“I find this so exciting because of the cognitive
rehabilitation possibilities.”— MARK BAX TER
Memories clutter brain in amnesia
NEWS BRIEFS
By Laura Sanders
Deaf people see and touch
differently
People who are born deaf process
touch and visual input in what
would be the brain’s hearing sys-
tem, Christina Karns of the Uni-
versity of Oregon and colleagues
report in the July 11 Journal of
Neuroscience. Figuring out how
that happens may help deaf
people who get cochlear implants,
which require the auditory cortex
to go back to processing sounds.
— Laura Sanders
Rare gene tweak confers
Alzheimer’s immunity
A rare genetic variant seems to
protect against Alzheimer’s dis-
ease. The change blocks produc-
tion of the amyloid-beta protein
that builds up in the brains of
people with Alzheimer’s, scientists
from deCODE genetics in Reykja-
vik, Iceland, report online July 11
in Nature. The variant also pro-
tects against brain decline among
elderly people without Alzheimer’s,
suggesting that A-beta might have
a role in normal aging.
— Laura Sanders
To serve and protect
Cells called oligodendroglia are
known to wrap insulating myelin
around neural extensions called
axons. As they swaddle axons,
oligodendroglia also feed them
energy-boosting lactate, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and
colleagues report online July 11
in Nature. This feeding process
could be what goes wrong in amy-otrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou
Gehrig’s disease, the scientists
suggest. — Laura Sanders
www.sciencenews.org
August 11, 2012 | SCIENCE NEWS | 11
