Anthropology posts
- March 26, 2016
- 04:40 PM
- 407 views
Organic nanowires destroy the competition
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Last month, we spoke of our vision of the future of humanity here at the lab. It makes sense that humanity would one-day step away from the static, non-living computer constructs we have designed. Moving us instead towards an organic alternative, one that can be readily repaired, replaced, or changed. While we cannot pretend to know what the future may hold, a new discovery helps bolster the stance we presented.
... Read more »
Lampa-Pastirk, S., Veazey, J., Walsh, K., Feliciano, G., Steidl, R., Tessmer, S., & Reguera, G. (2016) Thermally activated charge transport in microbial protein nanowires. Scientific Reports, 23517. DOI: 10.1038/srep23517
- March 25, 2016
- 06:51 PM
- 449 views
Mental illness, that’s a funny term isn’t it?
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
In today’s lexicon, the term mental illness is used pretty widely. It can be used to describe someone suffering from depression, to PTSD, to even someone suicidal. In fact, today it is sort of a catch all term for anyone who is involved in a mass shooting here in the US. We are getting off […]... Read more »
Elkington, K., Teplin, L., Abram, K., Jakubowski, J., Dulcan, M., & Welty, L. (2015) Psychiatric Disorders and Violence: A Study of Delinquent Youth After Detention. Journal of the American Academy of Child , 54(4), 302-31200000. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2015.01.002
Su, J., Chen, J., Lippold, K., Monavarfeshani, A., Carrillo, G., Jenkins, R., & Fox, M. (2016) Collagen-derived matricryptins promote inhibitory nerve terminal formation in the developing neocortex. The Journal of Cell Biology, 212(6), 721-736. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201509085
Jacobs, R., Barba, A., Gowins, J., Klumpp, H., Jenkins, L., Mickey, B., Ajilore, O., Peciña, M., Sikora, M., Ryan, K.... (2016) Decoupling of the amygdala to other salience network regions in adolescent-onset recurrent major depressive disorder. Psychological Medicine, 1-13. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291715002615
Dowell, N., Cooper, E., Tibble, J., Voon, V., Critchley, H., Cercignani, M., & Harrison, N. (2016) Acute Changes in Striatal Microstructure Predict the Development of Interferon-Alpha Induced Fatigue. Biological Psychiatry, 79(4), 320-328. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.05.015
Li, W., Lai, T., Bohon, C., Loo, S., McCurdy, D., Strober, M., Bookheimer, S., & Feusner, J. (2015) Anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder are associated with abnormalities in processing visual information. Psychological Medicine, 1-12. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291715000045
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
- March 25, 2016
- 04:48 PM
- 419 views
Study finds vast diversity among bacteriophages
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Viruses that infect bacteria are among the most abundant life forms on Earth. Indeed, our oceans, soils and potentially even our bodies would be overrun with bacteria were it not for bacteria-eating viruses, called bacteriophages, that keep the microbial balance of ecological niches in check. Now, a new study suggests that bacteriophages made of RNA — a close chemical cousin of DNA — likely play a much larger role in shaping the bacterial makeup of worldwide habitats than previously ........ Read more »
Krishnamurthy, S., Janowski, A., Zhao, G., Barouch, D., & Wang, D. (2016) Hyperexpansion of RNA Bacteriophage Diversity. PLOS Biology, 14(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002409
- March 23, 2016
- 06:37 PM
- 466 views
Road rage and toxoplasmosis: Return of the parasite
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
It was a clear case of a false alarm, toxoplasmosis, a parasite that infects mice and cats was thought to have an effect on humans. However, after a thorough review of the data it was off the hook, or so we thought. Individuals with a psychiatric disorder involving recurrent bouts of extreme, impulsive anger--road rage, for example--are more than twice as likely to have been exposed to a common parasite than healthy individuals with no psychiatric diagnosis.
... Read more »
Coccaro, E., Lee, R., Groer, M., Can, A., Coussons-Read, M., & Postolache, T. (2016) Toxoplasma gondii Infection: Relationship With Aggression in Psychiatric Subjects. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 334-341. DOI: 10.4088/JCP.14m09621
- March 22, 2016
- 06:59 PM
- 337 views
Ancient viruses lurk in our DNA
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Think your DNA is all human? Think again. And a new discovery suggests it’s even less human than scientists previously thought. Nineteen new pieces of non-human DNA — left by viruses that first infected our ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago — have just been found, lurking between our own genes.
... Read more »
Wildschutte, J., Williams, Z., Montesion, M., Subramanian, R., Kidd, J., & Coffin, J. (2016) Discovery of unfixed endogenous retrovirus insertions in diverse human populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201602336. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1602336113
- March 21, 2016
- 04:46 PM
- 343 views
Sleep suppresses brain rebalancing
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Why humans and other animals sleep is one of the remaining deep mysteries of physiology. One prominent theory in neuroscience is that sleep is when the brain replays memories "offline" to better encode them ("memory consolidation"). A prominent and competing theory is that sleep is important for rebalancing activity in brain networks that have been perturbed during learning while awake.
... Read more »
Hengen, K., Torrado Pacheco, A., McGregor, J., Van Hooser, S., & Turrigiano, G. (2016) Neuronal Firing Rate Homeostasis Is Inhibited by Sleep and Promoted by Wake. Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.01.046
- March 18, 2016
- 02:36 PM
- 421 views
Using precision medicine to define the genetics of autoimmune disease
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Demonstrating the potential of precision medicine, an international study used next-generation DNA sequencing technology to identify more than 1,000 gene variants that affect susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Precision medicine is an emerging field that aims to deliver highly personalized health care by understanding how individual differences in genetics, environment, and lifestyle impact health and disease.
... Read more »
Raj, P., Rai, E., Song, R., Khan, S., Wakeland, B., Viswanathan, K., Arana, C., Liang, C., Zhang, B., Dozmorov, I.... (2016) Regulatory polymorphisms modulate the expression of HLA class II molecules and promote autoimmunity. eLife. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.12089
- March 18, 2016
- 09:22 AM
- 355 views
The Rise And Fall Of Alexandria’s Library
by Rita dos Santos Silva in United Academics
Knowledge sharing: from Alexandria’s Library to Open Access... Read more »
Erskine, A. (2009) Culture and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt: the Museum and Library of Alexandria. Greece and Rome, 42(01), 38-48. DOI: 10.1017/S0017383500025213
- March 17, 2016
- 08:08 AM
- 326 views
I like my corpses like I like my pretzels. Salted.
by Katy Meyers Emery in Bones Don't Lie
I’ve been reading a lot of interesting food non-fiction books in my sparse free time as a way to relax after long days of dissertation preparation and article writing. I’ve […]... Read more »
Papageorgopoulou C, Shved N, Wanek J, & Rühli FJ. (2015) Modeling ancient Egyptian mummification on fresh human tissue: macroscopic and histological aspects. Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007), 298(6), 974-87. PMID: 25998632
- March 16, 2016
- 04:51 PM
- 422 views
Viruses ‘piggyback’ on hosts success
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
In the microscopic life that thrives around coral reefs, researchers have discovered an interplay between viruses and microbes that defies conventional wisdom. As the density of microbes rises in an ecosystem, the number of viruses infecting those microbes rises with it. It has generally been assumed that this growing population of viruses, in turn, kills more and more microbes, keeping the microbial population in check. It’s a model known as “kill-the-winner” — the winners being the blo........ Read more »
Knowles, B., Silveira, C., Bailey, B., Barott, K., Cantu, V., Cobián-Güemes, A., Coutinho, F., Dinsdale, E., Felts, B., Furby, K.... (2016) Lytic to temperate switching of viral communities. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature17193
- March 15, 2016
- 03:44 PM
- 359 views
Where aging memories get stored in the brain
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Think back to when you were a child. Now instead, try to think of something that happened just a few minutes ago; would you believe that you are using different portions of the brain? When we remember events which occurred recently, the hippocampus is activated. This area in the temporal lobe of the brain is a hub for learning and memory. But what happens, if we try to remember things that took place years or decades ago?
... Read more »
Lux, V., Atucha, E., Kitsukawa, T., & Sauvage, M. (2016) Imaging a memory trace over half a life-time in the medial temporal lobe reveals a time-limited role of CA3 neurons in retrieval. eLife. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.11862
- March 15, 2016
- 09:37 AM
- 327 views
mtDNA sucks for inferring hominin relationships
by zacharoo in Lawn Chair Anthropology
Ancient DNA studies keep on delivering awesome findings about human evolution. Continuing this trend, Matthias Meyer and colleagues report today in Nature nuclear DNA (nDNA) sequenced from ~430,000 year old humans from the Sima de los Huesos (SH) site in Spain. SH is badass not only because the name translates as “pit of bones,” but also because […]... Read more »
Bermudez de Castro, JM., Martinón-Torres, M., Lozano, M., Sarmiento, S., & Muela, A. (2004) Paleodemography of the Atapuerca: Sima De Los Huesos Hominin Sample: A Revision and New Approaches to the Paleodemography of the European Middle Pleistocene Population. Journal of Anthropological Research, 60(1), 5-26. DOI: 10.1086/jar.60.1.3631006
Krause, J., Fu, Q., Good, J., Viola, B., Shunkov, M., Derevianko, A., & Pääbo, S. (2010) The complete mitochondrial DNA genome of an unknown hominin from southern Siberia. Nature, 464(7290), 894-897. DOI: 10.1038/nature08976
Meyer, M., Fu, Q., Aximu-Petri, A., Glocke, I., Nickel, B., Arsuaga, J., Martínez, I., Gracia, A., de Castro, J., Carbonell, E.... (2013) A mitochondrial genome sequence of a hominin from Sima de los Huesos. Nature, 505(7483), 403-406. DOI: 10.1038/nature12788
Meyer, M., Arsuaga, J., de Filippo, C., Nagel, S., Aximu-Petri, A., Nickel, B., Martínez, I., Gracia, A., de Castro, J., Carbonell, E.... (2016) Nuclear DNA sequences from the Middle Pleistocene Sima de los Huesos hominins. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature17405
Reich, D., Green, R., Kircher, M., Krause, J., Patterson, N., Durand, E., Viola, B., Briggs, A., Stenzel, U., Johnson, P.... (2010) Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia. Nature, 468(7327), 1053-1060. DOI: 10.1038/nature09710
- March 14, 2016
- 06:10 PM
- 403 views
Crucial communication: language management in Australian asylum interviews
by Laura Smith-Khan in Language on the Move
Asylum seekers in Australia face a few very public hurdles. Successive governments have used increasingly restrictive refugee policies to gain...... Read more »
Smith-Khan, L. (2016) Negotiating narratives, accessing asylum: Evaluating language policy as multi-level practice, beliefs and management. Multilingua. DOI: 10.1515/multi-2015-0072
- March 14, 2016
- 02:19 PM
- 343 views
Decrypting a collagen’s role in schizophrenia
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
What would be worse than having bad joints? How about schizophrenia and bad joints? To be fair that isn’t what is suggested, but they may, in fact, be linked. A small peptide generated from a collagen protein may protect the brain from schizophrenia by promoting the formation of neuronal synapses and study may lead to new approaches to treating the mental disorder.
... Read more »
Su, J., Chen, J., Lippold, K., Monavarfeshani, A., Carrillo, G., Jenkins, R., & Fox, M. (2016) Collagen-derived matricryptins promote inhibitory nerve terminal formation in the developing neocortex. The Journal of Cell Biology, 212(6), 721-736. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201509085
- March 14, 2016
- 02:19 PM
- 248 views
Decrypting a collagen’s role in schizophrenia
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
What would be worse than having bad joints? How about schizophrenia and bad joints? To be fair that isn’t what is suggested, but they may, in fact, be linked. A small peptide generated from a collagen protein may protect the brain from schizophrenia by promoting the formation of neuronal synapses and study may lead to […]... Read more »
Su, J., Chen, J., Lippold, K., Monavarfeshani, A., Carrillo, G., Jenkins, R., & Fox, M. (2016) Collagen-derived matricryptins promote inhibitory nerve terminal formation in the developing neocortex. The Journal of Cell Biology, 212(6), 721-736. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201509085
- March 13, 2016
- 03:40 PM
- 375 views
New learning procedure for neural networks
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Rustling leaves, a creaking branch: To a mouse, these sensory impressions may, at first, seem harmless — but not if a cat suddenly bursts out of the bush. If so, they were clues of impending life-threatening danger. Researcher Robert Gütig has now found how the brain can link sensory perceptions to events occurring after a delay.
... Read more »
Gutig, R. (2016) Spiking neurons can discover predictive features by aggregate-label learning. Science, 351(6277). DOI: 10.1126/science.aab4113
- March 12, 2016
- 03:08 PM
- 366 views
People with anxiety show fundamental differences in perception
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
People suffering from anxiety perceive the world in a fundamentally different way than others, according to a new study. The research may help explain why certain people are more prone to anxiety. The study shows that people diagnosed with anxiety are less able to distinguish between a neutral, “safe” stimulus (in this case, the sound of a tone) and one that had earlier been associated with gaining or losing money.
... Read more »
Laufer, O., Israeli, D., & Paz, R. (2016) Behavioral and Neural Mechanisms of Overgeneralization in Anxiety. Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.01.023
- March 10, 2016
- 02:50 PM
- 419 views
Alzheimer’s on and now Alzheimer’s off?
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Alzheimer's disease, is anything more frustrating than seeing someone -- who otherwise looks healthy -- start to forget who you are? Worse than that, we don't know exactly what causes Alzheimer's disease, or how to stop it. Well actually that might be changing. Don't get too excited, because we've had false starts before, but an international group of scientists have succeeded in sorting out the mechanism of Alzheimer's disease development and possibly distinguished its key trigger.
... Read more »
Istrate, A., Kozin, S., Zhokhov, S., Mantsyzov, A., Kechko, O., Pastore, A., Makarov, A., & Polshakov, V. (2016) Interplay of histidine residues of the Alzheimer’s disease Aβ peptide governs its Zn-induced oligomerization. Scientific Reports, 21734. DOI: 10.1038/srep21734
- March 9, 2016
- 02:36 PM
- 377 views
Want a younger brain? Stay in school — and take the stairs
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Taking the stairs is normally associated with keeping your body strong and healthy. But new research shows that it improves your brain’s health too — and that education also has a positive effect. Researchers found that the more flights of stairs a person climbs, and the more years of school a person completes, the “younger” their brain physically appears.
... Read more »
Steffener, J., Habeck, C., O'Shea, D., Razlighi, Q., Bherer, L., & Stern, Y. (2016) Differences between chronological and brain age are related to education and self-reported physical activity. Neurobiology of Aging, 138-144. DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2016.01.014
- March 9, 2016
- 10:54 AM
- 361 views
Restoring Lost Narratives: Early Medieval Muslim Graves in France
by Katy Meyers Emery in Bones Don't Lie
When people ask me why archaeology is important, or why I’ve chosen to study human remains and funerary practices, I often cite the importance of bringing individual stories back into […]... Read more »
Gleize Y, Mendisco F, Pemonge MH, Hubert C, Groppi A, Houix B, Deguilloux MF, & Breuil JY. (2016) Early Medieval Muslim Graves in France: First Archaeological, Anthropological and Palaeogenomic Evidence. PloS one, 11(2). PMID: 26910855
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
Research Blogging is powered by SMG Technology.
To learn more, visit seedmediagroup.com.