Kidney donation a low-risk choice — Study

People who donate a kidney have an extremely low risk of developing kidney failure in their remaining organ, according to a new study.

The risk among living kidney donors is even lower than for people with two kidneys, the Johns Hopkins researchers said. They added that the findings should reassure people who are considering donating a kidney.

The investigators looked at data from more than 96,000 adults in the United States who donated a kidney between April 1994 and November 2011 and were followed for up to 15 years. They were compared to more than 20,000 people with two kidneys.

Neuroscientists: Men Really DO Have Bigger Brains Than Women

Cambridge researchers reviewed 20 years of research Found that males generally have slightly larger brains Major differences were in the language and limbic system, which controls emotion

Many have long suspected that the male and female brains are very different.

Now, researchers at Cambridge University have revealed just what those differences are.

By studying over 20 years of neuroscience research, they were able to create a map showing just how the sexes differ.

'For the first time we can look across the vast literature and confirm that brain size and structure are different in males and females,' said Amber Ruigrok, who led the study.

'We should no longer ignore sex in neuroscience research, especially when investigating psychiatric conditions that are more prevalent in either males or females.'

Scientists Grow Hair From Stem Cells

Scientists have revealed that they have discovered a breakthrough in hair science. It is now possbile to turn mature skin cells into stem cells, which then develop into hair follicles.

This is said to be the first time that researchers have been able to transform adult cells into the certain type of stem cell that creates hair follicles. Scientists Grow Hair From Stem Cells

Medicated soaps:More harmful than you think

Many people develop all sorts of skin issues when they use toilet soaps. From itching to outright blisters, the list is endless. For this category of people who usually complain of skin sensitivity, doctors sometimes advise them to use antibacterial soaps — commonly called medicated soaps.

There are people who simply can’t use any soap that is not antibacterial to bath. Consciously or unconsciously, they readily reach for antibacterial soaps whenever they are shopping for the home. And, in many cases, an entire family can be plugged on, so to say, to using strictly medicated soaps.

Student Invents T-shirt That's Impossible To Stain

If you're clumsy and constantly spilling food down yourself, or just lazy and don't like washing your clothes, a student has invented the answer to your problems - a T-shirt that is impossible to stain.

The tops can resist any spills and splashes including Coca-Cola, tomato ketchup, mustard, milkshakes, beer, ink and even red wine. The clothing is made from polyester, which has been infused with a combination of chemicals that make it resistant to water. Despite this, the T-shirts are said to feel ‘no different to any other items that could be found in a clothing shop.’

Scientists improve human self-control through electrical brain stimulation

If you have ever said or done the wrong thing at the wrong time, you should read this. Neuroscientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the University of California, San Diego, have successfully demonstrated a technique to enhance a form of self-control through a novel form of brain stimulation.

Study participants were asked to perform a simple behavioral task that required the braking/slowing of action — inhibition — in the brain. In each participant, the researchers first identified the specific location for this brake in the prefrontal region of the brain. Next, they increased activity in this brain region using stimulation with brief and imperceptible electrical charges. This led to increased braking — a form of enhanced self-control.

This proof-of-principle study appears in the December 11 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience and its methods may one day be useful for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Tourette’s syndrome and other severe disorders of self-control.

Brain study reveals how men, women differ

A new brain connectivity study from Penn Medicine published today in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences found striking differences in the neural wiring of men and women that’s lending credence to some commonly-held beliefs about their behavior.

In one of the largest studies looking at the “connectomes” of the sexes, Ragini Verma, PhD, an associate professor in the department of Radiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues found greater neural connectivity from front to back and within one hemisphere in males, suggesting their brains are structured to facilitate connectivity between perception and coordinated action. In contrast, in females, the wiring goes between the left and right hemispheres, suggesting that they facilitate communication between the analytical and intuition.