January 23, 1996

EVER wonder why people get "butterflies" in the stomach before going on stage? Or why an impending job interview can cause an attack of intestinal cramps? And why antidepressants targeted for the brain cause nausea or abdominal upset in millions of people who take such drugs? The reason for these common experiences, scientists say, is that the body has two brains -- the familiar one encased in the skull and a lesser known but vitally important one found in the human gut. Like Siamese twins, the two brains are interconnected; when one gets upset, the other does, too.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has been subpoenaed to appear before a Federal grand jury that is investigating whether anyone at the White House obstructed justice in the handling of records from the First Lady's former law firm. Mark Fabiani, a White House lawyer, said Mrs. Clinton would appear on Friday before a Washington grand jury to answer questions from Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel investigating the Whitewater real estate deal. Mr. Fabiani said that officials had received no indication that the First Lady was a target of the investigation.

Two lawmakers have introduced bills to lift "the cloak of confidentiality" they say is thrown over child-abuse cases by the Division of Family and Youth Services. The bills, sponsored by Senator James E. McGreevey and Assemblyman William D. Pascrell, would change laws that have made it difficult for information about abuse cases to be exchanged among child-welfare officials, the police, schools and other agencies. Their measures are modeled on bills before the New York Legislature inspired by the case of Elisa Izquierdo, a 6-year-old who the authorities say was tortured to death by her mother.

WHAT kind of equipment do you need to probe the mysteries of the human brain? These days most researchers rely on huge imaging machines that cost $700 a minute to operate. They slide people under gigantic magnets or inject them with radioactive isotopes and watch as various parts of the subjects' brains light up while reading, rotating objects mentally or obsessing compulsively about dirty towels.

In the troubled world of insurance, the news lately has been of mergers and layoffs, record claims and stagnant returns. It is about the last industry where you would expect a company to build a new business of more than $1 billion in revenues in little more than a decade.. But that is what ITT Hartford has done. In 1984 it was selected to sell auto and homeowners insurance to members of the American Association of Retired Persons, and that business soared to about $1.1 billion in premiums last year. That makes it one of the fastest-growing parts of the company, and a standout in an industry not growing much faster than the economy.