New discovery in hair growth; thumbing smartphone text messages changes brain: health news
Scientists have discovered a mechanism that promotes hair growth.
The group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center discovered a connection between the body's immune system and skin regeneration. It involves macrophages, cells from the immune system that kill invading pathogens. The scientists discovered that macrophages induce hair growth by activating stem cells in the skin.
Published in the journal PLOS Biology, the discovery could lead to techniques promoting tissue regeneration or to fight aging and cancer.
The discovery, like many in science, was made by accident. A researcher working on another project noticed that mice started to regrow hair when they were given anti-inflammatory drugs. She tested different types of cells involved in the body's defense system for a role in hair growth. That test led to the discovery that when skin cells are dormant, a fraction of macrophages die naturally and that the dying and surviving cells activate nearby stem cells, causing hair to grow.
In other research, a report in Current Biology shows that fingering and thumbing smartphones affects the brain.
Scientists in Switzerland, interested in studying the affect of using smartphones on the brain, measured cortical brain activity in 37 right-handed people -- 26 touchscreen users and 11 who had older cell phones -- using electroencephalography, or EEG.
They found that when people use the touchscreens on their phones, it changes the way their thumbs and brains work together. The greater the use in the recent past, the more brain activity they had using their thumbs and fingertips.
The phenomenon is similar to what scientists have observed when violinists play their instrument, though in that case the changes in the brain are linked to the age at which the person started playing. The length of time that one owns a smartphone did not have an impact on brain activity.
The scientists did not offer an opinion about whether the changes are something people should be concerned about.
The group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center discovered a connection between the body's immune system and skin regeneration. It involves macrophages, cells from the immune system that kill invading pathogens. The scientists discovered that macrophages induce hair growth by activating stem cells in the skin.
Published in the journal PLOS Biology, the discovery could lead to techniques promoting tissue regeneration or to fight aging and cancer.
The discovery, like many in science, was made by accident. A researcher working on another project noticed that mice started to regrow hair when they were given anti-inflammatory drugs. She tested different types of cells involved in the body's defense system for a role in hair growth. That test led to the discovery that when skin cells are dormant, a fraction of macrophages die naturally and that the dying and surviving cells activate nearby stem cells, causing hair to grow.
In other research, a report in Current Biology shows that fingering and thumbing smartphones affects the brain.
Scientists in Switzerland, interested in studying the affect of using smartphones on the brain, measured cortical brain activity in 37 right-handed people -- 26 touchscreen users and 11 who had older cell phones -- using electroencephalography, or EEG.
They found that when people use the touchscreens on their phones, it changes the way their thumbs and brains work together. The greater the use in the recent past, the more brain activity they had using their thumbs and fingertips.
The phenomenon is similar to what scientists have observed when violinists play their instrument, though in that case the changes in the brain are linked to the age at which the person started playing. The length of time that one owns a smartphone did not have an impact on brain activity.
The scientists did not offer an opinion about whether the changes are something people should be concerned about.