(Press-News.org) The size and shape of the human cerebral cortex, an evolutionary marvel responsible for everything from Shakespeare's poetry to the atomic bomb, are largely influenced by mutations in a single gene, according to a team of researchers led by the Yale School of Medicine and three other universities.
The findings, reported April 28 in the American Journal of Human Genetics, are based on a genetic analysis of in one Turkish family and two Pakistani families with offspring born with the most severe form of microcephaly. The children have brains just 10 percent of normal size. They also lacked the normal cortical architecture that is a hallmark of the human brain. This combination of factors has not been seen in other genes associated with the development of the human brain, the authors note.
The researchers found that mutations in the same gene, centrosomal NDE1, which is involved in cell division, were responsible for the deformity.
"The degree of reduction in the size of the cerebral cortex and the effects on brain morphology suggest this gene plays a key role in the evolution of the human brain," said Murat Gunel, co-senior author of the paper and the Nixdorff-German Professor of Neurosurgery and professor of genetics and neurobiology at Yale.
Scientists from Yale, the University of Cambridge, Harvard and Northwestern universities collaborated on the study with colleagues around the world, including those in Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
"These findings demonstrate how single molecules have influenced the expansion of the human cerebral cortex in the last five million years," Gunel said. "We are now a little closer to understanding just how this miracle happens."
INFORMATION:
The research was funded by the Yale Program on Neurogenetics, the Yale Center for Human Genetics and Genomics, the National Institutes of Health and the Wellcome-Trust.
Mehmet Bakircioglu of Yale was co-first author of the paper. Other Yale authors on the paper are Tanyeri Barak, Saliha Yilmaz, Okay Caglayan and Kaya Bilguvar.
Mutations in single gene may have shaped human cerebral cortex
2011-04-29
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Unlock Advantage Provides Simple Instructions With Requested Blackberry and Nokia Unlock Codes
2011-04-29
Unlock Advantage specializes in providing unlock phones along with hassle-free instructions. Whether your phone is a Nokia E7, a Blackberry Style 9670, or any other of hundreds of models, Unlock Advantage can help you get maximum benefit out of your cell phone.
Everything looks crystal clear on the high-quality 4" touch screen on your Nokia E7 cell phone. Some of your advanced mobile features on this sleek phone include real-time push e-mails with Mail For Exchange and effortless access to both your work and private e-mail accounts from the same view. You can also ...
Video captures cellular 'workhorses' in action
2011-04-29
VIDEO:
Thread-like actin filaments, strong as commercial plastic, are the muscular workhorses of our cells -- pushing on membranes to move cells to the proper location within tissues and applying pressure...
Click here for more information.
Scientists at Yale University and in Grenoble France have succeeded in creating a movie showing the breakup of actin filaments, the thread-like structures inside cells that are crucial to their movement, maintenance and division.
Actin ...
BU researchers probe link between theta rhythm and ability of animals to track location
2011-04-29
In a paper to be published today [April 29, 2011] in the journal Science, a team of Boston University researchers under the direction of Michael Hasselmo, professor of psychology and director of Boston University's Computational Neurophysiology Laboratory, and Mark Brandon, a recent graduate of the Graduate Program for Neuroscience at Boston University, present findings that support the hypothesis that spatial coding by grid cells requires theta rhythm oscillations, and dissociates the mechanisms underlying the generation of entorhinal grid cell periodicity and head-direction ...
LeFluer Transportation Engages Compliance Safety Systems Driver File Services
2011-04-29
Compliance Safety Systems announced today that the LeFluer Transportation Corp. of Ridgeland, Mississippi has engaged the services of Compliance Safety Systems for their Electronic Driver File capabilities. This new relationship will allow LeFluer Transportation Corp. to take advantage of creating a paperless driver file record keeping process that Compliance Safety Systems, (CSS), provides for employers. LeFluer Transportation is moving to electronic employee files to help them to have better control and review of these documents from remote locations.
About LeFluer ...
Fluctuations before the fall: Predicting and preventing environmental collapse
2011-04-29
(Millbrook, N.Y.) By closely monitoring environmental conditions at a remote Wisconsin lake, researchers have found that models used to assess catastrophic changes in economic and medical systems can also predict environmental collapse. Stock market crashes, epileptic seizures, and ecological breakdowns are all preceded by a measurable increase in variance—be it fluctuations in brain waves, the Dow Jones index, or, in the case of the Wisconsin lake, chlorophyll.
In a paper published this week in the journal Science, a team of ecologists is the first to show that by paying ...
Precise Air Systems, Inc. Has Been Providing Services for HVAC in Los Angeles Since 1975 and Offers Tips for Running Your Air Conditioner Efficiently
2011-04-29
When the temperatures heat up dramatically, the air conditioner runs nonstop, putting a huge burden on the cooling system. It could help save money on energy costs and reduce your need for air conditioning repair in Los Angeles if you run your air conditioner efficiently. Precise Air Systems, Inc. provides helpful tips:
- Set your thermostat at 78 degree Fahrenheit and leave it there. Moving the thermostat to a lower temperature setting won't get your home to 78 degree any faster.
- Keep your blinds and curtains closed to keep the direct rays of the sun from entering ...
Clinical trial recommends new antibiotic for treating typhoid in low income countries
2011-04-29
A large clinical trial comparing treatments for typhoid has recommended the use of gatifloxacin, a new generation and affordable antibiotic. The results of the trial in Kathmandu, Nepal, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Li Ka Shing Foundation, are published today in the Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Typhoid – also known as 'enteric fever' – is characterised by a high fever and diarrhoea. It is transmitted through the ingestion of food or drink contaminated by the faeces or urine of infected people. It causes an estimated 26 million infections each year and over 200,000 ...
Concern over 'excessive' doses of thyroid drugs for older patients
2011-04-29
Many older adults may be taking "excessive" doses of drugs for thyroid problems which can lead to an increased risk of fractures, finds a study published on bmj.com today.
The study raises concern that treatment targets may need to be modified in the elderly and that regular dose monitoring remains essential even into older age.
Levothyroxine is a synthetic form of thyroxine (thyroid hormone) and is widely used to treat an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism).
Most hypothyroid patients are diagnosed in early or middle adulthood but, as people age, their thyroxine ...
Electrical oscillations found to be critical for storing spatial memories in brain
2011-04-29
Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered that electrical oscillations in the brain, long thought to play a role in organizing cognitive functions such as memory, are critically important for the brain to store the information that allows us to navigate through our physical environment.
The scientists report in the April 29 issue of the journal Science that neurons called "grid cells" that create maps of the external environment in one portion of our brain require precisely timed electrical oscillations in order to function properly from another part of the brain that ...
Use of costly breast cancer therapy strongly influenced by reimbursement policy
2011-04-29
What Medicare would pay for and where a radiation oncologist practiced were two factors that strongly influenced the choice of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for treating breast cancer, according to an article published April 29 online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The use of IMRT and the cost of radiation therapy increased sharply over the period of the study.
IMRT is a radiation delivery technique that modulates the radiation beams to conform to the shape of the tumor or tumor bed in an attempt to maximize the dose of radiation to the ...