PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

NYU researchers identify new neurological deficit behind lazy eye

2010-09-10
(Press-News.org) Researchers at New York University's Center for Neural Science have identified a new neurological deficit behind amblyopia, or "lazy eye." Their findings, which appear in the most recent issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, shed additional light on how amblyopia results from disrupted links between the brain and normal visual processing.

Amblyopia results from developmental problems in the brain. When the parts of the brain concerned with visual processing do not function properly, problems ensue with such visual functions as the perception of movement, depth, and fine detail. It is most prevalent neurological defect of vision in children and adults, affecting 1-3 percent of the population.

Previous research on amblyopia has largely focused on one aspect of visual processing—that in the primary visual cortex, or V1.

However, while abnormalities in V1 explain some amblyopic visual problems, they fail to account for the full range of losses suffered by those with amblyopia—including motion perception. With this in mind, the NYU researchers studied a brain area called MT, which has a well-established role in processing information about moving visual objects.

To do this, the researchers studied the visual processing of macaque monkeys, examining those who had normal vision and those whose vision was impaired by amblyopia. The researchers recorded both the monkeys' ability to detect motion and how MT's neurons functioned in this process.

Their results showed striking changes in neuron activity in MT. In monkeys with normal vision, the MT neurons responded through both eyes. However, in those with amblyopia, the MT neurons showed stronger response in one eye—usually the one not affected by the disorder. Normal visual motion perception relies on neurons that integrate information about the position of moving objects as they cross the visual image. The NYU researchers found that this ability to integrate motion information was defective in neurons driven through the affected eye, which might explain the animal's deficits in motion perception.

"This study shows that amblyopia results from changes in the brain that extend beyond the primary visual cortex," said J. Anthony Movshon, director of the Center for Neural Science and the paper's senior author, adding that many other affected neurological regions remain undiscovered.

###

The study's other authors were: Yasmine El-Shamayleh, a researcher at NYU's Center for Neural Science; Center for Neural Science Professor Lynne Kiorpes, and Adam Kohn, formerly of NYU and now assistant professor of neuroscience at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Sizing up stockpiles of children's vaccines

2010-09-10
A creative version of a classic engineering technique may improve decisions about building and using supplies of important pediatric vaccines, potentially leading to lower public health costs and healthier children. The United States maintains a six-month supply of common pediatric vaccines to ensure protection from deadly diseases, such as the flu, polio, and diphtheria, despite interruptions in vaccine production. The stockpiles must be replenished as the vaccines are used or expire, and, because the manufacture of vaccines is a laborious and unreliable process, health ...

LiXEdrom: Innovative measuring chamber for X-ray study of liquid jets

2010-09-10
X-rays are the medium of choice for many scientific studies. When you shine them on a sample, they literally shed light on the material's structure, providing loads of information about it. Unfortunately, this mostly applies to solids only, since the sample has to be in a vacuum for the entire time it is being irradiated with soft X-rays. For liquids, that means you have to remove all the water. In the case of biological samples such as proteins, however, this destroys their natural environment. The solution to this problems has always been to measure liquids through membranes. ...

Special focus on glycomics in OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology

2010-09-10
New Rochelle, NY, September 10, 2010—The glycome, encompassing all of the complex sugars produced by an organism, is comprised of multiple families of molecules whose function in the human body is often determined by the structure, composition, and placement of the attached sugars, as explored in a comprehensive look at the field of glycomics in a group of key articles in OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The relevant articles are available free online at www.liebertpub.com/omi Guest ...

Drug holds promise to halt debilitating condition of diabetes

2010-09-10
LAWRENCE — A drug developed at the University of Kansas has the potential to stop a debilitating condition of diabetes that often leads to pain in the extremities and even amputations, KU researchers have found. The researchers recently published an article showing that KU-32 can stop and even reverse diabetic peripheral neuropathy, or DPN, in mice. The condition leads to death of nerves in the extremities of individuals with diabetes. "People with DPN can be very sensitive to light touch, which can cause significant pain," said Rick Dobrowsky, professor of pharmacology ...

The precious commodity of water

2010-09-10
As the General Assembly of the UN resolved on July 28 of this year, clean drinking water and basic sanitary provision are human rights. Unfortunately, there are more than one billion people all over the world who do not have access to drinking water, while as many as 2.6 billion people live without any sanitary systems at all – that is well over one-third of the world's population. Not only that, water is a pre-eminent economic factor because agriculture and industry consume more than four-fifths of this precious commodity these days. A study by the UN indicates that ...

Research shows unemployment programs lacking for people with disabilities

2010-09-10
LAWRENCE — Federal programs to assist the unemployed are failing job seekers with disabilities, according to an investigation by Jean Hall and Kathy Parker of the Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas. The KU study, published recently in the Career Development Quarterly, shows two major federal programs — the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, which requires recipients to find employment within two years, and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which set up "One-Stop" centers to cluster services for the unemployed — have inadequacies ...

Playing snooker with atoms

Playing snooker with atoms
2010-09-10
Designed to be the most spectacular concert hall in Germany, the construction of the Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg is a controversial project, but it is already creating a sensation in the architectural world. Nobody has ever tried to build windows this high, each one five meters tall, of unique dimensions, and glazed with multifunctional insulating glass. The demands on the architectural glass used in modern structures like this are increasing all the time. Quite apart from their large surface area, they also have to offer outstanding optical characteristics and at ...

A smart use for wisdom teeth: Making stem cells

2010-09-10
VIDEO: MSCs taken from wisdom teeth and reprogrammed into stem cells can become numerous other cell types, like these beating cardiomyocytes. Click here for more information. For most people, wisdom teeth are not much more than an annoyance that eventually needs to be removed. However, a new study appearing in the September 17 Journal of Biological Chemistry shows that wisdom teeth contain a valuable reservoir of tissue for the creation of stem cells; thus, everyone might ...

Discovery offers hope of saving sub-Saharan crops from devastating parasites

Discovery offers hope of saving sub-Saharan crops from devastating parasites
2010-09-10
TORONTO, ON – Each year, thousands of acres of crops are planted throughout Africa, Asia and Australia only to be laid to waste by a parasitic plant called Striga, also known as witchweed. It is one of the largest challenges to food security in Africa, and a team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Toronto have discovered chemicals and genes that may break Striga's stranglehold. When crops grow, their roots release a plant hormone called strigolactone. If the soil contains Striga seed, it will use the released strigolactone as a cue to germinate and ...

Graphene may hold key to speeding up DNA sequencing

Graphene may hold key to speeding up DNA sequencing
2010-09-10
Cambridge, Mass. - September 9, 2010 - In a paper published as the cover story of the September 9, 2010 Nature, researchers from Harvard University and MIT have demonstrated that graphene, a surprisingly robust planar sheet of carbon just one-atom thick, can act as an artificial membrane separating two liquid reservoirs. By drilling a tiny pore just a few-nanometers in diameter, called a nanopore, in the graphene membrane, they were able to measure exchange of ions through the pore and demonstrated that a long DNA molecule can be pulled through the graphene nanopore just ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Reality check: making indoor smartphone-based augmented reality work

Overthinking what you said? It’s your ‘lizard brain’ talking to newer, advanced parts of your brain

Black men — including transit workers — are targets for aggression on public transportation, study shows

Troubling spike in severe pregnancy-related complications for all ages in Illinois

Alcohol use identified by UTHealth Houston researchers as most common predictor of escalated cannabis vaping among youths in Texas

Need a landing pad for helicopter parenting? Frame tasks as learning

New MUSC Hollings Cancer Center research shows how Golgi stress affects T-cells' tumor-fighting ability

#16to365: New resources for year-round activism to end gender-based violence and strengthen bodily autonomy for all

Earliest fish-trapping facility in Central America discovered in Maya lowlands

São Paulo to host School on Disordered Systems

New insights into sleep uncover key mechanisms related to cognitive function

USC announces strategic collaboration with Autobahn Labs to accelerate drug discovery

Detroit health professionals urge the community to act and address the dangers of antimicrobial resistance

3D-printing advance mitigates three defects simultaneously for failure-free metal parts 

Ancient hot water on Mars points to habitable past: Curtin study

In Patagonia, more snow could protect glaciers from melt — but only if we curb greenhouse gas emissions soon

Simplicity is key to understanding and achieving goals

Caste differentiation in ants

Nutrition that aligns with guidelines during pregnancy may be associated with better infant growth outcomes, NIH study finds

New technology points to unexpected uses for snoRNA

Racial and ethnic variation in survival in early-onset colorectal cancer

Disparities by race and urbanicity in online health care facility reviews

Exploring factors affecting workers' acquisition of exercise habits using machine learning approaches

Nano-patterned copper oxide sensor for ultra-low hydrogen detection

Maintaining bridge safer; Digital sensing-based monitoring system

A novel approach for the composition design of high-entropy fluorite oxides with low thermal conductivity

A groundbreaking new approach to treating chronic abdominal pain

ECOG-ACRIN appoints seven researchers to scientific committee leadership positions

New model of neuronal circuit provides insight on eye movement

Cooking up a breakthrough: Penn engineers refine lipid nanoparticles for better mRNA therapies

[Press-News.org] NYU researchers identify new neurological deficit behind lazy eye