The different phenotypic and molecular characterization of phaseolus vulgaris plants from seeds frozen and non- frozen

What is the better way to save seed? High temperature,low temperature or room temperature? What is the effect of different preservation pattern on vegetation?A research from Scientific Research Publishing found that cryostorage is an efficient and reliable technique to conserve P. vulgaris seeds and regenerate true-to-type plants:

The objective of this work was to evaluate if cryostorage of Phaseolus vulgaris L. seeds induced variations in regenerated plants at the phenotypic and molecular levels. A series of agricultural traits was measured on plants grown from control, non-cryopreserved and cryopreserved seeds, and the genetic stability of plants of the second generation was analysed at selected microsatellite loci. The phenotype of the second generation plants was evaluated as well. No statistically significant phenotypic differences were observed for the parameters measured, neither in the first nor in the second generations. Averaging both treatments, about 76% of the seeds had germinated 10 days after sowing. At harvest we recorded plants with about 73 cm in height, 13 stem internodes, 25 fruits, 103 grains and 4 grains per fruit. One hundred seeds weighted about 26 g. The genetic analyses performed on the second generation plants using six nuclear Simple Sequences Repeats (SSR) markers revealed no changes in microsatellite length between control and cryopreserved samples, implying that there was no effect of seed liquid nitrogen exposure on genome integrity. The phenotypic and molecular results reported here confirm that cryostorage is an efficient and reliable technique to conserve P. vulgaris seeds and regenerate true-to-type plants.

(source:SCIRP/ Plant Sciences)

94% of UK adults would rather live without sex than their mobile phone

The vast majority of us would prefer to go without sex than live without our mobile phones, a survey suggests.

Two thirds of young Britons claim that they ‘couldn’t live without their phone’ and nine per cent of people polled said they'd rather go without their own children than part with their gadgets.

More than 2,570 adults across the UK, aged between 18 and 30, took part in the survey by Mobileinsurance.co.uk.

It found that 94 per cent of people in the UK would rather live without sex than their mobile phones.

All of those questioned owned mobile phones and were in a relationship.

When asked to describe how they felt about their mobile phone, 65 per cent claimed they ‘couldn’t live without it’.

Almost a quarter, 22 per cent, said they were ‘very dependent’ on their handset, while 10 per cent felt they could ‘take or leave’ their mobile phone.

Just one per cent said they only needed their handsets occasionally and a further 2 per cent said they could ‘easily live without it’.

And despite the reliance most of the people studied put on their phones, just 12 per cent said they have mobile phone insurance to protect their must-have gadget.

The research also asked the participants what they would rather live without for a week, than give up their mobile phone.

The poll also found that 45 per cent of those questioned would rather live without ‘basic meals’, 71 per cent said that they would be willing to forgo their car and 9 per cent would rather live without their own children than be parted from their handset.

Sex and mobile phone,which would you choose in case of alternative?

Researchers find how the brain decides how we listen to our mobile

While it may seem obvious that you hold your phone with your dominant hand, researchers have uncovered the brain processes which lead us to decide which side we listen on.

If you are a left-brain thinker, the chances are you use your right hand to hold your phone up to your right ear, according to the study from the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

The research reveals a strong correlation between brain dominance and the ear used to listen to a phone.

More than 70 per cent of the study’s participants held their phone up to the ear on the same side as their dominant hand, the study found.

Left-brain dominant people - who account for about 95 per cent of the population and have their speech and language centre located on the left side of their brain - are more likely to use their right hand for writing and other everyday tasks.

Likewise, the Henry Ford Hospital study reveals that most left-brain dominant people also hold the phone to their right ear.

Right-brain dominant people are more likely to use their left hand to hold their phone to their left ear.

‘Our findings have several implications, especially for mapping the language centre of the brain,’ said Dr Michael Seidman, of Henry Ford Hospital.

‘By establishing a correlation between cerebral dominance and sidedness of cell phone use, it may be possible to develop a less-invasive, lower-cost option to establish the side of the brain where speech and language occurs rather than the Wada test, a procedure that injects an anaesthetic into the carotid artery to put part of the brain to sleep in order to map activity.’

He notes that the study may also offer additional evidence that mobile phone use and tumours of the brain, head and neck are not linked.

Since nearly 80 per cent of people hold their phone to their right ear, he says if there were a strong connection there would be far more people diagnosed with cancer on the right side of their brain, head and neck, the dominant side for cell phone use.

The study began with the simple observation that most people use their right hand to hold a phone to their right ear.

This practice, Dr Seidman says, is illogical since it is challenging to listen on the phone with the right ear and take notes with the right hand.

To determine if there is an association between sidedness of cell phone use and auditory or language hemispheric dominance, the Henry Ford Hospital team developed an online survey using modifications of the Edinburgh Handedness protocol, a tool used for more than 40 years to assess handedness and predict cerebral dominance.

The survey included questions about which hand was used for tasks such as writing, time spent talking on a phone, whether the right or left ear is used to listen to phone conversations, and if respondents had been diagnosed with a brain or head and neck tumour.

On average, respondents’ phone usage was 540 minutes per month. The majority of respondents, 90 per cent, were right handed, nine per cent were left handed and one per cent was ambidextrous.

Among those who are right handed, 68 per cent reported that they hold the phone to their right ear, while 25 per cent used the left ear and seven per cent used both right and left ears.

For those who are left handed, 72 per cent said they used their left ear for phone conversations, while 23 per cent used their right ear and 5 per cent had no preference.

The study also revealed that having a hearing difference can impact ear preference for phone use.

In all, the study found that there is a correlation between brain dominance and laterality of phone use, and there is a significantly higher probability of using the dominant hand side ear.

Is cancer genetic? Cancer is transmitted via genome?

Hereditary cancer is a cancer that has developed as a result of a gene mutation passed down from a parent to a child. Inheriting a gene mutation does not necessarily mean that person will develop cancer, but increases their risk factor.Yes, cancer is not inherited, only the gene that increases the risk factor of developing it. The most common hereditary cancers are: breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer.

Transmitted via genome?

Whether cancer is transmitted via genome,I think an article from Scientific Research Publishing can help a lot:

Recent discredit of “somatic mutation” hypotheses forced the need of new paradigms about the nature of human cancer. The present article is devoted to further development of one such paradigm: the hypothesis of invasive parasitic nature, origin, evolution, pathogenesis and transmission of human cancer. Development was performed by supplementing and supporting the hypothesis by data which could not be applied before. The supplementation included integrative reconsidering, and reinterpretation of the make-ups, traits and processes existing not only in human cancer but also in animal cancers. Special attention has been focused on xenogamous intrusion of carcinogenic traits in the genome of a host. It was evidenced that human cancer possesses the same set of traits characteristic of transmissible animal cancer. In contrast to animal cancer formed of solitary cell lineage, human cancer consists of a couple of lineages constructed under different genetic regulations and performed different structural and physiological functions. The diversity of cancer composition remains stable over sequential propagation. The subsistence of human cancer regularly includes obligetory rotation alternation of its successive forms including genomic, gametic, zygotic, micro-population and tumorous ones. Human cancer possesses its own biological watch and the ability to gobble its victim, transmit via the intrusion of the genome, perform intercommunications within the tumor components and between the dispersed subunits of cancer. 

Why babies in all countries on earth say mama,papa

No matter which country you are born in,and no matter what your mother tongue is,the way you call your mother is always  similar with “mama”.

"Mama" is a universal word, describing the woman who gave us the most cherished love in our most vulnerable state. Almost every language boasts a recognizable form of it. While it's true that most languages vary when it comes to the formal word mother, the intimate mama stays the same in each language. But "mama" doesn't spring from love. It happens because of two things: Lazy little baby mouths, and boobs.

Research finds that usually they start with the sounds made with closed lips,such as mama,papa. Or "labial sounds" such as /m/ /p/ /b/.

So why do babies gravitate to the "m" sound instead of "p" or "b"? Because of breasts, of course! The "m" sound is the easiest for a baby mouth to make when wrapped around a warm delicious breast. Even as adults, we still associate "mmm" with something being yummy and good. So does your baby.

When we heard the pronunciation  of  “mmmm”,we define it as mother subconsciously.So mama becomes popular with earth humans.

(source:theweek)

Electronic consultation for dentistry can be a popular trend?

Electronic consultation,also called teleconsultation.It is a treatment means which  compeletes case analysis, disease diagnosis and finally determine the treatment plan by making use of modern communication tools such as E-mail, website, letters, phone, fax .To people who know this concept the first time,It’s the inconceivable and full of doubt.Without accurate inspection, diagnostic accuracy?Will some one see a docto use this method?Yes, the market is optimistic,according to a research:

An electronic (web-based) questionnaire was devised to find out the extent of teleconsultation and e-mail use for patient-provided communications in dentistry. This project was carried out in 2011 inthe health care district of South-Ostrobothnia, in South-Western Finland.The questionnaire was sent by e-mail to all 120 regional dentists, to which 76 replies were obtained (response rate 63%). The responses indicated a surprisingly positive attitude towards teleconsultation. A clear majority of 91% indicated that it could bring additional benefits to the current consultation methods.This study revealed that a slight majority of dentists in the region use e-mail for patient communication and 53% used e-mail for consultation. Approximately 10% use videoconferencing for consultation.The study also revealed that the majority of those who do not yet use electronic consultation are willing to try them out in the future. Security issues are a concern for many dentists. Practically all respondents wish for written instructions on the use of electronic consultation.This research mainly focus on dentistry,and whether all the disease can realize electronic consultation?  

A 52-year-old male patient returned to work despite serious memory disorder caused by herpes encephalitis

Most individuals with herpesviral encephalitis show a decrease in their level of consciousness and an altered mental state presenting as confusion, and changes in personality.But there is a  52-year-old male , who had suffered from severe impairment in recent memory due to sequelae of herpes encephalitis, for 20 years. He returned to his highly intellectual work and performed well despite his doctor’s prediction.However, the patient showed consistently poor results on various neuropsychological memory tests, he only demonstrated incredible performance at work. 

This is rare to see. Why happened?Does it related with some kind of brain activity?Recommend an article from Scientific Research Publishing to you . The article studied this phenomenon.

Diarrhea, life killer for Bangladesh- assessment of zinc treatment

 Diarrheal diseases is a major health problem in Bangladesh, killing over 100,000 children each year. Thousands of episodes of diarrhea occur in children and adults each day. Diarrheal diseases have close biological and socio-economic links to the problems of malnutrition, poor maternal health, high fertility, and child survival.

A research explore the effect of zinc treatment :

We hypothesised that the promotion of blister packs of zinc may be carried out by health personnel in health care facilities to the mothers of children suffering from diarrhea. We predicted that good acceptability and good compliance to zinc treatment in rural Bangladesh would be over 75% and at least 60%, respectively. Between January and December 2011, six hundred and thirty five children aged 6 - 59 months who presented with acute diarrhea received a 10-day zinc regimen. Determination of acceptability and compliance of a dispersible zinc tablet in children 6 - 59 months old was main point of the study. In-home follow-ups started within 2 - 3 weeks after the regimen began. Seventy seven percent of the mothers/caretakers perceived that the taste of the zinc tablets was the same or better than that of other medicines given to their children and expressed willingness to use zinc in the future (good acceptability). Sixty-two percent of the children completed full 10-day course of zinc treatment by taking one tablet a day that had been completely dissolved in a small amount of water (good compliance). There was 63% excess risk for poor compliance to zinc if father stays at home with the family [OR = 1.63 (95%CI; 1.09, 2.46) p = 0.019]. Despite vomiting, 33% children continued to receive zinc tablet [OR = 0.67 (95%CI; (0.47, 0.97, 0.032)] after adjusting for co-variates. Both acceptability and compliance to dispersible zinc tablets in childhood diarrheal illnesses are still not at the expected level in rural Bangladesh.

(source:SCIRP/ Food and Nutrition Sciences)

When Do Babies Become Conscious?

For everyone who’s looked into an infant’s sparkling eyes and wondered what goes on in its little fuzzy head, there’s now an answer. New research shows that babies display glimmers of consciousness and memory as early as 5 months old.

For decades, neuroscientists have been searching for an unmistakable signal of consciousness in electrical brain activity. Such a sign could determine whether minimally conscious or anesthetized adults are aware—and when consciousness begins in babies.

Studies on adults show a particular pattern of brain activity: When your senses detect something, such as a moving object, the vision center of your brain activates, even if the object goes by too fast for you to notice. But if the object remains in your visual field for long enough, the signal travels from the back of the brain to the prefrontal cortex, which holds the image in your mind long enough for you to notice. Scientists see a spike in brain activity when the senses pick something up, and another signal, the “late slow wave,” when the prefrontal cortex gets the message. The whole process takes less than one-third of a second.

Researchers in France wondered if such a two-step pattern might be present in infants. The team monitored infants’ brain activity through caps fitted with electrodes. More than 240 babies participated, but two-thirds were too squirmy for the movement-sensitive caps. The remaining 80 (ages 5 months, 12 months, or 15 months) were shown a picture of a face on a screen for a fraction of a second.

Cognitive neuroscientist Sid Kouider of CNRS, the French national research agency, in Paris watched for swings in electrical activity, called event-related potentials (ERPs), in the babies’ brains. In babies who were at least 1 year old, Kouider saw an ERP pattern similar to an adult’s, but it was about three times slower. The team was surprised to see that the 5-month-olds also showed a late slow wave, although it was weaker and more drawn out than in the older babies. Kouider speculates that the late slow wave may be present in babies as young as 2 months.

This late slow wave may indicate conscious thought, Kouider and colleagues report online today in Science. The wave, feedback from the prefrontal cortex, suggests that the image is stored briefly in the baby’s temporary “working memory.” And consciousness, Kouider says, is composed of working memory.

The team displayed remarkable patience to gather data from infants, says cognitive neuroscientist Lawrence Ward of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, in Canada, who was not involved in the study. However, the work, although well executed, is not the last word, he says. “I expect we’ll find several different neural activity patterns to be correlated with consciousness.”

Comparing infant brain waves to adult patterns is tricky, says Charles Nelson, a neuropsychologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston. “ERP components change dramatically over the first few years of life,” he writes in an e-mail. “I would be reluctant to attribute the same mental operation (i.e., consciousness) in infants as in adults simply because of similar patterns of brain activity.”

“He’s right, the ERP components are not exactly the same as in adults,” Kouider responds, but the ERP signature he saw had the same characteristics.

Kouider next hopes to explore how these signals of consciousness connect to learning, especially language development. “We make the assumption that babies are learning very quickly and that they’re fully unconscious of what they learn,” Kouider says. “Maybe that’s not true.”

(via:wired)

Try to Find a Good Wheat Line with Combined Resistance to Russian Wheat Aphid and Stem Rust (Race “Ug99”) in Kenya

Wheat is the second most important cereal in Kenya. However, production is severely constrained by both abiotic and biotic stresses.

We have ever said that a research found  wheat has allelopathic potential,it is so eco-friendly.But to itselt,it can’t protect itself very well.

Severe infestations by russian wheat aphid (RWA) may result in yield losses of up to 90% while stem rust (Race “Ug99”) infected fields may suffer 100% crop loss. The two pests combined are seriously affecting wheat farmers’ incomes because of the heavy reliance on pesticides that increase the cost of production.

An article  from American Journal of Plant Sciences studies three wheat varieties,and try to find a good wheat lines that is resistance to russian wheat aphid and stem rust:

“Kwale”, a Kenyan high yielding variety but susceptible to both RWA and “Ug99”; “Cook”, an Australian variety carrying stem rust resistance gene Sr36 conferring immunity to “Ug99”; and “KRWA9”, a Kenyan line with resistance to RWA but of poor agronomic attributes were used. A double cross F1 (DC F1) was obtained by crossing the F1 of “Kwale × Cook” and the F1 of “Kwale × KRWA9”. The DC F1 population was subjected to sequential screening for both RWA and “Ug99” resistance. Surviving DC F1 progenies were left to self pollinate to obtain the F2 of the double cross (DC F2). The DC F2 progenies were sequentially screened against RWA and “Ug99” to yield a population that was resistant to both RWA and “Ug99”. Genotyping of the DC F2:3 families were conducted to select homozygous resistant plants. Data indicated that the RWA and “Ug99” resistance genes were successfully pyramided. Though races with virulence for Sr36 have been reported, the gene provides immunity to race “Ug99” and can still be effectively used as a component for “Ug99” resistance breeding together with other Sr genes.

(source:SCIRP/ American Journal of Plant Sciences)

Man Can’t Drink Soy Milk? Don't Make Fun

Gossip: Soy milk is bad for man,because soy milk contains estrogen.It will made man develop breasts, no beard, sissy and all other feminine characteristics.Some viewpoint thinks that soy milk may made decrease in the number of sperm,I.e. soy milk kills sperm.

Trueth:In fact,there is no reason that soy milk makes men feminine, it hasn’t been demonstrated that soy milk kills sperm.

Soy Milk Makes Man Feminization?

Because the biological activity of  “phytoestrogen” is only milli of drugs estrogen,so it won’t reverse the hormonal balance to affect male genital or the boy’s normal development,so long as you didn’t intake too much.

Soy Milk kills the sperm?

This statement originate from animal experiment.Then a good deal of scientists are  engaged in human research.

In 2008,an article published in Human Reproduction made a research by means of questionnaire survey,and concluded that the quantity of soy products intaken is negative correlation with sperm concentration.But the scientists himself said :”It is unable to establish causality of intake of soy and sperm concentration with this experiment”.On the other hand, “phytoestrogens is good for protect the wholeness of sperm DNA and avoid damage” ,a scientist found.But the mechanism of prevents the damage is unclear,it needs further research.

In 2009,a research published in Fertility and Sterility also put forwards an conclusions which is contrary to “kill sperm ”. By compared experiments,scientists found that the sperm count and vitality  of the people who eat meat or any other fat food long-term is decreased ;however people who eat vegetables,fruits and beans enjoys a high quanty and quality sperm.Maybe it is because these food contains a lot of antioxidant substance.Most research found that a diet high in antioxidants often means better sperms.Soybean contains abundant antioxidant,maybe this is the reason it is benefit to sperms. In the same year,another meta-analysis published in the same journal found that even though high dose of soybean isoflavone won’t affect the quanty and quality of sperms.

Researcher thinks that although there are some animal experiment and cell experiment has found that soybean and plant hormones affects fertility function.But to human,related research is still not comprehensive,and still needs intense research.The newest meta-analysis also holds the same opinion :the effect of soy foods on fertility is unknow.

More article about food and health,please pay close attention to < Food and Nutrition Science >.

(Recommend and shared by SCIRP:guokr)

Your Mind Can Indeed Control Your Body Temperature

“So long as one keeps calm, one doesn't feel the heat too much.” Proverb said.

This proverb has been confirmed by Tibetan nuns: Tibetan nuns can change their core body temperatures with a certain form of meditation, which could keep them warm and help give their immune systems a boost.

A team of researchers recorded the internal temperature of nuns in the freezing cold of the Himalayas. The nuns, the researchers found, were able to increase their core body temperature with this technique--up to almost 101 degrees Fahrenheit.

Two techniques, specifically, caused the change. "Vase breath" is a breathing technique that causes heat production, and visualization--in this case, of flames near the spine--also accounted for the increase.Useful if you're out in the cold, but the technique, researchers say, could also be helpful in strengthening the immune system.

（source：mailonline）

Third of US West Coast Children Hit With Thyroid Problems Following Fukushima

Fukushima nuclear meltdown of 2011 only affects Japan? No!Young children born in the United States West Coast, right in the line of fire for radioactive isotopes, have been found to be 28% more likely to develop congenital hypothyroidism than infants born the year before the incident.

The study followed children born in California, Alaska, Washingto, Hawaii, and Oregon between 1 and 16 weeks after the horrific meltdown at Fukushima back in March 2011. Published in the OpenJournal of Pediatrics by researchers affiliated with the Radiation and PublicHealth Project, the information further lends credence to previous documentation regarding the way in which radioactive fallout ended up on US soil.

The researchers explained how radioactive fallout affected the entirety of the US in varying degrees:

“Fukushima fallout appeared to affect all areas of the U.S., and was especially large in some, mostly in the western part of the nation,” they wrote.

Fukushima’s Effects on The US

The findings are likely no surprise to those who have been following the effects of Fukushima closely, as back in 2011 numerous reports surfaced regarding the ways in which Fukushima’s radioactive waste had made its way to the US geography in a big way. Despite Japanese officials downplaying the incident and its real devastating health consequences, even so much as to ignore the fact that Fukushima radiation wasdetected in Tokyo far beyond the evacuation zone, US scientists were quick to reveal their own measurements to the scientific community.

Read: How to Boost Your Thyroid Naturally

Even as far away as Boston, highly radioactive objects known as ‘hot particles’ were detected by 2 out of 3 monitoring stations.

Scientists from UC Berkley detailed even more concerning reports following the disaster, finding the highest cesium content in topsoil for each California location was consistent. The recordings were posted online along with the date of finding:

Sacramento, CA Topsoil on Aug. 16, 2011: Total Cesium @ 2.737 Bq/kg

Oakland, CA Topsoil on Sept. 8, 2011: Total Cesium @ 2.55 Bq/kg

Alameda, CA Topsoil on Apr. 6, 2011: Total Cesium @ 2.52 Bq/kg

San Diego, CA Topsoil on June 29, 2011: Total Cesium @ 2.51 Bq/kg

Sonoma, CA Topsoil on Apr. 27, 2011: Total Cesium @ 2.252 Bq/kg

But the levels were nothing compared to what Marco Kaltofen, PE, of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) recorded from his research. In his report presentation, entitled  ‘Radiation Exposure to the Population in Japan After the Earthquake’, Kaltofen found samples on US soil that were 108 times greater than what UC Berkley researchers were reporting.

(reprinted from:naturalsociety)

Beneficial effects of L-carnitine were amplified by motivation training for weight management in healthy, research finds

L-carnitine can promote oxidation of fat into energy,so it can be used to losing weight.Besides,a research from Scientific Research Publishing also states that combined with motivation training,the antiobesity action of L-carnitine will be more significant:

A 4-week low dosage (500 mg/day) L-carnitine supplementation in combination with motivation training was carried out in 24 overweight (BMI 25.8 - 26.6 kg/m2) Japanese males in the course of a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study. L-carnitine motivated group showed significant body weight loss and a decrement of serum triglyceride level vs. the non-motivated placebo group. Serum adiponectin levels increased in both L-carnitine supplemented groups. The beneficial effects of L-carnitine were amplified by motivation training. For clinical evaluation of supplements, whose efficacy is potentially affected by inter-individual life style variability, supportive motivation training might be advisable for future clinical trials.

(source:SCIRP)

Why some people are gay？

There is a debate on Same-Sex marriage about weather it will affects kids health.Maybe you are also curious about the psychological and brain activity of homosexual.A research led by Gwang-Won Kim may satisfy your curiosity:

This study was performed to clarify the sexual orien-tation in a 19-year-old homosexual male and a 20-year-old homosexual female by using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with viewing male and female erotic nude pictures. The sex hor-mone levels of the homosexual male and female were in the normal range of healthy heterosexual males and females, respectively. In both homosexuals more significant brain activities were observed while view-ing the nude pictures of the same genetic sex than those of the opposite sex in the frontal cortex, parietal cortex, occipital cortex, anterior cingulate gyrus, amygdala, midbrain, hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, thalamus, globus pallidus, and putamen, which are known to be re-sponsive to sexual arousal. The homosexual male and female showed a tendency toward higher sexual arousal to the same genetic sex as comparison with the opposite sex.

(source:SCIRP)

Women are vocal?Gene works

Despite recent progress toward sexual equality, it's still a man's world in many ways. But numerous studies show that when it comes to language, girls start off with better skills than boys. Now, scientists studying a gene linked to the evolution of vocalizations and language have for the first time found clear sex differences in its activity in both rodents and humans, with the gene making more of its protein in girls. But some researchers caution against drawing too many conclusions about the gene's role in human and animal communication from this study.

Back in 2001, the world of language research was rocked by the discovery that a gene called FOXP2 appeared to be essential for the production of speech. Researchers cautioned that FOXP2 is probably only one of many genes involved in human communication, but later discoveries seemed to underscore its importance. For example, the human version of the protein produced by the gene differs by two amino acids from that of chimpanzees, and seems to have undergone natural selection since the human and chimp lineages split between 5 million and 7 million years ago. (Neandertals were found to have the same version as Homo sapiens, fueling speculation that our evolutionary cousins also had language). In the years since, FOXP2 has been implicated in the vocalizations of other animals, including mice, singing birds, and even bats.

During this same time period, a number of studies have confirmed past research suggesting that young girls learn language faster and earlier than boys, producing their first words and sentences sooner and accumulating larger vocabularies faster. But the reasons behind such findings are highly controversial because it is difficult to separate the effects of nature versus nurture, and the differences gradually disappear as children get older.

Wondering if FOXP2 played a role in these possible sex differences, a team led by psychologist J. Michael Bowers and neuroscientist Margaret McCarthy of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore started off by looking at young rat pups, which emit cries in the ultrasonic range—frequencies higher than humans can hear—when separated from their mothers. The team acoustically recorded the cries over 5 minutes in groups of 4-day old male and female rats that had been separated from their mothers. Both male and female pups made hundreds of cries, but males emitted twice as many as females, the researchers report today in The Journal of Neuroscience. When the pups returned to their cages, mothers retrieved the males before the females, which additional experiments suggested was a response to the higher number of distress calls. The team then killed eight male and eight female 4-day-old pups and examined how much FOXP2 protein was in their brains. Male pups had up to twice as much of the protein in regions of the brain known to be involved in vocalization and other cognitive functions, such as the amygdala, cerebral cortex, and cerebellum, but showed no difference in brain areas not linked to vocalization, such as the hypothalamus. To confirm that FOXP2 drove the extra cries in males, the team next injected a strand of RNA designed to partly block the activity of the gene into the brains of young male rats. Those males emitted fewer cries, behaving more like the females.

Finally, the researchers conducted a small study on human children aged 4 to 5 years who had died in accidents less than 24 hours previously. In the brains of five boys and five girls, they analyzed the amount of FOXP2 protein in part of the left frontal cortex called Brodmann area 44, which has been linked to language in humans. In direct contrast to the rats, the researchers found 30% more FOXP2 protein in the brains of the girls as compared with the boys.

The team concludes that in both rats and humans, what it calls "the more communicative sex" has higher FOXP2 levels, as might be expected if the gene and its protein do play a major role in the ability to vocalize. "We are highlighting a previously unreported sex difference in a gene that is generating great excitement for its potential role in the evolution of language," McCarthy tells ScienceNOW.

Dwayne Hamson, a neuroendocrinologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, calls the paper "very exciting" and "convincing and compelling evidence that FOXP2 is a key molecule for communication in mammals." But Simon Fisher, a co-discoverer of the FOXP2 gene who is now at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, cautions against drawing "big conclusions about human sex differences" from such a small sample of human children, which focused on only one brain area and a narrow age range. And he argues against any notions that there are simple parallels between rat pup calls and human language. He says the cry of a human baby might be analogous to a rat pup vocalization, but that "speech and language … are so much more complex and interesting than simple innate vocalizations."