Scientists show how pregnancy changes the brain in innumerable ways

Scientists show how pregnancy changes the brain in innumerable ways
In this photo provided by Liz Chrastil, a neuroscientist with the University of California, Irvine, she her holds her newborn son in May 2020. (AP)
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Updated 17 September 2024
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Scientists show how pregnancy changes the brain in innumerable ways

Scientists show how pregnancy changes the brain in innumerable ways
  • Although the study looks at only one person, it kicks off a large, international research project that aims to scan the brains of hundreds of women

Neuroscientist Liz Chrastil got the unique chance to see how her brain changed while she was pregnant and share what she learned in a new study that offers the first detailed map of a woman’s brain throughout gestation.
The transition to motherhood, researchers discovered, affects nearly every part of the brain.
Although the study looks at only one person, it kicks off a large, international research project that aims to scan the brains of hundreds of women and could one day provide clues about disorders like postpartum depression.
“It’s been a very long journey,” said Chrastil, co-author of the paper published Monday in Nature Neuroscience. “We did 26 scans before, during and after pregnancy” and found “some really remarkable things.”
More than 80 percent of the regions studied had reductions in the volume of gray matter, where thinking takes place. This is an average of about 4 percent of the brain — nearly identical to a reduction that happens during puberty. While less gray matter may sound bad, researchers said it probably isn’t; it likely reflects the fine-tuning of networks of interconnected nerve cells called “neural circuits” to prepare for a new phase of life.
The team began following Chrastil — who works at the University of California, Irvine, and was 38 years old at the time — shortly before she became pregnant through in vitro fertilization.
During the pregnancy and for two years after she gave birth, they continued doing MRI brain scans and drawing blood to observe how her brain changed as sex hormones like estrogen ebbed and flowed. Some of the changes continued past pregnancy.
“Previous studies had taken snapshots of the brain before and after pregnancy, but we’ve never witnessed the brain in the midst of this metamorphosis,” said co-author Emily Jacobs of the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Unlike past studies, this one focused on many inner regions of the brain as well as the cerebral cortex, the outermost layer, said Joseph Lonstein, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at Michigan State University who was not involved in the research. It’s “a good first step to understanding much more about whole-brain changes that could be possible in a woman across pregnancy and postpartum,” he said.
Research in animals has linked some brain changes with qualities that could be helpful when caring for an infant. While the new study doesn’t address what the changes mean in terms of human behavior, Lonstein pointed out that it describes changes in brain areas involved in social cognition, or how people interact with others and understand their thoughts and feelings, for example.
The researchers have partners in Spain and are moving forward with the larger Maternal Brain Project, which is supported by the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Eventually, they hope scientists can use data from a large number of women for things like predicting postpartum depression before it happens.
“There is so much about the neurobiology of pregnancy that we don’t understand yet, and it’s not because women are too complicated. It’s not because pregnancy is some Gordian knot,” Jacobs said. “It’s a byproduct of the fact that biomedical sciences have historically ignored women’s health.”


Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin

Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin
Updated 20 September 2024
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Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin

Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin
  • The 32-year-old took silver in the women’s 10m air pistol in July and her ultra-calm demeanour turned her into a worldwide online sensation

SEOUL: South Korean pistol shooter Kim Ye-ji, whose skill and nonchalance won the Internet at the Paris Olympics, has landed her first acting role — as an assassin.
The 32-year-old took silver in the women’s 10m air pistol in July and her ultra-calm demeanour, combined with her wire-rimmed shooting glasses and baseball cap, turned her into a worldwide online sensation.
As videos of her shooting went viral, she drew praise from celebrities such as Elon Musk.
“She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!” Musk wrote on his social media platform X at the time.
Now she will play an assassin in “Crush,” a spinoff short-form series of the global film project “Asia,” a spokesperson for Seoul-based entertainment firm Asia Lab told AFP on Friday.
Kim will star alongside Indian actress and influencer Anushka Sen, the company said in a separate statement, saying it was excited to witness “the potential synergy that will arise from Kim Ye-ji and Anushka Sen’s new transformation into a killer duo.”
Since winning silver, a short clip showing Kim at the Baku World Cup in May has gone viral, spawning fan art, endless memes and multiple edits setting the clip to K-pop.
Kim signed with a South Korean talent agency in August to assist her in managing her extracurricular activities and she has since been featured in a magazine photoshoot for Louis Vuitton.


Empty NYC subway train crashed by two teens who stole it for a joyride

Empty NYC subway train crashed by two teens who stole it for a joyride
Updated 19 September 2024
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Empty NYC subway train crashed by two teens who stole it for a joyride

Empty NYC subway train crashed by two teens who stole it for a joyride

NEW YORK: Police have arrested a teen girl they say took an empty New York City subway train on a brief joyride before they crashed it and fled.
They are looking for a male companion they believe was also pictured on the train.
Surveillance photos released by the New York Police Department on Tuesday show one person dressed all in pink, including a pink shower cap, and another in a blue tank top.
Police arrested the 17-year-old girl Wednesday around noon. They have charged her with criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
The pair boarded an unoccupied train parked at the Briarwood subway station in Queens just after midnight on Sept. 12 and somehow got it running, police said in a news release.
They crashed it into another parked train and ran, police said. It was unclear how much damage the prank caused. No injuries were reported.


EU bans Algerian spread toasted on social media

This picture shows Algeria's chocolate hazelnut spread
This picture shows Algeria's chocolate hazelnut spread "El Mordjene" for sale in Algiers, on September 15, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 18 September 2024
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EU bans Algerian spread toasted on social media

This picture shows Algeria's chocolate hazelnut spread "El Mordjene" for sale in Algiers, on September 15, 2024. (AFP)
  • French supermarket chain Carrefour is the only retailer to have indicated that its interest in selling the product, telling AFP on Monday that it hoped to have it on shelves “as soon as possible while respecting European food import regulations”

PARIS: The EU has blocked imports of an in-demand Algerian hazelnut spread that became popular in France after social media influencers raved about it.
“Incredible texture,” “good enough to die for,” and “so so very good” are some of the eulogies for El Mordjene Cebon spreading across TikTok while the jars can be found in small shops in France for more than 10 euros ($11).
But El Mordjene, which resembles creamy peanut butter, was not to the taste of the European Union.
“Algeria does not meet the conditions for a third country to export products to the European Union containing dairy inputs intended for human consumption,” the French agriculture ministry told AFP.
The ministry said it has opened a probe into how El Mordjene continues to be sold in France.
“I’ve struggled to get my hands on it, and I hope they will put it back on sale in France and Europe,” said Benoit Chevalier, an influencer with 12 million followers on TikTok.
French supermarket chain Carrefour is the only retailer to have indicated that its interest in selling the product, telling AFP on Monday that it hoped to have it on shelves “as soon as possible while respecting European food import regulations.”
A small shop in the southern city of Marseille was selling a jar for 30 euros. The shopkeeper, who declined to give his name, said he had been selling the product since 2022.
In France, El Mordjene Cebon is up against market behemoth Nutella, made by Italy’s Ferrero, which has three-quarters of the market for spreads, according to France’s supermarket federation.
In Algeria, the product’s international success is a source of national pride.
Algerians “are crazy for it,” said Rabie Zekraoui, a 23-year-old store owner in the capital Algiers. “We only have one crate left,” adding that “we must support Algerian products.”
Is Cebon behind all the social media buzz?
“All this makes us very happy but the reality is that we have nothing to do with it,” said Amine Ouzlifi, spokesman for the company, which is based in Tipaza, some 70 kilometers (40 miles) west of Algiers.
 

 


Thai baby hippo Internet star draws thousands to her zoo

Thai baby hippo Internet star draws thousands to her zoo
Updated 16 September 2024
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Thai baby hippo Internet star draws thousands to her zoo

Thai baby hippo Internet star draws thousands to her zoo
  • Moo Deng, whose name means “bouncing pig” in Thai, has millions of fans on social media following her clumsily charming adventures, including trying to nibble her handler despite still lacking teeth

CHONBURI: Thailand’s latest Internet celebrity, baby hippo “Moo Deng,” is challenging her keepers with the unexpectedly big crowds she is drawing to her zoo, two hours south of the capital Bangkok.
Moo Deng, whose name means “bouncing pig” in Thai, has millions of fans on social media following her clumsily charming adventures, including trying to nibble her handler despite still lacking teeth.
“Normally on weekdays and in the rainy season — which is a low season — we’d be getting around 800 visitors each day,” said Narungwit Chodchoy, director of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province.
But the zoo is now getting 3,000 to 4,000 people on weekdays, and welcomed 20,000 visitors over the weekend, he said — most of them lining up to see Moo Deng.
“Moo Deng fever means we will have organize better so all visitors can see her,” Narungwit said.
On Monday morning, the pink-cheeked hippo, whose siblings are called Pork Stew and Sweet Pork, was sitting happily in a bowl of vegetables and other snacks.
“I left home in Bangkok from 6:30 this morning just to come and see Moo Deng,” said 45-year-old Ekaphak Mahasawad. “I’m only here to see her.”
Moo Deng’s grandmother, Malee, recently celebrated her 59th birthday as Thailand’s oldest hippo.


Shy penguin wins New Zealand’s bird election after campaign filled with memes and tattoos

Shy penguin wins New Zealand’s bird election after campaign filled with memes and tattoos
Updated 16 September 2024
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Shy penguin wins New Zealand’s bird election after campaign filled with memes and tattoos

Shy penguin wins New Zealand’s bird election after campaign filled with memes and tattoos
  • The hoiho — a noisy, smelly and shy bird believed to be the world’s rarest penguin — was propelled to its second victory by a star-studded campaign

WELLINGTON: It’s noisy, smelly, shy — and New Zealand’s bird of the year.
The hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin, won the country’s fiercely fought avian election on Monday, offering hope to supporters of the endangered bird that recognition from its victory might prompt a revival of the species.
It followed a campaign for the annual Bird of the Year vote that was absent the foreign interference scandals and cheating controversies of past polls. Instead, campaigners in the long-running contest sought votes in the usual ways — launching meme wars, seeking celebrity endorsements and even getting tattoos to prove their loyalty.
More than 50,000 people voted in the poll, 300,000 fewer than last year, when British late night host John Oliver drove a humorous campaign for the pūteketeke — a “deeply weird bird” which eats and vomits its own feathers – securing a landslide win.
This year, the number of votes cast represented 10 percent of the population of New Zealand — a country where nature is never far away and where a love of native birds is instilled in citizens from childhood.
“Birds are our heart and soul,” said Emma Rawson, who campaigned for the fourth-placed ruru, a small brown owl with a melancholic call. New Zealand’s only native mammals are bats and marine species, putting the spotlight on its birds, which are beloved — and often rare.
This year’s victor, the hoiho — its name means “noise shouter” in the Māori language — is a shy bird thought to be the world’s rarest penguin. Only found on New Zealand’s South and Chatham islands — and on subantarctic islands south of the country — numbers have dropped perilously by 78 percent in the past 15 years.
“This spotlight couldn’t have come at a better time. This iconic penguin is disappearing from mainland Aotearoa before our eyes,” Nicola Toki, chief executive of Forest & Bird — the organization that runs the poll — said in a press release, using the Māori name for New Zealand. Despite intensive conservation efforts on land, she said, the birds drown in nets and sea and can’t find enough food.
“The campaign has raised awareness, but what we really hope is that it brings tangible support,” said Charlie Buchan, campaign manager for the hoiho. But while the bird is struggling, it attracted a star billing in the poll: celebrity endorsements flew in from English zoologist Jane Goodall, host of the Amazing Race Phil Keoghan, and two former New Zealand prime ministers.
Aspiring bird campaign managers — this year ranging from power companies to high school students — submit applications to Forest & Bird for the posts. The hoiho bid was run by a collective of wildlife groups, a museum, a brewery and a rugby team in the city of Dunedin, where the bird is found on mainland New Zealand, making it the highest-powered campaign of the 2024 vote.
“I do feel like we were the scrappy underdog,” said Emily Bull, a spokesperson for the runner-up campaign, for the karure — a small, “goth” black robin only found on New Zealand’s Chatham Island.
The karure’s bid was directed by the students’ association at Victoria University of Wellington, prompting a fierce skirmish on the college campus when the student magazine staged an opposing campaign for the kororā, or little blue penguin.
The rivalry provoked a meme war and students in bird costumes. Several people got tattoos. When the magazine’s campaign secured endorsements of the city council and local zoo, Bull despaired for the black robin’s bid.
But the karure — which has performed a real-life comeback since the 1980s, with conservation efforts increasing the species from five birds to 250 — took second place overall.
This weekend as Rawson wrapped up her campaign for the ruru, she took her efforts directly to the people, courting votes at a local dog park. The veteran campaign manager who has directed the bids for other birds in past years was rewarded by the ruru placing fourth in the poll, her best ever result.
“I have not been in human political campaigning before,” said Rawson, who is drawn to the competition because of the funds and awareness it generates. The campaign struck a more sedate tone this year, she added.
“There’s been no international interference, even though that was actually a lot of fun,” she said, referring to Oliver’s high-profile campaign.
It was not the only controversy the election has seen. While anyone in the world can vote, Forest & Bird now requires electors to verify their ballots after foreign interference plagued the contest before. In 2018, Australian pranksters cast hundreds of fraudulent votes in favor of the shag.
The following year, Forest & Bird was forced to clarify that a flurry of votes from Russia appeared to be from legitimate bird-lovers.
While campaigns are fiercely competitive, managers described tactics more akin to pro wrestling — in which fights are scripted — than divisive political contests.
“Sometimes people want to make posts that are kind of like beefy with you and they’ll always message you and be like, hey, is it okay if I post this?” Bull said. “There is a really sweet community. It’s really wholesome.”