Friday May 18, 2012
When you are getting an injection, do you look at the needle or look away? Research suggests that looking away when receiving an injection reduces the strength of the expected pain. In the study, it was discovered that when participants viewed a video of a needle pricking a hand, they experienced a pain that was more intense than viewing a hand only or a hand that was being touched by a Q-tip. The intense pain sensation was also accompanied by increased activity of the participants' autonomic nervous system.
According to the lead author of the study, Marion Höfle, "Throughout our lives, we repeatedly experience that needles cause pain when pricking our skin, but situational expectations, like information given by the clinician prior to an injection, may also influence how viewing needle pricks affects pain." The study indicates that expectations about receiving an injection influence the intensity of the pain. The pain may be reduced if the clinician provides information that lessens the expectation of pain and recommends that the patient not look at the needle when receiving an injection.
Learn more about this study, see:
Thursday May 17, 2012
Be careful when you eat. A study published in the journal Cell Metabolism indicates that eating at random times throughout the day can lead to weight gain. The researchers believe this to be so because our organs, including those of the digestive system, have times when they work most efficiently and times when they rest. Our metabolic cycles are set to "turn on" when we eat and slow down when we are not eating. Eating at various times of the day can upset these metabolic cycles.
According to lead author of the study, Satchidananda Panda, "When we eat randomly, those genes aren't on completely or off completely." As a result, we gain weight due to inefficient breakdown of food for energy. The study suggests that restricting meal times may help to prevent weight gain. The researchers believe that when studying obesity, just as much attention should be given to when a person eats as it is to what a person eats.
Learn more about this study, see:
Friday May 11, 2012
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Human sperm cells attempting to fertilize an egg cell (ovum).
Photo Credit: Renjith Krishnan FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
In sexual reproduction, male sperm must navigate the female reproductive tract in order to fertilize the egg cell (ovum). Researchers have discovered how sperm make their way to the egg. Contrary to popular notion, they don't swim in the center of the reproductive tract. Instead, they travel along the walls of the reproductive tract, maneuvering complex channels, often colliding into walls. Of the millions of sperm that are released into the reproductive tract, only about ten reach the egg cell.
In the study, the researchers examined sperm behavior by injecting sperm into extremely small micro-channels. Researcher Dr. Kirkman-Brown states, "Through research like this we are learning how the good sperm navigate by sending them through mini-mazes. Previous research from the group indicates that the shape of the sperm head can subtly affect how the sperm swim." Learning about how sperm make their way to an egg may help to develop methods for identifying qualities in sperm that make them more capable of reaching and fertilizing an egg. Studies such as this one may provide insight into the development of new methods of treating infertility.
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Thursday May 10, 2012
University of Texas at Austin researchers have determined that body mass and maximum running speed are the two most important factors that determine eye size in mammals. The researchers believe that fast mammals such as cheetahs and horses have larger eyes for better vision when moving at a high rate of speed. This helps them to avoid collisions.
According to researcher Chris Kirk, "There is going to be the effect of body mass, but when you look at maximum running speed in isolation or when you hold body mass constant, it's still significantly related to eye size. And when you combine maximum running speed and body mass as your two variables influencing how big an eye is, they can explain almost all of the differences observed between species." This discovery challenges the previous thought that the main factor influencing mammalian eye size is the time of day when the animal is active. That is, whether an animal is nocturnal or diurnal.
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