Here are five of the most interesting new research papers published over the Christmas and New Year period:
1. Spontaneous baby movements have a purpose
Seemingly random movements in newborns are important for the development of coordinated sensorimotor system.
Detailed motion capture of newborns and infants was combined with a musculoskeletal computer model, enabling researchers to analyse communication among muscles and sensation across the whole body. Researchers found patterns of muscle interaction developing based on the babies’ random exploratory behaviour, that would later enable them to perform sequential movements as infants (Hoshinori Kanazawa et al, 26.12.22).
2. Some guts are better than others at harvesting energy
New research suggests that a portion of the Danish population has a composition of gut microbes which, on average, extracts more energy from food than those of the rest of the population. The research is a step towards understanding why some people gain more weight than others, even when they eat the same (Jos Boekhorst et al, 26.12.22).
3. Key neurons that maintain body temperature at 37°C in mammals are identified
Researchers have identified key neurons that regulate body temperature at 37°C in mammals. This finding could pave the way for developing a technology that artificially adjusts body temperature to help treat heat stroke, hypothermia, and even obesity (Yoshiko Nakamura et al, 26.12.22).
4. People sleep the least from their early 30s to early 50s
Sleep duration declines in early adulthood from age 33, and then picks up again at age 53, according to the findings published in Nature Communications. The study, involving 730,187 participants spread over 63 countries, revealed how sleep patterns change across the lifespan, and how they differ between countries (Coutrot A. et al, 23.12.22).
5. When grandpa can’t hear you at a noisy holiday gathering, too many brain cells may be firing at once
A study of hearing in old and young mice suggests the brain might be trained to filter out background sound.
Looking for answers about how the brain works amid age-related hearing loss, researchers found that old mice were less capable than young mice of ‘turning off’ certain actively firing brain cells in the midst of ambient noise. The result, they say, creates a ‘fuzzy’ sound stage that makes it difficult for the brain to focus on one type of sound – such as spoken words – and filter out surrounding ‘noise’ (Kelson Shilling-Scrivo et al, 22.12.22).
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Best wishes and Happy New Year from myHSN!
