Forest fires, cars, power plants join list of risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease

A new study led by researchers at UC San Francisco has found that among older Americans with cognitive impairment, the greater the air pollution in their neighborhood, the higher the likelihood of amyloid plaques—a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. The study adds to a body of evidence indicating that pollution from cars, factories, power plants and forest fires joins established dementia […]

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White House blocks FDA’s power to regulate lab tests

(HealthDay)—The Trump administration has blocked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from regulating a wide swath of laboratory tests, including ones for the coronavirus. The new policy, which was posted Wednesday and is strongly opposed by the FDA itself, stunned health experts and laboratories because of its timing, the Washington Post reported. The change could result in unreliable coronavirus tests […]

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Tweaked CRISPR in neurons gives scientists new power to probe brain diseases

A team of scientists at UC San Francisco and the National Institutes of Health have achieved another CRISPR first, one which may fundamentally alter the way scientists study brain diseases. In a paper published August 15 in the journal Neuron, the researchers describe a technique that uses a special version of CRISPR developed at UCSF to systematically alter the activity […]

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Narcissists and psychopaths: how some societies ensure these dangerous people never wield power

Throughout history, people who have gained positions of power tend to be precisely the kind of people who should not be entrusted with it. A desire for power often correlates with negative personality traits: selfishness, greed and a lack of empathy. And the people who have the strongest desire for power tend to be the most ruthless and lacking in […]

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Brain Performance Institute launches app to boost brain power

The Brain Performance Institute at the Center for BrainHealth has launched a new game-based app to help people of all ages maintain and strengthen their cognitive abilities. The free Brain Performance Challenge app leverages an evolving game-based structure to give users a snapshot of their strategic thinking abilities at any given time, provide tips for boosting brain performance and allow […]

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Harnessing the power of fear

People love fear. Consider the enduring popularity, for instance, of thriller and horror movies since the invention of the motion picture. Think Nosferatu (1922), Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), M (1931) and Werewolf of London (1935), among scores of others. This year a sequel to the classic slasher-flick Halloween was released 40 years after the original. Sociologist Isabel Cristina Pinedo refers […]

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