Scientists discover alterations in brain's reward system related to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Scientists discover alterations in brain's reward system related to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: "Until now, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was related to alterations in the brain affecting attention and cognitive processes. Researchers in Spain have now discovered anomalies in the brain's reward system related to the neural circuits of motivation and gratification. In children with ADHD, the degree of motivation when carrying out an activity is related to the immediacy with which the objectives of the activity are met. This would explain why their attention and hyperactivity levels differ depending on the tasks being carried out."

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From bacteria to mitochondria: new findings

An answer to another of life's big questions | ScienceBlog.com -

... the research explained how mitochondria -- the power house of human and other cells, which provide complex eukaryotic cells with energy and ability to produce, divide and move - were thought to have evolved about 2000 million years ago from primitive bacteria.
"We have now come to understand the processes that drove cell evolution. For some time now the crux of this problem has been to understand how eukaryotes first came to be. The critical step was to transform small bacteria, passengers that rode within the earliest ancestors of these cells, into mitochondria, thereby beginning the evolution of more complex life-forms," Professor Lithgow said.
The team found that the cellular machinery needed to create mitochondria was constructed from parts pre-existing in the bacterium. These parts did other jobs for the bacterium, and were cobbled together by evolution to do something new and more exciting.
"Our research has crystallised with work from other researchers around the world to show how this transformation happened very early on -- that the eukaryotes were spawned by integrating the bacterium as a part of themselves. This process jump-started the evolution of complex life much more rapidly than was previously thought."

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Moms' depression in pregnancy tied to antisocial behavior in teens

Moms' depression in pregnancy tied to antisocial behavior in teens: "Researchers studying 120 British youth from inner-city areas found that mothers who became depressed when pregnant were four times as likely to have children who were violent at 16. This was true for both boys and girls. The mothers' depression, in turn, was predicted by their own aggressive and disruptive behavior as teens."

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Moms influence how children develop advanced cognitive functions

Moms influence how children develop advanced cognitive functions: "Executive functioning is a set of advanced cognitive functions -- such as the ability to control impulses, remember things, and show mental flexibility -- that help us plan and monitor what we do to reach goals. A new study of 80 infant-mother pairs finds that the ways moms act when they're playing and solving puzzles with their babies can explain some of the differences in children's development of executive functioning."

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Do they dislike learning, or school?

From Half an Hour: Whatever:

I asked, how many do not like school? More than half. How many do not like learning? None. This is a really messed up system. We start paying attention to the cliches. Eg. 'Some students are just not cut out for school.' This is something faculty just believe. But what if we say 'some students are just not cut out for learning.' This makes no sense. So something is wrong with the environment.

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