Scientists have identified a gene which, when missing or impaired, can cause obesity, behavioural problems and, in mothers, postnatal depression. The discovery, reported today in Cell, may have wider implications for the treatment of postnatal depression, with a study in mice suggesting that oxytocin may alleviate symptoms.
Read more …Genetic study points to oxytocin as possible treatment for obesity and postnatal depression
Randomized controlled trials, or RCTs, are believed to be the best way to study the safety and efficacy of new treatments in clinical research. However, a recent study found that people of color and white women are significantly underrepresented in RCTs due to systematic biases.
Read more …Systematic biases at play in clinical trials
In a concert, members of the audience can respond emotionally to music, owing to their biological synchronization to the audio input. However, the mechanism underlying this biological response is unclear. Now, a pioneering study has found that music-induced heart-rate synchronization is highly correlated within an individual, compared to between two randomly selected individuals. It has been determined that individual differences in cognition reduce the consistency in physiological responses and affect synchronization.
Read more …Understanding the synchronization of physiological states during a live music performance
A colder nose and warmer cheeks may be a telltale sign of rising blood pressure. Researchers discovered that temperatures in different face regions are associated with various chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. These temperature differences are not easily perceptible by one's own touch but can instead be identified using specific AI-derived spatial temperature patterns that require a thermal camera and a data-trained model. With further research, doctors could one day use this simple and non-invasive approach for early detection of diseases.
Read more …Doctors could soon use facial temperature for early diagnosis of metabolic diseases