WEIRD STUFF

Hearing aids cut the risk of an early death by a quarter

US researchers have discovered that individuals with hearing loss were 24 per cent less likely to pass away early if they regularly wore the device, compared to those who did not wear it.

The team believe that the "exciting" results -- based on a study of around 10,000 people -- prove that hearing aids protect health and increase lifespan.

They think that the effect is down to hearing aids lowering the risk of cognitive decline and enhancing physical, social and mental well-being in wearers.

Dr Janet Choi, lead author of the research and an ear, nose and throat surgeon at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, said: "We found that adults with hearing loss who regularly used hearing aids had a 24 per cent lower risk of mortality than those who never wore them.

"These results are exciting because they suggest that hearing aids may play a protective role in people's health and prevent early death."

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Brain chip reduces risk-taking in monkeys

Scientists have developed a brain chip that reduces risk-taking in monkeys.

A team of boffins at Kyoto University in Japan used flashes of light from implanted chips to trigger two separate sections in the brains of macaque monkeys.

Switching one on encouraged the primates to take bigger risks with the hope of a higher pay-off, while switching to the other led the monkeys to settle for a smaller but more certain reward.

The experts behind the study say that the experiment offers insight into the neural roots of gambling addiction.

In an accompanying commentary, Veit Stuphorn -- an associate professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University who was not involved in the work -- said: "This unexpected finding implies that two neighbouring regions in the frontal cortex together regulate risk attitude in a competitive push-pull-like fashion and can both increase and decrease risk-seeking.

"This is important because it opens up the possibility to identify the neuronal mechanisms in the circuit underlying this ability."

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Anorexia linked to early rising

People with anorexia are more likely to wake up early in the morning.

New data shows that those with the eating disorder and mental health condition are more prone to being early risers and also experience insomnia.

The new study analysed genetic data from over 70,000 people and found a two-way association between genes associated with anorexia and those associated with the morning chronotype -- waking up early and going to bed early.

It is the first time a link has been discovered between mornings and anorexia, although previous findings have found a connection to the body's circadian rhythm.

The scientists have called for more powerful studies to be conducted to find out further information on the issue.

Hassan Dashti, from Massachusetts General Hospital, said: "Our findings implicate anorexia nervosa as a morning disorder in contrast to most other evening-based psychiatric disorders, and support the association between anorexia nervosa and insomnia, as seen in earlier studies."