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Cosmetic Chemical Hinders Brain Development in Tadpoles

By Guest PostJanuary 11, 2012Scienceariana spawn, behavioral effects, biocide methylisothiazolinone, brain development, brown researchers, brown university, carlos aizenman, concentration, cosmetics industry, david orenstein, electrophysiological analysis, growth of animal neurons, immature tadpole, low concentrations, MIT, neural circuits, neurological development, optic tectum, parts per million, patterns of light, physiological difference, ppm, shampoos, signal, tadpole tanks, tadpoles, visual information, whitehall foundation

*A new study finds that low concentrations of the chemical methylisothiazolinone has subtle but measurable negative effects on the neural development of tadpoles. The chemical is found in some cosmetics, although the study does not provide any evidence that cosmetics are unsafe for humans.*

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Scientists, health officials, and manufacturers already know that a chemical preservative found in some products, including cosmetics, is harmful to people and animals in high concentrations, but a new Brown University study in tadpoles reports that it can also interrupt neurological development even in very low concentrations.

In the cosmetics industry, the biocide methylisothiazolinone or MIT, is considered safe at concentrations of less than 100 parts per million. Lab studies, however, have found that lower concentrations affected the growth of animal neurons. Picking up from there, the Brown researchers performed a series of experiments to investigate how 10 days of exposure at concentrations as low as 1.5 ppm would affect whole, living tadpoles as they develop. Their results appear in advance online in the journal Neuroscience. (more…)

Andrew Artenstein: Essential Enzymes Key to Disease, Maybe Treatments

By Guest PostJanuary 2, 2012Healthalzheimer, andrew artenstein, anthrax, athlerosclerosis, bacteria and viruses, biodefense, body, cancer, chemical reactions, david orenstein, disease, ebola, enzymes, essential proteins, Europe, flu, iaips, infectious diseases, inter alpha inhibitor proteins, measles, microscopic level, molecules, natural human proteins, outbreak of h1n1, pathways, pcs, proprotein convertases, proteins, sars, steven opal, therapies, viruses

*Proprotein convertases are enzymes that activate many essential proteins, but they are also implicated in many processes that cause disease. In a research review in the New England Journal of Medicine, Andrew Artenstein and Steven Opal argue that proprotein convertases are potentially rich targets for developing therapies.*

Most people have never heard of proprotein convertases, but the enzymes activate many proteins that are essential for life. Unfortunately, their fundamental role puts them in the middle of many processes that cause disease – not just cancer or athlerosclerosis, but both of those and Alzheimer’s and anthrax and the flu and an amazing variety of other maladies.

In a research review article appearing Dec. 29 in the New England Journal of Medicine, Andrew Artenstein, physician-in-chief in the Department of Medicine at Memorial Hospital, and Steven Opal, chief of infectious diseases at Memorial Hospital, argue that proprotein convertases (PCs) are potentially rich targets for developing therapies. Artenstein, who with Opal is on the faculty of the Warren Alpert School of Medicine, explained PCs to David Orenstein. (more…)

New Study to Test Unusual Hypothesis on Beta Brainwaves

By Guest PostDecember 4, 2011Sciencebasal ganglia, beta, beta brainwaves, beta oscillations, brown university, christopher moore, cortex, david orenstein, hypothesis, key brain circuit, model, moore and jones, neurons, neuroscientists, optogenetics, parkinsonian symptoms, parkinsons disease, physical brain, predictions, sensory information, somatosensory system, stephanie jones, thalamocortical circuit, thalamus, touch, touch perception circuit

Beta oscillations are tightly linked to Parkinson’s disease and the ability to process sensory information, such as touch. Two neuroscientists have brought their collaboration to Brown University and won funding from the National Science Foundation to see if they can finally provide a definitive, if unorthodox, explanation for beta brainwaves.

Before she could seek to convince the world that her computer model of a key brain circuit explains a fundamental, 80-year-old mystery of neuroscience with potential relevance to Parkinson’s disease, Stephanie Jones sought to convince Christopher Moore. The new Brown neuroscience professors are now close collaborators, but when they first started talking about the beta oscillations of the cortex, Moore thought Jones was plain wrong, if not a bit nuts. (more…)

Tag Archives: david orenstein

Cosmetic Chemical Hinders Brain Development in Tadpoles

Andrew Artenstein: Essential Enzymes Key to Disease, Maybe Treatments

New Study to Test Unusual Hypothesis on Beta Brainwaves