The Week - UK (2021-07-17)

NEWS 21

It’s socommonwe barelythink aboutit,

but inallsorts of inanimate objects we see

human faces:fromtheanxious-looking

man whopeers out oftheMoon to the

cheer ygrinofacheesegrater. Now,

scientistshavediscoveredthat when the

brain “sees” these faces, itprocessesthem

in th esameway as it does real faces. From

an evolutionaryperspective, it seemsthe

advantageof“never missingaface”

outweighsany downside of mistaken

identification, saidProfessorDavidAlais

of the University ofSydney.“Thereisa

great benefit in detecting faces quickly,but the systemplays ‘fast andloose’by

applyingacrude templateof two eyes overanoseand mouth.”

Hisstudy also found thateven afterwrongly identifyingaface–“face pareidolia”

–the braindoesn’t discard the image from its processing, but continues to analyse its

expression(friendly,angry etc.). “When objects look compellinglyface -lik e, it is more

than an interpretation: theyreallyare driving your brain’s face-detectionnetwork,”

saidProfessorAlais. “Andthat scowl,orsmile; that’s your brain’sfacial expression

systematwork. Fo rthe brain,fakeorreal, faces areall processed the same way.”

Health &Science

17 July 2021 THE WEEK

Britishtroutarehookedonmeth
Freshwaterfishmaybebecomingaddicted
tothemethamphetamineflusheddown
lavatories,researchershavewarned.A
teamintheCzechRepublictook 120
troutthathadbeenbredincaptivityand
keptintwodifferenttanks.Onehadbeen
lacedwithmethamphetamine(orcrystal
meth)toaconcentrationoftenfoundin
Britishrivers,whilethewaterintheother
tankwasclean.Aftereightweeks,thefish
weremovedtoadrug-freetank,then
giventhechoiceofeitherstayingthere,
orswimminginmeth-pollutedwater.The
researchersfoundthatthefishfromthe
controltankspentonly41.5%oftheir
timeinthemethwater;butthefigure
forthedrug-exposedfish was50.5%–
suggestingtheywereexperiencingsymp-
tomsofwithdrawal.Theresearchersthen
examinedthefish,andfoundthatallthe
fishthathadbeeninthemeth-ladentank
hadamphetamineresidueintheirbrains.

Whywe’rewrongaboutallergies
Ithas becomeatruism that the recent rise
in allergies is down to our obsession with
keeping our homes clean. The theory is
that children growing up in sterile
environments don’t build strong enough
immune defences. But researchers at
University College London are now
challenging the “hygiene hypothesis”,
reports The Times. Inanew paper, they
agreethatweneed“signalsfrombeneficial
microorganisms”; but not that cleaning
stops us meeting them. When we lived in
caves or huts, we were exposed to the
kinds of microorganisms you’d find ifyou
slept in nature. These are the organisms
which prime our immune systems–and
we can still meet them by going outside.
But the organisms in modern homes are
different. “If you let suchahome

deteriorate,itgetsinhabitedbysomevery,

verystrangemicroorganisms,whichare

nottheweaponswithwhichwehave

evolved,andtheyaretoxictous,”says

medicalmicrobiologistProfessorGraham

Rook.Soweshouldcleanourhomes,and

washourhands,tokillthem.Asforthe

linkbetweencleaningandallergiesthat

somestudieshavefound,wemayhave

thisbacktofront:recentresearchhas

indicatedthatitmaybethecleaning

productscausingallergies,nottheir

disinfectanteffects.Topreventallergies,

hisadviceistogetchildrenoutside,and

use“targeted”cleaning.“Washyour

handsandcleanyourhome,butwithout

sprayingthebabywithbleach.”

Aboostfor malaria vaccines

An experi mental vaccine containing live

malariaparasiteshashadsuccessfulresults

in asmall clinical trial. Participants were

givenashot ofavaccine containing

Plasmodiumfalciparumalongwith

anti-malarialdrugstokillanyparasites

thatreachedtheirliverorblood,where

theywouldinfectcells.Theywerethen

givenmalaria.Thevaccinationprotected

87.5%ofparticipantswhohadbeen

infectedwiththestrainusedinthejab,

and77.8%ofthoseinfectedwitha

differentstrain.Thefindingswere

describedasencouraging;however,

scalingupavaccineofthistypewould

beachallenge.Theparasiteshavetobe

gatheredfromthesalivaryglandsof

mosquitoes,andthenstoredatlow

temperatures,makingbothproduction

anddistributioncomplicated.Someyears

ago,theideaofusingmosquitoestomake

avaccinewouldhavebeendismissedout

ofhand.Butnow,aUS-basedbiotech

companycalledSanariaislookingat

waysofproducingtheparasiteswithout

mosquitoes;itisalsoexaminingwhether

Crisprgene-editingtechnologycanbe

usedtoweakentheparasite,sothatitcan

beinjectedlivewithouttheneedfor

additionaldrugs.

Aspirin linked to cancer survival

Takingaspirin alongsid econventional

treatments may reduce the risk of cancer

patients dying by 20%,anew analysis

has found. The researchers, at Cardiff

University, also found that the painkiller

appeared to reduce the risk of the cancer

spreading within the body. Their review

covered 118 earlier studies, involving

patients with 18 different cancers. The

250,000 patients who’d reported taking

aspirin (asasupplement to other

treatments) hada20% reduced mortality

rate. “There is nowaconsiderable body of

evidence to suggestasignificant reduction

in mortality in patients who take aspirin,”

said lead author Professor Peter Elwood.

Shake n’ Vac: “targeted cleaning” is key

An off-the-shelf supplement often given

to asthmatics appears to ease the worst

effects ofahangover–but only in

women. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is known

to protect the liver, so researchers in

Pennsylvania decided to investigate

whether it would ease the stress that is

put on the liver when people drink large

quantities of alcohol. For their study,

they recruited 49 volunteers who were

given strong beer to drink, until their

breath alcohol content reached 0.1%

(above the legal driving limit, which

is 0.08%). They were then given doses

of NAC, and driven home. The next

morning they were asked to assess how

they felt onascale of one to five–from

“likeIdid not drink”, to “so hungover

Imightdie”–and to describe their

symptoms. The results showed that the

women rated their hangover 3.5 points

lower if they had taken the NAC,

whereas the men actually felt worse.

Ahangovercureforwomen

What the scientists are saying...

We’re hardwired to see faces