Health

By combining artificial intelligence (AI) with electrical recordings of brain activity, researchers have been able to track the language exchanged during conversations and the corresponding neural activity in different brain regions, according to a new study. The team from Department of Neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in the US investigated how our brains process language during real-life conversations. “Specifically, we wanted to understand which brain regions become active when we`re speaking and listening, and how these patterns relate to the specific words and context of the conversation,” said lead author Jing Cai in a paper published in Nature Communications. They employed AI to take a closer look at how our brains handle the back-and-forth of real conversations. Th...

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University in Japan on Saturday said they have found that the motion of unlabelled cells can be used to tell whether they are cancerous or healthy.  They observed malignant fibrosarcoma cells and healthy fibroblasts on a dish and found that tracking and analysis of their paths can be used to differentiate them with up to 94 per cent accuracy. Beyond diagnosis, their technique may also shed light on cell motility related functions, like tissue healing, according to the study published in the journal PLOS One. The team of researchers, led by Professor Hiromi Miyoshi, came up with a way of tracking cells using phase-contrast microscopy, one of the most common ways of observing cells. Phase-contrast microscopy is entirely label free, allowing cells to mo...

A team of US scientists has found that a common pinworm medication may stop and reverse cancer growth in Merkel cell carcinoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer.  The research led by University of Arizona Cancer Center and published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, found that in laboratory models of Merkel cell carcinoma, pyrvinium pamoate inhibited cancer cell growth and reversed the cancer’s neuroendocrine features. In mouse models of Merkel cell carcinoma, pyrvinium pamoate reduced tumour growth. Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare but fast-growing neuroendocrine cancer that is three to five times more likely than melanoma to be deadly. Response rates to current therapies – surgery, radiation and immunotherapy – are limited, resulting in a need for effective and broadly applica...

In a significant study, researchers have linked fatty and sugary diets to impaired cognitive function. The team from University of Sydney looked at the relationship between high-fat, high-sugar (HFHS) diets, particularly those high in refined sugar and saturated fat, and first-person spatial navigation. Spatial navigation is the ability to learn and remember a path from one location to another, a process that can approximate the health of the brain’s hippocampus, said the study published in the International Journal of Obesity. Dr Dominic Tran from the Faculty of Science’s School of Psychology led the research, which found HFHS diets have a detrimental effect on some aspects of cognitive function. It is likely those effects centre on the hippocampus, the brain structure important for s...

Targeting an enzyme can help stop the growth of glioblastoma, the most dangerous type of brain tumour, researchers have found.  This enzyme called PGM3 plays a vital role in the hexosamine synthesis pathway, which is involved in the processes of protein and lipid glycosylation that allow tumours to rapidly grow.  Lipid glycosylation is a process where sugar molecules attach to fats (lipids) in the body. Researchers with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James and Richard J. Solove Research Institute believe that targeting PGM3 can reduce tumour growth and eliminate glioblastoma cells. “This research is important because it has found a new target called PGM3. Blocking the PGM3 enzyme can break the connection between sugar and fat creation in cells, which ...

A team of researchers at Rutgers University in the US has found that five-year-olds exposed to paternal depression are more likely to have behavioural issues in grade school. In a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Kristine Schmitz, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS), together with other researchers from RWJMS and from Princeton and Rider universities, reported that children exposed to paternal depression when entering kindergarten are far more likely to have teacher-reported behavioural difficulties and poor social skills at age 9. “We need to consider depression in both parents, not just mothers,” said Schmitz. “Depression is treatable, and to support the whole family, paediatricians must start talking...

The virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technology could simulate stressful situations and help people practice stress-relief strategies, a new study has revealed. Everyday situations can sometimes feel like big stressors, whether it`s delivering an important work presentation, attending a party full of strangers or confronting a partner. Talking to a friend or a therapist can help. But so can practice. A new project from Carnegie Mellon University researchers in the US aimed to make that practice easier by using VR/AR technology. The research team, led by Anna Fang in the School of Computer Science`s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, tested their stress simulation technology on a group of 19 participants, the majority of whom overwhelmingly supported it. "For the past 10 to 20 y...

Amid a spike in fatty liver disease, hepatitis and cirrhosis across all age groups, experts have raised concerns over the consumption of sugary and processed foods, stressing that diet plays a direct role in liver health and overall wellness. Besides satisfying hunger, wholesome food also has the power to heal, restore and protect, they said. “Currently, youngsters aged 23-30 are getting diagnosed with fatty liver due to constant consumption of sugary, fatty, junk, canned and processed foods," Greeneagles Hospital director (HPB surgery, pancreas, intestine and liver transplant) Dr Anurag Shrimal said. "It is, therefore, imperative that individuals begin to pay close attention to their eating habits. What we eat plays a direct role in how well our liver functions,” he said in a statement...

If you are having ice-cold feet and feel heaviness in the legs it may indicate the presence of varicose veins -- swollen, twisted, and enlarged veins in legs or ankles, according to a study. Varicose veins are usually caused by impaired functioning of the deep or superficial veins, and the perforator veins (short veins that link the superficial and deep venous systems in the legs). The prevalence of varicose veins ranges from 2 to 30 per cent in adults, with women at higher risk. Typical symptoms include sensations of heaviness, aching, throbbing, and itching; restlessness in the legs; fluid retention and swelling; muscle cramps; and leg ulcers in severe cases. Cold hypersensitivity is often underestimated as a subjective symptom, said researchers from Chung Shan Medical University in T...

Early-life exposure to small particle air pollution and outdoor artificial light at night could increase the risk of paediatric thyroid cancer, a new study led by researchers at Yale University in the US has suggested. The team found a “significant association” between exposure to ambient fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) and outdoor artificial light at night (O-ALAN) and increased risk of papillary thyroid cancer in children and young adults up to 19 years old, according to the study published in Environmental Health Perspectives. The exposures occurred during the perinatal stage of life, typically defined as the time from when pregnancy occurs up to a year after birth. “These results are concerning, especially given how widespread both of these exposures are,” said Dr Nico...