'Listening
to Mozart might boost memory' (Go
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Washington:
A new research conducted at the Stanford University
in California has revealed a molecular basis for the "Mozart
effect" - the observation that a brief stint of Mozart,
may improve learning and memory, reports New Scientist.
The study conducted by Rauscher and her collaborator Hong
Hua Li found that rats that heard a Mozart sonata expressed
higher levels of several genes involved in stimulating and
changing the connections between brain cells. The researchers
found that these smarter rats had increased gene expression
of BDNF, a neural growth factor, CREB, a learning and memory
compound, and synapsin I, a synaptic growth protein, in
their hippocampus, as compared to control rats who had listened
to equivalent amounts of white noise. Howard Gardner, an
IQ expert at Harvard University in Cambridge said, "The
findings are intriguing. It suggests stimulation in general
has measurable neurochemical effects. But whether this effect
is due to music, let alone Mozart, still has to be determined."
Patients with Alzheimer's disease perform better on spatial
and social tasks after listening to the sonata. And playing
Mozart for severely epileptic patients quietens the electrical
activity associated with seizures, while other kinds of
music do not. Li hopes to use this latest work to design
better music therapy for patients suffering form a variety
of neurological disease or brain injuries.
Thurman
and Hannah see red at each other's sight (Go
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New
York: Kill Bill beauties Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah
are at loggerheads with each other. The two do not get along
at all. In fact reports said that they were not allotted
rooms near each other to avoid any kind of ugly scene between
them at the premiere of their new film Kill Bill Vol 2.
"When the arrangements were made for the Kill Bill party
it was made clear that Uma and Daryl were not to be allocated
rooms near each other because they often bristle and snap
at each other," a source was quoted as saying by imdb. According
to a British newspaper the two actresses mirror the animosity
their two characters display in the Quentin Tarantino film,
and made sure they were housed in separate wings of the
Dorchester Hotel on Tuesday.
Beyonce's cover-up act (Go
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London:
She might be famous for her gorgeous body but it seems
Beyonce Knowles wants it to be for boyfriend Jay-Z's eyes
only. The singer who flaunts plenty of skin on stage and
in her videos has suddenly decided to turn modest. According
to The Mirror, the former Destiny's Child singer has hired
a dozen body doubles in order to throw off the paparazzi
while sunbathing topless in the South of France, where she
is holidaying with Jay-Z.
'Darling' is politically incorrect in London
(Go
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London:
Employees at the English National Opera have been asked
to abstain from using the word "darling" while talking to
their Colleagues. However the rule applies only to the new
employees, the people who have already been working there
will be pardoned if they use the word. According to This
is London, this has been incorporated after the new government
guidelines on sexual discrimination at work were announced.
The English National Opera has banned suggestive remarks
and lewd conduct that ridicule, intimidate or physically
abuse an employee because of their sex and the word 'darling'
could also result in sexual harassment, according to the
guidelines. A policy document covers unwelcome sexual advances,
propositions, and pressure for sexual activity or overzealous
flirtation. It also lists what is acceptable regarding physical
contact, including unnecessary touching, patting or brushing
against another employee's body. The government guidelines
have led to an increasing number of companies in London
taking strict precautions in order to avoid being blamed
for sexual harassment. Damian Kelly, an employment lawyer
at City lawyers Eversheds said, "In the current climate,
a company without a sophisticated policy document is asking
for trouble if it is taken to a tribunal." Firms are now
issuing guidelines, enforceable under contracts of employment,
which contain some variation of the words "while acknowledging
the right to a private life of the employee, sexual conduct
within the office environment is forbidden."
