In studying it over time, they found that child/adolescent psychopathy looks quite similar to the adult version but there did seem to be some areas of instability in the young version that could provide hope to those hoping to mitigate it before it's too late. The articles in the special issue examine many different aspects of psychopathy in the young and over time, including such variables as:

Genetics Temperament Parenting styles Environment Internal and external symptoms Peer relations

By conducting such investigations, possible points of intervention can be pinpointed in an effort to prevent early psychopathic characteristics in youth from leading to persistent deviant behaviors that have severe implications for the individual and society, write guest editors, Randall T. Salekin and John E Lochman in the introduction. Although considerable work remains to be done, this special issue serves as a starting point, providing the groundwork for future research in this area.

online.sagepub/

"This finding allowed us to pinpoint a very specific defect that explains why these mice are obese. The brain normally uses the Pomc gene to tell the body to stop eating, but in the animals with BBS, it doesn't work and so the mice won't feel full. We know that people without this gene have the same symptoms as the mice in our study, so the finding is meaningful," he added.

Rahmouni and colleagues will next examine the specific deficit in the neurons in the brain that might cause the problem with the Pomc (pronounced "pom-c") gene.

In another aspect of the study, the team saw that two of the three mouse models with BBS protein problems (Bbs4 and Bbs6) had high blood pressure. Recent research published by another institution has pointed to the same problem in humans with the same gene defects.

The UI team found that using a chemical to block neurotransmission in mice with the Bbs4 and Bbs6 gene defects lowered blood pressure.

"Because there are so few people with BBS, mouse models are very helpful in trying to understand the blood pressure problem," Rahmouni said. "Currently, there is no specific recommendation on what drug or level of drug to use to treat hypertension in BBS patients. In addition, this work may lead to improved treatment of hypertensive patients without BBS. We hope to learn more about the mechanism in order to improve and even customize treatment."

uiowa/