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A.
Sleep Found to be Crucial for Early Brain Development
Narrator:
This is Science Today. While there's no doubt about
the necessity of sleep, researchers at the University
of California, San Francisco have come up with the
first direct evidence that sleep in early life may
have a vital role in brain development. Neuroscientist
Marcos Frank studied young cats and found that sleep
dramatically enhanced their brain growth during
a period of visual development.
Frank:
Cats are ideal because not only is their visual
system much like ours, not only do their brains
develop much like ours, but they sleep a lot and
the development of their sleep patterns is very
similar to the development of sleep patterns in
human babies.
Narrator:
The researchers blocked vision in one eye in two
sets of cats. One group slept after this experience,
the other group did not. Those that slept developed
twice the amount of brain change as those kept awake
during the experience.
Frank:
So it suggests that there's something going on in
sleep that strengthens and enhances the experience
that the animal - or you and I - have during a waking
period. And this process is disrupted if you don't
get sleep.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
A Biological Marker May Help Detect Disease Earlier
in Older Populations
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A new geriatrics study has
identified a biological marker that may help prevent
functional decline and premature death by serving
as an early identification of disease in at-risk,
older populations. Dr. David Reuben, chief of the
UCLA geriatrics department, who led the nationwide
study, says this biomarker is called interleukin-6,
or IL-6.
Reuben: And IL-6 is what they
call a cytokine. Cytokines are very important in fighting
infection or inflammation. There's a whole cascade
of events that happen from the time that you have
an infection or an injury that cause inflammation.
And inflammation is our body's way of fighting infections
- it's our white cells, it's one of our most important
defense mechanisms.
Narrator: High levels of IL-6 have been
linked to chronic inflammation and functional disability
in older people.
Reuben:
Through
this study and other studies that we and other people
have done, we're be able to detect something going
on in otherwise healthy-looking older people that
says that maybe all is not right.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
New Insight into Emotion and Memory in Brain Research
Narrator:
This is Science Today. There's been a lot of research
over the last four decades on how the brain stores
memories of emotional events better than memories
of non-emotional events. Dr. Larry Cahill, a neurobiologist
at the University of California, Irvine, says much
of the research points to a small, almond-shaped brain
structure called the amygdala, which is located on
both sides of the brain, a couple inches in from the
ear.
Cahill:
Something about the amygdala kicking into gear
during and after an emotional event helps you remember
it better - that's the theory. And we have evidence
for that not only from animal studies, but from human
studies as well.
Narrator:
Cahill and his colleagues recently found that
men and women seem to use different sides of the amygdala
to store emotional memories.
Cahill:
If in fact the men's brains on average are processing
this information differently from the women's brains
- say right amygdala, left amygdala - just that. Well,
somehow that's got to be reflected in what they remember.
It's got to be. So now we're going back and we're
looking more carefully for what was missed before,
not just by us but I think by the whole field.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
The Importance of Mental Health Care Insurance
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Mental health disorders are
probably some of the most common medical problems
in today's society. And yet, a UCLA study has found
there's a lack of adequate mental health treatment
in this country. Psychologist Alexander Young, who
led the study, says there are several reasons why
this is, including the type of health insurance a
person chooses.
Young:
Individuals, when they're saying "do I want a
particular plan", they don't ask the question
"what is the quality of services and what is
the coverage for mental health conditions, should
I develop a mental health problem?" Because people
just don't see themselves as developing these problems.
Narrator:
And yet, the fact is over nine percent of the U.S.
population have a mental health disorder in a given
year.
Young:
That's a very high percentage. And so the odds of
people getting these disorders or developing one of
these disorders are actually quite real. And I think
also at the same time, we may just want to ensure
that there is adequate mental health coverage so that
people are protected even if they don't expect these
problems to develop.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
A Chemical Link that Could Lead to Gene Therapies
for Heart Disease
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Researchers at the University
of California, Irvine have provided the first real
glimpse of a chemical link between an insulin-related
hormone and heart muscle death. Dr. Ping Wang, who
led the study, says these findings could someday lead
to using gene therapies to help treat heart disease.
Wang:
So we can try to utilize this effect and coupled
with other existing treatment for heart disease or
the future treatment of heart disease and try to give
the patient as much protection as possible.
Narrator:
Although there have been great advances in treating
heart attack patients, there's still some heart muscle
damage. So, Wang sees great potential for this protective
hormone, called insulin-like growth factor, or IGF-1.
Wang:
One way
we might try to do in the future will be try to give
these patients' thrombolytic therapy or angioplasty
together with IGF-1 infusion. And in this way, not
only you can open up the blocked arteries, but at
the same time you are going to offer the cardiac muscle
as much protection as they deserve.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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