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Tiny gene change affects brain size, IQ › News in Science (ABC Science)

Tiny gene change affects brain size, IQ › News in Science (ABC Science) | Science News | Scoop.it
The largest brain study of its kind had found a gene linked to intelligence.

 

Who would have thought getting two C's would make such a difference............

 

'The variant occurs on HMGA2 where there is just a single change in the permutation of the four 'letters' of the genetic code.

 

DNA, the blueprint for life, comprises four basic chemicals called A (for adenine), C (cytosine), T (thymine) and G (guanine), strung together in different combinations along a double helix.

 

In this case, the researchers found that people with a double 'C' and no 'T' in a specific section of the HMGA2 gene had bigger brains on average.

 

"It is a strange result, you wouldn't think that something as simple as one small change in the genetic code could explain differences in intelligence worldwide," says Thompson, a neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

 


Via Janet Devlin
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Are Some Teenagers Wired for Addiction?

Are Some Teenagers Wired for Addiction? | Science News | Scoop.it
Some teenagers may be more inclined to experiment with drugs and alcohol, simply because their brains work differently, making them more impulsive, a new study shows.
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Memetics, Schematics, and Cultural Genetics

Memetics, Schematics, and Cultural Genetics | Science News | Scoop.it
Recently I came across a reference to memetics, which I've heard of and frankly dismissed as a conflation of the biological and cultural, similar to UG, in a way that ignores the cognitive processe...

Articles about NEUROSCIENCE: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?page=7&tag=neuroscience

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Cloning scientists create human brain cells

Cloning scientists create human brain cells | Science News | Scoop.it
Scientists in Edinburgh who pioneered cloning have made a technological breakthrough that could pave the way for better medical treatment of mental illnesses and nerve diseases...
Hillary Hawke's curator insight, December 13, 2012 11:13 AM

Edinburgh scientists have created brain tisuue (from skin cells) from patients suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar depression, and other mental illnesses. They can use the cloned brain tissue to test different medications on them in order to find a cure for these mental illnesses. However, it is not confirmed that this will work. The medication will only be tested on cloned brain cells, it can cause harmful affects to other parts of the body as well. Also, there is no way to tell how the mental illness will progress in different patients, therefore it may not work for everyone.

Benn Bland's comment, December 20, 2012 12:18 AM
This is a remarkable find. This technology can lead to understanding illnesses that affects thousands if not millions of people around the world. It also has the potential to be adapted to rebuild cells from other parts of the body which were or still thought to be impossible. Is it possible that one day we may be able to clone back a persons leg or other missing body part potentially as complicated as the eye?
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Neuroscientists Identify a Master Controller of Memory

Neuroscientists Identify a Master Controller of Memory | Science News | Scoop.it
One gene appears to regulate the brain's ability to form new memories.
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Changes in the path of brain development make human brains unique

Changes in the path of brain development make human brains unique | Science News | Scoop.it
How the human brain and human cognitive abilities evolved in less than six million years has long puzzled scientists.
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The Ethics of Designer Brains | Re-Envision | Big Think

The Ethics of Designer Brains | Re-Envision | Big Think | Science News | Scoop.it

Our values as a society will determine which psychopharmaceuticals and (down the road) which genetic enhancement technologies we choose to develop and how we use them.

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Human brain shaped by duplicate genes

Human brain shaped by duplicate genes | Science News | Scoop.it
Multiple copies of a gene may have boosted the computational power of our ancestors' brains.
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Human Brain Reveals New Type of Stem Cell

Human Brain Reveals New Type of Stem Cell | Science News | Scoop.it

Scientists may have discovered one of the sources of new neurons. For a long time the human brain was thought to be unable to produce new nerve cells during one's life, but that was proven false in recent years. Now, experts find where the new neurons originate.

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Sex-specific behaviors traced to hormone-controlled genes in the brain

The new evidence shows that the sex hormones – testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone – act in a key region of the brain, switching certain genes on and others off.
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Family History of Alcoholism May Affect Adolescents’ Brains - Psych Central News

Family History of Alcoholism May Affect Adolescents’ Brains - Psych Central News | Science News | Scoop.it
A new study has found that the brains of adolescents with a family history of alcoholism respond differently while making risky decisions than the brains of...
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Neuroscientists identify a master controller of memory

Neuroscientists identify a master controller of memory | Science News | Scoop.it
When you experience a new event, your brain encodes a memory of it by altering the connections between neurons. This requires turning on many genes in those neurons.
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Race differences in average IQ are largely genetic (Controversial research)

A 60-page review of the scientific evidence, some based on state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brain size, has concluded that race differences in average IQ are largely genetic.
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Our brains are made of the same stuff, despite DNA differences

Our brains are made of the same stuff, despite DNA differences | Science News | Scoop.it
Despite vast differences in the genetic code across individuals and ethnicities, the human brain shows a “consistent molecular architecture.” The finding is from a pair of studies that have created databases revealing when and where genes turn on...
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