August 20, 2004, Hour One: Science News Roundup

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Hour One: Science News Roundup

In this hour of Science Friday, we'll look at three stories form the world of science and medicine. As residents of Florida continue to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, we'll talk about how the track of hurricanes is predicted. Why do severe storms sometimes take sudden, unpredictable turns?

Then, we'll turn to the brain. A new study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that teens with depression may do best when treated using a combination of drugs and talk therapy. Researchers conducting the study found a 71 percent response rate to a combination of the drug fluoxetine and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Either approach alone had less of an effect -- 60.6 percent response to just the drug, and 43.2 percent response to participants receiving only the cognitive-behavioral therapy. In this hour, we'll take a look at the study and its conclusions. Are pharmaceutical treatments and talk therapy a likely combination?

And we'll find out about new research into the way people think about numbers. In a report published this week in the journal Science, researchers describe a group of indigenous peoples in Brazil called the Pirahã tribe. The scientists found that the Pirahã seem to have fewer concepts for numbers than most other cultures. Members of the Pirahã culture have words for 'one' and 'two' -- but 'one' can sometimes mean 'around one.' Larger numbers are 'many.' The difference isn't simply one of language, though -- members of the tribe were found to have difficulty distinguishing a picture of 4 fish from a picture of 5 fish. We'll find out more.

Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (2-3 Eastern), and share your opinions online in our Listeners' Lounge (registration required).

Guests:
Max Mayfield
Director
NOAA National Hurricane Center
Miami, Florida

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John March, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry
Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Carolina

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Peter Gordon
Associate Professor, Biobehavioral Sciences
Teachers College
Columbia University
New York, New York

This segment produced by Karin Vergoth

Archived Audio:
hurricanes
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depression
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number concepts
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streaming audio help from NPR

Books/Articles Discussed:

"Treatment of Adolescents With Major Depression: Contributions of a Major Trial"
Glass JAMA.2004; 292: 861-863.

(find books discussed on previous broadcasts)