Neuro News Nanos

Image by thivierr via Flickr

Here are this morning’s:

* Early risers are mutants — the first genetic mutation in humans that appears to affect sleep duration — could lead to better treatments for sleep disorders

* Facial symmetry linked to mental decline — men with symmetrical faces are less likely to lose their memory and intelligence in later life — facial symmetry may indicate a man has experienced fewer genetic and environmental disturbances

* Neurofeminism — “We call for papers for an edited volume on neuroscience and feminism” — neuroscience “appears to be just as sensitive to preconceived notions of sex-differences as other fields”

* Optimistic women live longer — pessimists had higher blood pressure and cholesterol — cynical women who harbored hostile thoughts about others or were generally mistrusting of others were 16% more likely to die over the same time-scale

* Mathematics of a zombie attack — regular, impulsive reductions in the number of zombies — “We show that only quick, aggressive attacks can stave off the doomsday scenario: the collapse of society as zombies overtake us all.”