Jon Hamilton

'Extremely Active' Atlantic Hurricane Season Predicted

Jon Hamilton — Fri, 24 May 2013 00:23:00 +0000

Unusually warm ocean temperatures and favorable wind patterns mean the Atlantic is likely to see "an active or extremely active" hurricane season this year, say officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The agency expects between seven and 11 hurricanes and as many as 20 named storms during the 2013 season, which runs from June 1 through November.

So for residents of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, "now is the time to pay attention to preparedness," NOAA's acting administrator, Kathryn Sullivan, told a news conference Thursday at the agency's new Climate Prediction

Forecasters Had Chance To Warn Moore, Okla., Before Tornado

Jon Hamilton — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:12:00 +0000

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Joining us now is NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton who has done a lot of reporting on tornadoes before. And, Jon, talk a bit about the path of this tornado and the destruction that it's brought.

JON HAMILTON, BYLINE: Well, if you look at it on the weather maps, it looks like it cut a large swath that went a few miles south of Oklahoma City, so that would have taken it right through Moore. And that's a suburban - a number of suburban communities, lot of houses, lot of schools.

Experts Agree: 'Psychiatry's Bible' Is No Bible

Jon Hamilton — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:07:00 +0000

When the American Psychiatric Association releases its new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- DSM-5 -- this weekend, lots of journalists and commentators will refer to it as "psychiatry's bible."

That's a term that makes the manual's authors and other mental experts cringe.

Why Is Psychiatry's New Manual So Much Like The Old One?

Jon Hamilton — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:24:00 +0000

The American Psychiatric Association is about to release an updated version of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The DSM helps mental health professionals decide who has problems such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.

Psychiatry's new manual, DSM-5, has been nearly 20 years in the making. During that time, scientists have learned a lot about the brain.

Imagine A Flying Pig: How Words Take Shape In The Brain

Jon Hamilton — Thu, 02 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

This is a story about a duck. More precisely, it's a story about what your brain just did when you read the word "duck."

Chances are, your brain created an image of a web-footed waterfowl. It also may have recalled the sound of quacking or the feel of feathers. And new research suggests that these mental simulations are essential to understanding language.

Just a few decades ago, many linguists thought the human brain had evolved a special module for language.

A Sleep Gene Has A Surprising Role In Migraines

Jon Hamilton — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:10:00 +0000

Mutations on a single gene appear to increase the risk for both an unusual sleep disorder and migraines, a team reports in Science Translational Medicine.

The finding could help explain the links between sleep problems and migraines.

A Tale Of Mice And Medical Research, Wiped Out By A Superstorm

Jon Hamilton — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 07:31:00 +0000

When Superstorm Sandy inundated lower Manhattan last year, thousands of lab animals drowned and many scientists lost months or even years of work. One of those scientists is Gordon Fishell, a brain researcher at New York University.

Just hours before Sandy reached New York, Fishell says, he began to worry that animals housed in a basement below his lab were in danger.

Genetically Modified Rat Is Promising Model For Alzheimer's

Jon Hamilton — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:15:00 +0000

A rat with some human genes could provide a better way to test Alzheimer's drugs.

The genetically modified rat is the first rodent model to exhibit the full range of brain changes found in Alzheimer's, researchers report in The Journal of Neuroscience.

"It's a big step forward" for drug development, says Roderick Corriveau, a program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, or NINDS, which helped fund the work.

Listen Up To Smarter, Smaller Hearing Aids

Jon Hamilton — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 07:18:00 +0000

One day in the fall of 2010, composer Richard Einhorn woke up and realized there was something horribly wrong with his hearing.

"There was an enormous, violent buzzing in my ears," he says. "And I realized that my right ear had gone completely deaf."

Einhorn, who lives in New York, was experiencing a rare problem called sudden deafness.

Obama's Plan To Explore The Brain A 'Most Audacious Project'

Jon Hamilton — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 23:32:00 +0000

President Obama has announced an ambitious plan to explore the mysteries of the human brain.

In a speech Tuesday, Obama said he will ask Congress for $100 million in 2014 to "better understand how we think and how we learn and how we remember." Other goals include finding new treatments for Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury.

The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative would accomplish this by developing tools that would allow researchers to monitor millions or even billions of in

The Number Of Early Childhood Vaccines Not Linked To Autism

Jon Hamilton — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 07:08:00 +0000

A large new government study should reassure parents who are afraid that kids are getting autism because they receive too many vaccines too early in life.

The study, by researchers at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, found no connection between the number of vaccines a child received and his or her risk of autism spectrum disorder.

Maybe Isolation, Not Loneliness, Shortens Life

Jon Hamilton — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 07:28:00 +0000

Loneliness hurts, but social isolation can kill you. That's the conclusion of a study of more than 6,500 people in the U.K.

The study, by a team at University College London, comes after decades of research showing that both loneliness and infrequent contact with friends and family can, independently, shorten a person's life.

How An Unlikely Drug Helps Some Children Consumed By Fear

Jon Hamilton — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 07:13:00 +0000

As far back as he can remember, George McCann lived in fear. When he was asleep he would have horrific nightmares filled with violent images. When he was awake, he often felt threatened by people, including members of his own family. And when he felt threatened, he would become aggressive, even violent.

George spent his childhood certain that something very bad was going to happen. And when he was 12, it did. His unrelenting fears led to a violent outburst at school. And George landed in a psychiatric hospital.

It was a frightening place for a fearful kid.

Alzheimer's 'Epidemic' Now A Deadlier Threat To Elderly

Jon Hamilton — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:15:00 +0000

Alzheimer's disease doesn't just steal memories. It takes lives.

The disease is now the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., and figures released Tuesday by the Alzheimer's Association show that deaths from the disease increased by 68 percent between 2000 and 2010.

"It's an epidemic, it's on the rise, and currently [there is] no way to delay it, prevent it or cure it," says Maria Carrillo, a neuroscientist with the Alzheimer's Association.

Folic Acid For Pregnant Mothers Cuts Kids' Autism Risk

Jon Hamilton — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:31:00 +0000

A common vitamin supplement appears to dramatically reduce a woman's risk of having a child with autism.

A study of more than 85,000 women in Norway found that those who started taking folic acid before getting pregnant were about 40 percent less likely to have a child who developed the disorder, researchers reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"That's a huge effect," says Ian Lipkin, one of the study's authors and a professor

Shortage Of Brain Tissue Sets Autism Research Back

Jon Hamilton — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 08:31:00 +0000

Research on autism is being hobbled by a shortage of brain tissue.

The brain tissue comes from people with autism who have died, and it has allowed researchers to make key discoveries about how the disorder affects brain development.

But there's not nearly enough tissue because most potential donors aren't identified, and their family members are never approached about the possibility of donation.

Mental Health Gun Laws Unlikely To Reduce Shootings

Jon Hamilton — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:28:00 +0000

States aren't likely to prevent many shootings by requiring mental health professionals to report potentially violent patients, psychiatrists and psychologists say.

The approach is part of a gun control law passed in New York yesterday in response to the Newtown, Conn., shooting a month ago.

Mice Dial Back Deafness With Alzheimer's Drug

Jon Hamilton — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 19:11:00 +0000

If you've spent years CRANKING YOUR MUSIC UP TO 11, this item's for you.

A drug developed for Alzheimer's disease can partially reverse hearing loss caused by exposure to extremely loud sounds, an international team reports in the journal Neuron.

Before you go back to rocking the house with your Van Halen collection, though, consider that the drug has only been tried in mice so far.

A Busy And Head-Scratching 2012 Hurricane Season

Jon Hamilton — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 08:29:00 +0000

Superstorm Sandy is what most people will remember from the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. But Sandy was just one of 10 hurricanes this year — a hurricane season that was both busy and strange.

Late summer is when the hurricane season usually gets busy. But Greg Jenkins, a professor of atmospheric science at Howard University, says this year was different.

"We saw storms in May and June, and in July and then August, September and October," he says. Jenkins says many of those storms didn't get much attention, though, because of where they went.

Despite Uneven Results, Alzheimer's Research Suggests A Path For Treatment

Jon Hamilton — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 20:22:00 +0000

It's been a mixed year for Alzheimer's research. Some promising drugs failed to stop or even slow the disease. But researchers also found reasons to think that treatments can work if they just start sooner.

Scientists who study Alzheimer's say they aren't discouraged by the drug failures.

Killer's DNA Won't Explain His Crime

Jon Hamilton — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:27:00 +0000

Connecticut's chief medical examiner, Wayne Carver, has raised the possibility of requesting genetic tests on Adam Lanza, the man responsible for the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Carver hasn't said precisely what he may want geneticists to look for, but scientists who study the links between genes and violence say those tests won't reveal much about why Lanza did what he did.

Ellen Wright Clayton, a specialist in law and genetics at Vanderbilt University, says there aren't many possibilit

Experts Argue Against Proposed Ban On Vaccine Preservative

Jon Hamilton — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:36:00 +0000

An old complaint about the safety of childhood vaccines is finding new life at the United Nations.

The U.N. Environment Program is considering a ban on thimerosal, a vaccine preservative that is widely used in developing countries. The program expects to make a decision sometime after a final meeting on the issue in January.

Thimerosal, which contains a form of mercury, was removed from most childhood vaccines in the U.S. and Europe more than a decade ago, amid public fear that it could cause autism.

Matching DNA With Medical Records To Crack Disease And Aging

Jon Hamilton — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 22:52:00 +0000

A massive research project in California is beginning to show how genes, health habits and the environment can interact to cause diseases. And it's all possible because 100,000 people agreed to contribute some saliva in the name of science.

The project's goal is to find new ways to identify people at risk before they develop problems like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

The Beatles' Surprising Contribution To Brain Science

Jon Hamilton — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 08:21:00 +0000

The same brain system that controls our muscles also helps us remember music, scientists say.

When we listen to a new musical phrase, it is the brain's motor system — not areas involved in hearing — that helps us remember what we've heard, researchers reported at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans last month.

The finding suggests that the brain has a highly specialized system

Protection From The Sea Is Possible, But Expensive

Jon Hamilton — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 22:08:00 +0000

While New York City and other places along the Northeast coast are still recovering from Superstorm Sandy, they're also looking ahead to how they can prevent flooding in the future, when sea level rise will make the problem worse. They may be able to take some lessons from coastal Norfolk, Va., which is far ahead of most cities when it comes to flood protection.

Just about everybody in Norfolk has a flood story. It's part of living in this low-lying port at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

Norfolk, Va., Puts Flooding Survival Plan To The Test

Jon Hamilton — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 08:19:00 +0000

Superstorm Sandy got officials in New York and New Jersey talking about how to prevent flooding in a time of global warming and sea level rise.

But the place on the East Coast that's most vulnerable to flooding is several hundred miles south, around Norfolk, Va.

High-Def Storm Models Yielded Accurate Predictions

Jon Hamilton — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 21:30:00 +0000

Better satellites, smarter computer models and faster computers helped government forecasters correctly predict the devastation from Hurricane Sandy, scientists say.

It's unlikely the forecast would have been nearly as accurate just a couple of decades ago, they say.

"The National Hurricane Center did a fantastic job, particularly with the track forecast and the intensity forecast as it was moving toward the Northeast," says Sharan Majumdar, an associate professor of meteorology and physical oceanography at the University of Miami.

Days before the storm hit, the National Hurricane Center

Storm's Uncertain Track Defies Weather Rules

Jon Hamilton — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 09:34:00 +0000

It's still unclear whether Sandy will be a devastating storm or just a bad one.

It is clear, however, that Sandy will be remembered as the storm that broke all the rules and baffled the nation's top weather forecasters.

Early Saturday morning, the National Weather Service downgraded the storm from a hurricane to a tropical storm — only to return it to hurricane status a few hours later.

Treatment For Alzheimer's Should Start Years Before Disease Sets In

Jon Hamilton — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 22:31:00 +0000

Treatment for Alzheimer's probably needs to begin years or even decades before symptoms of the disease start to appear, scientists reported at this week's Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans.

"By the time an Alzheimer's patient is diagnosed even with mild or moderate Alzheimer's there is very, very extensive neuron death," said John Morrison of Mount Sinai Medical School in New York.

Teenage Brains Are Malleable And Vulnerable, Researchers Say

Jon Hamilton — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 14:38:00 +0000

Adolescent brains have gotten a bad rap, according to neuroscientists.

It's true that teenage brains can be impulsive, scientists reported at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans. But adolescent brains are also vulnerable, dynamic and highly responsive to positive feedback, they say.

"The teen brain isn't broken," says Jay Giedd, a child psychiatry researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health.