A study about seasonal changes and learning done right here at Ohio State, by a student down the hall (figuratively), Leah Pyter. She showed that during winter, hamsters have smaller hippocampi (kind of like RAM for your brain instead of your computer).

Other science news: At Salon they talk about hacking the neural code. If I only knew what he was talking about.

Alzheimer’s begins with attention lapses. This news excites me.

One good way to fend of meat-born diseases, and Alzheimer’s Dementia, is to eat curry. In India rates of Alzheimer’s are much lower, and in Professor Gary Wenk, a new addition to Ohio State (brought in to replace someone else), has shown that a chemical in curry powder prevents inflammation in the brain, inflammation which is said to lead to neuronal degeneration. Huzzah for curry!

One more. There is a new scanning technique that can find beta-amyloid plaques, which are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Right now we have to wait for an autopsy to confirm if someone has Alzheimer’s. This scan might help predict who will get Alzheimer’s so we can treat it earlier.

One of my least favorite sciences…at any rate, here is an interesting finding: Women’s spatial ability improves during menstruation DPA , HAMBURG, GERMANY Tuesday, Oct 18, 2005,Page 6 Through history women have been the butt of smirking male jokes about their alleged inability to give directions or to read road maps. Now, researchers at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, have discovered that a woman’s spatial ability, and hence her ability to read maps, actually increases during her menstrual period. During most of her monthly cycle, higher levels of the female hormone estrogen are present and these were linked to lower scores on such things as direction finding and map reading. But when levels of the male hormone testosterone were higher, as during their period, women did better.

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