New insight into how obesity, insulin resistance can impair cognition

Tom Patriot

Obesity can break down our protective blood brain barrier resulting in problems with learning and memory, scientists report. They knew that chronic activation of the receptor Adora2a on the endothelial cells that line this important barrier in our brain can let factors from the blood enter the brain and affect the function of our neurons. Now Medical College of Georgia scientists have shown that when they block Adora2a in a model of diet-induced obesity, this important barrier function is maintained. “We know that obesity and insulin resistance break down the…

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This Weird Truth of What Belly Button Lint Is Actually Made Of

Tom Patriot

Georg Steinhauser, a professor of ecology and radiation studies at Leibniz University in Germany has done quite a lot of environmental research in the past decade, but ever since a popular study in 2009, he’s been known for one thing: belly button lint — or, as Steinhauser puts it, “navel fluff.” Now, I know what you’re thinking: First, let’s all use the phrase “navel fluff” way more often from now on. And second, what is that, anyway? It’s that very curiosity that’s led to Steinhauser being hounded for nearly 10 years, and to us sitting down…

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Kim Kardashian Says She Wants Everyone to Stop Focusing on Her Butt ‘All the Time’

Tom Patriot

There’s one thing Kim Kardashian West wants the world to stop talking about, and it’s her most famous asset. The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star, 38, is used to breaking the internet with her looks, but in Vogue‘s 73 Questions video interview, Kardashian West admits that she’s sick of everyone always commenting on her backside. When asked what one thing about her she wished more people focused on, Kardashian West replied: “I wish they would not focus on my ass all the time!” Although Kardashian West has said husband Kanye West “loves that my ass is bigger,”…

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Gender identity leaves imprint on human brains

Tom Patriot

Society’s expectations about gender roles alter the human brain at the cellular level, according to a paper published by a group of neuroscience researchers at Georgia State University. “We are just starting to understand and study the ways in which gender identity, rather than sex, may cause the brain to differ in males and females,” said Nancy Forger, professor and director of the Neuroscience Institute. Though the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are often used interchangeably by the average person, for neuroscientists, they mean different things, Forger said. “Sex is based…

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