The premise that hunger makes food look more appealing is a widely held belief – just ask those who cruise grocery store aisles on an empty stomach, only to go home with a full basket and an empty wallet.

The work provides insight into potential therapeutic for cancer and eye diseases

LA JOLLA, CA—December 10, 2009—Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have solved a 10-year-old mystery of how a single protein from an ancient family of enzymes can have two completely distinct roles in the body. In addition to providing guidance for understanding other molecules in the family, the research supplies a theoretical underpinning for the protein’s possible use for combating diseases including cancer and macular degeneration.

Scientists from the University of Zurich have discovered the physiological mechanisms in the brain that underlie broken promises. Patterns of brain activity even enable predicting whether someone will break a promise. The results of the study conducted by Dr. Thomas Baumgartner and Professor Ernst Fehr, both of the University of Zurich, and Professor Urs Fischbacher of the University of Konstanz, will be published in the journal Neuron on December 10, 2009.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Some women with very advanced breast cancer may have a new treatment option. A combination of two drugs that more precisely target tumors significantly extended the lives of women who had stopped responding to other medicines, doctors reported Friday.

Neurologists in the US suggest irregular arm swings while walking could be an early sign of Parkinson’s disease and scientific measurement of such a suspected symptom could help diagnose the disease earlier, giving greater opportunity to slow brain cell damage and disease progression.

A new study has discovered for the first time that dark chocolate rich in flavanols may provide significant protection from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light.

Common experience tells us that particular scents of childhood can leave quite an impression, for better or for worse. Now, researchers reporting the results of a brain imaging study online on November 5th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, show that first scents really do enjoy a “privileged” status in the brain.

Literary Arabic is expressed in the brain of an Arabic speaker as a second language and not as a mother tongue. This has been shown in a new study by Dr. Raphiq Ibrahim of the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities at the University of Haifa’s Department of Learning Disabilities. “The cognitive disparity between the two languages is similar to the difference between a mother tongue and a second language. This offers an explanation for the objective and day-to-day difficulties that confront Arabic-speaking students when attempting to learn to read the non-spoken language,” the researcher explains. The new study has been published in the Journal of Psychology Research and Behavior Management.

According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), eating a meal quickly, as compared to slowly, curtails the release of hormones in the gut that induce feelings of being full. The decreased release of these hormones, can often lead to overeating.

Very low body fat linked to increased risk of death

Dialysis patients with low body fat are at increased risk of death—even compared to patients at the highest level of body fat percentage, according to research being presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego.