Page 21 - BBC Focus - August 2017

AUGUST 2017

THINGS WE NE UR O S C I E N C E
LEARNED THIS
MONTH
‘LEARNING WINDOW’ FOR LANGUAGES

MARS IS COVERED AND MUSIC EXTENDED USING SINGLE
WITH TOXIC
COMPOUNDS BRAIN CHEMICAL
The surface of the Red
Planet is teeming with
chemicals that could wipe
out living organisms, say
researchers from Edinburgh
University. This finding
greatly reduces the chances
of finding life on Mars.

OUR BRAINS
BENEFIT FROM
PHYSICAL EXERCISE
Working out can be just as
beneficial for our brains as
our bodies. A team at the
University of Arizona has
found that taking exercise
leads to improvements in
brain structure and function
Children are better at
– an effect thought to be learning instruments
linked to our evolution from and languages than
sedentary apes to active older people, but
scientists may have
hunter-gatherers.
unlocked a way
to extend this
capability to adults
CHILDREN WHO
SLEEP LESS COULD
AGE FASTER
Telomeres are structures at
the end of our chromosomes
that shorten with age. In
If you want your child to become fluent in thalamus and the auditory cortex, the areas of
nine-year-old children who
miss out on sleep, they are foreign languages, or grow up to be a concert the brain that process sound. With adenosine
significantly shorter than in pianist, then the advice has always been to start production and activity suppressed, the
kids who sleep more, a them as early as possible. There’s a sound auditory thalamus and cortex had more
study at Princeton scientific reason for this: children have a much glutamate to work with. As a result, the adult
University has found. greater capability for auditory learning than mice with lower levels of adenosine exhibited a
adults. But now, in news that will delight pushy greater ability to differentiate between tones
EARTH IS ON parents everywhere, researchers at St Jude’s than adult mice in the control group.
THE BRINK OF Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, “These results offer a promising strategy to
Tennessee have managed to extend this extend the same window in humans to acquire
MASS EXTINCTION
‘learning window’ into early adulthood, albeit language or music ability… possibly by
Over the last century, Earth only in mice so far. developing drugs that selectively block
has undergone a decline in adenosine activity,” said research lead Dr
mammal populations akin to The researchers used several different Stanislav Zakharenko.
‘biological annihilation’, techniques to either reduce the brain’s supply of
according to Mexican the neuromodulator adenosine, or block the A1 Be warned, though. Adenosine is also involved
researchers. This is due to receptor that is vital to its function. Adenosine with sleep and suppressing arousal. So, if your
human overconsumption and inhibits the release of the neurotransmitter virtuoso violinist grows up to be an insomniac
overpopulation, they say. glutamate, which is used by the auditory sex maniac, don’t come crying to us…

21