mortiz095

Oxytocin Shown to Block Alcohol Withdrawal In a small, randomized, double-blind clinical trial, intranasal oxytocin blocked the effects of alcohol withdrawal on a population presenting to a hospital-based detoxification unit. Results from the study were published in the March edition of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research and are the first to confirm results obtained in other studies using non-human subjects. In the study, participants (n=11) were given either lorazepam and oxytocin (n=7), or lorazepam and placebo (n=4), over three days of inpatient detox. They were then administered several standardized alcohol withdrawal measurements (CIWA, AWSC, ACVAS, POMS) and compared the two groups. Across the board, patients who were administered intranasal oxytocin scored significantly lower on withdrawal measures, while reporting significantly less craving and significantly better mood. While the limitations of the study (small size) are clear, these findings are impressive and wi...

Heard on NPR Morning Edition: Ants, bees, and other colonizing insects have complex organizations similar in many respects to modern corporations. Each ant has a specialized function that varies by age. The young ones tend the queen, middle-aged ants do clean up duty, and the older more experienced ants go out foraging for food. "The queen is really the only one with a dead-end job: laying eggs." Ants can jump over the clean up straight to foraging, similar to overachieving corporate managers. I don't know if the ants have to suck up to whoever is the ant CEO (this actually didn't come up) or not. Actually, it doesn't appear there is a CEO, the colonies are self-organizing. The scientist discussing this was asked about whether ants retire and her answer was that "ant retirement is not pretty." There is a specialized function for some ants, namely corpse disposal. So in many ways, ant colonies are similar to corporations, but in addition to the presumed l...