A study, led by Royal Holloway University researcher Carolyn McGettigan, has identified the brain regions and interactions involved in impersonations and accents. Using an fMRI scanner, the team asked participants, all non-professional impressionists, to repeatedly recite the opening lines of a familiar nursery rhyme either with their normal voice, by impersonating individuals, or by impersonating regional and foreign accents of English. They found that when a voice is deliberately changed, it brings the left anterior insula and inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) of the ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio-– A study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-– Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC–James) has identified a biochemical pathway in cancer stem cells that is essential for promoting head and neck cancer. The study shows that a protein called Nanog, which is normally active in embryonic stem cells, promotes the growth of cancer stem cells in head and neck cancer. The findings provide information essential for designing novel targeted drugs that might improve the treatment ...

Consumers are more likely to pursue goals when they are ambitious yet flexible, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Whether a goal is a high-low range goal (lose 2 to 4 pounds this week) or a single number goal (lose 3 pounds this week) has a systematic effect on goal reengagement. High-low range goals influence consumer goal reengagement through feelings of accomplishment, which itself is driven by the attainability and challenge of the goal," write authors Maura L. Scott (Florida State University) and Stephen M. Nowlis (Washington University ...

Research from the University of Adelaide shows that iodized salt used in bread is not enough to provide healthy levels of iodine for pregnant women and their unborn children. The study-– led by researchers from the University's Robinson Institute – has prompted calls for pregnant women to keep taking iodine supplements. Iodine deficiency is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the most common preventable cause of brain damage in the world. "Iodine is an essential element which is important for human brain development and thyroid function," says one ...

Consumers may not enjoy receiving free perks or upgrades in public, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Preferential treatment is often conferred in public settings. When preferential treatment is unearned rather than earned, the presence of other consumers who do not receive the same treatment can diminish satisfaction for the consumer receiving preferential treatment," write authors Lan Jiang (University of Oregon), JoAndrea Hoegg, and Darren W. Dahl (both University of British Columbia). Preferential treatment (where only some consumers ...

Consumers seated in circular arrangements feel a greater need to belong than those seated in angular layouts, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "The geometric shape of a seating arrangement can impact consumers by priming one of two fundamental needs: a need to belong or a need to be unique. Consumers will be most favorable toward persuasion material (advertising) that is consistent with the primed need," write authors Rui (Juliet) Zhu (University of British Columbia) and Jennifer J. Argo (University of Alberta). Seating arrangements matter ...

First impressions of experiences have a greater impact when consumers share the experience with others, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "When consumers consume an experience alone, the end of the experience has a greater effect on their overall evaluations. On the other hand, when consumers consume an experience with others, the beginning has a greater influence on how they judge the entire experience," write authors Rajesh Bhargave (University of Texas, San Antonio) and Nicole Votolato Montgomery (University of Virginia). Experiences (vacations, ...

Treating patients with dementia can be viewed as a difficult task for doctors, but Penn State College of Medicine researchers say that storytelling may be one way to improve medical students' perceptions of people affected by the condition. Participation in a creative storytelling program called TimeSlips creates a substantial improvement in student attitudes. Daniel George, assistant professor of humanities, tested the effects of the TimeSlips program in an elective course he teaches at the college. Fourth-year medical students worked with patients at Country Meadows, ...

It is estimated that between 5% and 10% of breast and ovarian cancers are familial in origin, which is to say that these tumours are attributable to inherited mutations from the parents in genes such as BRCA1 or BRCA2. In patients with these mutations, PARP inhibitors, which are currently in clinical trials, have shown encouraging results that make them a new option for personalised cancer treatment, an alternative to standard chemotherapy. Nevertheless, the latest studies indicate that a fraction of these patients generate resistance to the drug and, therefore, stop responding ...

A new study has analysed tens of thousands of articles available to readers of online news and created a model to find out 'what makes people click'. The researchers developed a model of "news appeal" based on the words contained in an article's title and text intro, which is what a reader uses when they choose to click on a story. The study by academics at the University of Bristol's Intelligent Systems Laboratory is published in a series of publications. The aim of the study was to model the reading preferences for the audiences of 14 online news outlets using machine ...

University of Huddersfield researcher, Dr Daniel Boduszek, has co authored a an article in the Journal of Ciminal Psychology that analyses the relationship between psycopathy and criminal behaviour. The paper provides a critical review of psychopathy literature, with a particular focus on recent research examining the relationship between psychopathy and various forms of criminal behaviour. The results indicate that substantial empirical research exists to suggest that psychopathy is a robust predictor of criminal behaviour and recidivism. Furthermore, considerable ...

Consumers choose lower-priced products and are more satisfied with their purchase when products are organized by benefits instead of features, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "It matters whether products are organized by features or benefits. Simply changing the way the same set of products is organized impacts how consumers process information and make choices," write authors Cait Poynor Lamberton (University of Pittsburgh) and Kristin Diehl (University of Southern California). Consumers frequently shop for products that have been organized ...

Whether a person believes obesity is caused by overeating or by a lack of exercise predicts his or her actual body mass, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Obesity has become a pressing public health issue in recent years, with two-thirds of U.S. adults classified as overweight or obese and similar trends unfolding in many developed nations. Researchers Brent McFerran of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and Anirban Mukhopadhyay of Hong Kong University of Science ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Kids whose moms encourage them to exercise and eat well, and model those healthy behaviors themselves, are more likely to be active and healthy eaters, according to researchers at Duke Medicine. Their findings, published online in the International Journal of Obesity on June 18, 2013, remind parents that they are role models for their children, and underscore the importance of parental policies promoting physical activity and healthy eating. Exercise and healthy diets are critical in fighting childhood obesity, a considerable problem in the United States, ...

Scientists are scrambling to gather data for the FDA to support the need for a blood test to diagnose brain injury in the United States. The University of Rochester Medical Center just added significant evidence by reporting in the Journal of Neurotrauma that it might be clinically useful to measure two brain biomarkers instead of one. Jeffrey J. Bazarian, M.D., M.P.H., an associate professor of Emergency Medicine at URMC, believes he's the first to show that measuring a combination of two proteins released into the bloodstream after a head injury might be the best way ...

Irvine, Calif., June 18, 2013 — The herbal extract of a yellow-flowered mountain plant long used for stress relief was found to increase the lifespan of fruit fly populations by an average of 24 percent, according to UC Irvine researchers. But it's how Rhodiola rosea, also known as golden root, did this that grabbed the attention of study leaders Mahtab Jafari and Sam Schriner. They discovered that Rhodiola works in a manner completely unrelated to dietary restriction and affects different molecular pathways. This is significant, said Jafari, associate professor of ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers conclude in a new report that a global push for small hydropower projects, supported by various nations and also the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, may cause unanticipated and potentially significant losses of habitat and biodiversity. An underlying assumption that small hydropower systems pose fewer ecological concerns than large dams is not universally valid, scientists said in the report. A five-year study, one of the first of its type, concluded that for certain environmental impacts the cumulative damage caused by ...

NEW YORK (June 18, 2013)-- An international team of investigators co-led by Weill Cornell Medical College is offering a new framework for evidence-based surgery and device research, similar to the kind of risk and benefit analysis used in evidence-based medicine. "Currently, there is no dynamic research framework to systematically detect devices and surgeries that don't offer any benefits to patients or may even be harmful," says co-lead investigator Dr. Art Sedrakyan of Weill Cornell Medical College. In the June 18 issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), Dr. Sedrakyan ...

Chicago (June 18, 2013): With Medicare penalties on hospitals with higher-than-expected rates of 30-day readmissions expected to rise in 2014, more hospitals are evaluating the most accurate methods for tracking readmissions of patients. A new study appearing in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons finds that the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program® (ACS NSQIP®) led to more accurate data tracking than another popular database, the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), for tracking 30-day hospital readmissions ...

DALLAS – June 18, 2013 – Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of aortic atherosclerosis can predict the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events in otherwise healthy individuals, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. The investigation, published in the June issue of Radiology, is the first large-scale study to evaluate the predictive value of MRI measures of aortic atherosclerosis for future cardiac events. Using MRI, researchers at UT Southwestern were able to measure in thousands of participants very subtle but highly significant differences ...

For less than $100, University of Washington researchers have designed a computer-interfaced drawing pad that helps scientists see inside the brains of children with learning disabilities while they read and write. The device and research using it to study the brain patterns of children will be presented June 18 at the Organization for Human Brain Mapping meeting in Seattle. A paper describing the tool, developed by the UW's Center on Human Development and Disability, was published this spring in Sensors, an online open-access journal. "Scientists needed a tool that allows ...

A new study confirms directly what scientists previously knew only indirectly: The poisonous "rotten egg" gas hydrogen sulfide is generated by our body's growing cells. Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, is normally toxic, but in small amounts it plays a role in cardiovascular health. In the new study, chemists developed a chemical probe that reacts and lights up when live human cells generate hydrogen sulfide, says chemist Alexander R. Lippert, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. The discovery allows researchers to observe the process through a microscope. The researchers ...

President Obama officially declared June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. However, despite advances in civil rights, sexual minority youth are still at greater risk for suicide than their heterosexual peers, according to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. A University of Missouri psychology graduate student recently published recommendation to improve psychologists' treatment of sexual minority youth, which could help improve psychological functioning and reduce depression and suicide rates. "Psychologists sometimes face a particular ...

STANFORD, Calif. - In autism, brain regions tailored to respond to voices are poorly connected to reward-processing circuits, according to a new study by scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The research could help explain why children with autism struggle to grasp the social and emotional aspects of human speech. "Weak brain connectivity may impede children with autism from experiencing speech as pleasurable," said Vinod Menon, PhD, senior author of the study, which will be published online June 17 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ...

Blind people sometimes develop the amazing ability to perceive the contours of the room they're in based only on auditory information. Bats and dolphins use the same echolocation technique for navigating in their environment. At EPFL, a team from the Audiovisual Communications Laboratory (LCAV), under the direction of Professor Martin Vetterli, has developed a computer algorithm that can accomplish this from a sound that's picked up by four microphones. Their experiment is being published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). "Our software ...