Neuro News Nanos

Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

Here are this morning’s:

* Freakonomics blog notes debt in our DNA — also, slim wallets and thick waistlines related — our genes may predispose us to poor financial or physical health, and our behavior in one realm certainly affects the other

* Avatars can negatively affect users in video games, virtual worlds — one’s self-representation, or avatar, in a virtual environment can affect the user’s thoughts — participants represented by an avatar in a dark cloak or a KKK-like uniform demonstrated negative or anti-social behavior

* Why can’t chimps speak? — part of the answer to the mystery lies in a gene called FOXP2 — when mutated, FOXP2 can disrupt speech and language in humans

* Design to fix the dollar — with faith in the U.S. dollar hitting new lows, some believe the solution lies not in politics, but in design — “a cake that has been decorated to within an inch of its life”

* People with less education more likely to get H1N1 — people of lower income and education have weakened immune systems — which may be due to increased levels of stress

Follow Neuroworld on Twitter: @ryansager