ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News

Help wanted: Fast food cashier, $15 an hour Posted: 20 Jan 2015 12:50 PM PST Researchers have released a working paper verifying the ability of American fast food restaurants to more than double the minimum wage of their lowest paid workers to $15 an hour over a four-year period without causing the widespread employment losses and decline in profits often cited by critics of such increases.

Evaluations that consider school resources could fairly assess teacher performance Posted: 20 Jan 2015 12:12 PM PST Researchers have identified a plan to evaluate teachers fairly using a 'proportional' system. "One of the biggest criticisms of proposed teacher evaluations is that teachers in less wealthy districts with fewer resources will be unfairly evaluated in relation to teachers with access to more resources," an author noted. "By leveling the playing field among all teachers, we can mitigate this issue."

Connection between childhood adversity, psychiatric disorders seen at cellular level Posted: 20 Jan 2015 11:28 AM PST An association between biological changes on the cellular level and both childhood adversity and psychiatric disorders has been identified by researchers. These changes in the form of telomere shortening and alterations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), are important in the aging process.

Facebook not to blame for negative impact on grades, professor says Posted: 20 Jan 2015 11:25 AM PST The more time college students, particularly freshman, spend on Facebook, the more their grades suffer. But a professor says the problem is not Facebook -- it's an issue of self-regulation.

New signaling pathway provides clues to obesity Posted: 20 Jan 2015 09:13 AM PST A molecular 'rheostat' in the brain's appetite control center has been discovered that may provide new insights into obesity, which is at epidemic levels in the United States. The discovery of this novel cell signaling pathway revises the previous 'on-off' switch model of appetite control, say researchers.

Poor social integration = poor health Posted: 20 Jan 2015 09:11 AM PST There are many benefits to being supported by a strong social network. But can a bigger friend base actually make you healthier? New research shows that social relationships do have a positive influence our physical well-being.

Alcohol ads on TV associated with drinking behavior in young people Posted: 20 Jan 2015 09:11 AM PST Seeing and liking alcohol advertising on television among underage youths was associated with the onset of drinking, binge drinking and hazardous drinking, according to a study. Alcohol is the most common drug used by young people. In 2013, 66.2 percent of U.S. high school students reported trying alcohol, 34.9 percent reported alcohol use in the past 30 days and 20.8 percent reported recent binge drinking.

Portable stimulator being tested on Parkinson's patients Posted: 20 Jan 2015 09:08 AM PST A weak electric 'noise' can improve balance and motor skills in patients with Parkinson's disease, researchers have demonstrated. In cooperation with NASA, the research team has now developed a portable prototype that will be used in long-term studies of Parkinson's patients in their home environment.

'Trustworthy' hedge fund execs generate more business but weaker returns Posted: 20 Jan 2015 09:08 AM PST Hedge-fund managers who appear 'trustworthy' in photographs attract more clients than their more 'undependable'-looking counterparts. But their clients also saw lower returns on their investments -- rendering them less successful than their less 'trustworthy' colleagues.

Stem cell transplantation shows potential for reducing disability in patients with MS Posted: 20 Jan 2015 09:06 AM PST Results from a preliminary study indicate that among patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), treatment with nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was associated with improvement in measures of disability and quality of life, according to a study.

Bioethicists call for return to asylums for long-term psychiatric care Posted: 20 Jan 2015 08:12 AM PST As the United States population has doubled since 1955, the number of inpatient psychiatric beds in the United States has been cut by nearly 95 percent to just 45,000, a wholly inadequate equation when considering that there are currently 10 million U.S. residents with serious mental illness. A new article looks at the evolution away from inpatient psychiatric beds, evaluates the current system for housing and treating the mentally ill, and then suggests a modern approach to institutionalized mental health care as a solution.

Updated assessment of medications to treat acute migraine Posted: 20 Jan 2015 07:23 AM PST An updated assessment of the best treatments to use when a migraine attack occurs has been published by experts. The assessment forms the basis of new American Headache Society treatment guidelines.

Use of methadone to treat pain increases risk of death, study shows Posted: 20 Jan 2015 07:23 AM PST Outside the hospital, use of methadone to treat pain carries a 46 percent increased risk of death when compared to the equally effective but more costly alternative, morphine SR (sustained release), according to a recent study.

Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol is linked to reduced risk of heart failure, large study finds Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:59 AM PST Evidence already exists for the beneficial effects of drinking moderate amounts of alcohol on the risk of developing a number of heart conditions; however, the role it plays in the risk of developing heart failure has been under-researched with conflicting results. Now, a large study of nearly 15,000 men and women shows that drinking up to seven drinks a week in early to middle age is associated with a 20% lower risk of men developing heart failure in the future when compared to people who did not drink at all, and a more modest 16% reduced risk for women.

Men who live alone run a greater risk of dying prematurely after stroke Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:59 AM PST Men who live alone have a considerably greater long-term risk of dying prematurely than other patients. This is shown in a doctoral thesis that followed 1,090 stroke cases in western Sweden.

Immunotherapy inhibits heroin effects in research animals Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:59 AM PST Immunotherapy could have a place in the treatment of substance abuse in the future. A specific antibody can reduce the acute effects of heroin, according to a new experimental study. This would be particularly useful as adjunctive therapy for specific patient groups, for example for pregnant drug abusers and during vulnerable periods after detoxification, where the risk of relapse is great, researchers say.

Iodine deficiency in pregnant women impairs embryonic brain development Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:58 AM PST Pregnant women sometimes suffer from an iodine deficiency. This may have a negative impact on the development of their unborn child's brain, research shows. "This leads to the conclusion that women need to take higher quantities of iodine if they are planning to become pregnant," say the study authors.

Most prison staff in Switzerland are satisfied with their jobs Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:58 AM PST Job satisfaction among people working in prisons and similar institutions is on average high in Switzerland - it's actually even higher than in other professions. Nevertheless, about ten per cent of prison staff risk suffering a burnout, particularly in western Switzerland and Ticino. These findings are the fruit of the first representative study of Swiss prison workers ever undertaken.

Possible new general anesthetics discovered Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:56 AM PST Researchers, in a continuation of their groundbreaking work to better understand how anesthesia works in the body, have found the first new class of novel anesthetics since the 1970s. Their findings detail the processes through which the group uncovered these compounds.

Hostile boss? Study finds advantages to giving it right back Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:56 AM PST In a result that surprised researchers, a new study found that employees who had hostile bosses were better off on several measures if they returned the hostility. "Before we did this study, I thought there would be no upside to employees who retaliated against their bosses, but that's not what we found," said the lead author of the study.