有趣的失眠症博客

Science fiction is now science for everyone
You've seen the old movies. A terrified victim elaborately wired up with electrodes on the head, strapped down in the lab of a mad scientist. He is about to steal the brain with the flip of a switch. Visible electrical impulses zap through air as the loud buzzing confirms that, YES, it is WORKING! And then the poor captive's brain is emptied. That is what many people envision when the process of “neurofeedback” is described.

However, despite placing some electrodes on the patient's head, actual neurofeedback is quite gentle. It is often a very effective way to either reduce symptoms or eliminate them altogether for a wide range of brain-related issues.

And instead of some wild-eyed scientist in a dirty lab coat maniacally throwing a switch, the real control rests entirely with the patient's own thoughts.

神經反饋是一個比較複雜的表妹生物反饋，專門改變腦電波的病人，以減輕腦產生症狀。 該技術已研究和仔細研究了30年。 新的研究顯示對以前無法治療條件的承諾。

即使是批評主流腦研究已經通過神經反饋療法。 馬克是一名作家瓦爾德曼從卡馬里奧誰專門從事大腦相關利益冥想和祈禱。 瓦爾德曼是聲樂懷疑論者許多傳統醫療實踐和研究，但在看到巨大潛力神經回饋。

“神經科學就是在這樣一個狀態處於起步階段，我想說，我們主要是做神經猜測，”沃爾德曼說。 “但是我非常深刻的印象研究神經反饋。”

簡單地說，神經反饋是相同的方式進行生物反饋，由被掛接到一個監測自己的身體功能，只是它的重點是病人的腦電波。 生物反饋，病人手錶心跳，血壓等功能，通常是從他或她的意識，並試圖對其進行管理。

神經反饋類似，但往往一開始就定量腦電圖（腦電圖），它是用於創建地圖的腦電波。 使用此地圖，治療師診斷是怎麼回事在大腦中，精確定位的準確腦波是不規則的，並設計了治療方案教學的病人安排他或她自己的腦電波。 一旦腦波發生改變，患者感覺症狀減輕和提高大腦中的功能。 有時候，其結果可能是永久性的。

神經回饋的好處是很多的。 是無創治療，它不會影響任何其他部分身體的方式，藥物作用於整個身體，有沒有報告的負面影響。

但是，神經反饋有它的問題了。 對於許多情況下，治療是一個長期和持續 comittment，要求的動力和參與病人。 這通常需要兩個或三個訪治療師每星期，常常幾個月。 該設備價格昂貴，通常只在醫生的辦公室，但也有一些治療師開發的移動治療。

而對許多人來說最大的障礙是成本的神經反饋療法。 如果丸是可用的，是專為這一條件，保險提供者希望價格便宜，簡易公路的藥物。 誰可能是患者的時間限制或誰正在尋找緊急救濟通常發現服用避孕藥要容易得多比去兩至三次治療一個星期。

另外，在藥物治療通常是投保，神經反饋仍標記為實驗的最保險的公司。 但有些保險計劃將支付部分治療，根據雙方的合作計劃和對病人的初級保健醫生。

臨床心理學家巴巴拉布魯姆一直使用的圖拉在她的神經回饋實踐約 12年，並表示公司有時保險幫助支付治療。 “如果病人的醫生是一個主張，它可以幫助獲得一些保險覆蓋面，”她說。 “我的病人大約有一半得到某種形式償還。”

避孕藥妄想
據布魯姆，製藥公司可以有巨大的影響力都在醫生和病人。 許多醫生仍然接受“贈品”，從醫藥公司，從筆來迎合辦公室午餐，全面的“教育”中介人。 有時，藥物製造商可能償還醫生提供病人參加藥物試驗，有時並沒有意識到，病人，醫生正在付出的藥物製造商。

“這不是一件容易的道路，”布盧姆說。 “我得到了很多人在我的實踐誰一直在服藥前，有時幾十年來，特別是抑鬱症的人，他們可能從一個藥到另一個。 許多醫生並不認為開箱。“

然而，最近的研究指出了日益嚴重的問題，完全可以通過藥物治療抑鬱症的治療。 首先，研究人員發現，三分之二的家庭醫生和精神病醫生的四分之一不使用既定協議確定存在嚴重抑鬱症。 這可能導致患者有輕度至中度抑鬱症抗抑鬱藥的處方有昂貴，有時幾十年。

第二個問題，現在暴露出來的是，這些相同的抗憂鬱藥物，而被相當有效的重度憂鬱症，不太有效的輕，中度抑鬱症。 這可以解釋為什麼有些患者嘗試了很多不同的抗抑鬱藥在尋找一個真正幫助他們。

另一個問題是安慰劑效應，研究結果產生偏差。 瓦爾德曼認為它已被故意最小化的科學研究結論多年。 “許多藥物，已經通過了FDA的批准，因為不通過今天的安慰劑效應，”他說。 “安慰劑效應在本質上是你內心的信念和信心自己，醫生和治療。 如果你相信它工作，它的工作。 即使是糖丸，即使你知道你被給予安慰劑。“

當改變你的心真的有效
何時是適當和有效的神經反饋治療？ 什麼樣的條件沒有幫助改善或治愈？ 又有哪些患者最適合這種類型的治療？

一個病人誰決定探索神經反饋需要知道會發生什麼事情方面的實際進程，合理期望的成功。

加布里埃爾（化名）是一名21歲的大學生誰計劃成為一名教師。 但她的戰鬥與偏頭痛，以及隨之而來的焦慮時，下一個會命中，使熬過這些天越來越多的困難。 加布里埃爾說，藥物治療是有益的，但它只是一個臨時解決方案。 她想阻止頭痛和移動完全與她的生活。

“神經反饋是一個很大的承諾，但結果卻是如此成功，以至於它已經是一個容易作出的決定對我來說，”加布里埃爾說。 “我是一名學生，我的工作，我仍然可以接收兩種治療一個星期只歷時約一個半小時。 在一周內處理，我的頭痛都不見了，我沒有任何至今。“

加布里埃爾說，頭痛的感覺淹沒了她的日常生活。 “我的態度已經改變了未來，”她說。 “我很興奮，我將永遠不會再次遭受頭痛。 為什麼暫時緩解這個問題時，你可以解決它？“

治療師都不願意保證治愈的任何條件，然而幾十年來的研究表明，神經反饋可以減輕症狀，改善了患者的生活質量。

除了頭痛和情緒障礙，如抑鬱，焦慮和強迫症（強迫症），神經反饋可用於解決地址（注意缺陷障礙）和ADHD（注意缺陷多動障礙），目前的條件，往往在兒童時期。 誰是孩子無法集中或過動誰是通常使用藥物治療。 這些藥物已經非常有效，但對許多兒童，與所有的臨時解決方案，他們穿脫和條件依然存在。 許多家長擔心的是這些藥物的副作用，而在過去，家庭醫生有時被指責為過於快速的藥物處方沒有一個完整的精神科工作和診斷。

布魯姆說，有科學證據表明，神經反饋可以提高地址/多動症的症狀。 “我們現在有初步的研究，表明人的地址有變化，他們的大腦皮質下的一個結果作為衡量神經回饋訓練前和後的功能核磁共振成像，”她說。

布盧默神經回饋的方式解釋工作。 “看來，繞過一個人的基因成分的佈線和再培訓的腦袋，”她說。 “隨著重複訓練，大腦持有修正。”

其他難以治療的條件，如纖維肌痛，慢性疲勞綜合徵，後小兒麻痺症候群神經回饋作出了回應。 布魯姆表示，所有這些症狀無法攜帶寐。 腦圖與這些條件的患者已表示在場的超額的α腦波，甚至在睡覺。

“有一個固定的節奏的α腦波空轉”布盧姆說。 “當你無法進入深睡眠，免疫系統不癒合。 如果你不睡覺，你不癒合。 我不會說明確，疼痛消失了纖維肌痛，但神經反饋提高了生活質量。“

另一個條件是常常忽略的是創傷性腦損傷。 布盧姆呼籲輕度顱腦損傷“沉默的流行病”，因為損害是不可見的與傳統的測試，如CT（計算機斷層掃描）掃描或MRIs（磁共振成像）。 兩組患者不成比例地受到這種類型的腦損傷是退伍軍人返回從中東和職業足球球員。 但它可以發生在任何人。

琳達（化名）是一個十幾歲的女兒的母親因頭部受傷誰當她還是個嬰兒。 琳達說她的女兒已經下降了一個表時，她三個月大，突出她的頭。 兒科醫生把她揮手說，由於沒有明顯的傷害，她都會好起來的。 但琳達的女兒在她的掙扎與學業的童年。

那些誰可能已經發現的問題繼續點琳達在錯誤的方向。 在二年級的老師告訴她，她的女兒地址。 琳達說，六年來，她把她女兒的醫生和專家，尋找答案。 她說，家庭醫生只提供藥物，琳達迴避，以避免副作用。 參觀一個神經科醫生也令人沮喪。

“神經學家相信她沒有受到結構性損害，”琳達說。 “他說，她只是不喜歡學校，因為他做了電腦測試通過注意和我的女兒。”

琳達感到無力幫助她的女兒。 “每一年，她在學校後面進一步下跌，遭受低自尊，疲勞和嚴重挫折，”她說。 “我覺得有沒有幫助，這是非常令人沮喪。”琳達懷疑她的女兒沒有得到適當的睡眠。 牙醫排除睡眠呼吸暫停，並說她的呼吸似乎是正常的。

只有當琳達和她的女兒大腦映射做了創傷性腦損傷出現。 “她的腦波更接近大部分時間睡覺，”她說。 “她還腦波會導致焦慮和失眠症狀在夜間和阻止她接收舒適的睡眠。”在14歲，琳達的女兒終於有了一個診斷和治療，在10屆會議是明顯改善了。

一個可能的突破
神經反饋也被用來治療毒癮，中風，癲癇，大小便失禁，控制體重，平衡的問題及老年癡呆症。 但現在最大的新聞是新記錄成功，自閉症。

湯姆博士索倫森西湖村是一個臨床心理學家誰一直在使用10年神經反饋治療作為一種輔助傳統的談話治療。 他說，他並沒有嚴格限制神經反饋治療，以辦公室訪問。

“我使用大量的帶回家的設備，使病人能接受治療，一周七天在需要的時候。”索倫森說，他還依賴於詳細的大腦成像技術。

最近有一篇文章對自閉症已經獲得了他的注意。 “其中最令人興奮的研究思路出現今年是一篇關於能夠掃描自閉症兒童的大腦，”索倫森說。 “這是因為神經反饋被應用。 然後研究人員繪製了神經生長的頂葉和顳葉著右額葉皮層。 這些數據表明一個戲劇性的改善，認知和社交技巧。 這是非常令人興奮，因為一旦連接後，治療停止，連接繼續增長自己。“

心靈遊戲
潛在的神經回饋技術的使用是作為一個敞開的想像力。 能夠操作一個對象你的頭腦，實際上是一種輕微的形式telekenesis，聽起來很有意思。 美泰工業和叔叔米爾頓他們每人都同意，一個一鳴驚人的遊戲市場上最後一個冬天。 它們都使用相同的格式：玩家戴上耳機，可以監控腦電波。 通過集中或側重，玩家控制一個風扇，通過一個小球運動過程中的障礙。 Mindlflex由美泰運行 80美元和部隊訓練師米爾頓叔叔費用由130美元。 世嘉玩具和東芝公司最近聯手開發電腦遊戲，一靈力的主題。

但使用電波的並不止於此。 本田和豐田都可以研究如何利用該技術無論是在汽車和輪椅。 和一個研究部門的國防部已發出 3450萬美元到巴爾的摩約翰霍普金斯大學的發展作出響應想到假肢控制四肢癱瘓的病人。

改變你的大腦沒有神經反饋
瓦爾德曼寫了大量的書籍和演講大腦內部的變化，以及如何改進其功能沒有神經反饋。 他研究的影響，冥想和祈禱對大腦的延伸，可以看到斷層顯像（單光子發射計算機斷層掃描）掃描和核磁共振。 看起來都深入到大腦的領域比顯示的腦電波。

“至於對大腦的影響，類似於冥想祈禱長達 12分鐘，每天通過集中專注一些積極的概念或任何對象，讓你感覺幸福的，”沃爾德曼說。 “這樣做後 8週，你將開始看到的結構和功能變化的大腦。 對於高級修行，你會發現變化，對大腦功能區高達百分之25，和結構的變化多達百分之十。 這是巨大的。“

沃爾德曼說，這種類型的冥想與宗教無關。 “這似乎並不不管什麼宗教或靈性它從何而來，”他說。 “你可以帶它的宗派方面，教它一個世俗的層面上，插入一個完全不同的神學，它是一樣有效。”

沃爾德曼 mentions多途徑提高你的大腦。 “有一個 30年的縱向研究的梅奧診所和40年的縱向研究顯示，從杜克大學有一個樂觀的框架和信仰字面上兩年增加了你的生活，”他說。 “所有的研究在希望，信心和樂觀表明，它可能是最好的事情你可以做你的大腦。”

joanbien@sbclgobal.net

巴里，安大略省。 - 如果聯邦衛生部和世界衛生組織說，WiFi技術在學校是安全的，那麼孩子們都好了，安大略省的教育部長說。

利昂娜Dombrowsky，誰訪問了該地區週三表示，無線技術是不會去任何地方，儘管提出的一些問題錫姆科縣父母，它會導致健康的負面影響，症狀，家長聲稱已經消失在暑假。

有沒有計劃為全省教育部承擔其自己獨立的測試問題，Dombrowsky說，儘管技術是“共同”在大多數安大略省的學校。

“如果加拿大衛生部說，這是安全的，那麼我相信，這就是”Dombrowsky採訪時表示達威機構。

一些科學家和研究人員說，負面影響，長期暴露在電磁輻射和微波包括頭痛，睡眠紊亂和疲勞。

Dombrowsky收到有關家長的來信，這是當時傳遞給聯邦衛生部長利昂娜Aglukkaq，誰有望直接回答這個問題。

“這是她的專業領域，”Dombrowsky說。

“作為教育部長，我靠的政府機構有責任去考慮這些事情，”她補充說。 “這將是聯邦衛生部，也是世界衛生組織（WHO）的。”

父主導錫姆科縣學校安全委員會（SCSSC）希望董事會返回到舊硬盤，有線互聯網連接。

然而，學校董事會也表示，如果加拿大衛生部說，無線網絡是安全的兒童接觸，它認為沒有理由改變。

該 SCSSC說，有一種“病集群”的14名學生在山景城小學在Collingwood，安大略省。，包括4名兒童誰開發的核心條件。 其他症狀包括慢性頭痛，頭暈，失眠症狀和皮疹。

小學四巴里在衛生問題已報告 SCSSC包括特里福克斯，霍利梅多斯，芬代老虎伍茲和梅波爾維尤高地。

蘇珊克拉克，一位研究無線電頻率輻射生物效應，以桑伯里上週對 WiFi技術的影響。 以往的研究顧問，美國哈佛大學公共衛生學院表示，無線微波輻射部署在同一頻率，認為微波爐。

“孩子的大腦吸收這種輻射最大，”她說。 “孩子們還吸收微波輻射比成年人更容易，因為他們有較薄頭骨。”

英國物理學家巴里特羅爾，誰勸英國情報機構對蘇聯的使用微波武器在冷戰期間也表示WiFi將影響青年學生。

“如果你把一個微波無線系統進入一所學校，你肯定會看到孩子生病，”特羅爾說。

炎熱，潮濕，夏季長天移動不少家庭
聚會和社交活動，以更愉快的夜晚小時。
熱指數，晚睡覺的時候，但是，可能會導致問題的
老年人。

天氣會引發呼吸急促，許多老年人
累了晚上七時好消息？ 這兩種症狀
可治療，不應撇老化的跡象，醫生
說。

想早點上床睡覺，是所謂“先進睡眠期
綜合症“，即當一個人的內部時鐘，或
晝夜節律，是不安。 它使得人們去睡覺
任何地方從 6日至9時及早醒，有時小時
黎明之前。

“他們早上五點起床的感覺就像他們有失眠症狀，”說
馬爾霍特拉拉曼博士共同主任，聖路易斯大學 SLUCare
睡眠障礙中心。 “他們的內部時鐘未設置什麼
社會的。“

馬爾霍特拉說，只有約百分之一的成年人擁有綜合徵，
但患病率隨著年齡的增長，使得許多人認為這是
正常的老年人睡覺那麼早。

“人們認為他們退休了，不要有很多的活動
計劃。 但老年人抱怨他們無法保持清醒的任何
活動孫子或孩子或朋友，“他說。

治療很容易，因為陽光照射可以改變睡眠
圖案，馬爾霍特拉解釋。 當老人開始感到困倦，
他們應該打開百葉窗，花時間之外。 當他們醒來
註冊於上午05時，他們應該保持窗簾畫，而不是讓光線
英寸光照治療尤其適宜這個時候一年
天都長，他說。 多次治療應重新調整其
內部時鐘。

治療綜合徵安眠藥不會做的伎倆，
馬爾霍特拉說，因為他們將不得不採取醒來時
並可能導致白天嗜睡。

呼吸問題也誤解是老人，
據雷蒙德斯萊文博士，教授，內科
聖路易斯和SLUCare過敏。 哮喘 - 這可引發熱
濕度 - 通常是誤診為過敏或誤
其他條件，如支氣管炎。

“有時候，這是因為無論是確診病人和
醫生認為，越來越氣短，只是部分
老化的過程，“他說。 “你不能做的事情，你74
並在45。“

另外，哮喘被認為是一個年輕的人的病，斯萊文
說。 許多人不知道，百分之四十首次哮喘
案件發生在那些40歲或以上。

哮喘的主要症狀是咳嗽和氣短，常常
在半夜。 這加劇了體力消耗;
或接觸花粉，黴菌或寵物的皮屑，斯萊文說。

“的重要性在於使哮喘的診斷
可治療適當的藥物，“他說。

Asthma that goes undiagnosed is dangerous. Slavin said 60
percent of asthma deaths occur in patients older than 65, and older
adults are the only age group in which the disease is getting
worse.

Even in the dog days of summer, grandma and grandpa can breathe
easier. They can even sleep in on weekends. “Patients can lead a
very normal life,” Slavin said.

Editorial: NASA should pay more attention to astronauts' health

FROM blackout-inducing g forces to withered muscles and bones, there aren't many tougher physical challenges than going into space.

This has been highlighted by the release of medical records from astronauts who worked on board the Russian space station Mir , which detail the gruelling effects space travel has on human health before, during and after a mission. Along with research on muscle wastage in astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), the records demonstrate the need for better countermeasures against the hazards of living in space before any interplanetary missions are attempted.

The records were collected by Gilles Clément of the International Space University in Toulouse, France, and colleagues, who oversaw the selection, flights and rehabilitation of six European astronauts who worked on board Mir between 1988 and 1999. They have only just been released because the astronauts requested a 10-year delay.

Prior to take-off, the researchers used stringent tests to rule out anyone susceptible to health problems (see “So you want to be an astronaut?”) . Even so, three of the astronauts experienced motion sickness. Overall, however, the screening was successful: during seven missions lasting between 14 and 189 days, there were only a handful of minor health problems, such as headache, insomnia symptoms and congestion, all treatable with drugs kept on board.

The real problems began when the astronauts returned home. Their bodies had adapted to weightless conditions, so returning to Earth was a shock to the system. For example, in space, the heart adapts to low gravity, no longer having to work as hard to pump blood to the upper body. Returning to Earth put extra strain on the astronauts' hearts: all had low haemoglobin levels and blood pressure, which made it difficult for them to stand up without fainting.

Even more worrying were the effects of microgravity on bone and muscle, which are known to break down when not bearing the body's weight. In an effort to combat this, the astronauts exercised on treadmills and bikes, but they still lost up to 2 per cent of their bone mass each month ( Advances in Space Research , DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2010.05.023 ).

Such problems would pose a serious hazard to astronauts travelling to other planets. It would take around nine months to travel to Mars, for example, and once in the Martian gravity astronauts would be too weak to work, and susceptible to blackouts and broken bones.

Several studies of astronauts who worked on the ISS have confirmed the problem of muscle wastage. Bob Fitts of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and colleagues took calf-muscle biopsies from nine astronauts and cosmonauts before and after six-month-long missions on the ISS. On their return, the crew were visibly frail. “They all had trouble standing for any period of time,” says Fitts.

Although the ISS astronauts had done resistance training and aerobic exercise while in orbit, they still experienced muscle wastage. On average, their calf muscles generated 30 per cent less power. There was also a switch from slow-twitch muscle fibres, which normally bear the constant weight of the skeleton, to fast-twitch fibres, responsible for shorter bursts of movement. Fitts measured a 35 per cent decrease in the force of the slow fibres and a 40 per cent drop in power – equivalent to having the muscles of an 80-year-old ( Journal of Physiology , DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2010.188508 ).

So how can humans survive a trip to another planet? Suggestions range from using a giant centrifuge to simulate gravity to developing a pill that would block bone and muscle loss. However, keeping space travellers in shape may just be a matter of improving their exercise regimes.

Short bursts of high-intensity resistance training, at around 70 per cent of the muscles' maximum capacity for 15 minutes, twice a day, should help, says Fitts. A range of studies in animals and volunteers confined to bed rest suggest this will protect muscles better than long periods of low-intensity aerobic exercise. It may also guard against bone loss. Dan Bikle of the University of California, San Francisco, who has studied bone loss in rats whose hindquarters are suspended off the ground, recommends intense weight-bearing exercise for 1 second in 10, for a few minutes each day.

The problem is that in space, weights are, of course, weightless. The astronauts on the ISS pulled against bungee cords but complained it was “like lifting barbells with no weights attached”. NASA is now testing a device that uses vacuum cylinders to provide greater resistance .

For the biggest benefits, astronauts must start their exercise regime as soon as they get into space. In work that is yet to be published, Ken Baldwin of the University of California, Irvine, found that once rats' muscles stop bearing body weight, the genes that code for the proteins myosin and actin – key components of muscle – shut down within 12 hours. Once this degeneration starts, it is hard to reverse. This is bad news for astronauts, who tend to be busy with mission tasks when they first arrive, or feel too sick to train. “They take too long to get into their training mode,” says Baldwin.

Finally, space travellers must eat all the food assigned to them. Astronauts tend to lose their appetites, which contributes to their loss of fitness: if you don't eat enough calories you can't build muscle. High-protein meals immediately after training should keep their muscles ticking over until they feel the pull of an alien planet.

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

Solo takes a double dose of Xanax (alprazolam) for his nerves during the 4 July festivities in the United States. That is in addition to the antidepressant, fluoxetine or amitriptyline, that the 11-year-old border collie takes year-round. Fireworks just set him off, as do thunderclaps, gunshots — practically any explosive sounds — sending him into nervous fits. Panting and drooling with eyes dilated, he desperately searches for a place to hide. If another dog is nearby, he might attack. “It's called anxiety redirection,” says Melanie Chang, Solo's owner and an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, Chang helped to collect hundreds of border-collie DNA samples, including Solo's, as part of a project studying the genes for noise phobia. She estimates that at least 50% of collies suffer from it, with 10% severely affected, sometimes injuring themselves or others in response to loud noises. Steven Hamilton , a psychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco, who runs the project, says that he sees parallels between the dogs' panic and human anxiety. And the same drugs work in about the same proportion of cases for man and beast. “It is easy to see similarities,” he says. A growing number of projects like Hamilton's are underway to both help suffering dogs and untangle the roots of human neuropsychiatric disease.

The hunt for genes causing psychiatric problems in humans has been “hard work with slim pickings”, says Jonathan Flint, a geneticist at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford, UK. This is partly because human genomes are complex and these disorders are hard to diagnose consistently. But owing to 200 years of selective inbreeding, dogs have a bevy of breed-specific behaviours, and their genomes make it relatively easy to track down the genes responsible. “They are the only naturally occurring models of psychiatric disorders, and perfect for genetic mapping and cloning. It's just beautiful,” says Guoping Feng, a mouse geneticist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, who is setting up collaborations with dog researchers.

Border collies were bred to herd grazing animals and to hear the calls of their masters from great distances. This, some have reasoned, might have produced hearing so sensitive that loud noises overwhelm some of the animals — inducing something akin to an anxiety disorder in humans. “In general, a lot of anxiety probably resulted from a long period of selection for dogs that can respond to human social cues,” says Chang. The provenance of other traits is less clear. Dobermann pinschers, for example, were bred to be faithful watchdogs but often have fixations and quirks akin to obsessive–compulsive behaviour. And Dalmatians, bred for speed and endurance — probably so they could run with horses — tend to be aggressive.

Whether certain canine conditions arose by chance or are an unintentional outcome of selection for a specific quality is a matter of speculation. But behaviour problems are definitely frequent. Nicholas Dodman, an animal-behaviour specialist at Tufts University in North Grafton, Massachusetts, estimates that, at minimum, 40% of the 77.5 million dogs owned in the United States have some kind of behavioural disorder. Pet pharmaceuticals, including psychotropic drugs, are a thriving market. And sadly, many dogs with such problems are euthanized as a result of their temperament.

Researchers have good reason to believe that dogs will give up their genetic secrets more easily than humans. A study this year, for example, showed that variants at six locations in the dog genome could explain 80% of the variation in dog body size ¹ . In contrast, 294,831 common human variants, considered simultaneously, explained only 45% of height differences between humans ² .

But if the genetics of height is so different in dogs and humans, one might wonder why the genetics of anxiety, compulsion or aggression would be similar. Patrick Sullivan, a geneticist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, says that “behaviour that appears intriguingly similar in human and another species could have a completely different genetic architecture”, meaning that the same trait could map to different genes or to different parts of the brain. Proponents of canine studies suggest, however, that dog genes might hint at the pathways involved in human disease, and that might be enough.

Sleeping dogs don't lie

At least one success story shows that studies in dogs can lead to answers in humans. For decades, researchers vainly sifted through the DNA of human narcoleptics to find the genes behind the sleep disorder. But many genes were involved, environmental factors were inconsistent and no clear mechanism emerged. “People were arguing whether it was an autoimmune disease, but no one knew what to do next. It was too difficult,” says Emmanuel Mignot, a sleep researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Redwood City, California, with a background in molecular pharmacology.

But Dobermann pinschers are often susceptible to narcolepsy, and they held the key. In 1989, Mignot started to use classical genetic techniques to breed narcoleptic Dobermanns and trace the inheritance pattern of the disorder. Without the benefit of modern genetic and genomic tools it took him ten years to zero in on the mutation that caused the disease, in a gene called hypocretin receptor 2 (ref. ³ ), which regulates the brain's uptake of the neurotransmitter hypocretin, also known as orexin.

Mignot did not find the same mutation in the corresponding human gene, but he did find changes in the hypocretin pathway ⁴ . “We started to measure hypocretin in cerebrospinal fluid. In narcoleptics, it was gone. It was striking,” says Mignot. Researchers are homing in on human gene mutations that lead to hypocretin depletion and to narcolepsy ⁵ , and drug companies are targeting hypocretin as a possible lead in the search for insomnia symptoms treatments.

Same dogs, new tricks

Since Mignot published his studies, the canine genome has been sequenced ⁶ . That has ultimately allowed researchers to quickly and easily compare the genomes of hundreds of dogs by looking at single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) — single-letter changes in the genome that act as markers for inherited blocks of DNA.

The genome-wide association studies (GWAS) that researchers can carry out using these markers are much simpler in dogs than in humans. Most dog breeds are extremely homogeneous; individual animals in the same breed share significantly larger DNA blocks than are shared by any two humans. That means that researchers can look at fewer SNPs and fewer individuals to find a block of DNA that associates reliably with a disease ⁷ . According to Kerstin Lindblad-Toh of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, human GWAS might require 5,000 individuals with a trait of interest and 5,000 controls without it to show that the trait is convincingly associated with a particular genome region. Dog studies can sneak by on as few as a hundred cases and a hundred controls. And a study requiring hundreds of thousands of SNPs in humans might need only 15,000 in canines.

GWAS have proved successful in finding the genes for several dog traits that are relevant to human diseases, including the bone disorder osteogenesis imperfecta — pinned to the gene causing stubby legs in dachshunds ⁸ — and the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus, which was shown in a study published this year to be controlled by five separate genes in Nova Scotia duck-tolling retrievers ⁹ . And more are coming. Anne-Sophie Lequarré, a veterinarian at the University of Liège in Belgium, coordinates the European dog-genetics initiative LUPA . The project, started in 2008 with a €12-million (US$15.4-million) budget, brings together some 100 researchers to study single-gene and complex disorders — including cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurological disorders — by genotyping 10,000 dogs. Researchers involved will soon publish findings on two mutations in dog genes that cause disorders corresponding with human disease, says Lequarré: “The first results really show that once you find a mutation [related to a disease] in dogs, 90% of the cases involve the same gene in humans.”

Compulsive disorders may be among the first successes in unravelling human behavioural conditions through dogs. More than 60 studies on genes in mice thought to have a role in human obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) have so far failed to find significant, reproducible associations ¹⁰ . But there are lots of dogs with obsessive behaviour. A high proportion of bull terriers, for example, chase their tails relentlessly. Many large-breed dogs, such as Dobermanns, German shepherds, Great Danes and golden retrievers, chew their flanks or lick their legs until they lose hair, develop lesions and in some cases cripple themselves — a habit some compare with obsessive hand washing and other rituals of people with OCD.

In January, Lindblad-Toh and Dodman reported a link between canine compulsive disorder and a region on the dog's chromosome 7 (ref. ¹¹ ). Their study was based on an analysis of 14,700 SNPs in the genomes of more than 90 compulsively chewing Dobermanns and about 70 controls. It linked the behaviour to variations in a 400-kilobase-long stretch of DNA. The connection between the variant that confers risk and the compulsive behaviour is not airtight, but it is good: 60% of the dogs that chewed their flanks, blankets and anything else they could get their teeth on had the variant, compared with 43% of those with milder chewing compulsion and just 22% of those with no signs of compulsive behaviour.

One gene in the targeted region has already captured the imaginations of other researchers. CDH2 encodes the protein cadherin 2, which is involved in forming connections between neural cells. Deanna Benson, a neuroscientist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, says the possibility that cadherins are involved in OCD has inspired others.

Feng, who makes mouse models for OCD, is exploring the link. Last autumn, he and Lindblad-Toh struck up a collaboration to find brain circuitry related to compulsion that is shared by mice, dogs and humans. Feng is now knocking out Cdh2 function in specific brain regions of mice to test whether that produces OCD-like behaviours.

頑強的進展

Lindblad-Toh is now seeking a tighter genetic fit to human OCD. Researchers approach dog genetic studies in two steps: first narrowing in on a large DNA chunk within one breed and then looking for overlap with that region in the DNA of dogs of other breeds with the same disease. Mignot used narcoleptic dachshunds to home in on the mutation expressed by his sleepy Dobermanns. And by comparing DNA loci in flank-sucking German shepherds and tail-chasing bull terriers, Lindblad-Toh hopes to narrow the implicated region on chromosome 7 to a more manageable 10 kilobases. Similarly, Hamilton intends to broaden his noise-phobia studies from border collies to bearded collies and Australian shepherds that show similar anxieties.

But canine genetics is challenged by some of the same issues that have foiled researchers studying human illnesses. Diagnoses for neuropsychiatric disease are slippery. Schizophrenia, for example, could represent a collection of many different disorders, each with separate genetic and environmental triggers. And if the subjects grouped by symptoms have different underlying diseases, GWAS can become confused. “A few dogs can spoil a cohort,” says Lequarré. She cites an epilepsy study that was not delivering any significant correlations. The researchers later found that some of the dogs in the disease group actually had a form of late-onset epilepsy that was different from that being studied. “Phenotyping is crucial. You need to have dogs that have exactly the same disease,” she says.

LUPA is making an effort to clarify diagnosis. To identify neurological disorders consistently, the group selected veterinarians who follow standard procedures in parsing dog temperament. Standardization is the right approach, says Hamilton. For his work on collies, he leads owners through a 24-page questionnaire that elicits objective observations. “We don't ask, 'Is your dog aggressive?' We ask, 'When there is a thunderstorm, what does your dog do?'”

LUPA's neurological-disorder division is focusing on aggression in the English cocker spaniel and English springer spaniel, both given to sudden fits of rage. The researchers hope that the studies will identify mutations in genes related to human bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other mental disorders involving aggression.

Excitement over dog models has been spreading. At the University of Tokyo's Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, Yukari Takeuchi has collected DNA samples from 200 Japanese shiba inu and 200 labrador retrievers to look for the genes underlying the former's aggression and latter's lapses in concentration. It could help solve a practical problem, she says. Distracted retrievers do not make good guide dogs, and knowing the gene variant responsible could help breeders to limit the trait in their stocks ¹² .

Whether or not the dog studies live up to their promise for understanding and relieving human suffering, they are sure to benefit pets. Breeders are already taking notice of some of the gene variants that ravage certain breeds. For better and, in terms of scientific research, for worse, through screening and more selective breeding, the next generations of border collies will probably have fewer anxiety-ridden dogs such as Solo who can be studied.

But Elaine Ostrander, dog geneticist at the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, is confident that dogs have much to offer human health beyond the pleasure of warm fur and a cold, wet nose. “For 10,000 years, dog has been man's best friend. When we transitioned to hunter-gatherer, when we switched to agrarian, they were there. Now, in the genomic era, dog is serving man again by helping us identify genes,” she says.  

David Cyranoski is Nature 's Asia–Pacific correspondent.

• 
  

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Suicide prevention

Suicide is the act or an instance of taking ones own life voluntarily and intentionally. In the United States, tens of thousands of Americans take their own lives every year. These are only the successful attempts. This article is about discussing suicide. It may make us uncomfortable, but it can save lives.

Suicide is a tragic, permanent act to what is often a temporary problem. Those who actually attempt suicide have lost hope – they no longer believe they can solve their problems or ease their pain and see suicide as their only answer.

Signs and symptoms of depression

Its normal for people to experience any one or more of these symptoms. However, concern should be raised when the behavior lasts for more than two weeks. A person experiencing a chronic symptom(s) may not realize they need help. Family, friends, and co-workers should intervene and ensure assistance is obtained. Sign include:

insomnia symptoms; excessive sleeping, daily fatigue, loss of energy; headache, stomachache; changes in appetite and weight; weakness, dizziness; changes in personal appearance, attitude or personality; difficulty concentrating or making decisions; unwillingness to communicate; frequent use of alcohol or other drugs; depression, moodiness; loss of interest in activities; spending time alone; running away from home; aggression, violence, emotional outburst; constant complaints of minor aches and pains; giving away possessions; participating in risk-taking or self-destructive behavior; talk of suicide.

For the complete article see the 08-25-2010 issue.

Click here to purchase an electronic version of the 08-25-2010 paper.

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Top Alternative Treatments for Fibromyalgia

“It would be great if we could just give people a pill to fix their fibromyalgia,” says Mark J. Pellegrino, MD, of Ohio Pain and Rehabilitation Specialists and author of 13 books on fibromyalgia. “But there's no magic pill. A balanced approach is important.”

For some people with fibromyalgia, that balanced approach includes trying complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in addition to medication, exercise, and physical therapy.

There hasn't been a lot of formal research on the effectiveness of alternative treatments for fibromyalgia. But many people with fibromyalgia and some doctors believe some alternative treatments can help ease pain, fatigue, and other symptoms, especially when combined with conventional approaches.

Here are some of the most popular alternative treatments and their track records.

Dietary Supplements for Fibromyalgia

Supplements commonly used to treat fibromyalgia symptoms Include:

• 
  5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan). This is a building block for the brain chemical serotonin. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression, so it's believed that raising serotonin levels can lead to a better mood. One study found that 5-HTP supplements may also help ease anxiety, insomnia symptoms, fibromyalgia pain, and morning stiffness. In the 1980s, 5-HTP supplements were associated with a serious illness called eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS). However, it's believed that a contaminant in some products caused those EMS episodes.
• 
  SAMe (S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine). This amino acid derivative may boost levels of serotonin and dopamine, another brain chemical. Limited research suggests SAMe may improve mood and sleep.
• 
  Magnesium. Low levels of this element may be linked to fibromyalgia. However, research has not turned up solid evidence that taking magnesium supplements improves symptoms.
• 
  Melatonin. This hormone is often used in supplements to improve sleep. It may also ease fibromyalgia pain.
• 
  St. John's wort . Though this herb is sometimes used to treat certain fibromyalgia symptoms, there's no solid evidence that it works. A few studies suggest it may help with mild depression.  But it can also limit the effectiveness of some medications.

Pellegrino, who has fibromyalgia and is a physician speaker for pharmaceutical companies that make medications used to treat fibromyalgia, considers the “three pillars of treatment” to be medicine, physical therapy, and supplements. He says that some supplements, along with other treatments and lifestyle changes, have helped his patients experience less pain, more energy, and better sleep.

The idea behind using supplements is to boost levels of certain substances in your body that may reduce the symptoms of fibromyalgia. “If there's a deficiency you can measure,” says Pellegrino, “it makes sense to replace that deficiency.”

Supplements and Fibromyalgia: Proceed With Caution

If you are considering supplements, talk with your doctor. Some supplements can have harmful interactions with prescription medications. Some are unsafe if you have certain medical conditions. Pellegrino also advises being wary of products that promise fibromyalgia relief or contain supplements not commonly used.

“When it comes to supplements, we're learning more and more,” he tells WebMD. “But unlike drugs, we don't have rigorous research. It's important for a person with fibromyalgia to work with a doctor who is knowledgeable about supplements.”

New York – Who needs more sleep, women or men? And how could playing videogames help cure nightmares? A list of five more recent sleep-related findings

With the new school year about to begin, researchers are warning that getting enough sleep is among the “ most powerful predictor[s] of a child's academic performance.” But that's not the only conclusion that those who study bed behavior have drawn about sleep in 2010. Here are five more ( see our first list here ) noteworthy recent findings:

1。 Women require more sleep than men
It's been the subject of a thousand domestic arguments: Who needs more rest, men or women? The answer, according to British sleep expert Jim Horne ( Sleepfaring: A Journey Through The Science Of Sleep ), is that women's brains typically require an extra 20 minutes of sleep each night to “recover” from additional stresses — a reflection of the fact that women generally multitask more than men.

2。 Videogamers can control their dreams
If you can't tear your teen (or yourself) away from the Xbox, don't worry: the habit might offer protection against nightmares and mental trauma. Canadian psychologist Jayne Gackenbach says hardcore gamers are more likely to have lucid dreams (those which the dreamer feels he can “control”). Although lucid dreams often take the form of nightmares, gamers are better able to turn bad dreams into more positive experiences. Gackenbach hopes her theories can help sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder overcome their symptoms.

3。 Too little sleep may shrink your brain
insomnia symptoms may have alarming neurological affects, according to a study recently published in the journal Biological Psychiatry . Dutch researchers found that chronically sleepless subjects tended to have less gray matter in their left orbitofrontal cortex than those who sleep more soundly — a condition that's also associated with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

4。 Heavy sleepers have special brain wave patterns that block noise
Ever wonder why some people can sleep through anything, while others can be jolted awake by a falling leaf? Harvard researchers attribute sound sleeping to “brain spindles,” bursts of rapid brain activity produced by the thalamus that apparently block the neurological signals which noise triggers. The more spindles your brain produces, reports HealthDay 's Melissa Lee Phillips , the more likely you are to sleep heavily. Next step: Learning how to ramp up spindle production.

5。 Your sleep position reveals your personality
How you snuggle up (or sprawl) says more about you than you might think, reports Jessica Ashley at Yahoo Shine . British researchers say the six main sleep positions correspond to personality traits. The most common, the fetal position, indicates someone with a “tough exterior” who is, nevertheless, “still sensitive.” The rare few who sleep in the “starfish” position are “good listeners, helpful, and are uncomfortable being the center of attention.”

Sources: ABC News , Science Daily , LiveScience , Daily Mail , Yahoo Shine , BusinessWeek

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• Flashback: Is sleep the new sex?
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