Feeling Sleepy Is All In Your Genes:
Genes responsible for our 24 hour body clock influence not only the timing of sleep, but also appear to be central to the actual restorative process of sleep, according to research published in BMC Neuroscience. The study identified changes in the brain that lead to the increased desire and need for sleep during time spent awake.
Cringe at the title. Someone please send me the paper itself...
Level Of Oxytocin In Pregnant Women Predicts Mother-child Bond:
Humans are hard-wired to form enduring bonds with others. One of the primary bonds across the mammalian species is the mother-infant bond. Evolutionarily speaking, it is in a mother's best interest to foster the well-being of her child; however, some mothers just seem a bit more maternal than others do. Now, new research points to a hormone that predicts the level of bonding between mother and child.
Kate already covered this study expertly.
Modafinil Is Effective In Treating Excessive Sleepiness, Study Suggests:
A study published in the October 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine finds that modafinil is well-tolerated in the treatment of excessive sleepiness associated with disorders of sleep and wakefulness such as shift work sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and narcolepsy, and does not affect cardiovascular or sleep parameters.
Feminism And Romance Go Hand In Hand:
Contrary to popular opinion, feminism and romance are not incompatible and feminism may actually improve the quality of heterosexual relationships, according to Laurie Rudman and Julie Phelan, from Rutgers University in the US. Their study* also shows that unflattering feminist stereotypes, that tend to stigmatize feminists as unattractive and sexually unappealing, are unsupported.
Pathway Required For Normal Reproductive Development Identified:
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) clinical researchers, in collaboration with basic scientists from the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) have identified a new molecular pathway required for normal development of the reproductive, olfactory and circadian systems in both humans and mice. In their report to appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes defects in a gene called PROK2 (prokineticin 2) in human siblings with two different forms of infertility. The UC Irvine team had previously reported that mice lacking PROK2 had abnormal olfactory structures and disrupted circadian rhythm.
I'd like to read this paper as well, please....
Life Science
Comments
"The authors also tested the validity of feminist stereotypical beliefs amongst their two samples, based on the hypothesis that if feminist stereotypes are accurate, then feminist women should be more likely to report themselves as being single, lesbian, or sexually unattractive, compared with non-feminist women.
"Rudman and Phelan found no support for this hypothesis amongst their study participants."
Ask people if they're sexually unattractive? I suspect you will find they think themselves to be above average attractiveness. People don't believe themselves to be bad drivers, either. We all tend to see ourselves differently than others do.
Posted by: Chuck McKay | October 18, 2007 11:54 PM
You can get the BMC paper for free -- it's OA. The PNAS Pitteloud paper doesn't seem to be online yet.
Posted by: Bill | October 19, 2007 2:39 AM
ha, not "expertly" like i would have LIKED to! too busy, will return to that issue in my return-to-the-world post. it's just too good not to write about, albeit pre-emptively!
Posted by: kate | October 19, 2007 10:39 AM