tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog/131 2008-04-14T17:29:47Z Movable Type 3.32 tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.3109 2008-04-02T02:05:25Z 2008-04-14T17:29:47Z

Happy April Fool’s Day! I happened to stumble upon a very interesting article in The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/health/01mind.html?adxnnl=1&ref=science&adxnnlx=1207101830-z06O83efmy+Tt+hZ48C6kQ), which discusses practical jokes and the unique way in which they are able to elicit introspection in their victims. This is...

NeuroStudent Happy April Fool’s Day! I happened to stumble upon a very interesting article in The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/health/01mind.html?adxnnl=1&ref=science&adxnnlx=1207101830-z06O83efmy+Tt+hZ48C6kQ), which discusses practical jokes and the unique way in which they are able to elicit introspection in their victims. This is a very fascinating example of how an event or phenomenon that really DOESN’T exist is able to effect a series of events and thoughts in the brain, which are eventually perceived by the individual as REAL areas needing improvement. Interestingly, practical jokes have been studied by psychologists for many years in the context of harassment and bullying. However, it is has been discovered that these jokes are more often used in a light-hearted manner, to bring initiates into a group (for example, a fraternity or sorority). But before they can join the ranks of already-established members, they must be humbled… So, in a way, the person is simultaneously honored (because they are smart, cool, gorgeous enough to join the “club”) and degraded. A study was actually conducted where researchers subjected 55 men and women to a computerized cooperation game. They showed that participants who “felt they had been burned” would analyze the experience in their heads, ruminating about how they might have handled the situation more effectively. This phenomenon, termed counterfactual thinking, is one way an individual is able to isolate his/her shortcomings. Herein, lies the path for self improvement. So what I’m wondering is if the jokes we encountered today (April’s Fools Day) intrinsically made us delve into our shortcomings? Perhaps this was conscious, perhaps it was not…I’m interested to hear what you think. Grace tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.3102 2008-03-31T15:13:05Z 2008-03-31T15:31:26Z

This is Bridget I read this book "The Wretched of the Earth"by Frantz Fanon for my Literary Approaches to Poverty class (sounds wonderfully uplifting, doesn't it?). Just as a little background, Frantz Fanon was a psychologist with a Freudian-style education,...

NeuroStudent This is Bridget I read this book "The Wretched of the Earth"by Frantz Fanon for my Literary Approaches to Poverty class (sounds wonderfully uplifting, doesn't it?). Just as a little background, Frantz Fanon was a psychologist with a Freudian-style education, and was a Marxist who wrote this novel about decolonization in order to call for the necessity of revolution of colonized countries for them to receive the part of the wealth of the world that belonged to them because of years of exploitation and extermination of culture and identity. The last section of the novel dealt with mental disorders that seemingly arise due to the traumatic experiences associated with colonial revolution for independence. This brought on the inclusion of some of the scientific theories that were, for the most part, accepted as true during that time regarding the brain. Right along with all of the other falsities that supposedly made colonization and exploitation of people "right", was the idea that it was supposedly proven that the cortex of Africans was actually smaller. Thus, the conclusion, stated with the finality and support of neuroscience, was that Africans were a subhuman race that was incapable of controlling its more animalistic tendencies. According to this scientific theory supporting Social Darwinism, their violence, their aggressiveness, can be explained by the color of their skin and "differences" in the formation of their brains. When I read this I was quite obviously appalled. It is not that I have not read about crazy theories about physiognomy (how the characteristics of a face can tell about a person's actual character and behavior, even destiny) and other theories that claim to prove that racist beliefs are correct and necessary for human survival. It is just that I have never really read about a founded science, which is supposed to be entirely objective, being used to support an agenda. As a person interested in the sciences, I have been, in a way, naive about its purposes to advance society and understanding for all people. But to read that scientific conclusions, which were supposedly based in fact and data and experiments alone, could be so disgustingly warped was really scary. Science is such an extremely powerful tool; you add the fact that something is supported and proven by an experiment, facts, and data, and many people willingly believe that it is true, without further questioning. When this powerful persuasion is in the wrong hands it can precipitate incredibly dangerous and disheartening consequences. tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.3090 2008-03-24T23:48:32Z 2008-04-01T19:56:12Z

This is Clara. This is an article from SEED magazine http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2008/03/out_of_the_blue.php It's tagline is,"Can a thinking, remembering, decision-making, biologically accurate brain be built from a supercomputer?" It raises some pretty cool issues about computational neuroscience and modeling. Here is a...

NeuroStudent This is Clara. This is an article from SEED magazine http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2008/03/out_of_the_blue.php It's tagline is,"Can a thinking, remembering, decision-making, biologically accurate brain be built from a supercomputer?" It raises some pretty cool issues about computational neuroscience and modeling. Here is a teaser for y'all: "After assembling a three-dimensional model of 10,000 virtual neurons, the scientists began feeding the simulation electrical impulses, which were designed to replicate the currents constantly rippling through a real rat brain. Because the model focused on one particular kind of neural circuit—a neocortical column in the somatosensory cortex of a two-week-old rat—the scientists could feed the supercomputer the same sort of electrical stimulation that a newborn rat would actually experience. It didn't take long before the model reacted. After only a few electrical jolts, the artificial neural circuit began to act just like a real neural circuit. Clusters of connected neurons began to fire in close synchrony: the cells were wiring themselves together. Different cell types obeyed their genetic instructions. The scientists could see the cellular looms flash and then fade as the cells wove themselves into meaningful patterns. Dendrites reached out to each other, like branches looking for light. "This all happened on its own," Markram says. "It was entirely spontaneous." For the Blue Brain team, it was a thrilling breakthrough. After years of hard work, they were finally able to watch their make-believe brain develop, synapse by synapse. The microchips were turning themselves into a mind." tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.3057 2008-03-13T14:49:55Z 2008-03-13T16:03:08Z

Finally. As we are about to close our consideration of the anatomical and physiological organization of the visual system, I thought I should make an effort to reemphasize the points I made (or at least tried to make) yesterday. Specifically,...

Robert Stewart synaptically) according to a relatively small set of organizing principles. As a way to emphasize these common principles, I thought I'd direct your attention to this story, which originally aired on CBS news: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKd56D2mvN0 At the risk of revealing what a nerd/goober/dork I am, is anyone else immediately reminded of LaVar Burton's character, Commander Jordi, on Star Trek: Next Generation???? Laugh at me if you must, but if you spend a little bit of time thinking about it, it shouldn't seem at all surprising that application of minute electrical currents onto the tongue (which, from a somatosensory standpoint, is an exquisitely good thing to use for tactile discrimination) can be used by severly sight-impaired people to identify objects in the environment. The only critical thing here is to have some way to tranform an image captured by a camera into a consistent pattern of electrical currents (HA! Optical transduction, electrically engineered!). The somatosensory afferent axons in the epidermis of the tongue don't need to be activated by a mechanical stimulus in order for a sensation to occur. They just need to be activated. Hopefully you know by now that depolarizing current is a great way to generate action potentials..... This illustrates an important principle that we really didn't discuss. The idea that stimulating a sensory organ or sensory afferents- e.g., retinal photoreceptor cells- with a form of energy other than the 'natural' form- e.g., with current instead of light- will lead to a sensation that is characteristic of the sensory system was developed by an important figure in sensory physiology and one of the pioneers of psychology, Johannes Peter Muller, during the 19th century. This led to the notion of 'adequate stimuli,' which refers to stimulus energy forms to which sensory receptor transduction mechanisms have adapted through evolution, e.g., light is the adequate stimulus for vision, airborne pressure waves are the adequate stimulus for hearing, etc., etc. The other important principle that is largely hidden in this video example is something that I mentioned (excitedly) about two weeks ago. Specifically, I mentioned when we began our coverage of the visual system that ALL neocortical areas are organized according to a basic principle (which we will consider Monday). This basic principle was postulated by Vernon Mountcastle, who spent his career working at John Hopkins University as a neurophysiologist interested in the somatosensory system. Mountcastle's research led him to conclude that all neocortex is made up of a large number of basic functional modules (called cortical columns) each of which has specific, typically reciprocal, synaptic relationships with a set of other modules both near and far (axonally speaking). The activity within a given module in relationship to the activity of the others to which it is connected is the basis for...cognition. That is, the distributed activity of coritical modules gives rise to all of the perceptutal and intentional capabilties of the neocortex. What that implies is that the cortical mechanisms of, say, language, will at some level be very similar to the cortical mechanisms of learning (or whatever). From an evolutionary perspective, this makes eminent sense: the cortical column is a highly conserved organizational motif. Vernon Mountcastle is a smart guy (yes, he still lives-- he is around 90 years old), who graduated from another fine liberal arts college in our area-- Roanoke College. Read more about him and his career as a scientist here: http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/aprjun98/apr2098/20mount.html (Perhaps you could send the link to the editors of the Phi and Trident as an example of good student journalism....) Before you sign off completely, I'd like you to give some thought to how it is that a repeating, basic organizational motif could serve so many seemingly disparate behavioral and cognitve functions. How could one basic functional unit, when put together with others in the right way, do so many different things? Is there anything in your experience that is analgous???? No need to answer these questions literally-- they are simply intended to get you thinking.... ]]> tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.3038 2008-03-03T19:48:00Z 2008-03-09T19:34:54Z

Sarah Jenks: People with mental illnesses, such as depression or schizophrenia, have also been found to frequently suffer from addictions. Studies have shown that damaged amygdalas lead to impaired behavior and heightened drug responses. Therefore rather than writing off an...

NeuroStudent Sarah Jenks: People with mental illnesses, such as depression or schizophrenia, have also been found to frequently suffer from addictions. Studies have shown that damaged amygdalas lead to impaired behavior and heightened drug responses. Therefore rather than writing off an addiction as a bad coping mechanism for those with a mental illness, people should treat it as another symptom perhaps of a neurological disease. http://health.msn.com/health-topics/addiction/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100185428 tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.3030 2008-03-03T19:21:49Z 2008-03-09T19:34:54Z

Sarah Jenks: Is intelligence learned or is it genetics? Lately researchers have begun studies where they compare MRIs of people's brain to their IQ levels. They studied how the amount of gray matter in the different sections of the brain...

NeuroStudent Sarah Jenks: Is intelligence learned or is it genetics? Lately researchers have begun studies where they compare MRIs of people's brain to their IQ levels. They studied how the amount of gray matter in the different sections of the brain correlated to how smart they were. This testing worked for men, but the study on women showed a higher correlation to their white matter, indicating that different sexes use different pathways to think. These studies showed a strong connection between high IQ and the size or shape of the superior parietal lobe and the prefrontal cortex. These parts of the brain however are not involved in memory or information storage, but rather in planning, personality, thinking, and perception. This indicates that what makes someone a genius is not their brain's ability to process and store info quickly, but rather their brains use a number of senses to make sure they are most efficient, focusing only on what is needed. http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/09/11/gupta.genius/index.html?iref=newssearch tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.3009 2008-02-21T18:23:17Z 2008-03-09T19:34:54Z

From Brendon Ellis: http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20071228-000001.xml The author of this article suggests that smell plays a larger role in selecting a mate than previously understood. Despite our unawareness, the odor of a significant other has extremely significant biological effects. For instance, reproduction...

NeuroStudent From Brendon Ellis: http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20071228-000001.xml The author of this article suggests that smell plays a larger role in selecting a mate than previously understood. Despite our unawareness, the odor of a significant other has extremely significant biological effects. For instance, reproduction with another individual who one deems to "smell good" often allows for a more genetically diverse offspring. Claus Wedekind, of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, demonstrated this through his experiment by having 44 men sleep in gray shirts for two nights in order to collect their body odor. He then had 49 women smell the shirts and indicate which ones they preferred. When analyzed, the data suggested that women, more often than not, chose the shirt of a man "immunologically dissimilar" to themselves. This data indicates that odor plays a far greater role in love than previously believed. Not only do wives smell the pillow cases of their absent husbands for memories sake or boyfriends lovingly sniff their girlfriends necks just to remember, but now, this experiment proves that odors and pheromones allow an individual to a find a biologically satisfying partner. Elizabeth Svoboda continues her argument by supplying data that connects a higher miscarriage rate to a "higher degree of MHC similarity," and even longer intervals between conception for these couples. She also submits that the birth control pill (or "The Divorce Pill" as she likes to call it) can send off false pheromones; these mixed signals make it very difficult for both sexes. For instance, if a woman goes off the pill, then her boyfriend/husband might respond negatively to the new body odors. In fact, she might respond differently; the birth control could have acted on her reception of her significant others' odor. tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.3004 2008-02-20T03:22:14Z 2008-03-09T19:34:54Z

Hey, this is Grace Wang again… I am absolutely fascinated by neurodegenerative diseases, and stumbled across this article, which discusses research currently being conducted at Harvard and MIT which holds great promise for those suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. Read more...

NeuroStudent Hey, this is Grace Wang again… I am absolutely fascinated by neurodegenerative diseases, and stumbled across this article, which discusses research currently being conducted at Harvard and MIT which holds great promise for those suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. Read more here: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/19080/ Currently, those suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurodegenerative disorders can only be treated for their symptoms; prevention and reversal of these disorders has not yet been possible with current medical technology. This is a great cause for concern given that neurodegenerative disorders continue to plague an increasingly large fraction of the population who are helpless as their neurons and neuronal connections disintegrate into nothingness… Research at Harvard and MIT offers positive change, however. A gene called SIRT1 and a plant compound found in red wine, resveratrol, have been shown to protect against neuron degeneration in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. After developing what is considered a human equivalent of Alzheimer’s disease, the laboratory mice experienced impaired spatial learning and found it increasingly difficult to associate cause and effect sequences. Miraculously, treatment with resveratrol restored the learning capabilities of the impaired mice to a level compared to normal mice and decreased the death of neurons and their connections. This finding is extremely important because it shows that resveratrol is both neuroprotective and can improve cognitive function, even after the onset of severe neurodegeneration. This effect can also be achieved with activation of SIRT1, which has been shown to keep cells robust in a wide variety of settings. Compounds activating SIRT1 must, however, be able to bypass the blood brain barrier in order to be effective. This is a concern important to those developing drugs targeting the brain. Both possible therapeutic pathways, resveratrol and SIRT1 activation hold great promise in treating those individuals already suffering from neurodegenerative diseases by reversing neuron death. This is, unfortunately, an advancement which has not yet been possible. tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.3003 2008-02-20T02:32:24Z 2008-03-09T19:34:54Z

Hey, it’s Grace Wang… I just read a very interesting New York Times article written by a practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Friedman, who believes that drugs created by the study of neuroscience can never truly replace traditional therapy for patients...

NeuroStudent New York Times article written by a practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Friedman, who believes that drugs created by the study of neuroscience can never truly replace traditional therapy for patients suffering from “mind diseases” such as schizophrenia and depression. You can read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/health/19mind.html?ref=science Dr. Friedman makes a clear delineation between medicine of the mind and medicine of the physical body in justifying his belief and draws upon a personal anecdote during which a patient asks if he himself had ever undergone psychotherapy. Intrigued, Friedman asks himself whether a heart surgeon is required to undergo bypass surgery in order to be a good heart surgeon. His answer is, not surprisingly, no. So what then is intrinsically different between treating someone for a heart attack and treating someone suffering from schizophrenia or some other disorder of the mind? Why does one require the physician to engage in an experience the patient himself must endure? Friedman concluded that it is the personal connection established between the patient and doctor which set the two scenarios apart. Whereas a cardiothoracic surgeon can successfully conduct heart surgery on a patient under deep anesthesia (who need not meet the surgeon!), a psychiatrist cannot be successful in treating schizophrenia without first developing a trusting relationship of give-and-take and compassionate understanding with his patient. Therein lies the treatment. Therefore, it is helpful for a psychiatrist to have undergone psychotherapy himself for he who has experienced is more likely to relate meaningfully to his patient and subsequently provide useful treatment. Dr. Friedman holds this relationship shared between the patient and psychiatrist in high regard. Although he believes the field of neuroscience holds much potential, he is not convinced that drugs, artificially created in a laboratory, can ever evoke the same response as two human beings interacting with one another. ]]> tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.2992 2008-02-14T03:40:29Z 2008-02-14T03:42:35Z

From Connell Owings: http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/brain-and-behavior/2008/01/31/keeping-your-brain-fit_print.htm This article discusses several different ways you can keep your memory and thinking sharp. This especially applies to people of older generations, but it is still quite interesting. Nintendo and several other video game distributors have...

NeuroStudent From Connell Owings: http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/brain-and-behavior/2008/01/31/keeping-your-brain-fit_print.htm This article discusses several different ways you can keep your memory and thinking sharp. This especially applies to people of older generations, but it is still quite interesting. Nintendo and several other video game distributors have come out with video games that are good for your brain. It’s kind of funny to picture your grandmother or grandfather playing a Nintendo game, but it’s the new healthy thing to do. The article discusses how over time, the brain does begin to shrink and brains with Alzheimer’s disease shrink about twice as fast. It points out that the prefrontal cortex, which controls the working memory, and the hippocampus, which is also involved in memory, are most affected by this shrinkage. However, in the past decade or so, research has confirmed that the brain can continue to grow into the late years of a person’s life, and especially with some sort of stimulation. With the rapidly increasing number of cases of Alzheimer’s disease, I couldn’t begin to think of a reason for people not to try a few of these simple things. The article points out that vigorous, or really any, exercise increases the blood flow to the brain, making the brain larger and thus, improving thinking and memory. Certain foods such as fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants that are also recommended to mitigate the effects of memory loss. Other games like crossword puzzles are also encouraged. tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.2991 2008-02-14T02:31:35Z 2008-02-14T02:32:05Z

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/health/12mimic.html?em&ex=1203051600&en=6987e1200efad2c8&ei=5087%0A This article discussed many different studies psychologists have been doing for almost a century, involving the art of persuasion. Their results suggest that the immediate “click” between people has a strong tie into the mimicry. People are highly susceptible...

NeuroStudent http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/health/12mimic.html?em&ex=1203051600&en=6987e1200efad2c8&ei=5087%0A This article discussed many different studies psychologists have been doing for almost a century, involving the art of persuasion. Their results suggest that the immediate “click” between people has a strong tie into the mimicry. People are highly susceptible to similar tendencies and even voice tone. Researchers suggest that identifying this habit in people can help avoid skillful sales techniques, or even improving their own skills in connecting with people in social situations. This article further justified conclusions I think most people have from observing social situations, but I thought it was really interesting that they also tied it into sales and the business world. Lauren Barousse tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.2990 2008-02-14T02:30:13Z 2008-02-14T02:30:54Z

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/96538.php Similar to the article comparing opiates and nicotine, researchers have also identified the area of the brain which drives the compulsion to seek drugs, even when it is detrimental to the persons well being. Researchers tested this by selectively...

NeuroStudent http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/96538.php Similar to the article comparing opiates and nicotine, researchers have also identified the area of the brain which drives the compulsion to seek drugs, even when it is detrimental to the persons well being. Researchers tested this by selectively switching off the drug seeking part of the brain, and their results further supported the role of part of the brain called the striatum. This area is activated by reward. This article illustrates the possibility of using this information for both treatment and possible prevention of drug use, and further research into this part of the brain has a promising future. Lauren Barousse tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.2989 2008-02-14T02:26:48Z 2008-02-14T02:29:10Z

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/97129.php This article explored the similarities between opiates and nicotine through experimentation. In their experiments, rat brain tissues displayed a large overlap in dopamine signaling in the brain’s reward centers between opiates and nicotine. Dopamine is released in areas such...

NeuroStudent http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/97129.php This article explored the similarities between opiates and nicotine through experimentation. In their experiments, rat brain tissues displayed a large overlap in dopamine signaling in the brain’s reward centers between opiates and nicotine. Dopamine is released in areas such as the nucleus accumbens to naturally reward activities such as food, some drugs, and stimuli that become associated with them. The two very different drugs of opiates and nicotine result in an extraordinarily similar effect of dopamine signaling, and researchers hope to use this similarity to find additional treatments for addiction. It seems really fascinating that researchers can use the way the drugs overlap in order to create additional methods of treatment. Lauren Barousse tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.2988 2008-02-13T18:32:06Z 2008-02-14T20:10:39Z

This article is extremely interesting-- it discusses how trading on the stock-market can lead to the activation of brain circuits that are also activated by drugs. The more risky the trade, the more pleasurable the feeling. This can lead to...

NeuroStudent http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/business/worldbusiness/07trader.html?scp=3&sq=neuroscience&st=nyt Marie Locke]]> tag:bloggery.wlu.edu,2008:/neuroblog//131.2987 2008-02-13T18:27:28Z 2008-02-13T18:27:59Z

Jerzy http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/93300.php According to a 2008 study, a ninety-minute daytime nap speeds up the process of long term memory consolidation. There are two types of long term memory: memories of "what", and memories of "how to". A brief daytime nap...

NeuroStudent Jerzy http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/93300.php According to a 2008 study, a ninety-minute daytime nap speeds up the process of long term memory consolidation. There are two types of long term memory: memories of "what", and memories of "how to". A brief daytime nap was found to improve the latter. To prove this, two groups of participants were asked to bring their thumbs and fingers together in a specific sequence. Subjects were evaluated based on speed and accuracy. After being taught the sequence, half of the participants were permitted to take a 90 minute nap. When tested later on that evening, the group that took the nap preformed substantially better than that which stayed awake. It is interesting to note that after both groups received a full night of rest, the groups' performances were nearly identical. The nap, therefore, was only responsible for speeding up the learning process. Unfortunately, researchers are unsure of precisely which mechanisms sleep enhances. Should they be discovered, researchers believe it will be possible to artificially improve memory. Until that happens, however, a daytime nap is an effective alternative.