Bat Brains and Alzheimer’s?

From the MIT Technology Review, Neurons called place cells in bats’ hippocampus help them use spatial memory to predict future positions, enabling them to find food and avoid predators, researchers reported in Science. People with Alzheimer’s disease struggle to navigate new routes and locations, and studying bats brain functions could help researchers find new therapies. 

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Complimentary Horse Therapies

From “The Horse” Magazine, Nearly 73% of horse owners responding to a survey use or had used alternative therapies such as acupuncture and herbal supplements on their horses, and while 86% had sought veterinary advice about alternative therapies, 25% of them didn’t tell their veterinarian, according to a study in Vet Record. Veterinarians should be prepared to answer questions about alternative therapies and should counsel horse owners that some therapies may mask health conditions or reduce the efficacy of other treatments, study leader and veterinarian Annelies Decloedt says.

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Wolves vs. Dogs Raised by People

From the Scientific American, dogs’ ability to understand human gestures and make eye contact are evolved inherent traits rather than learned behaviors, according to a study in Current Biology. The scientists compared dog and gray wolf puppies from 5 weeks to 18 weeks old and found dog puppies were twice as likely to understand human gestures and 30 times more likely to approach an unknown human, despite having spent less time with humans.

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