heterosexual couples have more satisfaction with their relationships and their sex lives, according to new research by sociologists. The group used data from more than 900 heterosexual couples’ responses in the 2006 Marital Relationship Study (MARS).... Read more »
Daniel Fowler et al. (2015) Couples That Split Childcare Duties Have Higher Quality Relationships and Sex Lives . American Sociological Association. info:other/Link
- August 22, 2015
- 12:49 PM
- 164 views
Don’t touch that dial: TV’s subliminal influence on women’s perception of pregnancy and birth
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
In an era where popular culture is increasingly recognized for its impact on lay understanding of health and medicine, few scholars have looked at television’s powerful role in the creation of patient expectations, especially regarding pregnancy and birth.... Read more »
Danielle Bessett. (2015) As Seen on TV: Women's Views on Television Representations of Pregnancy and Birth. American Sociological Association’s 110th Annual Meeting. info:other/SES-0402165
- August 21, 2015
- 01:53 PM
- 138 views
Anti-aging tricks from dietary supplement seen in mice
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
In human cells, shortened telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, are both a sign of aging and contribute to it. Scientists have found that the dietary supplement alpha lipoic acid (ALA) can stimulate telomerase, the enzyme that lengthens telomeres, with positive effects in a mouse model of atherosclerosis.... Read more »
Xiong, S., Patrushev, N., Forouzandeh, F., Hilenski, L., & Alexander, R. (2015) PGC-1α Modulates Telomere Function and DNA Damage in Protecting against Aging-Related Chronic Diseases. Cell Reports. DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.07.047
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