news 2017

How does heightened attention improve our mental capacity? This is the question tackled by new research published today in the journal Cell Reports, which reveals a chemical signal released across the brain in response to attention demanding or arousing situations. The new discoveries indicate how current drugs used in the treatment of Alzheimer's, designed to boost this chemical signal, counter the symptoms of dementia.

Scientists discover even wasps make trade deals Wasps have trading partners and compete for the 'best trade deals', according to scientists from the University of Sussex. In the study, the team from the University's School of Life Sciences looked at how the economic rule of 'supply and demand' applies to populations of paper wasps - in which 'helper wasps' raise the offspring of dominant breeders in small social groups in return for belonging in the nest.

New research suggests that cooperative breeding makes mammal species such as meerkats better suited to dry, harsh climates. Cooperative breeders may also persist in areas where changes in climate make life increasingly difficult Tim Clutton-Brock Cooperatively breeding mammal species, such as meerkats and naked-mole rats, where non-breeding helpers assist breeding females in raising their offspring, are better able to cope with living in dry areas than related non-cooperative species, new research reveals.

The hormone kisspeptin can enhance activity in brain regions associated with sexual arousal and romantic love, according to new research. The scientists behind the early-stage study, from Imperial College London, are now keen to explore whether kisspeptin could play a part in treating some psychosexual disorders - sexual problems which are psychological in origin, and commonly occur in patients with infertility.

Scientists have discovered why a type of breast cancer drug stops working in some patients. The early-stage findings , from an international team led by Imperial College London and the European Institute of Oncology in Milan , reveal some breast tumours evolve to make their own 'fuel supply', rendering treatments powerless.

A new campaign is warning people that burning some food, such as toast, is a potential cancer risk. Here, the evidence for this claim is explored by David Spiegelhalter, Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at the new Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication.

New research finds that misinformation on climate change can psychologically cancel out the influence of accurate statements. However, if legitimate facts are delivered with an 'inoculation' - a warning dose of misinformation - some of the positive influence is preserved. There will always be people completely resistant to change, but we tend to find there is room for most people to change their minds, even just a little Sander van der Linden In medicine, vaccinating against a virus involves exposing a body to a weakened version of the threat, enough to build a tolerance.

The idea that social behaviours are biologically influenced is controversial, but may provide new views on how our environment influences who we are and what we do, writes Daphne Martschenko from the Faculty of Education. Self-righteousness, gratitude, sympathy, sincerity, and guilt - what if these social behaviours are biologically influenced, encoded within our genes and shaped by the forces of evolution to promote the survival of the human species' Does free will truly exist if our genes are inherited and our environment is a series of events set in motion before we are born?

Cells that clear damage in the brain are less active in alcohol-dependent patients after withdrawal than in models of adolescent binge-drinking. People who have become alcohol-dependent suffer symptoms of withdrawal while abstaining from drink. These include cognitive impairment, such as memory problems, making plans and being able to act flexibly.

Neuroscientists at the University of Bristol are a step closer to understanding how the connections in our brain which control our episodic memory work in sync to make some memories stronger than others. The findings reveal a previously unsuspected division of memory function in the pathways between two areas of the brain, and suggest that certain subnetworks within the brain work separately, to enhance the distinctiveness of memories.

Since its discovery in 2004, scientists have believed that graphene may have the innate ability to superconduct. Now Cambridge researchers have found a way to activate that previously dormant potential. It has long been postulated that graphene should undergo a superconducting transition, but can't. The idea of this experiment was, if we couple graphene to a superconductor, can we switch that intrinsic superconductivity on?

Scientists have identified a 'molecular barcode' in the blood of patients with Ebola virus disease that can predict whether they are likely to survive or die from the viral infection. A team at the University of Liverpool, in collaboration with Public Health England, Boston University and other international partners, used blood samples taken from infected and recovering patients during the 2013-2016 West Africa outbreak to identify gene products that act as strong predictors of patient outcome.

When hospitalised, people can become acutely confused and disorientated. This condition, known as delirium, affects a quarter of older patients and new research by UCL and University of Cambridge shows it may have long-lasting consequences, including accelerating the dementia process. The study, published today in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, is the first to show the multiplying effects of delirium and dementia in these patients.

Scientists from Imperial have discovered that, contrary to previous understanding, heart scar tissue can conduct electricity following a heart attack. These findings in mice, if confirmed in humans, would have major implications for heart attack survivors, and for patients with an irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation.

A study by Cardiff University has found several areas of primary care where improvements are needed to reduce harm to sick children. The study, conducted using data from the England and Wales National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS), analysed over 2,000 incident reports, over a ten year period (2003-2013), involving sick children from primary care in England and Wales and found that poor communication underpinned many incidents resulting in harm to children.

Faster recharging lithium batteries could be developed after scientists figured out why adding charged metal atoms to tunnel structures within batteries improves their performance. Rechargeable lithium batteries have helped power the 'portable revolution' in mobile phones, laptops and tablet computers, and new generations of lithium batteries are being developed for electric vehicles and to store energy from wind and solar power.

Young people with mental health problems who have contact with mental health services are significantly less likely to suffer from clinical depression later in their adolescence than those with equivalent difficulties who do not receive treatment, according to new research from the University of Cambridge.

Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Groningen, in The Netherlands, have created a computer game style experiment which sheds new light on the reasons why starlings flock in massive swirling groups over wintering grounds. A mumeration can hold many thousands of starlings but the reasons why they put on these amazing displays are not well understood.

Modafinil, a drug used to treat narcolepsy - excessive daytime sleepiness - can improve memory in patients recovering from depression, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. The findings, published today in the journal Biological Psychiatry: CNNI, result from a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study and offer hope of a treatment for some of the cognitive symptoms of depression.

In a UK study of 5,320 women, three per cent were found to have an active eating disorder in mid-life, a figure higher than expected as eating disorders are primarily associated with adolescence or early adulthood. The research, using data from the University of Bristol's Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort, is published in the open access journal BMC Medicine.