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‘Cognitive clock’ may enable assessment of risk for memory and thinking problems. How old is your brain compared to your chronological age? A new measure of brain health developed by researchers at Rush University Medical Center may offer a novel approach to identifying individuals at risk of memory and thinking problems, according to research results published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association on June 1, 2021. Dubbed the “cognitive clock” by the researchers, the tool is a measure of brain health based on cognitive performance. It may be used in the future to predict the likelihood...

In a study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, Güler and his colleagues demonstrate that the pleasure center of the brain that produces the chemical dopamine, and the brain's separate biological clock that regulates daily physiological rhythms, are linked, and that high-calorie foods—which bring pleasure—disrupt normal feeding schedules, resulting in overconsumption. Using mice as study models, the researchers mimicked the 24/7 availability of a high-fat diet, and showed that anytime snacking eventually results in obesity and related health problems. Güler's team found that mice fed a diet comparable to a wild diet in calories and fats maintained normal eating...

Enlarge ImageMiraculous birth. A Chinese group isolated stem cells from mouse ovaries, transplanted them into sterilized mice, and got these normal babies. Credit: Kang Zou et al., Nature Cell Biology Advance Online Publication (12 April 2009) A new study challenges the long-held belief that female mammals start life with a limited number of eggs and cannot produce new ones after birth. For the first time, a Chinese group has found mouse cells that produce new eggs when transplanted into sterilized mice and give rise to normal offspring. The findings are already inflaming the debate over when and how female...

A 107-year-old Chinese woman who was afraid to marry when she was young has decided to look for her first husband and hopes to find a fellow centenarian so they will have something to talk about, a Chinese paper reported. Wang Guiying is worried she is becoming a burden to her aging nieces and nephews since breaking her leg when she was 102 and had to stop doing chores like washing her clothes. "I'm already 107 and I still haven't got married," the Chongqing Commercial Times quoted her saying. "What will happen if I don't hurry up and find a...

Children of older fathers have greater risk of early death Men, listen up. No longer can you comfort yourselves with the notion that you can father a child at any time...Children of older fathers more 'likely to die early': LONDON: When it comes to fertility and the prospect of having babies, it has always been assumed that men have no biological clock — unlike women, they can father a child late in their life. But a study has dispelled this myth. Researchers in Europe have found that children are almost twice as likely to die before adulthood if they have...

<p>LONDON  — New research has provided the most precise insight yet into when biological clocks start ticking loudly - and it's sooner than once thought: age 27 for women and 35 for men.</p> <p>Until now, it was thought that women's fertility starts to drop significantly in the early 30s, with a big plunge after 35. But the new study indicates that, on average, female fertility begins its meaningful slide at age 27.</p>

London — Human fertility starts to decline earlier than previously believed, new research suggests, providing the most precise insight yet into when biological clocks start ticking loudly — at age 27 for women and 35 for men. Until now, it was thought that women's fertility starts to drop significantly in the early 30s, with a big plunge after 35. But the new study indicates that, on average, female fertility begins its meaningful slide at age 27. And while the decline in human fertility tied to aging had traditionally been attributed to the female factor, the study, published Tuesday in the...