ScienceCache

Vol. 219
Feb. 10, 2006

HORMONE LINKED TO GOOD HEARING AS WE AGE
Researchers have linked a hormone known to adjust levels of key brain chemicals to the quality of our hearing as we age. The more of the hormone that older people have in their bloodstream, the better their hearing is, and the less of the hormone, the worse their hearing is. The hormone, aldosterone, is known to regulate kidney function and also plays a role in controlling levels of two crucial signaling chemicals in the nervous system, potassium and sodium. For nerves to send signals crisply and work properly, potassium and sodium must be in precise proportion, without any disruption in the molecular channels or gates through which they move. Levels of potassium are particularly crucial in the sensitive inner ear, where fluid rich in potassium plays a central role in converting sounds into signals that the nervous system recognizes. “We found a direct link between blood levels of aldosterone and the ability of people to hear normally as they age,” says Robert D. Frisina, professor of otolaryngology, neurobiology and anatomy, and biomedical engineering. More research is needed, however, to understand the precise role that aldosterone plays.” Frisina’s team from the University and from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf put 47 healthy men and women between the ages of 58 and 84 through a battery of sophisticated hearing tests, and measured their blood levels of the hormone. They found that people with severe hearing loss had on average about half as much aldosterone in their bloodstream as their counterparts with normal hearing. The team presented its latest results this week at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology.
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UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS: NEW YORK MUST ACT ON STEM CELL RESEARCH
Leaders of New York’s major research universities and institutions this week called upon lawmakers in Albany to act quickly and establish a state fund to support stem cell research. Presidents and chancellors representing 17 New York universities and institutions with substantial biomedical and life sciences research programs, including the University, released a comprehensive analysis of the scientific, therapeutic, and economic issues related to stem cell research. The study, titled “New York and Stem Cell Research,” details the competitive research environment that has emerged in the past several years and its implications for the state’s biomedical research community and economy. While New York’s research institutions are widely acknowledged to possess the scientific talent that would enable the state to be a major international player in the emerging field of stem cell research, the fear is that these researchers will be recruited away to institutions in other states where they would have access to more resources to pursue their research. “Scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center are making significant contributions to the field of stem cell science and are conducting research that has the potential to lead to new regenerative therapies for spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s, heart disease, and cancer, to name a few,” says President Joel Seligman, who played a key role organizing the coalition. “With state support, we will strengthen our universities’ leadership in the field of biomedical research, create new companies and jobs, and develop technologies that have the potential to improve the lives of millions of Americans. However, if the state fails to act, universities will begin to lose their best and brightest scientists and our capacity to serve as engines of innovation for the state’s growing biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector will rapidly decline.”
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PARENTAL CONFLICT PRODUCES MORE THAN FLEETING DISTRESS FOR CHILDREN
Children whose parents displayed frequent disagreements in their relationship responded to subsequent parental conflicts with elevated distress and negative thoughts, according to researchers. In the latest issue of the journal Child Development, a team of scientists reported examining 223 six-year-old children twice during a one-year period for their reactions to conflicts between their parents. First, their mothers and fathers participated alone in an exercise in which they attempted to manage and resolve a common point of disagreement. The researchers rated the parents' level of hostility or indifference to capture the characteristic ways that parents managed their conflicts. Then the children observed their parents working through two simulated telephone conversations: a short conflict and a resolution. Researchers found that parents who displayed high levels of discord had children who responded with greater than expected distress to the simulated phone conflict. “The stressfulness of witnessing several different types of conflict may have long-term implications for children's functioning by directly altering their patterns of responding to those conflicts,” says Patrick T. Davies, lead author and professor of psychology. Although previous work has shown that children don't get used to their parents discord but, instead, become more sensitive to it, Davies and his colleagues wondered if different forms of destructive conflict between parents played different roles in children's reactions. It didn't matter whether the adults disagreed in openly hostile ways or appeared indifferent during the arguments. Both ways of managing conflict were linked with higher than expected distress in children that lasted even one year later.
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CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA MORE LIKELY TO HAVE BEHAVIOR DIFFICULTIES
Children with asthma are more likely to have problems with behavior than children without the chronic respiratory problem, according to a study in this month’s Pediatrics. The study of incoming kindergarteners included data from parents of 1,619 children who were asked about their children’s asthma symptoms and behaviors such as fighting and making friends. The team led by Jill Halterman, assistant professor at Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong, found that children with the worst asthma symptoms often have more than one behavior issue, such as being nervous and having trouble focusing on tasks, behaviors that can interfere with learning. Halterman, who conducted the study with the help of the Rochester-based Children’s Institute, says that while it is difficult to determine if the asthma or the behavior trouble came first, it is apparent that both must be addressed when treating the child. “Parents of children with asthma should watch for problems in their child’s behavior. Sure, kids are going to get into little tiffs, but if behavior problems become commonplace, parents should set appropriate limits and possibly ask for help from school counselors, teachers or their pediatrician. Also, parents should make sure their children’s health care providers are aware of the full extent of the children’s symptoms so they receive the best possible treatment plan.”
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