40-year follow-up on marshmallow test points to biological basisfor delayed gratification

A landmark study in the late 1960s and early 1970s usedmarshmallows and cookies to assess the ability of preschoolchildren to delay gratification. If they held off on the temptationto eat a treat, they were rewarded with more treats later. Some ofthe children resisted, others didn't. A newly published follow-up revisits some of the same children, nowadults, revealing that these differences remain: Those better atdelaying gratification as children remained so as adults; likewise,those who wanted their cookie right away as children were morelikely to seek instant gratification as adults. Furthermore, brainimaging showed key differences between the two groups in two areas:the prefrontal cortex and the ventral striatum.

The findings arepublished in the Aug. 29 edition of the Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences. "This is the first time we have located the specific brain areasrelated to delayed gratification. This could have majorimplications in the treatment of obesity and addictions," says lead author Dr. B.J.

Casey, director of theSackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology at Weill CornellMedical College and the Sackler Professor of DevelopmentalPsychobiology. In the current study, Dr. Casey and her co-investigators recruited59 adults who participated as young children in the original studyand represented either extreme of the delayed-gratificationspectrum -- high delayers and low delayers. Because marshmallowsand cookies can be less rewarding to adults, the researcherssubstituted two tests. In the first, participants looked at ascreen displaying a series of faces and were asked to signal onlywhen a face of one gender was shown. Portable Bluetooth Keyboard for Iphone

This "cool" test revealed nosignificant differences between the two groups. A second, "hot"test used emotional cues such as a happy or frightened face. Theseresults were much more varied and revealed that aptitude fordelayed gratification was consistent from childhood into adulthood. "In this test, a happy face took the place of the marshmallow. Thepositive social cue interfered with the low delayer's ability tosuppress his or her actions," explains Dr. Horn Speaker for Iphone Manufacturer

Casey. The second test was then repeated while the participant's brain wasscanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Theresults showed that the brain's prefrontal cortex was more activefor high delayers and the ventral striatum -- an area linked toaddictions -- was more active in low delayers. The original marshmallows and cookies study was led by Dr. Bluetooth Keyboard for Blackberry Playbook

WalterMischel, a co-author of the current study and the Niven Professorof Humane Letters at Columbia University. Additional authors include Leah H. Somerville, Theresa Teslovichand Nicholas Franklin of Weill Cornell Medical College; VivianZayas of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; Gary Glover and Ian H.Gotlib of Stanford University; Ozlem Ayduk of the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley; Mary Askren, John Jonides and Marc G. Bermanof the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Yuichi Shoda andNicole L.

Wilson of the University of Washington, Seattle. Fundingfor this multi-site study was provided by the National Institutesof Health (PI: Yuichi Shoda). Additional References Citations.

First and only drug for alk-positive lung cancer approved - China Handmade Felt Bags

In a major triumph for personalized medicine, the FDA approved thedrug crizotinib for use with the lung cancer type known as ALK-positive. "I know the names and I can see the faces of every ALK-positivepatient I have treated with crizotinib. Most of them would not bealive today if not for this drug," says Ross Camidge, MD, PhD,investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center anddirector of the Thoracic Oncology Program at University of ColoradoHospital, who has been involved with the drug since its phase Iclinical trials in 2008. Approximately 4% of the 220,000 Americans diagnosed with lungcancer each year have the ALK fusion gene, and 45,000 newlydiagnosed lung cancer patients are ALK positive worldwide. Recycled Shopping Bags

The drugcrizotinib targets this ALK fusion gene - which is expressed onlyin cancer cells and not their healthy neighbors - starving cancer cells ofthe energy they need to live and grow. "By truly understanding the underlying genetic drivers of lungcancer, such as ALK, we can select patients who are more likely torespond to treatment. Crizotinib provides a model for how toapproach future drug development and cancer care," says Paul Bunn,MD, investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center andprofessor of medicine and the James Dudley chair in cancer researchat the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "Crizotinib, thefirst new drug approved for lung cancer by the FDA in more than sixyears, represents a paradigm shift in lung cancer treatment, wherewe're moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach tobiomarker-based treatment decisions." The approval of this drug is also a major achievement for theUniversity of Colorado Cancer Center, which has been involved inall phases of the drug's development and use, including creatingthe clinical test for the genetic mutation that definesALK-positive lung cancers and enrolling the first patients in thedrug's clinical trials. With the approval of crizotinib, instead of firing blindly into thenight, the first step in cancer treatment is now knowing yourenemy. China Handmade Felt Bags

The second step is treatment targeted specifically at thisenemy's weaknesses. Today is the first day of FDA-approved, personalized treatment forlung cancer. Additional References Citations. Pet Carrier Bags