It took from the beginning of time until 1950 to put the first 2.5 billion people on the planet. Yet in the next half-century, an increase that exceeds the total population of the world in 1950 will occur.

So writes Joel E. Cohen, Ph.D., Dr.P.H., professor and head of the Laboratory of Populations at The Rockefeller University and Columbia University, in a Viewpoint article in the November 14 issue of the journal Science.

In “Human Population: The Next Half-Century,” Cohen examin

Researchers have found subtle damage in the brains of HIV-positive patients whose viral load is effectively suppressed by anti-retroviral therapy. In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers from the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC) used a combination of MRI brain imaging, recording of electrical brain activity, and behavioral tests to compare the size and function of brains of HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral therapy with those of healthy subjects.

Al

New study in rats suggests that nicotine at concentrations found in the blood of smokers may increase atrial vulnerability to inducible atrial tachycardia and atrial fibrillation in normal adult atria with no atrial disease.

Large numbers of Americans still smoke cigarettes or use over-the-counter nicotine products such as patches and gums to satisfy their craving for nicotine. However, serious and sometime fatal cases of atrial fibrillation (AF) have been reported in patients who use

A new study in rats has found that after severe spinal cord injury, molecules intended to help nerves communicate can attack the tissue surrounding the initial injury and cause further damage.

Interestingly, this latent, or secondary, injury develops over days and even weeks after the initial injury. It also appears to cause larger, more debilitating lesions in the spinal cord, said Randy Christensen, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at Ohio State Univers

New studies find much to recommend in pregnancy and motherhood. Findings include that: pregnancy produces heightened smell sensitivity; suckling one’s young puts brain reward systems into high gear; lactation increases the rate of wound healing; and motherhood protects against stress.

Morning sickness, food cravings, and food aversions are not the only side effects of pregnancy. Many women also say that they perceived changes in their chemical senses during pregnancy; perhaps a certain dish

How computer programs help children overcome language problems and the effect of estrogen

Scientists continue to unravel the mystery of the brain’s role in the development of language skills — and with some provocative results. One new study in this area, for example, reveals that children raised bilingually may actually be “smarter” than their monolingual peers. Other studies show how two computer learning programs potentially help children overcome reading and speech problems — res

Recent advances in understanding the behavioral, molecular, and anatomical bases of fear extinction in animals and humans are leading to new knowledge about the nature of fear and new treatments for anxiety disorders that affect millions of Americans.

Although every human being experiences some fear and anxiety during the course of normal life, excessive amounts of fear and anxiety are associated with almost all psychiatric illnesses. In those people who suffer from anxiety disorders like p

In new studies, scientists are discovering the neurobiological underpinnings of romantic love, trust, and even of self. New research also shows that a specific brain area – the amygdala – is involved in the process of understanding the intentions of others, in particular when lying is involved.

Using brain imaging, researchers Helen Fisher, Arthur Aron, Lucy Brown and colleagues find that feelings of intense romantic love are associated with specific activity in dopamine-rich brain regions

Contrary to previous assumptions, recent findings indicate that experience-dependent mechanisms have a fundamental role for the proper development and function of the pain system.

Tactile, or touch, information now appears to play a fundamental role in guiding the functional maturation of the pain sensitivity system during normal development. This explains how the pain system can be functionally adapted despite the rare occurrence of noxious stimuli during development. Maintained input ove

Show that little sleep for a short period improves some simple tasks

Lack of sleep can affect an individual’s memory, ability to perform simple daily tasks, and attention span. Recent studies that help decipher the basic mechanism of sleep may help in the development of drugs that reduce the need for sleep in military combat or other circumstances.

In other research, investigators have found that sleeping only a few hours a night over a long period of time impairs memor

People can easily be swayed into believing that they have seen something they never actually did see, say researchers at Ohio State University.

Participants in a study looked at a series of slides portraying geometric shapes. They were later shown a second set of test slides – two of the test slides contained images from the original group of slides, two contained images that were obviously not part of the original set, and one slide contained the lure image – a shape very similar to

Other genes, environmental factors also likely to contribute to prevalent skin disorder

After a decade of searching, researchers have identified three genes linked to psoriasis, a potentially debilitating and disfiguring skin condition characterized by burning or itching patches of raised red skin.

The project’s leader, Anne Bowcock, Ph.D., professor of genetics, of medicine and of pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, says the results cou

Workouts may result in increased blood flow to the brain, allow a person to be more mentally engaged

Exercise appears to allow for better blood vessel development in the brain and allow a person to be more mentally engaged. Those are the conclusions of a study partially conducted by Oregon Health & Science University researchers. The results will be presented Saturday Nov. 8 at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

“While we already know that exercise i

Survey of Public Awareness of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) shows limited awareness that this cancer is the most common cancer across Europe and is preventable.

Results of a new survey show that fewer than one in three Europeans recognise that colorectal cancer (CRC) is now the most common cancer among European men and women, ahead of both breast and lung cancer, demonstrating a severe lack of awareness and understanding of CRC.

The survey, Public Awareness of Colorectal Cancer i

Simple semantics may help quell patient’s fears about taking part in medical education, according to a letter to this week’s BMJ.

Surprisingly, patients tend to accept a trainee’s presence in a consultation if they are addressed as student doctor or trainee doctor, as opposed to medical student, writes Dr Hany George El-Sayeh. This may be because of fears about being seen by a scruffy, disinterested youth who may well later report their intimacies in the bar.

He also recomme

The behavior of intermetallic superconductors, like the kind used in hospital MRI machines, is even more curious than recent Nobel Prize-winning physicist Alexei Abrikosov had theorized. In newly reported research,* scientists working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Center for Neutron Research have determined that so-called type II superconductors have the equivalent of a multiple personality—at least three distinct physical states, each with its own superconducting beh