:: Home

©2004
The Regents of the University of California
 

yesterday, today & tomorrow

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

UCLA and University of Arizona scientists have demonstrated that the left and right ears process sound differently, new data that may help doctors treat those with hearing loss. Scientists have long understood that the auditory regions of the two halves of the brain sort out sound differently. The left side dominates in deciphering speech and other rapidly changing signals while the right side leads in processing tones and music. But, said Yvonne Sininger, visiting professor of head and neck surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine, scientists assumed “that our left and right ears worked exactly the same way.” However, Sininger and co-author Barbara Cone-Wesson of the University of Arizona reported in their study that the left ear provides extra amplification for tones like music, while the right ear provides extra amplification for rapid sounds timed like speech.

A DAY TO REMEMBER

Pioneers, industry leaders and rising stars will offer their perspectives on the Internet at a daylong forum Oct. 29, marking the 35th anniversary of the birth of the Internet at UCLA. The campus became the first node of what was then known as the ARPANET on Sept. 2, 1969, when UCLA computer scientist Leonard Kleinrock led a team of engineers in establishing the first network connection between two computers, ushering in a new method of global communication. Said Kleinrock: “We knew we were creating an important new technology that we expected would be of use to a segment of the population, but we had no idea how truly momentous an event it was.” To find out more about the forum, go to http://internetanniversary.cs.ucla.edu.

NEW WAYS TO ATTACK FAT?

UCLA scientists have discovered that lean people experience a huge nighttime surge of ghrelin — the hormone that stimulates hunger — but obese people do not. The study suggests that obesity suppresses the ghrelin spike, perhaps disrupting the body’s internal cues for hunger and overpowering its ability to regulate appetite. The team’s findings may point to new targets for treating obesity, said Julio Licinio, professor of psychiatry and medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine and a senior research scientist at NPI.