1,222 news posts in Mind and body

Life sciences

14 Apr 2023

‘Farmer’ beetle finds suitable host trees by tracing scent of its fungus crop

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Alnus ambrosia beetles (Xylosandrus germanus) in their galleries, tending the brood and fungus. Image credit: Antonio Gugliuzzo Alnus ambrosia beetles (Xylosandrus germanus) are invasive, destructive pests of trees. For the first time, ecologists have identified volatile compounds released by the beetles’ own fungal symbiont as odors that attract females to existing colonies. These chemicals could be used to trap the beetles before they infest and kill new trees. The alnus ambrosia beetle Xylosandrus germanus, also known as the black stem borer, was accidentally introduced by humans from its native east Asia to North America and Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. X. germanus is a so-called ambrosia beetle, which means that it farms its own food: a specialized fungal symbiont which it ‘sows’ and tends inside the galleries that it digs inside wood. It is a destructive invasive pest, known to attack more than 200 species from 51 families of broadleaf and conifer trees. While it prefers to colonize dead wood, it can also infest and ultimately kill weakened or stressed trees. A proven way to monitor or even control insect pests is by hijacking their communication system and manipulating it to […]

Life sciences

13 Apr 2023

Coral-eating fish poo may act as ‘probiotics’ for reefs

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Coral-eating fish are thought to weaken coral reefs because they consume coral tissue, whereas grazer fish are assumed to have positive effects because they eat algae that compete with corals. However, a new study shows that feces from coral-eating fish contain bacteria that can be beneficial to corals. On the other hand, feces from grazers contain high levels of pathogens that can kill corals. Until recently, fish that eat coral — corallivores — were thought to weaken reef structures, while fish that consume algae and detritus — grazers — were thought to keep reefs healthy. But scientists have discovered that feces from grazers leave large lesions on coral, possibly because they contain coral pathogens. By contrast, feces from corallivores may provide a source of beneficial microbes that help coral thrive. “Corallivorous fish are generally regarded as harmful because they bite the corals,” said Dr Carsten Grupstra of Rice University, lead author of the study published in Frontiers in Marine Science. “But it turns out that this doesn’t tell the whole story. Corallivore feces contain many of the bacterial taxa that associate with healthy corals under normal conditions, potentially resulting in the natural […]

Life sciences

12 Apr 2023

Most plastic eaten by city vultures comes straight from food outlets

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Black vultures, Coragyps atratus, in the US. Image credit: Hannah Partridge Researchers have shown that black and turkey vultures in US urban areas get most of the plastic they ingest from nearby food stores and restaurants. They often seem to eat plastic unintentionally, risking their health, but in some cases may do so on purpose to induce vomiting up of other undigested foods. Since the 1950s, humanity has produced an estimated 8.3bn tons of plastic, adding a further 380m tons to this amount each year. Only 9% of this gets recycled. The inevitable result is that plastic is everywhere, from the depths of the oceans to the summit of Everest – and notoriously, inside the tissues of humans and other organisms. The long-term effects of ingested plastic on people aren’t yet known. But in rodents, ingested microplastics can impair the function of the liver, intestines, and exocrine and reproductive organs. Especially at risk of ingesting plastic are scavenging birds. For example, New World vultures regularly forage at landfills, and have been observed to leisurely pick at synthetic materials such as boat seats, rubber seals, or roofs. Read original article Download original article (PDF) Now, […]

Health

06 Apr 2023

Obstructive sleep apnea may directly cause early cognitive decline

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Obstructive sleep apnea is a debilitating disease, which can lead to fragmented and poor sleep and daytime sleepiness Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) often show cognitive deficits, but these have traditionally been attributed to co-morbidities. But now researchers have shown for the first time that OSA itself is sufficient to cause early cognitive decline in middle-aged non-obese men. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a potentially dangerous condition. During sleep, the throat muscles of people with OSA relax and block the airflow into the lungs, so that they repeatedly stop breathing. Common symptoms of OSA include restless sleep, loud snoring, daytime sleepiness, and prolonged headaches in the morning – highly debilitating for patients and their partners. OSA is currently underdiagnosed: it may occur in as much as 15-30% of men and 10-15% of women, or approximately 1bn adults worldwide, of whom an estimated 80% don’t know they have it. Major risk factors for OSA include middle or old age, being obese, smoking, chronic nasal blockage, high blood pressure, and being male. Now, researchers from the UK, Germany, and Australia have shown for the first time that in middle-aged men, OSA can also cause early […]

Psychology

05 Apr 2023

How a city walk may improve your mood: Here are five Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

By Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, it’s impossible to cover all of them. Here are just five amazing papers you may have missed. Walking in the city might be just as good for our mood as walking in nature Time spent in urban environments is associated with depletion of cognitive resources and an increasing prevalence of mental illness. Few studies, however, have measured working memory capacity. Now, writing in Frontiers in Psychology, US researchers have compared memory performance and self-reported mood before and after a 30-minute walk in a natural or urban environment. The scientists assigned participants to either a nature or an urban condition and measured differences in self-reported affect and OPSAN, a complex measure of working memory capacity, before and after going on a walk in the respective environment. Their results showed that regardless of the setting, walkers exhibited an increase in positive affect and a decrease in negative affect, suggesting that going outside for a walk can boost mood regardless of environment type. They found, however, no significant changes in working memory […]

Health

30 Mar 2023

Babies’ gut microbiome not influenced by mothers’ vaginal microbiome composition

By Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com Alterations in babies’ gut microbiomes during early life are commonly associated with negative health outcomes later on, including asthma and obesity. Gut microbiome alterations are frequently attributed to how a baby is delivered (birth mode). This gave ground to practices like vaginal seeding, aiming to expose babies born via C-section to their mother’s vaginal microbiome. Canadian researchers have examined this supposed interplay between infant microbiome composition and birth mode and found that mothers’ vaginal microbiome composition does not affect microbiome development of babies. It has been a longstanding assumption that birth mode and associated exposure of newborns to their mothers’ vaginal microbiome during delivery greatly affects the development of babies’ gut microbiome. To test the scientific validity of this assumption, a team of Canadian researchers has now published a study in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology in which they examined the effect of maternal vaginal microbiome composition on the development of infants’ stool microbiome at 10 days and three months after birth. “We show that the composition of the maternal vaginal microbiome does not substantially influence the infant stool microbiome in early life,” said Dr Deborah Money, a professor of obstetrics […]

Life sciences

29 Mar 2023

Lizards at US Army installation are stress eating during flyovers

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Colorado checkered whiptail, Aspidoscelis neotesselata. Image credit: Carina Kusaka Scientists studied the response of an uncommon asexual lizard, the Colorado checkered whiptail, to anthropogenic noise at the military installation Fort Carson. They compared the lizard’s behavior between dates with and without flyovers by military aircraft. On flyover dates, the lizards showed a physiological stress response and spent more time eating and less time moving. These results suggest that the lizards deal with noise pollution by eating more to maintain the energy levels. Lizards may be small, with only a single hearing bonelet compared to our three, and without earflaps, but their hearing is typically good. Most lizards can hear frequencies between 100 and 5,000 Hz (although they are most sensitive between 400 and 1,500 Hz), compared to between 20 and 20,000 Hz in humans. So how do lizards react to noise pollution? Here, scientists studied the impact of noise from low-flying military aircraft on the behavior and well-being of an uncommon lizard, the Colorado checkered whiptail (Aspidoscelis neotesselatus). This was done at the Fort Carson US military Installation near Colorado Springs, where Apache, Chinook, and Blackhawk helicopters regularly fly over, and occasionally transport aircraft […]

Health

27 Mar 2023

Shh! Intensive care incubators resonate sounds and risk damage to premature babies’ hearing, scientists say

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Although the effects of a noisy environment in the neonatal intensive care unit have been studied before, the effect of the incubators premature babies spend their first weeks or even months in has not. A team of scientists investigated, and found that while the incubators dampen some sounds, they amplify others, potentially damaging babies’ hearing. For vulnerable premature babies, an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a lifesaver, but the consequences can last a lifetime. Many studies have shown that the NICU is a noisy environment and that babies who spend time there have higher rates of hearing impairment, which can lead to delays in language acquisition. Scientists from Vienna, Hamburg, Munich, and Osnabruck set out to investigate the role of the incubator, an underestimated element in the soundscape that surrounds babies during their time in the NICU. “The motivation of our multidisciplinary research team concerns the question: why many more premature babies suffer hearing impairments,” said Dr Christoph Reuter from the University of Vienna, corresponding author of the study published in Frontiers in Pediatrics. “We believe that what we have measured in our studies could be a leading […]

Health

23 Mar 2023

Frontiers in Public Health celebrates 10 year anniversary

Worldwide, human health is now better than ever before. We have a higher life expectancy and lower under-five mortality than any previous generations. However, all of these improvements in human health have come at a cost: the planet’s health. Most of these health improvements started in the Anthropocene — a geological epoch defined by human influence. The Anthropocene —thought to have started anytime between the Industrial revolution and World War II — has brought about a substantial increase in socio-economic standards but also a halt in biodiversity and climate change. Since human and planetary health are interlinked, it would be short-sighted to see them as independent. Understanding and promoting health for humans and the planet — and ensuring that there is a fine balance between economic growth and prosperity, as well as sustainable use of the Earth’s resources — is one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st Century. The Anthropocene and the theory of “planetary boundaries” are the current background for environmental sciences and research on human health. However, such theories are still evolving and have some conceptual problems. For example, what is the aim of mitigation of environmental degradation or even “regeneration” of the planet, given […]

Life sciences

22 Mar 2023

Unusual Toxoplasma parasite strain killed sea otters and could threaten other marine life

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image by Mr Laird Henkel, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Four sea otters that stranded in California were found to have died of an unusually severe form of toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by the microscopic parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Scientists warn that this new strain, never previously reported in aquatic animals, could potentially pose a health threat to other marine wildlife and humans. Scientists in California are raising the alarm about a newly reported form of toxoplasmosis that kills sea otters and could also infect other animals and people. Although toxoplasmosis is common in sea otters and can sometimes be fatal, this unusual strain appears to be capable of rapidly killing healthy adult otters. This rare strain of Toxoplasma hasn’t been detected on the California coast before, and may be a recent arrival, but scientists are concerned that if it contaminates the marine food chain it could potentially pose a public health risk. “I have studied Toxoplasma infections in sea otters for 25 years — I have never seen such severe lesions or high parasite numbers,” said Dr Melissa Miller of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, corresponding author of the study […]

Health

16 Mar 2023

Common meat-free proteins may trigger soybean and peanut allergies in some people

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Meat-free proteins based on legumes are increasingly common. But so are allergies to soy and peanuts, which are also legumes. To find out if it’s safe for patients with these allergies to eat legume-based alternative proteins, scientists investigated how frequent cross-reactions are among people with different legume allergies. They found that although people often produce antibodies against multiple legumes, they rarely have a clinically relevant reaction. Soybean and peanut allergy patients are usually not allergic to other legumes. Many people keen to reduce their meat consumption are turning to substitutes made of legumes packed with protein, vitamins, and fiber. But allergies to legumes like soy or peanuts are both common and dangerous. Are patients allergic to particular legumes at risk from meat-free proteins made of legumes even if they contain different legumes? Dr Mark Smits and a team of scientists at University Medical Center Utrecht set out to investigate. “Both protein consumption and the world’s population are increasing which leads to an urgent demand for sustainable protein sources,” said Dr Thuy-My Le, senior author of the study published in Frontiers in Allergy. “An increase in the consumption of legumes may increase the […]

Health

15 Mar 2023

What does flattery do to our brains? Here are five Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

By Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, it’s impossible to cover all of them. Here are just five amazing papers you may have missed. What praise and flattery does to our brains Both sincere praise and flattery are rewarding in different ways, but the various effects of these types of praise are not obvious. Now, researchers from Japan have published an article in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience in which they examined the brain activity of participants who received sincere praise or flattery after performing a visual search task. Using neuroimaging, the researchers found different effects of praise. The activation of the part of the brain modulating reward and pleasure processing was higher when participants received sincere praise than when they received flattery. The scientists also observed a socio-emotional effect, based on the positive feedback conveyed by praise. Altogether, they found that the neural dynamics of the rewarding and socio-emotional effects of different types of praise differ. Article link:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2023.985047/full Fish bone matrix may help heal bone defects Biocompatibility and osteogenic activity are properties of decalcified bone […]

Life sciences

15 Mar 2023

Rapid surge in highly contagious killer fungus poses new threat to amphibians across Africa

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Researchers studied the prevalence of the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) in a total of 16,900 historical and recent museum specimens, wild-living individuals, and literature records of amphibians from Africa. Bd causes chytridiomycosis, a contagious and lethal disease of amphibians that has driven hundreds of species worldwide to extinction. Only amphibian species in Africa had so far escaped chytridiomycosis epizootics, but the present study shows that this reprieve is now likely over. Mass fungus infections that drive populations worldwide to near-collapse don’t just occur in science fiction. Chytridiomycosis, the worst vertebrate disease in recorded history, has already wiped out hundreds of species of amphibians around the world. Due to a large part to this fungal disease, 41% of amphibians are currently threatened with extinction. Only species living in Africa seemed to have been relatively spared from the scourge of chytridiomycosis – at least so far. Now, a study in Frontiers in Conservation Science has shown that this reprieve was likely temporary: the results show that the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), the pathogen that causes chytridiomycosis, is by now firmly established throughout Africa. It may so far have been overlooked there, but it is likely that […]

Life sciences

06 Mar 2023

Bees follow linear landmarks to find their way home, just like the first pilots

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Scientists have shown that honeybees retain a memory of the dominant linear landscape elements in their home area like channels, roads, and boundaries. When transported to an unfamiliar area, they seek out local elements of this kind, compare their layout to the memory, and fly along them to seek their way home. This navigation strategy is similar to the one followed by the first human pilots. In the earliest days of human flight, before the invention of the first radio beacons and ground-based electronic systems, and modern GPS, pilots commonly navigated by following roads and railways – striking linear landscape elements at ground level that guide towards a destination of interest. Enter the honeybee. A century of research has shown that honeybees are navigators par excellence. They can navigate by their sense of smell, the sun, the sky’s pattern of polarized light, vertical landmarks that stand out from the panorama, and possibly the Earth’s magnetic field. They are also clever learners, able to recognize associations between disparate memories in order to generalize rules. Now, scientists have shown that honeybees tend to search for their way home by orienting themselves in relation to the dominant […]

Humanities

03 Mar 2023

Scientists find that people use emojis to hide, as well as show, their feelings

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com Scientists asked 1,289 people who use emojis to respond to internet chat messages and report their feelings and emoji use. They found that more emojis were used between closer friends, that using positive emojis to express positive feelings correlated with personal wellbeing, and that positive emojis could be used to mask the expression of negative feelings. Have you ever received an unwanted gift and still said ‘thank you’? This choice to hide a negative emotion is a display rule — one of many which define socially appropriate responses to emotions. Although display rules can promote interpersonal harmony, they can also have negative consequences for the person choosing to change how they express emotions. As more social interaction goes online, scientists are investigating how emojis are used to reflect our emotions in different contexts. Are there display rules that apply to emojis, and how do those affect people’s wellbeing? “As online socializing becomes more prevalent, people have become accustomed to embellishing their expressions and scrutinizing the appropriateness of their communication,” said Moyu Liu of the University of Tokyo, who investigated this question in a study published in Frontiers in Psychology. “However, I […]