Eating Pickled Capers May Help Improve Brain and Heart Health

CAPERS ARE USED IN STEAK TARTAR 

Jul 16, 2020 by News Staff / Source

A duo of researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine has discovered that a compound commonly found in pickled capers, which are the immature flower buds of the caper bush (Capparis spinosa), can directly regulate proteins required for bodily processes such as the heartbeat, thought, muscular contraction, and normal functioning of the thyroid, pancreas and gastrointestinal tract.

Pickled capers were found to activate KCNQ channels important for normal human brain and heart activity. Image credit: Bo Abbott.

Archaeological evidence for human caper consumption dates back as far as Mesolithic soil deposits in Syria thought to be more than 10,000 years old, and Stone Age cave dwellings in the Greek Peloponnesian peninsula and Israel.

Capers have traditional been used as folk medicine for hundreds if not thousands of years and are in current use or study for their anti-helminthic, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory properties and possible circulatory and gastrointestinal benefits.

Pickled capers are used throughout the world for a variety of culinary purposes. In the U.S. they are often added for flavoring to smoked salmon, pasta and other dishes.

They are the richest known natural source of a bioflavonoid called quercetin, with a maximum reported concentration of 520 mg/100 g for canned capers, compared to a maximum of 323 mg/100 g quercetin for raw capers.

In the new study, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine’s Professor Geoffrey Abbott and graduate student Kaitlyn Redford found that quercetin modulates potassium ion channels in the KCNQ gene family.

These channels are highly influential in human health and their dysfunction is linked to several common human diseases, including diabetes, cardiac arrhythmia, and epilepsy.

The study revealed that quercetin modulates the KCNQ channels by directly regulating how they sense electrical activity in the cell, suggesting a previously unexpected mechanism for the therapeutic properties of capers.

The mechanism may extend to other quercetin-rich foods in our diet, and quercetin-based nutritional supplements.

“Now that we understand how quercetin controls KCNQ channels, future medicinal chemistry studies can be pursued to create and optimize quercetin-related small molecules for potential use as therapeutic drugs,” Professor Abbott said.

“Increasing the activity of KCNQ channels in different parts of the body is potentially highly beneficial,” he added.

“Synthetic drugs that do this have been used to treat epilepsy and show promise in preventing abnormal heart rhythms.”

The study was published online July 8, 2020 in the journal Communications Biology.

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K.E. Redford & G.W. Abbott. 2020. The ubiquitous flavonoid quercetin is an atypical KCNQ potassium channel activator. Commun Biol 3, 356; doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-1089-8

AS ABOVE SO BELOW

Study: South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly is a Recurring Feature

Jul 22, 2020 by News Staff / Source

Strange behavior of Earth’s magnetic field in the South Atlantic region isn’t a sign of the upcoming magnetic field reversal, according to new research from the University of Liverpool.

The magnetic field and electric currents in and around Earth generate complex forces that have immeasurable impact on every day life. The field can be thought of as a huge bubble, protecting us from cosmic radiation and charged particles that bombard Earth in solar winds. Image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab.

Earth’s magnetic field is a complex and dynamic force that protects us from cosmic radiation and charged particles from the Sun.

It is largely generated by an ocean of superheated, swirling liquid iron that makes up the outer core around 3,000 km (1,864 miles) beneath our feet.

Acting as a spinning conductor in a bicycle dynamo, it creates electrical currents, which in turn, generate our continuously changing electromagnetic field.

This field is far from static and varies both in strength and direction. Over the last 200 years, it has lost around 9% of its strength on a global average.

A large region of reduced magnetic intensity has developed between Africa and South America and is known as the South Atlantic Anomaly.

From 1970 to 2020, the minimum field strength in this area has dropped from around 24,000 to 22,000 nanoteslas (nT), while at the same time the area of the anomaly has grown and moved westward at a pace of around 20 km per year (12.4 miles per year).

In a new study, University of Liverpool Ph.D. student Yael Engbers and colleagues analyzed the record of the magnetic field which is preserved in igneous rocks from the island of Saint Helena, which lies in the midst of the South Atlantic Anomaly.

The geomagnetic records from the rocks covering 34 different volcanic eruptions that took place between 8 and 11 million years ago revealed that at these occurrences the direction of the magnetic field for Saint Helena often pointed far from the North Pole, just like it does today.

“Our study provides the first long term analysis of the magnetic field in this region dating back millions of years,” Engbers said.

“It reveals that the anomaly in the magnetic field in the South Atlantic is not an one-off — similar anomalies existed 8-11 million years ago.”

“This is the first time that the irregular behavior of the geomagnetic field in the South Atlantic region has been shown on such a long timescale,” she added.

“It suggests that the South Atlantic Anomaly is a recurring feature and probably not a sign of an impending reversal.”

“It also supports earlier studies that hint towards a link between the South Atlantic Anomaly and anomalous seismic features in the lowermost mantle and the outer core. This brings us closer to linking behavior of the geomagnetic field directly to features of the Earth’s interior.”

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Yael A. Engbers et al. Elevated paleomagnetic dispersion at Saint Helena suggests long-lived anomalous behavior in the South Atlantic. PNAS, published online July 20, 2020; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2001217117

WHO R U 

Giant Predatory Owls Once Lived in Ecuador

Jul 22, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

An extinct species of giant owl that lived 40,000 years ago (Pleistocene epoch) and preyed on smaller owls has been identified from fossils found in the Cangagua Formation in the Chimborazo province of Ecuador.

Life reconstruction of Asio ecuadoriensis. Image credit: Sebastián Rozadilla.

Named Asio ecuadoriensis, the ancient bird was more than 70 cm (2.3 feet) tall and had a wingspan of over 1.5 m (4.9 feet).

It had longer and more robust legs than any other extant or extinct member of its genus Asio (typical or true owls).

“We think that the climate change that occurred about 10,000 years ago, when the Ice Age ended, was partly responsible for the extinction of these large predatory birds,” said co-author Dr. Federico Agnolin, a paleontologist with the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, the Concejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, and the Fundación de Historia Natural ‘Félix de Azara.’

The fossilized bones of Asio ecuadoriensis were collected from a small cave site Dr. Agnolin and colleagues interpreted as a fossil owl burrow.

The paleontologists also found several specimens from three extant owl species (Glaucidium sp., Tyto furcata and Athene cunicularia) and skeletal remains of different mammals, including rabbits and rodents.

Size comparison between Asio ecuadoriensis and a human (left) and the preserved material of the ancient owl species (right). Image credit: Lo Coco et al, doi: 10.1007/s10336-020-01756-x.

“The fossil owl remains of Tyto, Athene and Glaucidium show breakage and weathering, typical of stomach acid-derived abrasion of owls,” they said.

“This indicates that, as occurs with mammals coming from the site, they would be prey items of the owl that is the owner of the burrow.”

“The large size of Asio ecuadoriensis, as well as the absence of acid-derived weathering of the bones, may constitute indirect evidence that this species is the owner of the burrow.”

“Asio ecuadoriensis is probably an owl-specialized predator,” they added.

“It is well known that owls usually prey on raptors, but predation on owls by owls is uncommon and remains poorly explored in the literature.”

“If correctly interpreted, the present contribution may constitute the first fossil evidence of owl being killed by owls.”

The team’s paper was published recently in the Journal of Ornithology.

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G.E. Lo Coco et al. 2020. Late Pleistocene owls (Aves, Strigiformes) from Ecuador, with the description of a new species. J Ornithol 161, 713-721; doi: 10.1007/s10336-020-01756-x

IMAGINE ALL THE PIGEON SHIT

Meet Tongoenas burleyi, Extinct Giant Pigeon from Tonga

Jul 23, 2020 by News Staff / Source

A new extinct genus and species of pigeon has been identified from fossils found on six islands (Foa, Lifuka, ‘Uiha, Ha‘afeva, Tongatapu, and ‘Eua) in the Kingdom of Tonga.

Tongoenas burleyi (right) likely featured the brightly colored plumage of other canopy-dwelling pigeons on the Pacific islands. On the left is the Kanaka pigeon (Caloenas canacorum), another large extinct Tongan species. Image credit: Danielle Byerley.

Tongoenas burleyi inhabited the Tongan islands for at least 60,000 years, but vanished within a century or two of human arrival around 2,850 years ago.

This canopy-dwelling species was about 51 cm (20 inches) long, not including the tail, weighed at least five times as much as the average city pigeon, and could fly.

“When I first found Tongoenas burleyi fossils in a cave on the Tongan island of ‘Eua, I was immediately impressed by their size,” said lead author Dr. David Steadman, curator of ornithology at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

“I said, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never seen a pigeon that big.’ It was clearly something different.”

“Once we began excavating charred and broken remains of Tongoenas burleyi at archaeological sites, we knew it was another human-caused extinction. Pigeons and doves just plain taste good,” he added.

Tongoenas burleyi co-evolved with fruit-bearing trees in the mango, guava and chinaberry families, acting as an essential forest cultivator by spreading seeds to new locations.

“Tongoenas burleyi was likely capable of swallowing fruit as big as a tennis ball,” Dr. Steadman said.

“Some of these trees have big, fleshy fruit, clearly adapted for a big pigeon to gulp whole and pass the seeds.”

“Of the fruit-eating pigeons, this bird is the largest and could have gulped bigger canopy fruit than any others. It takes co-evolution to the extreme.”

Dr. Steadman hypothesized Tongoenas burleyi featured the bright, even gaudy, plumage of other pigeons that live in treetops, where intense colors provide better camouflage than the muted browns and grays of pigeons that live on the ground.

“The absence of Tongoenas burleyi from the Tongan islands could threaten the long-term survival of local trees that depended on the pigeon as a seed transporter,” said co-author Oona Takano, a doctoral student at the University of New Mexico.

“Tongoenas burleyi provided an important service by moving seeds to other islands. The pigeon species on Tonga today are too small to eat large fruits, which imperils certain fruit trees.”

In their study, the researchers analyzed the features of the hindlimbs (femur, tibiotarsus, tarsometatarsus) of the Papuan-Oceanic pigeons and doves, dividing them into three groups: tree-dwelling species, ground-dwellers and those that live both on the ground and in trees.

“We dedicated the study to the memory of W. Arthur ‘Art’ Whistler, whose expertise in West Polynesian botany was unsurpassed. Whistler died from COVID-19 in April,” Dr. Steadman said.

“There wasn’t a plant on Fiji or Tonga that Art didn’t know, including all of the pigeon-dispersed fruits. He was a true plant nerd and complete salt of the Earth. He always made time for people.”

The study was published in the journal Zootaxa.

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David W. Steadman& Oona M. Takano. 2020. A new genus and species of pigeon (Aves, Columbidae) from the Kingdom of Tonga, with an evaluation of hindlimb osteology of columbids from Oceania. Zootaxa 4810 (3); doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4810.3.1

This article is based on text provided by the Florida Museum of Natural History.

AFTER A CUPPA JOE -A/+A=A

Study: Caffeine Significantly Enhances Problem-Solving Abilities But Not Creativity

Mar 9, 2020 by News Staff / Source

Caffeine increases the ability to focus and problem solve, but it doesn’t stimulate creativity, according to new research published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.

One cup of coffee contains nearly 100 mg of caffeine. Image credit: Fxxu.

Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychotropic drug in the world, with numerous studies documenting the effects of caffeine on people’s alertness, vigilance, mood, concentration, and attentional focus.

The effects of caffeine on creative thinking, however, remain unknown.

“In Western cultures, caffeine is stereotypically associated with creative occupations and lifestyles, from writers and their coffee to programmers and their energy drinks, and there’s more than a kernel of truth to these stereotypes,” said Dr. Darya Zabelina, a researcher in the Department of Psychological Science at the University of Arkansas.

“While the cognitive benefits of caffeine — increased alertness, improved vigilance, enhanced focus and improved motor performance — are well established, the stimulant’s affect on creativity is less known.”

In the study, Dr. Zabelina and her colleague, Dr. Paul Silvia from the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, differentiate convergent from divergent thinking.

“The former is defined as seeking a specific solution to a problem, for example, the correct answer,” they explained.

“The latter is characterized by idea generation where a large set of apt, novel or interesting responses would be suitable.”

For the study, 80 volunteers were randomly given either a 200 mg caffeine pill, equivalent to one strong cup of coffee, or a placebo.

The participants were then tested on standard measures of convergent and divergent thinking, working memory and mood.

Caffeine was shown to improve convergent thinking, while consuming it had no significant impact on divergent thinking.

The compound did not significantly affect working memory, but test subjects who took it did report feeling less sad.

“The 200 mg enhanced problem solving significantly, but had no effect on creative thinking,” Dr. Zabelina said.

“It also didn’t make it worse, so keep drinking your coffee; it won’t interfere with these abilities.”

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Darya L. Zabelina & Paul J. Silvia. 2020. Percolating ideas: The effects of caffeine on creative thinking and problem solving. Consciousness and Cognition 79: 102899; doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.102899

WHY TRUMP FAILS

New Study Identifies Key Characteristics of Expert Liars

Dec 23, 2019 by News Staff / Source

According to a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, good liars lean towards telling inconsequential lies, mostly to colleagues and friends, and generally via face-to-face interactions; they may attempt to strategically manipulate their verbal behavior to stay close to the truth and to tell a plausible, simple, and clear story.

Verigin et al found that self-reported good liars (i) may be responsible for a disproportionate amount of lies in daily life, (ii) tend to tell inconsequential lies, mostly to colleagues and friends, and generally via face-to-face interactions, and (iii) highly rely on verbal strategies of deception, most commonly reporting to embed their lies into truthful information, and to keep the statement clear, simple and plausible. Image credit: Ryan McGuire.

“We found a significant link between expertise at lying and gender. Men were more than twice as likely to consider themselves expert liars who got away with it,” said Dr. Brianna Verigin, a researcher at the University of Portsmouth and the University of Maastricht.

The study involved 194 participants (97 females, 95 males, 2 preferred not to say), with an average age of 39.

They were asked a series of questions including how good they were at deceiving others, how many lies they’d told in the past 24 hours, the type of lies they’d told, who to, and whether they’d done so face-to-face or via other means.

“Time after time, studies have shown we are not as good at detecting lies as we think we are. At best, most of us have a 50:50 chance of getting it right when someone is pulling the wool over our eyes,” Dr. Verigin said.

“We wanted to focus on those who are good at lying and try to understand how they do it and to whom.”

The scientists found one of the key strategies of liars is to tell plausible lies that stay close to the truth, and to not give away much information. And the better someone thinks they are at lying, the more lies they’ll tell.

The most commonly used strategy among all those who admitted to lying, whether experts or poor liars, was to leave out certain information.

But expert liars added to that an ability to weave a believable story embellished with truth, making the lies harder to spot.

In contrast, those who thought they weren’t good at lying resorted, when they did lie, to being vague.

Overall, of the 194 participants, the most common types of deception, in descending order, were ‘white lies,’ exaggerations, hiding information, burying lies in a torrent of truth and making up things.

Most people chose to lie face-to-face, then via text message, a phone call, email, and last, via social media.

Most expert liars lie most often to family, friends or colleagues. Employers and authority figures were least likely to be lied to.

The study showed no link between level of education and lying ability.

“More research needs to be done, particularly on better understanding good liars’ expertise at embedding lies within truthful information, and at using facts that were impossible to check,” Dr. Verigin said.

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B.L. Verigin et al. 2019. Lie prevalence, lie characteristics and strategies of self-reported good liars. PLoS ONE 14 (12): e0225566; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.02255

Music Triggers 13 Key Emotions, Says New Study

Jan 13, 2020 by News Staff / Source

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an international team of researchers examined the feelings evoked by 2,168 music excerpts in the U.S. and China. Using large-scale statistical tools, the scientists uncovered 13 distinct types of subjective experience associated with music in both cultures: amusement, joy, eroticism, beauty, relaxation, sadness, dreaminess, triumph, anxiety, scariness, annoyance, defiance, and feeling pumped up.

Cowen et al mapped 13 key emotions triggered when we listen to music. Image credit: Cowen et al, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1910704117.

Central to the meaning of music are the subjective experiences that it evokes.

Performers across cultures can convey intense feelings with songs and instruments of different kinds and often do so by relying on acoustic features and associated percepts — such as pitch, loudness, pace — characteristic of the human vocal expression of emotion and of speech.

What is not well understood is how music evokes feelings in listeners

“Music is a universal language, but we don’t always pay enough attention to what it’s saying and how it’s being understood,” said Alan Cowen, a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

“We wanted to take an important first step toward solving the mystery of how music can evoke so many nuanced emotions.”

“We have rigorously documented the largest array of emotions that are universally felt through the language of music,” said University of California, Berkeley’s Professor Dacher Keltner.

The study involved more than 2,500 people in the U.S. and China recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk and a multi-institutional participant pool.

First, 111 U.S. participants scanned thousands of videos on YouTube for music evoking a variety of emotions. From those, the researchers built a diverse library of 1,841 music samples.

Next, 1,011 participants from the U.S. and 895 from China each rated some 40 music samples based on 28 different categories of emotion, as well as on a scale of positivity and negativity, and for levels of arousal.

Using statistical analyses, the scientists arrived at 13 overall categories of experience that were preserved across cultures and found to correspond to specific feelings.

To ensure the accuracy of these findings, the team recruited 580 new participants from the U.S. and 363 from China.

The volunteers rated 138 additional Western and 189 traditional Chinese music samples that were specifically intended to evoke variations in valence and arousal. Their responses validated the 13 categories.

Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ made people feel energized. The Clash’s ‘Rock the Casbah’ pumped them up. Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’ evoked sensuality and Israel Kamakawiwoole’s ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ elicited joy.

Meanwhile, heavy metal was widely viewed as defiant and, just as its composer intended, the shower scene score from the movie ‘Psycho’ triggered fear.

While both U.S. and Chinese study participants identified similar emotions, they differed on whether those emotions made them feel good or bad.

“People from different cultures can agree that a song is angry, but can differ on whether that feeling is positive or negative,” Cowen said.

“Positive and negative values, known in psychology parlance as ‘valence,’ are more culture-specific.

The study authors also translated the data into an interactive audio map, where visitors can move their cursors to listen to any of thousands of music snippets to find out, among other things, if their emotional reactions match how people from different cultures respond to the music.

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Alan S. Cowen et al. What music makes us feel: At least 13 dimensions organize subjective experiences associated with music across different cultures. PNAS, published online January 6, 2020; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1910704117