Newspaper Page Text
10A
JANUARY 6, 2000
Study: Jogging improves mental ability
SAN DIEGC
(AP) A new study recommends
that people who want to jog their
+ inds literally put one foot in
.mt of the other.
Researchers at the Salk Insti
tute for Biological Sciences say
b ratory mice exposed to the
physical stimulation of running
« vre better at mental tasks than
1 ice that did not exercise.
“It does seem physical activity
1 beneficial for mental function,”
+ aid Henriette van Praag, a Salk
ientist who led the study.
Mice that exercised grew small
amounts of new cells in parts of
the biain that are important for
i« »rning and memory, and those
n vas seemed to function more
«ficiently, the study showed.
The study, undertaken in the
lsboratory of Fred G ge, is part of
u string of experime its that may
prove whether exercise could im
prove recovery from brain inju
ries or hold off mental declines
associated with dementia or
Alzheimer's.
Task Force appointed to study child protective services
An independent task force was
appointed recently to conduct a
comprehensive review of the
state’s child protective services
svstem, according to Audrey W.
Horne, commissioner of the Geor
ga Department of Human Re
sources (DHR), which is the
apzency responsible for investigat
i g abuse and neglect reports. The
group, made up of state and na
tional community leaders, begins
meeting January 25 at the Crowne
Plaza Atlanta Airport and will
i+<ne its report in April 2000.
“Child protection in Georgia is
part of a system that includes
DHR's Division of Family and
Children Services, judges, law
enforcement, medical profession
als and schools,” Horne said. “We
want the task force to look closely
st what's happening now with
child protective services, see what
needs to be changed and develop
a way tomeasure improvements.”
Ann Cramer, Regional Director
of IBM Corporate Community
Reolations and Public Affairs, will
chair the task force. Kent
Peterson, formerly with the Na
tional Governors’ Association, will
be staff director.
Special committees will report
to the task force on these three
areas: improving state and local
policy; implementing effective
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AUGUSTAFOCUS
The past experiments showed that
the brains of adult mice — and even
people — could generate new brain
cells called neurons from latent, un
differentiated cells in the brain.
The past experiments showed
that the brains of adult mice —
and even people — could gener
ate new brain cells called neurons
from latent, undifferentiated cells
in the brain.
“What | find most exciting is
that, taken together, the studies
suggest that throughout one's life
one's behavior can change the
structure of the brain, and that
these changes can in turn affect
how we behave in our environ
ment,” Gage said.
In the latest research, reported
previously in the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences,
scientists wanted to test how
practices at all management and
staff levels within the child pro
tective system; and steps needed
to ensure high performance.
The commissioner said the task
force will be ‘inclusive’in its work,
and will actively seek ideas and
recommendations from national
and Georgia experts as well as
from the general public.
The independent task force 1s
one of several steps Horne has
taken to improve the state’s child
protective services since she be
came commissioner. Many of her
concerns were illustrated in a se
ries of articles in the Atlanta Jour
nal-Constitution titled “The For
gotten Children.”
While the newspaper referred
to 844 child deaths over a six-year
period, the commissioner said the
majority of the children did not
die from abuse or neglect and were
not in state custody at the time of
their death.
“Although the majority of those
children died from accidents or
medical conditions, even one
death of a child from abuse in
Georgia is one too many,” says
Horne. “We are going to do every
thing in our power to protect chil
dren.”
To increase protective services
staff, she has transferred 171
county ehigibility workers to child
Al
Dr. Cal Brice
Chiropractor
Personal Injury Weliness Clinic
newly formed neurons in mice
affected mental function and cog
nit.ve ability.
They tested the ability of the
mice to learn spacial relationships
by placing the animals into a wa
ter-filled maze and timing how
long it took them to learn the new
environment and find a platform
they could climb onto and rest.
Most mice from a group that
had been running about three
hours a day for five weeks could
find ti e platform in about 16 sec
onds after three days of trials in
the maze.
Meantime, many of the mice
that had been sedentary in previ
protective services. Earlier this
month, she named Juanita
Blount-Clark as the new director
ofthe Division of Family and Chil
dren Services.
“We have made a good start.
Now [ am counting on the task
force to help us find better, more
effective ways to protect children,”
Horne said.
The 15-person independent task
force includes: Ann Cramer, re
gional director, IBM; Roy
Richards,Jr.,chairman and CEO,
Southwire Company, Carrollton,
Ga; Lezlie Bishop, corporate af
fairsdirector, AT&T, Atlanta; Dr.
Otis Johnson, dean of the College
of Liberal Arts and Social Sci
ences, Savannah State Univer
sity; Juvenile Court Judge Velma
Tilly, Cartersville; Maria
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ous weeks took about 25 seconds
to complete the same task.
All the mice in the study were
genetically identical. :
Though even the sedentary mice
grew some new brain cells, an
autopsy of the mice's brains
showed that the exercise group
had more than twice the number
of new neurons.
Moreover, the neurons in the
hippocampus’ dentate gyrus re
gion, where the new cells grew,
all generally displayed a greater
sensitivity to being simulated by
surrounding neurons.
Researchers said that makes it
easier and more efficient for the
neurons to communicate.
“It does suggest these newborn
cells do have a functional role in
the adult brain,” van Praag said
The researchers say it ils not yet
clear whether the small amount
of newly generated cells account
for the increased learning capac
ity, or whether the exercise
prompts existing cells to function
at a higher level.
Gonzales, social worker, Hiram,
Ga.' Dr. Nelson Price, Sr_, seniro
pastor, Roswell Street Baptist
Church, Marietta, Ga.; Julia
Bloodworth, executive director,
Augusta Child Advocates, Inc,
Augusta, Ga., Doug Nelson, presi
dent, Annie E. Casey Foundation,
Baltimore; Harold Richman, ex
ecutive director, Chapin Hall Cen
ter for Children, Chicago, Patricia
Schene Ph.D, Patricia Schene and
Associates, consultants in chil
dren and family services,
Littleton, Colorado; Curiey M.
Dossman, president, Georgia-Pa
cific Foundation; Jeff Lawrence,
wice president for programs and
services, Macon Methodist Home
for Children; and Oze Scott, fos
ter parent, Americus. The remain
inginvitee has not been confirmed
due to holiday schedule conflicts.
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