Neuroscience

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    Brains On Purpose

  • What's attention got to do with it? Quantum physics of the brain in mediation

    StephanieWestAllen
    17 Nov 2009 | 3:01 pm
    I often talk about the importance of paying attention to what you are paying attention to in conflict resolution, and in life. Because I think it is so important, the A in the acronym of my CARVE Disputes Model™ stands for Attention. In case you have not seen CARVE, here it is: C - Curiosity A - Attention R -...

  • There's a new blog on the neuroscience of social interactions

    StephanieWestAllen
    17 Nov 2009 | 11:24 am
    For those of you not reading idealawg, here's information about a new blog being written by a grad student in social cognitive neuroscientist Kevin Ochsner's lab.

  • Mediate.com celebrates!

    StephanieWestAllen
    16 Nov 2009 | 11:22 am
    Mediate.com recently published the 300th issue of The Mediate.com Weekly. The web version of the Weekly is at www.mediate.com/Newsletter. The Weekly began 13 years ago under the guidance of Founding Editor John Helie. Over time, the newsletter became a bi-weekly and then weekly publication under the leadership of Editors John Ford and Jim Melamed. The Weekly offers the latest articles,...

  • Do you tell your clients about neuroscience? A quick poll

    StephanieWestAllen
    13 Nov 2009 | 9:16 am
    I am writing an article about what I call neuroscience transparency. By that I mean how much conflict professionals tell their clients about brain science. Some dispute resolvers give clients much information about the mind and the brain; others believe the science is "just between us mediators" (quoting a presenter I heard last year). I have prepared a short, quick...

  • Want to know a brain? Don't take it out of context

    StephanieWestAllen
    9 Nov 2009 | 1:33 pm
    Brains are changing all the time (when I think of neuroplasticity—brain changing—I sometimes imagine the brain as a verb instead of a noun), and that changing is not in isolation. Brain changes are facilitated by social interactions such as a dispute, as well as by interactions with the non-people environment and the culture. To highlight the fact that the brain...
 
 
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    MedicalNewsToday: Neuroscience

  • Schizophrenia Gene's Role May Be Broader, More Potent, Than Thought

    21 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
    UCSF scientists studying nerve cells in fruit flies have uncovered a new function for a gene whose human equivalent may play a critical role in schizophrenia. Scientists have known that the mutated form of the human gene - one of three consistently associated with schizophrenia - mildly disrupts the transmission of chemical signals between nerve cells in the brain.

  • Drug Studied As Possible Treatment For Spinal Injuries

    21 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
    Researchers have shown how an experimental drug might restore the function of nerves damaged in spinal cord injuries by preventing short circuits caused when tiny "potassium channels" in the fibers are exposed. The chemical compound also might be developed as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

  • Sounds Can Penetrate Deep Sleep And Enhance Associated Memories Upon Waking

    21 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
    They were in a deep sleep, yet sounds, such as a teakettle whistle and a cat's meow, somehow penetrated their slumber. The 25 sounds presented during the nap were reminders of earlier spatial learning, though the Northwestern University research participants were unaware of the sounds as they slept. Yet, upon waking, memory tests showed that spatial memories had changed.

  • Brain Disease "Resistance Gene" Could Offer Insights Into CJD

    20 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am
    A community in Papua New Guinea that suffered a major epidemic of a CJD-like fatal brain disease called kuru has developed strong genetic resistance to the disease, according to new research by Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists. Kuru is a fatal prion disease, similar to CJD in humans and BSE in animals, and is geographically unique to an area in Papua New Guinea.

  • Economics, Neuroscience And Hormones Workshop

    20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am
    A workshop on "Neuroeconomics and Endocrinological Economics," being held Nov. 20 and 21 at UC Davis, will be the first to bring together experts in neuroscience, economics and hormone physiology in one event, according to organizers. Neuroeconomics has emerged as a new field in recent years, as both economists and neuroscientists have used brain scanning technology such as functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how people make decisions.
 
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    MIT: Neuroscience

  • "The Power of Basic Science Applied to Medical Progress"

    16 Nov 2009 | 11:31 am
    In this MIT School of Science Dean’s Colloquium, Ed Scolnick details research milestones from a remarkably varied career, revealing how scientific insight and collaborative effort translate into life-saving solutions for millions."I’ve always been excited by the inherent beauty of molecular and biochemical insights into how biology works. It’s even more motivating to see how such insights are translated into benefits for patients."– Ed Scolnick(From MIT World)

  • Back to (brain) basics

    2 Nov 2009 | 8:00 pm
    In his own words, MIT neuroscientist Mark Bear admits he did not “wake up one day and say ‘Hey, I’m going to cure autism.’” But, after decades of painstaking basic research on how the brain rewires itself in response to external cues, Bear has discovered a way to reverse the symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome, a disorder that can cause autism, mental retardation and epilepsy.“It was a classic payoff of basic research,” says Bear, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience.And Bear is not the only MIT neuroscientist discovering this payoff. Several basic research projects have recently…

  • A head of time

    19 Oct 2009 | 9:00 pm
    Keeping track of time is one of the brain's most important tasks. As the brain processes the flood of sights and sounds it encounters, it must also remember when each event occurred. But how does that happen? How does your brain recall that you brushed your teeth before you took a shower, and not the other way around?For decades, neuroscientists have theorized that the brain "time stamps" events as they happen, allowing us to keep track of where we are in time and when past events occurred. However, they couldn't find any evidence that such time stamps really existed — until now.An MIT team…

  • In Profile: Matt Wilson

    18 Oct 2009 | 9:00 pm
    It was just another day in the lab in 1991 when Matt Wilson first heard something that no one had ever heard before: brain waves from a dreaming rat.Wilson, now a professor at MIT and a researcher at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, had set up an experiment where he recorded neural signals from rats' brains as they ran a maze in the lab. One day, he left the rats hooked up to the recording equipment after they finished running the maze, while he sat at his bench working on some data analysis. Soon enough, he started to recognize some of the patterns he was hearing from…

  • Rats' mental 'instant replay' drives next moves

    31 Aug 2009 | 8:29 am
    Researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have found that rats use a mental instant replay of their actions to help them decide what to do next, shedding new light on how animals and humans learn and remember.The work will appear in the Aug. 27 issue of the journal Neuron. "By understanding how thoughts and memories are structured, we can gain insight into how they might be disrupted in diseases and disorders of memory and thought such as Alzheimer's and schizophrenia," said study author Matthew A. Wilson, the Sherman Fairchild Professor of Neuroscience at the Picower…
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    The Frontal Cortex

  • The Reading Brain

    20 Nov 2009 | 12:10 pm
    I've got a review of Stanislas Dehaene's new book, Reading in the Brain, over at the Barnes and Noble Review: Right now, your mind is performing an astonishing feat. Photons are bouncing off these black squiggles and lines -- the letters in this sentence -- and colliding with a thin wall of flesh at the back of your eyeball. The photons contain just enough energy to activate sensory neurons, each of which is responsible for a particular plot of visual space on the page. The end result is that, as you stare at the letters, they become more than mere marks on a page. You've begun to read.

  • Luxury Goods

    19 Nov 2009 | 9:59 am
    Saks and Barneys and the rest of those luxury retailers have discovered that nothing destroys a luxury brand like a sale: All around Saks Fifth Avenue, merchandise is sold out. The $2,520 Marni shearling vest? Gone. The $5,295 Brioni leather bomber jacket? Only one left. The $1,995 over-the-knee Christian Louboutin boots? The $1,995 over-the-knee Christian Louboutin boots at Saks have sold out, unless you can wear the only pair left -- a size 11. "All gone, except for this," said Nick Passerelli, a Saks employee, dangling a size 11 boot from his fingers. After a brutal year in which the…

  • Fourth Down

    17 Nov 2009 | 2:09 pm
    Bill Belichick has never been the most popular coach in the NFL, but his Sunday night decision to go for it on 4th and 2 on his own 28 with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter has even his fans crying foul. I bring up this football decision not because I'm interested in a debate - as a Pats fan, the last five minutes of that game were excruciating - but because I think it illustrates the difficulty of making rational decisions, even when the evidence supports the call. I've blogged about the research of UC Berkeley economist David Romer before, but his basic thesis, based on an…

  • The Tiger Woods Effect

    17 Nov 2009 | 9:42 am
    Success is intimidating. When we compete against someone who's supposed to be better than us, we start to get nervous, and then we start to worry, and then we start to make stupid mistakes. That, at least, is the lesson of a new working paper by Jennifer Brown, a professor at the Kellogg school. Brown demonstrated this psychological flaw by analyzing data from every player in every PGA tournament from 1999 to 2006. The reason she chose golf is that Tiger Woods is an undisputed superstar, the most intimidating competitor in modern sports. (In 2007, Golf Digest noted that Woods finished with…

  • Expertise

    16 Nov 2009 | 6:28 am
    The WSJ discovers the unreliability of wine critics, citing the fascinating statistical work of Robert Hodgson: In his first study, each year, for four years, Mr. Hodgson served actual panels of California State Fair Wine Competition judges--some 70 judges each year--about 100 wines over a two-day period. He employed the same blind tasting process as the actual competition. In Mr. Hodgson's study, however, every wine was presented to each judge three different times, each time drawn from the same bottle. The results astonished Mr. Hodgson. The judges' wine ratings typically varied by ±4…
 
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    Deric Bownds' MindBlog

  • The weirdest people in the world?

    20 Nov 2009 | 2:35 am
    Many broad claims about human behavior are based on experiments done samples drawn from western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic societies (i.e. WEIRD - the subjects of psychological experiments are mainly U.S. college undergraduates!). Henrich et al. argue in a Brain and Behavioral Sciences preprint (PDF here) that WEIRD subjects are particularly unusual compared with the rest of our species - frequent outliers. Here is their abstract:Behavioral scientists routinely publish broad claims about human psychology and behavior in the world’s top journals based on samples drawn…

  • Cyclic variations in our vigilance

    20 Nov 2009 | 2:30 am
    I had been unaware that our vigilance during a sustained attention task varies in a systematic way. Aue et al. have examined suggested rhythmic oscillations in the vigilance with which we maintain sustained attention by developing some continuous performance tasks:...The current series of investigations sought to manipulate suggested periodicities of 1.5 and 5.2 min by altering task difficulty: tracking a white dot moving in a random pattern across an otherwise black computer display , administering caffeine, and testing on an ecologically valid task (simulated driving). Strong evidence of a…

  • Low fat makes you happier?

    19 Nov 2009 | 2:35 am
    Here is a curious fragment... Brinkworth et al. studied 106 obese people put on either a low fat or low carbohydrate diet for a year, doing psychological assessment tests during this period. Initially, shedding pounds put both groups in a better mood. But, in the low carbohydrate group this effect began to wear off after the first few weeks. Over 1 year, there was a favorable effect of an energy-restricted low fat diet compared with an isocaloric low carbohydrate diet on mood state and affect in overweight individuals, but both diets had similar effects on working memory and speed of…

  • The sooner you can sleep, the better you learn.

    19 Nov 2009 | 2:30 am
    Van Der Werf et al. investigate whether motor skill enhancement through prior observation requires sleep to follow the observation to consolidate the procedural memory:Numerous studies have shown that sleep enhances memory for motor skills learned through practice. Motor skills can, however, also be learned through observation, a process possibly involving the mirror neuron system. We investigated whether motor skill enhancement through prior observation requires sleep to follow the observation, either immediately or after a delay, to consolidate the procedural memory. Sequence-specific…

  • Neurogenetics of remembering emotions past

    18 Nov 2009 | 2:35 am
    It turns out that genetic makeup would determine how vididly Proust's narrator, on biting into a madeleine cake dipped in tea, would experience his emotional memories. Work by Rasch et al. suggests that individual differences in the ADRA2B gene that codes the α2B adrenoreceptor, which plays an important role in vasoconstriction and blood pressure regulation, is also related to brain activation patterns underlying heightened emotional recall:Emotionally arousing events are typically well remembered, but there is a large interindividual variability for this phenomenon. We have recently shown…
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    Eide Neurolearning Blog

  • Ipod Music Stimulates Alzheimers and Stroke Patients

    16 Nov 2009 | 10:49 pm
    Pretty cool finding. Music stimulates the memories and activities of stroke and Alzheimer's patients. From the WSJ:"Listening to rap and reggae on a borrowed iPod every day has helped Everett Dixon, a 28-year-old stroke victim at Beth Abraham Health Services in Bronx, N.Y., learn to walk and use his hands again...Ann Povodator, an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient in Boynton Beach, Fla., listens to her beloved opera and Yiddish songs every day on an iPod with her home health aide or her daughter when she comes to visit. "We listen for at least a half-hour, and we talk afterwards," says her…

  • Battling Back Against Background Noise - Dyslexia, Auditory Training, and Music

    16 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am
    Nina Kraus' lab at Northwestern reported findings that support dyslexics' greater difficulty hearing in background noise. From her powerpoints:As background noise increased, dyslexics / poorer readers had more difficulty distinguishing words. Auditory training improved discrimination between similar sounds and sound blending (phonological awareness), but also speech-in-noise. Interestingly, the Kraus lab also recently studied musicians vs. non-musicians on auditory discrimination and speech-in=noise tasks. The musicians were significantly better than non-musicians at detecting…

  • Sensory Processing Online Webinar- Listen Online Now!

    13 Nov 2009 | 6:55 am
    Wow! - the Eides went for 4 hrs talking about sensory processing disorder, its links to attention and emotional regulation, autism vs. autism-like behaviors, dyslexia and social interactions, and practical strategies to help. If you sign up now, you can listen immediately to recordings of the entire conference and also receive a link to Lindsey Biel's live conference tonight. Your registration includes free copies of the entire webinar on DVD.On November 12 & 13th, Lindsey Biel, OTR/L (Raising a Sensory Smart Child) and Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide (The Mislabeled Child) and will be…

  • Sensory Processing, Postural Sway, Anxiety - Better with Occupational Therapy

    12 Nov 2009 | 12:05 am
    ** Still Time to Register for our 2-Day Sensory Processing Webinar with Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide and Lindsey Biel **DVDs of Conference Included with Conference Registration Register here: Sensorypro.blogspot.com.Interesting study that shows that the lines between sensory processing, emotional processing, and behavior are continuing to blur. As many parents of a child with significant sensory processing difficulties will tell you, anxiety and emotional dysregulation can be a huge part of what makes sensory processing disorders most difficult. A major reason for this, it is thought, is that…

  • Lazy Thinkers and Dysrationalia

    2 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am
    Pop Quiz:Jack is looking at Anne, but Anne is looking at George. Jack is married but George is not. Is a married person looking at an unmarried person?a. Yesb. Noc. Cannot be determined(No, the polar bears have nothing to do with Jack, Anne, or George).What's your answer? If you answered c. Cannot be determined, you're probably one of the 80% who is a lazy thinker, or a 'cognitive miser' as Keith Stanovich proposes in his book What Intelligence Tests Miss: The Psychology of Rational Thought. Excerpt from the Toronto article (Why smart people do stupid things) below:"... most people have the…
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    Brain Blogger

  • A New Look at Medical Errors in Residency Training

    T. A. McNamee, MD
    18 Nov 2009 | 5:47 am
    It’s a phenomenon that medical educators have long suspected but haven’t been able to prove: a rise in medical errors when newly-hatched physicians begin their residency training programs in July. This suspected occurrence has been studied several times, but until recently, no conclusive evidence existed that it actually was true. For the first time, a study based in Australia has been able to demonstrate that this really does happen, but perhaps not for the reasons you’d suspect. The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), looked at close to twenty thousand patients who…

  • Cancer – To Screen or Not to Screen?

    Jennifer Gibson, PharmD
    14 Nov 2009 | 8:02 am
    I once treated a patient who was in her 90s. She was less than 5 feet tall and had never weighed more than 90 pounds. But, she was tough as nails and had lived a great life. I came to advocate for her when the internist at the skilled nursing facility in which she lived insisted that she have a mammogram. She had already been diagnosed with breast cancer in her 70s, but was healthier than anyone else her age now. She knew that even if she did receive another diagnosis of breast cancer at this stage in her life, it would probably not be treated and it almost certainly would not shorten her…

  • The Evolution of Depression

    Dirk Hanson, MA
    10 Nov 2009 | 8:58 pm
    Millions of people around the world suffer from depression, the most common mental disorder of all. Since depression appears to be largely genetic, several long-standing questions continue to bedevil researchers. Have the genes for clinical unipolar depression undergone selective evolution–or is depression a random product of mutation, evolutionary drift, or other non-selective forces? The symptoms of depression are found in every culture and time period, from the ancient Greeks to modern New Yorkers, from the !Kung of southern Africa to ranchers in the American West. Why is depression…

  • A Small Sip from the Fountain of Youth

    Jennifer Gibson, PharmD
    6 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am
    The search for eternal youth is as old as time itself. The theme of immortality winds its way through religion, mythology, poetry, fiction, and modern movies. Usually, stories of those who have achieved immortality expose the curse of eternal life, rather than the blessing of perpetual youth. While living forever may never be possible, life expectancy is steadily increasing, and healthier — that is, more youthful — aging may actually be possible. New research published in the medical journal The Lancet posits that most babies born since the year 2000 will live to be at least 100…

  • Why So Serious About The Self?

    Nisha Kumar
    3 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am
    You have seen movies in which characters have acted violently. Many times, these characters also have a mental illness. Violence is one common stereotype of psychological disorders, along with rebellion and child-like behavior. In The Dark Knightand Me, Myself, and Irene, a character has multiple personality disorder, which is said to cause demonic or mean behavior. Harvey Dent develops a second, evil personality called Two-Face, while Charley Baileygates is known to lash out at random due to his other, less friendly, personality. In each character, mental illness is shown to bring out…
 
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    Dana Press Blog

  • Financial wisdom as we age

    Aalok Mehta
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:37 pm
    “The Peak Age of Financial Reason,” an article appearing today on smartmoney.com, addresses a topic we covered in Cerebrumearlier this year: the idea that our financial decision-making can suffer as we age. In Cerebrum, Natalie Denburg and Lyndsay Harshman outline research that links decision-making deficits to abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex. The authors suggest that such problems often occur in the elderly but that they should be considered neither a part of normal aging nor a sign of Alzheimer’s or other dementia. The Smart Money article takes a behavioral economics…

  • Alzheimer’s gene therapy trial takes another step

    Aalok Mehta
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am
    Those who take care of someone with Alzheimer’s or follow developments in the field are well aware that there are no good treatments for the disease. The handful of drugs that have been approved for use in patients—such as donepezil, sold under the name Aricept—only manage symptoms; they do not reverse or even slow the loss of nerve cells that ultimately leads to death. Now scientists are testing a treatment that does show promise for arresting the progression of Alzheimer’s. Twelve sites around the country are recruiting patients for a Phase II trial of CERE-110, a gene therapy…

  • BrainWeb offers Internet insights

    Aalok Mehta
    13 Nov 2009 | 1:14 pm
    As editor of BrainWeb for the past four years, I frequently evaluate health-related Web sites looking for things to add to the compilation of links to sites about brain diseases and disorders. Once I pick possible sites, they then go to our advisory committee, Bernice Grafstein, Ph.D., and Murray Grossman, M.D., Ph.D., for final review and approval. This vetting process helps ensure the quality of the material that BrainWeb recommends to its users. Finding accurate health information online can be difficult—the sheer volume of information available makes it hard to know what can be…

  • The DSM debate

    Aalok Mehta
    11 Nov 2009 | 12:46 pm
    In the Nov. 9 New York Times, there is an interesting column by autism expert Simon Baron-Cohen about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), including a discussion by its editors about whether to remove Asperger syndrome from the forthcoming fifth edition. Baron-Cohen touches on some of the same points made in Cerebrum’s recent look at the DSM update. The complementary articles, one by DSM editors, the other by psychiatrist Paul R. McHugh, suggest how the revision might bring more certainty to diagnoses and why looking at disorders’ causes—not just their…

  • To dream, perchance to prepare

    Aalok Mehta
    10 Nov 2009 | 10:52 am
    I was 17 and a month from leaving for college when a friend told her sister and me about her impending divorce from Anderson. But this friend was also 17, about to be a senior in high school and most certainly not married. She was having a conversation in her sleep. This episode, hilarious at the time, came to mind when I read the Nov. 9 New York Times article “A Dream Interpretation: Tuneups for the Brain.” It recounts a new hypothesis for why we dream by Harvard psychiatrist and sleep researcher J. Allan Hobson: that the brain is preparing itself for conscious awareness. According to…
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    Mind Hacks

  • Cold asylum

    20 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am
    New Scientist has a gallery of striking photos taken from Christopher Payne's book that details his photographic tour of abandoned asylums in the US. In both the UK and the US, and, I suspect, in many other countries, there are numerous unused decaying mental asylums that have become obsolete as 'care in the community' has become the flag under which mental health services have been reformed or ignored. The NewSci gallery captures the faded grandeur of some of these impressive buildings and has photographs of the devices and technology from a psychiatry of a bygone era. As we discussed…

  • Feliz Día Nacional del Psicólogo en Colombia

    20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am
    Colombia has an official Day of the Psychologist and you might be forgiven for thinking that it's a self-declared promotional event by the psychology association here, but it isn't, the day is established by law. Article 92 of Law 1090 establishes 20th November as the official celebration. Psychology departments around the country usually celebrate the day with conferences and parties. I was kindly invited to give a talk on the 'Neuropsicología de Alucinaciones' at the four day conference (wow) at the University of Antioquia, so many thanks to everyone who attended. Later on, there is a free…

  • 2009-11-20 Spike activity

    20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
    Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:

  • Time-space fusion

    19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am
    Neurophilosophy has an excellent piece on 'time-space' synaesthesia where affected individuals experience units of time - such as hours, days, or months - as occupying specific locations in space relative to their own body. The image on the right is taken from a BBC News article on time-space synaesthesia and was drawn by one lady to illustrate how days of the week appear to her. However, Neurophilosophy piece covers two new studies, one on a person with synaesthesia who experiences months in the space around her body in the form of a '7' shape: Michelle Jarick of the Synaesthesia Research…

  • Selecting for kuru resistant cannibals

    19 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am
    New Scientist reports on a new study on how a gene that gives protection against the deadly brain disease kuru became more common in people exposed to the condition through their cannibalistic tradition of eating the bodies of dead relatives. Kuru is a prion disease, meaning the damage is caused by a poorly arranged or folded protein molecule which can trigger the same damaging changes in other proteins it comes into contact with. The condition is related to what we know as 'mad cow disease' and causes a distinctive form of shaking, brain degeneration and eventually leads to death. It was…
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    Neurophilosophy

  • The cognitive benefits of time-space synaesthesia

    19 Nov 2009 | 1:10 pm
    SYNAESTHESIA is a neurological condition in which there is a merging of the senses, so that activity in one sensory modality elicits sensations in another. Although first described by Francis Galton in the 1880s, little was known about this condition until recently. A rennaissance in synaesthesia research began about a decade ago; since then, three previously unrecognized forms of the condition have been described, and hypotheses for how it arises have been put forward. Two new studies now provide some insight into time-space synaesthesia, the least researched of all the forms of this…

  • Dyslexia and the Cocktail Party effect

    13 Nov 2009 | 8:10 am
    IMAGINE sitting in a noisy restaurant, across the table from a friend, having a conversation as you eat your meal. To communicate effectively in this situation, you have to extract the relevant information from the noise in the background, as well as from other voices. To do so, your brain somehow "tags" the predictable, repeating elements of the target signal, such as the pitch of your friend's voice, and segregates them from other signals in the surroundings, which fluctuate randomly. The ability to focus on your friend's voice while excluding other noises is commonly referred to as the…

  • The illusion of time: Perceiving the effect before the cause

    6 Nov 2009 | 9:50 am
    A novel temporal illusion, in which the cause of an event is perceived to occur after the event itself, provides some insight into the brain mechanisms underlying conscious perception. The illusion, described in the journal Current Biology by a team of researchers from France, suggests that the unconscious representation of a visual object is processed for around one tenth of a second before it enters conscious awareness. Chien-Te Wu and his colleagues at the Brain and Cognition Research Centre in Toulouse used a visual phenomenon called motion-induced blindness, in which a constantly…

  • Phantom limbs can contort into impossible configurations

    28 Oct 2009 | 11:37 am
    FOLLOWING the surgical removal of a body part, amputees often report sensations which seem to originate from the missing limb. This is thought to occur because the brain's model of the body (referred to as the body image) still contains a representation of the limb, and this leads to the experience that the missing limb is still attached to their body. Occasionally, amputees say that they cannot move their phantom limbs - they are perceived to be frozen in space, apparently because they cannot be seen. Yet, research shows that the body image is malleable and easily manipulated. And according…

  • A pictorial history of neurotechniques

    21 Oct 2009 | 2:20 pm
    THE latest issue of Technology Review contains a photo essay by yours truly, called Time Travel Through the Brain, in which I look at how techniques used to investigate the brain have evolved during the 100 year history of modern neuroscience. The essay begins with a drawing by the great Spanish neuroanatomist Santiago Ramón y Cajal, who used the staining method discovered by Camillo Golgi to establish that nervous tissue is composed of cells, then goes on to describe more recent methods such as fibre tracing, Brainbow and various types of microscopy.This image from the piece graced…
 
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    Neuroanthropology

  • Wednesday Round Up #90

    dlende
    19 Nov 2009 | 7:21 am
    I’m hoping this is the last of the recent Thursday editions – the end of the semester is getting close, and with it the heavy teaching load I’ve had on Mondays and Wednesdays. But onto the round up – it’s free will, climate change, mind and anthropology this week. Top of the List Gretchen Reynolds, Phys Ed: Why Exercise Makes You Less Anxious Very cool – exercise prepares the brain to deal with stress. Is this the new version of no pain, no gain? Carlos Reynoso, Ciencia Cognitiva y Antropología del Conocimiento The summary page for a fascinating seminar on…

  • Anything but flat: A book review

    Paul Mason
    17 Nov 2009 | 10:09 pm
    The Lancet’s recent commission on the effects of climate change on health[i] is a reliable diagnosis of pertinent contemporary issues on a global scale. One of the conclusions of this report is that “The most urgent need is to empower poor countries, and local government and local communities everywhere” (Costello et al.  2009:1728).  It is a conclusion to which Human geographer Harm de Blij also leads his readers in his  recent book, The Power of Place [ii] . For provocative thought, scope, and endeavour, the book is unquestionably comparable to the works of Jared Diamond, Tim…

  • Complete this quote: “If a meme is to dominate the attention of a human brain, it…”

    Paul Mason
    15 Nov 2009 | 2:37 pm
    How would you complete this quote?   “If a meme is to dominate the attention of a human brain, it…”  This week’s quote comes from The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins first published in 1976 (I have the 1989 edition where the above quote appears on page 197). Dawkins is a well versed writer with a convincing literary style. An earlier work that also alluded to selective processes in culture, Le Hasard et la Nécessité: Essai sur la philosophie naturelle de la biologie moderne, by Jacques Monod is also a fascinating read that I would reccomendThis decade of research…

  • Taking Anthropology Online: AAA Workshop

    dlende
    13 Nov 2009 | 3:08 am
    The annual American Anthropological Association meeting will take place in Philadelphia from December 2nd – Dec 6th. I will put on a workshop entitled “Taking Anthropology Online: Strategies for Teaching and Scholarship” on Thursday Dec 3 from 12:00 noon to 2PM. Here’s the description: Informants, students, communities, culture, inequality, data – all increasingly have a life online. This workshop will cover the basics of anthropology online, with a focus on content production, scholarship and teaching. Specific areas covered include: blogging, social networking,…

  • Wednesday Round Up #89

    dlende
    12 Nov 2009 | 4:04 am
    I’m leading off with an important set of readings on genetics in relation to neuroanthropology, including plastic genes, gene-culture interactions, and critical takes on genetics in society. Then we’ve got some other top reads, followed by a section on applied anthropology that includes a lot of pdfs you can get online. Then the mind and an anthro grab-bag to finish it off. Genetics David Dobbs, I’m Not Vulnerable, Just Especially Plastic. Risk Genes, Environment, and Evolution, in the Atlantic Genes are not bad, they are just sensitive. Dobbs covers his own feature article…
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    Neuroethics & Law Blog

  • CFP: Ethical Implications of DBS

    Adam Kolber
    20 Nov 2009 | 8:59 am
    Our partner journal, Neuroethics, has issued the following call for papers.  Please direct inquiries to the issue's guest editor:   Call for Papers ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION SPECIAL ISSUE OF SPRINGER’S JOURNAL NEUROETHICS Guest Editor: Jens Clausen   Deep brain stimulation is a powerful treatment for motor symptoms in patients suffering from end-stage Parkinson’s disease. On the one hand, many patients who had no medical option left benefit enormously from this technological approach. On the other hand, the great power of brain stimulation also…

  • New Brain-Related SSRN Abstracting Journals

    Adam Kolber
    18 Nov 2009 | 9:46 am
    SSRN recently distributed the following information about new brain-related abstracting journals: LAW, BRAIN & BEHAVIOR JOURNALSLaw is concerned with organizing and constraining human behavior. As a result, some model of human behavior, implicit or explicit, underlies legal principles and analysis. Papers in LAW, BRAIN & BEHAVIOR employ conceptual and empirical findings from various disciplines, including neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and experimental psychology, to shed light on how we can best understand law and and use it to guide human behavior in desirable directions.LAW…

  • PEBS News Roundup from JHU Guest Blogger

    Adam Kolber
    16 Nov 2009 | 9:42 am
    Last Edition's Most Popular Article Clever fools: Why a high IQ doesn't mean you're smart New Scientist November 2 2009  In the Academic Literature: Human-specific transcriptional regulation of CNS development genes by FOXP2Nature 2009:462:213-217 Visually evoked activity in cortical cells imaged in freely moving animalsPNAS November 4 2009 Newborns' cry melody is shaped by their native language Current Biology November 5 2009 Hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy with a lentiviral vector in x-linked adrenoleukodystrophy Science 2009:326(5954):818-823…

  • Suchy-Dicey on "It Takes Two: Ethical Dualism in the Vegetative State"

    Adam Kolber
    12 Nov 2009 | 12:21 am
    Check out "It Takes Two: Ethical Dualism in the Vegetative State" by Carolyn Suchy-Dicey in the most recent issue of Neuroethics.  I'm pleased to report that Carolyn will be guest blogging here in January:  Abstract:  To aid neuroscientists in determining the ethical limits of their work and its applications, neuroethical problems need to be identified, catalogued, and analyzed from the standpoint of an ethical framework. Many hospitals have already established either autonomy or welfare-centered theories as their adopted ethical framework.

  • Shriver on "Knocking Out Pain in Livestock"

    Adam Kolber
    11 Nov 2009 | 9:21 am
    Adam Shriver will be guest blogging here in December.  In the meantime, check out his article (which has been discussed in popular media all over the place) in the newest issue of Neuroethics: Knocking Out Pain in Livestock: Can Technology Succeed Where Morality has Stalled? Abstract:  Though the vegetarian movement sparked by Peter Singer’s book Animal Liberation has achieved some success, there is more animal suffering caused today due to factory farming than there was when the book was originally written. In this paper, I argue that there may be a technological solution…
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    Neuromarketing

  • The Outsider Effect

    Roger Dooley
    16 Nov 2009 | 4:52 am
    Trying to juice up your next ad campaign? Develop a clever new product strategy? Research shows that adding an outsider to the mix can improve the thinking of your team and produce better results. According to a study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Better decisions come from teams that include a [...]

  • Management Lessons from Airplane Crashes

    Roger Dooley
    9 Nov 2009 | 6:40 am
    Airplane crashes don’t happen often, and when they do they are no doubt among the most-studied failures in any industry. Most bad business decisions, by contrast, are pushed into the past as quickly as possible. That may be one lesson – studying why a business strategy proved to be a failure might prevent similar failures [...]

  • Emsense Raises $9 Million

    Roger Dooley
    3 Nov 2009 | 9:09 am
    Neuromarketing firm Emsense has raised $9 million in additional capital. The new round was led by an investment from Technology Partners with existing investor the Foundry Group also participating. This funding will allow EmSense to continue its global expansion in support of its many market research partners. The funds will also enable the company [...]

  • Want Some Emotion with That Website?

    Roger Dooley
    3 Nov 2009 | 5:01 am
    As a web community guy, one of the most common problems I see is the failure to communicate emotion properly when people interact online. A remark intended as humorous can be perceived as a personal attack, or an expression of sympathy can be taken as cruel sarcasm. While I always suggest caution (particularly [...]

  • College Branding: What if Harvard Moved Next Door?

    Roger Dooley
    2 Nov 2009 | 5:06 am
    Why do most college branding efforts end up as meaningless pablum? I think it’s because most colleges have been relatively insulated from the effects of devastating competition. In fact, historically there have been major barriers to competition in the cozy world of higher education. The biggest have been geography, cost, and reputation. [...]
 
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    SharpBrains

  • Council on the Ageing Society, at the Summit of the Global Agenda

    Alvaro Fernandez
    18 Nov 2009 | 6:52 am
    Heading to Dubai today (a 15-hour direct flight!), coming back to San Francisco next Monday. Last year I wrote about this remarkable new initiative by the World Economic Forum here (proposal) and here (reflections, emerging discussion). This year’s update: Overview: Network of Global Agenda Councils List of Councils: Here List of Members: Here Members of Ageing Society Council: Here Info on 2009 Summit: Here Report from 2008 Summit: Here (opens PDF in new window) Twitter: #WEFDubai. Will tweet during the event, and blog about it next week.

  • Scientia Pro Publica #16: Us, Friends, and Society

    Alvaro Fernandez
    16 Nov 2009 | 10:20 am
    Welcome to the 16th edition  of Scientia Pro Publica, the blog carnival  that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing published in the blogosphere within the past 60 days. What are some of the fascinating topics you can explore and discuss with this group of bloggers? Science & Us The Evolving Mind: What’s the point of daydreaming? Credit: Johan Stigwall, via Flickr Generally Thinking: What is the brain impact of different types of meditation (focused, open monitoring, compassion)? The Emotion Machine: Can blogging help you control your environment and manage…

  • Invitation to SharpBrains Summit – Technology for Cognitive Health and Performance

    Alvaro Fernandez
    10 Nov 2009 | 6:57 am
    We are excited to invite you to the first virtual, global SharpBrains Summit (January 18-20th, 2010). The SharpBrains Summit will feature a “dream team” of over 25 speakers who are leaders in industry and research from 7 countries, to discuss emerging research, tools and best practices for cognitive health and performance. This inaugural event will expose health and insurance providers, developers, innovators at Fortune 500 companies, investors and researchers, to the opportunities, partnerships, trends, and standards of the rapidly evolving cognitive fitness field. Register Today Learn…

  • 100 is the New 65: Living Longer and Better

    Greater Good Magazine
    7 Nov 2009 | 6:04 am
    (Editor’s Note: we are pleased to bring you this article thanks to our collaboration with Greater Good Magazine). 100 is the New 65 - Why do some people live to 100? Researchers are trying to find out, reports Meera Lee Sethi, and they’re discovering how we might live better lives, not just longer ones. Will Clark, 105, recently bought a van for a 5,000-mile road trip across the Midwest with his wife, Lois, who is 102. Elsa Brehm Hoffmann loves bridge and is always ready for a party. Rosa McGee enjoys singing hymns to herself all day long. Will Clark makes a mean spaghetti and…

  • Digital Games for Physical, Cognitive and Behavioral Health

    Alvaro Fernandez
    5 Nov 2009 | 1:35 pm
    The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) just announced more than $1.85 million in grants for research teams to study how digital games can improve players’ health behaviors and outcomes (both brain-based and behavioral). The press release: Nine Leading Research Teams Selected to Study How Digital Games Improve Players’ Health “Digital games are interactive and experiential, and so they can engage people in powerful ways to enhance learning and health behavior change, especially when they are designed on the basis of well-researched strategies,” said (UC Santa…
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    Brain Science Podcast Blog

  • BSP-63: David Bainbridge on The Teenage Brain.

    Ginger Campbell, MD
    11 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am
    Episode 63 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with David Bainbridge, author of Teenagers: A Natural History. Our focus is on how the brain changes during the teenage years. Bainbridge teaches vetinary anatomy and reproductive biology at Cambridge University and has published several other popular science books including Beyond the Zonules of Zinn: A Fantastic Journey Through Your Brain, which I discussed back in Episode 32. Listen to Episode 63 Episode Transcript (Download PDF) Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast: Additional Show Notes: Links: David Bainbridge’s home page…

  • New iPhone App is aimed at Brain Science Podcast Listeners

    Ginger Campbell, MD
    10 Nov 2009 | 8:40 am
    The new Brain Science Podcast application is now available in the iTunes Store. You will need an iPhone or an iPod Touch to use the application but it does offer several useful features: Listen to any episode without downloading it via iTunes* Read episode trancripts right on your iPhone or Touch One click links to the website, email, and the new phone-in line at 206-984-0358. Background play* *Note: Streaming audio works best with a WiFi connection.

  • BSP-62: Warren Brown on “Did my neurons make me do it?”

    Ginger Campbell, MD
    9 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am
    Warren Brown and Nancey Murphy Episode 62 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Warren Brown, PhD, co-author (with Nancey Murphy) of Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?: Philosophical and Neurobiological Perspectives on Moral Responsibility and Free Will. This book was discussed in detail back in Episode 53, but this interview gave me a chance to discuss some of the book’s key ideas with Dr. Brown. We focused on why a non-reductive approach is needed in order to formulate ideas about moral responsibility that are consistent with our current neurobiological understanding of the…

  • Brain Science Podcast 61: Allen Institute for Brain Research

    Ginger Campbell, MD
    11 Sep 2009 | 8:35 am
    Allan Jones, PhD Episode 61 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Allan Jones, PhD, the Chief Science Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Research in Seattle, Washington. The Allen Institute is a non-profit research organization founded by Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft) and is best known for its Mouse Brain Map, which is being used by researchers around the world. The Institute has several other on-going projects including a project to create a map of the human cortex that shows which genes are active in each area. In this interview we discuss both the mouse brain…

  • BSP 60: Stuart Brown, MD talks about “Play”

    Ginger Campbell, MD
    14 Aug 2009 | 2:00 am
    In Episode 60 of the Brain Science Podcast Ginger Campbell, MD interviews Dr. Stuart Brown, author ofPlay: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul Our focus is on the importance of play for normal mental development and psychological health. We also explore the importance of play in adults. Listen to Episode 60 Episode Transcript (Download PDF) Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast: Join our Discussion Forum: Send email to Dr. Campbell at gincampbell at mac.com. SHOW NOTES Scientists Mentioned in the Podcast: Anthony Pellegrini, PhD (University of Minnesota):…
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    NeuroLogica Blog

  • Update from Hobbiton

    Steven Novella
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:06 am
    I have been following the story of Homo floresiensis, dubbed the Hobbit by the media because of its short stature. In 2003 scientists discovered a fairly complete skeleton (skull, jaw, pelvis, arms, legs, hands and feet) on the island of Flores in Indonesia. The skeleton is 18,000 years old and is probably an adult female about 3 feet 6 inches in height and with a brain capacity of 417 cc. There are other specimens of H. floresiensis, but none with cranial parts. The type specimen described above, designated LB1, is the only good specimen. There has been a controversy surrounding how to…

  • Evidence in Medicine: Correlation and Causation

    Steven Novella
    18 Nov 2009 | 5:48 am
    The following was cross-posted at ScienceBasedMedicine. There are two general approaches to subverting science-based medicine (SBM): anti-science and pseudoscience. Anti-scientific approaches are any that seek to undermine science as the determinant of the standard of care, often overtly advocating for spiritual or subjectively-based standards. Some attack the validity of science itself, usually with post-modernist philosophy. Pseudoscientific proponents, on the other hand, praise science, they just do it wrong. In reality there is a continuum along a spectrum from complete pseudoscience to…

  • Some Muddled Thinking from Bill Maher

    Steven Novella
    17 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am
    Bill Maher has been getting a lot of heat lately and seems to be getting a bit defensive. He was particularly stung by Michael Shermer’s open letter in which Dr. Shermer thought it necessary to give Maher a basic lesson in germ theory. Unfortunately, Maher has responded not by thoughtfully engaging his critics, but with a rambling defensive diatribe in which he simultaneously protests the criticism pointed his way while repeating and amplifying the pseudoscientific nonsense that garnered criticism in the first place. Maher presents what we call a target rich environment for skepticism,…

  • Chopra Mangles Quantum Mechanics – Again

    Steven Novella
    16 Nov 2009 | 5:04 am
    Deepak Chopra has made a career out of misunderstanding quantum mechanics (QM) – and through his popularity, confusing the public. Like many others, he has found a superficial way in which to interpret quantum mechanics to make is seem as if it is congruent with Eastern metaphysics. And now he has done it again, in that anti-science rag the Huffington Post. Chopra goes beyond the typical New Age distortion of QM, which is basically the claim that QM is really weird, therefore magic is real. Chopra assumes some very specific, and common, misinterpretations of QM. He writes: Quantum…

  • Tracking Down Consciousness

    Steven Novella
    13 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am
    The holy grail of modern neuroscience, and perhaps one of the toughest scientific problems we face, is understanding at a fundamental level the nature of consciousness. What is it about our brain function that makes us aware of our own existence? It is not simply an emergent property of having enough neurons wired together. A popular notion in science fiction is that artificial intelligence may unexpectedly emerge out of a sufficiently powerful computer – such as Vger or SkyNet. But this scenario is highly unlikely. Consciousness appears to be a specific function of thinking systems,…
 
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    WordPress Tag: Neuroscience

  • Cognitive Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation

    soraj
    20 Nov 2009 | 8:28 pm
    Here is a video from YouTube about mindfulness meditation. Looks like science and Buddhism have become friends in one way or another. Here is the abstract of the talk by Philippe Goldin Mindfulness meditation, one type of meditation technique, has been shown to enhance emotional awareness and psychological flexibility as well as induce well-being and emotional balance. Scientists have also begun to examine how meditation may influence brain functions. This talk will examine the effect of mindfulness meditation practice on the brain systems in which psychological functions such as…

  • you make me dizzy miss lizzy

    Lauren
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:22 pm
    I finally got the spinning dancer to switch directions while staring at it! major victory! in yr (ab

  • Sound asleep - Learning while sleeping may indeed be a reality

    Adi Jaffe
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:38 am
    Okay, so this recent study from Northwestern isn’t saying you can learn anything you want by s

  • brainframe computing

    Curtis
    19 Nov 2009 | 10:48 pm
    Even though I frequently disagree with the decisions my brain makes, I must admit that, in terms of energy, it’s a paragon of efficiency. It only requires about 20 watts to run somewhat smoothly, and its computing and destructive powers are crammed into a space no bigger than my thick skull. On Wednesday, IBM scientists announced at an industry conference their development of a computer system which is capable of mapping neural processes of a scope and complexity exceeding that of my cat (who still, though, has yet to discover the source of that bright red dot she likes to chase across…

  • Run like a rat

    J.R. Atwood
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:49 pm
    Researchers at Princeton University recently made a remarkable discovery about the brains of rats that exercise… The “cells born from running,” the researchers concluded, appeared to have been “specifically buffered from exposure to a stressful experience.” The rats had created, through running, a brain that seemed biochemically, molecularly, calm. From a great NYT story on “Why Exercise Makes You Less Anxious.”
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    Journal of Neurology

  • CSF phospho-tau is independent of age, cognitive status and gender of neurological patients

    17 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pm
    Abstract  CSF phospho-tau (p-tau181) levels have shown good diagnostic utility in differential diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (AD). Unlike total-tau (t-tau), age related changes of this promising biomarker are sparsely studied. The aim of the study was to determine whether p-tau181 is dependent on age, cognitive status or gender in patients with different neurological diseases who underwent diagnostic lumbar puncture and who had no clinical evidence of neurodegenerative diseases. CSF levels of p-tau181 and total-tau (t-tau) of 46 neurologic patients (age range 22–89 years;…

  • Transient gender-related effects in Parkinson’s disease patients with subthalamic stimulation

    17 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pm
    Abstract  Little is known about the gender-related long-term efficacy and safety after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS) implant for Parkinson’s disease (PD), although some differences could be expected as recently stated in a short-term report. We assessed the possible gender-related differences in clinical outcome and disease progression along a 5-year period after STN DBS for PD. A prospective cohort of PD patients who underwent STN DBS and reached the 5-year follow-up (FU) was considered. Clinical outcome, disease progression and side effects were assessed…

  • Development of oral cladribine for the treatment of multiple sclerosis

    17 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pm
    Abstract  Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated disorder of the CNS in which autoreactive CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, antibodies, macrophages and cytokines synergize to attack myelin sheaths and injure underlying axons. Current disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) for MS require regular and frequent parenteral administration and are associated with limited long-term treatment adherence. Of all the potential new oral MS agents in development, cladribine is the only therapy with the potential for short-course dosing. Cladribine is an immunosuppressant that…

  • Improvement of health-related quality of life in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis patients after 2 years of treatment with intramuscular interferon-beta-1a

    17 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pm
    Abstract   In patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), the effect of interferon-beta (INFb) on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) is not firmly documented. The objective of this study is to assess HR-QoL during 2 years of treatment with intramuscular INFb and its correlation with disability. In 36 neurological practices in the Netherlands (17), Belgium (16), United Kingdom (2) and Luxemburg (1), 284 RRMS patients were treated with intramuscular INFb-1a. Physical and mental domains of HR-QoL were measured by the MS54 Quality of Life (MS54QoL)…

  • Parkinson’s disease I: glucocerebrosidase mutations, family history of melanoma and questionable effects of rasagiline

    17 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pm
    Parkinson’s disease I: glucocerebrosidase mutations, family history of melanoma and questionable effects of rasagiline Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Journal ClubDOI 10.1007/s00415-009-5383-0Authors Michael Strupp, Ludwig Maximilian University Department of Neurology Klinikum Großhadern, Marchioninstr. 15 81377 Munich Germany Journal Journal of NeurologyOnline ISSN 1432-1459Print ISSN 0340-5354
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    Journal of Neuroscience

  • Functional Heterogeneity at Dopamine Release Sites

    Daniel, J. A., Galbraith, S., Iacovitti, L., Abdipranoto, A., Vissel, B.
    18 Nov 2009 | 10:02 am
    Although drugs used to treat several neurological diseases are presumed to target synapses that secrete dopamine (DA), relatively little is known about synaptic vesicle (SV) release mechanisms at single DA synapses. We found that the relative probability of release (Pr) varied between individual DA synapses. Furthermore, DA terminals generally exhibited lower Pr than glutamatergic hippocampal (Hpc) terminals, suggesting that DA release is less reliable than the release of glutamate. Our mathematical model of fluorescence loss shows that Pr is regulated by two independent and heterogeneous…

  • In Vivo Quantification of Myelin Changes in the Vertebrate Nervous System

    Wang, Y., Wu, C., Caprariello, A. V., Somoza, E., Zhu, W., Wang, C., Miller, R. H.
    18 Nov 2009 | 10:02 am
    Destruction or changes associated with myelin membranes in the CNS play a key role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis and other related neurodegenerative disorders. A long-standing goal has been to detect and quantify myelin content in vivo. For this reason, we have developed a myelin-imaging technique based on positron emission tomography (PET). PET is a quantitative imaging modality that has been widely used in clinical settings for direct assessment of biological processes at the molecular level. However, lack of myelin-imaging probes has hampered the use of PET for imaging of…

  • Endogenous Rhythms in Period1 Mutant Suprachiasmatic Nuclei In Vitro Do Not Represent Circadian Behavior

    Pendergast, J. S., Friday, R. C., Yamazaki, S.
    18 Nov 2009 | 10:02 am
    The mammalian circadian pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) controls daily rhythms of behavior and physiology. Lesions of the SCN cause arrhythmicity of locomotor activity, and transplants of fetal SCN tissue restore rhythmic behavior that is consistent with the periodicity of the donor's genotype, suggesting that the SCN determines the period of the circadian behavioral rhythm. While several studies have demonstrated that the circadian characteristics of in vitro SCN rhythms represent circadian behavior, others have shown that the periods of explanted SCN are not always congruent…

  • Overexpression of the Wild-Type SPT1 Subunit Lowers Desoxysphingolipid Levels and Rescues the Phenotype of HSAN1

    Eichler, F. S., Hornemann, T., McCampbell, A., Kuljis, D., Penno, A., Vardeh, D., Tamrazian, E., Garofalo, K., Lee, H.-J., Kini, L., Selig, M., Frosch, M., Gable, K., von Eckardstein, A., Woolf, C. J., Guan, G., Harmon, J. M., Dunn, T. M., Brown, R. H.
    18 Nov 2009 | 10:02 am
    Mutations in the SPTLC1 subunit of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) cause an adult-onset, hereditary sensory, and autonomic neuropathy type I (HSAN1). We previously reported that mice bearing a transgene-expressing mutant SPTLC1 (tgSPTLC1C133W) show a reduction in SPT activity and hyperpathia at 10 months of age. Now analyzed at a later age, we find these mice develop sensory loss with a distal small fiber neuropathy and peripheral myelinopathy. This phenotype is largely reversed when these mice are crossed with transgenic mice overexpressing wild-type SPTLC1 showing that the mutant SPTLC1…

  • Disruption of the Ether-a-go-go K+ Channel Gene BEC1/KCNH3 Enhances Cognitive Function

    Miyake, A., Takahashi, S., Nakamura, Y., Inamura, K., Matsumoto, S.-i., Mochizuki, S., Katou, M.
    18 Nov 2009 | 10:02 am
    The K channel, one of the determinants for neuronal excitability, is genetically heterogeneous, and various K channel genes are expressed in the CNS. The therapeutic potential of K channel blockers for cognitive enhancement has been discussed, but the contribution each K channel gene makes to cognitive function remains obscure. BEC1 (KCNH3) is a member of the K channel superfamily that shows forebrain-preferential distribution. Here, we show the critical involvement of BEC1 in cognitive function. BEC1 knock-out mice performed behavioral tasks related to working memory, reference memory, and…
 
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    Neurology Product Guide

  • Beautiful Wedding Bands for Under $300

    Julia Burns
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:57 am
    You don’t have to spend a fortune on your wedding bands to get a beautiful set. In fact, at Diamond Harmony, there are a number of selections for under $300. These selections don’t have tons of stones and they aren’t hand-crafted, but their simple beauty will astonish people when you tell them you got your wedding band for under $300. Here are some of your options in that price range: 14K Yellow Gold 2.5mm Plain Domed S-Fit Wedding Band This traditional Wedding Band has an appealing domed shape. If you want straightforward simplicity, try this 14K Yellow Gold Domed Wedding…

  • Bridal Shower Etiqutte

    Julia Burns
    16 Nov 2009 | 8:40 am
    Traditionally, the bridal shower is a surprise, but if you’re not a fan of the unknown, you may want to have a slight hand in planning this celebration. Never throw the party for yourself (it is your maid of honor’s or sister’s job to do this), but you can be “in the know” about the party and even let your opinions about it be known, as long as you aren’t demanding. Here are some etiquette tips that your and the bridal shower planners should keep in mind: Only invite people who are invited to the wedding (the only exception is office parties, where everyone…

  • Funny Wedding Fortune Cookies

    Julia Burns
    11 Nov 2009 | 6:26 am
    Fortune cookie favors are a fun idea for any wedding, whether it has an Oriental theme or not. While many couples choose to fill the cookies with quote about love, biblical passages, or just their names and the date of the wedding, that’s not your only option. How about funny wedding fortune cookies instead? Photo by C.P.Storm You can actually make your own fortune cookies quite easily by using this recipe, which only takes about 15 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to bake. You’ll need gloves to more easily form the cookies into the right shape, but they aren’t as hard to…

  • LED Lights for your Reception Centerpieces

    Julia Burns
    9 Nov 2009 | 6:32 am
    If your wedding reception is taking place at night, the location might be fairly dark. This is a great atmosphere for romance or dancing, and with the lights turned off, centerpieces with lights look beautiful. Check out these options, available from Stumps Prom & Party: Round Led Light Use these Colored Round LED Lights to light up your tables at the big event. 3 inch diameter Round LED Lights. Glass holder not included. Led Pillar Candle Add some old-fashioned romance to your decorations with our LED candles! Don’t forget this essential decorating item. Candle is 3″ high.

  • Lovebirds Favors for a Themed Wedding

    Julia Burns
    4 Nov 2009 | 6:19 am
    One fun theme option for your wedding is “lovebirds.” You can use feathers in your flowers, create nest centerpieces, and find fun lovebird-themed favors like the ones below. Personalized Soy Candle Favors – Lovebirds These soy candles measure are available in 14 colors. Choose from 5 candle scents: Apple Blossom, Gardenia, Lily of the Valley, Wedding Cake or Unscented. They cost just $2.70 each and can play a duel role as decoration and favors. Personalized Water Bottles – Lovebirds Thirsting for a fun favor idea? For cute additions to welcome baskets or placed in big…
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    The Neurocritic

  • Bleed It Out

    20 Nov 2009 | 4:40 am
    I've opened up these scarsI'll make you face thisI pulled myself so farI'll make you, face, this, now!Linkin ParkDeliberate self-harm, or self-injury, is becoming increasingly recognized as a problem affecting adolescents and young adults. Rates are difficult to determine, as the behaviors are often concealed. One recent study tracked a group of 1400 Midwestern US high school students over a 5 year period (Muehlenkamp et al., 2009). Rates of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) over 2001-205 were as follows:Besides being associated with depression and eating disorders (especially among girls), the…

  • Good News/Bad News Update on Nucleus Accumbens DBS for Treatment-Resistant Depression

    18 Nov 2009 | 1:14 am
    Taken from Fig. 1 (Bewernick et al., 2009).Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (PDF) over time.Two and a half years ago, The Neurocritic wrote about the very early results of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the nucleus accumbens for severe, refractory depression. You can read about the details of the procedure and its scientific motivation here:More About the Nucleus AccumbensNAcc Localization for DBSBriefly, the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) is considered one of the brain's PLEASURE CENTRES:When the cortex has received and processed a sensory stimulus indicating a reward, it sends a signal…

  • I Feel Your Pain, I REALLY Do: Synaesthesia for Another's Pain

    14 Nov 2009 | 9:19 pm
    "I feel your pain"Empathy for another person's pain is a hot topic of study in the glamorous field of social cognitive neuroscience. The capacity for empathy supposedly involves mirror neurons, those media darlings of The Young, [The Not-So-Young], and The Neuro:A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting.These magical cells have even inspired famous neuroscientists to utter ridiculous hyperbole:The mirror…

  • Genomarketing!

    8 Nov 2009 | 2:42 pm
    You've heard of Neuromarketing, which measures the neural activity of consumers (via fMRI or EEG) in response to various products or advertisements. Now, get ready for Genomarketing! The Neuroethics & Law Blog has alerted us to a recent paper by De Neve and Fowler (2009) reporting that people with a specific low efficiency variant of the gene for monoamine oxidase A are significantly more likely to have credit card debt. Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) is an enzyme that breaks down the monoamine neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and serotonin). Using data from the…

  • A New Outlook

    6 Nov 2009 | 2:39 am
    "A New Outlook" is a multimedia installation by Bree Yenalavitch at......Project Room G3, an artist run project space found by Sojung Kwon started April 2009, that focuses on work which has a performative, temporal, and non-classical aesthetic. It is located at Angels Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro [in Southern California].Bree Yenalavitch is a Los Angeles area artist working in multimedia. She received her BA from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2002 and MFA from Otis College of Art and Design in 2006. Her recent online project can be viewed at www.thebree.tv, where she…
 
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    Sports Are 80 Percent Mental

  • Sports Science Weekly Gym Bag - 10-28-09

    28 Oct 2009 | 9:25 pm
    Welcome to a World Series edition of the Weekly Sports Science Gym Bag, a collection of some of the best stuff I've found in the last week.  A few more baseball stories are included, while you watch the Yankees lose in 6 games! The Overmanager: Why the New York Yankees' Joe Girardi is too smart for his own good To play in the NFL, you have to make a show of going to college. To play in the NBA, you have to get through high school. To sign a contract with a major league baseball team, all you have to do is convince someone you're 16, provided you weren't born in a country with…

  • Running To The Right Beat

    21 Oct 2009 | 8:29 pm
    With the Fall marathon season in full swing, thousands of runners are gearing up for the big day.  Just as important as their broken-in shoes and heart rate monitor is their source of motivation, inspiration and distraction: their tunes. Running with music has become so common that the two biggest names in both industries, Nike and Apple, have been joined at the hip with the Nike + iPod combination. So, what is it about music and running, or any exercise, that feels so right? Several recent studies try to chase down the connection between our ears and our feet. For the last 20 years,…

  • Sports Science Weekly Gym Bag - 10-7-09

    7 Oct 2009 | 7:56 am
    Time for another edition of the Sports Science Weekly Gym Bag. (Yes, a Wisconsin Badger football gym bag this week...they're 5-0!) If you ever run across something that you would like to share, just add it to the comments below! Marathon Runners Mull the ‘D Word’ This is the time of year, after marathoners have logged their longest miles, that any kind of pain, nagging or excruciating, can send runners into a panic about whether they will make it to the starting line. Or if they should even try... Faster tunes make you bike faster, even if it hurts a bit more Researchers have been…

  • I Run, Therefore I Drink?

    2 Oct 2009 | 1:44 pm
    Here’s a question for your buddies at the next golf outing or bowling league night: Are we more active because we drink more or do we drink more because we’re more active? Recent research showed that there is a correlation between the two, but could not offer a solid reason. Either way, another study claims the combination of moderate alcohol use and exercise will help our hearts more than just choosing one over the other. Michael French, a health economics professor at the University of Miami, and his colleagues dug into data from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a…

  • Sports Science Weekly Gym Bag - 9-28-09

    28 Sep 2009 | 8:39 pm
    Here's a new feature of Sports Are 80 Percent Mental: A weekly round-up of some of the best blog posts, articles and other interesting stuff that I've found on sports science and fitness research. If you find anything else, please just add it as a comment to this post!  Aging Muscles: 'Hard To Build, Easy To Lose' Have you ever noticed that people have thinner arms and legs as they get older? As we age it becomes harder to keep our muscles healthy. They get smaller, which decreases strength and increases the likelihood of falls and fractures. New research is showing how this happens —…
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    The Brain Understanding Itself

  • We Read With Our Ears

    Alex Doman
    12 Nov 2009 | 12:13 pm
    It may sound strange but we read with our ears. A recent study at Northwestern provides clear evidence to support the groundbreaking theories developed by the late Alfred Tomatis, M.D. in the mid twentieth century about the role the ear plays in reading. The vast majority of school-aged children can focus on the voice of a teacher amid the cacophony of the typical classroom thanks to a brain that automatically focuses on relevant, predictable and repeating auditory information, according to new research from Northwestern University. But for children with developmental dyslexia, the…

  • What is The Listening Program?

    Alex Doman
    26 Oct 2009 | 5:21 pm
    I just wanted to share a new video released today called What is The Listening Program®? It includes interviews with professionals and others that have used this music listening therapy to improve their lives.  If you have 15 minutes please take a look and let me know what you think! Video Link Posted in auditory processing disorder, auditory system, autism, music, The Listening Program Tagged: music listening therapy, music video, The Listening Program, the listening program reviews

  • Music and the Brain: A Symposium with Integrated Live Performances

    Alex Doman
    24 Sep 2009 | 11:35 am
    On October 30th the Cleveland Clinic Arts & Medicine Institute is presenting Music and the Brain: A Symposium with Integrated Live Performances in collaboration with Lincoln Center in New York, NY. Neuroscience and music is an area that is finally beginning to get the attention it deserves. This symposium focuses on the relationship between music and the nervous system. It is aimed at educating physicians about this novel and unique field of “neuromusic” which studies the effect of music on the normal and abnormal physiology of the nervous system, treats certain neurological…

  • Study Demonstrates Effectiveness of The Listening Program® with Bone Conduction on Children with SPD

    Alex Doman
    17 Sep 2009 | 10:09 am
    6 children who present with sensory processing disorder (SPD) and auditory processing concerns with ages ranging from 3 yrs 11 mo. to 8 yrs. 7 mo. 4 of whom were receiving therapy services participated in the study.  Results from standardized testing demonstrated a significant improvement in all children who completed the program, compared to just therapy alone. This demonstrated that The Listening Program® with bone conduction is effective in helping increase functional skills and outcomes in children who present with sensory integration and auditory processing concerns along with skilled…

  • Musical Training Helps You Hear Speech In Noise

    Alex Doman
    31 Aug 2009 | 3:13 pm
    Researchers at Northwestern University have revealed that music training may in fact help you listen in noisy environments. Thirty-one study participants, with normal hearing and a mean age of 23, were divided into one group with music experience and another without it. They had to listen to sentences presented in increasingly noisy conditions and repeat back what they heard. The study shows that musicians — trained to hear sounds embedded in a rich network of melodies and harmonies — are primed to understand speech in a noisy background, say in a restaurant, classroom or plane.
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    Brain Posts

  • iPhone Free Brain Anatomy Apps

    17 Nov 2009 | 2:02 pm
    I've downloaded two free applications focused on brain anatomy for the iPhone and Touch iPod. I've been using them over the last two months. The two apps are Brain Tutor 3D by Rainer Goebel, Brain Innovation and the 3D Brain by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.Brain Tudor 3D is a program that uses head and brain models created from magnetic resonance imaging. The image to the left is from Brain Tudor 3D. The images presented are familiar to those who have experience looking at MRI images. The best part of this application, is the ability to rotate the brain images and to have the ability to…

  • Why You Should Walk to the SAT Exam

    12 Nov 2009 | 8:45 am
    The top click response on Twitter @WRY999 this week referenced Movement Matters (see reference 1). Movement Matters is a exercise-based educational program being implemented in Canada. The program uses exercise in the classroom as an aid to improving executive function and learning in children.I looked into some of the science behind the effect of exercise on cognitive function in children. A research program at the University of Illinois led by Dr. Charles Hillman focuses on exercise and the effects on cognition (see reference 2). In one study, preadolescents performed a series of cognitive…

  • Using Brain Imaging to Target Psychotherapy

    5 Nov 2009 | 8:01 am
    A TED talk presented by Christopher deCharms examines the potential for using functional MRI to change brain activity.One exciting potential for fMRI includes guided psychotherapy. The potential exists for using fMRI to identify abnormalities in brain circuits in an individual patient. Specific therapy can then be targeted to address a specific brain circuit. For example, a patient with an anxiety disorder may demonstrate hyperactivity in a brain circuit controlling the fear response. Specific cognitive tasks may be identified that reduce activity in this fear circuit. This then would allow…

  • Treating Depression Improves Obesity Surgery Outcome

    2 Nov 2009 | 8:51 am
    The goal of bariatric surgery is not only to reduce weight but to produce an improvement in the quality of life. A recent study examined some of the factors influencing the quality of life post obesity surgery.The study key design elements included:Sample design: Population-based cohort studyOperation: Roux-en Y gastric bypassN=148 operation, 88 non-operationOutcome measures: LASA, SF-12Followup duration: 4 yearsStatistics: Linear regressionKey findings: Operative subjects had higher followup quality of life Predictors of improvement: percent body weight lost, baseline treatment of…

  • Fitness: Battling the Cruel Effects of Aging

    28 Oct 2009 | 11:51 am
    A recent study from the Cooper Clinic examined the effects of age on cardiovascular fitness. Data was collected from treadmill performance on a group of patients undergoing physical assessment. The authors then modeled the effects of age on cardiovascular fitness. Effects of age on decline in fitness were compared between different weight groups and activity levels.The study found that cardiovascular fitness declines rapidly after age 45 with the slope of decline somewhat greater in men than in women. Graphs modeling the effects of age were plotted by gender, weight and activity level.An…
 
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    Brain Training 101

  • National Memory Screening Day 2009

    Erin
    15 Nov 2009 | 11:15 pm
    National Memory Screening Day (Tuesday November 17, 2009) provides free, confidential memory screenings to individuals concerned about memory loss with the objective of early detection and intervention. More than 2,100 sites across the country will offer free, confidential memory screenings and educational materials about memory concerns, successful aging and local resources. The face-to-face screening, conducted by a qualified healthcare professional, takes about five minutes to administer and consists of a series of questions and/or tasks. alzfdn.org Who Should be Screened? If you are…

  • Posit Science Releases Free Brain Fitness App

    Erin
    11 Nov 2009 | 6:27 pm
    You may remember from my Drive Sharp review that I asked Posit Science CEO Steven Aldrich if the company had plans to release an iPhone app. He couldn’t give me a yes or no which led me to believe the company was at least seriously considering it if not already into development. For me it’s a no brainer. Brain fitness apps have become extremely popular, and any company serious about building (or maintaining) its reputation within the brain improvement community should realize the power of building them. They’re a low cost way to take your training with you, and they serve as…

  • Which ADHD Software Will Work For You?

    Erin
    2 Nov 2009 | 10:01 am
    Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD is a condition affecting 4-7% of school aged children here in the United States. Some common symptoms include: Trouble Paying Attention Impulsive Behavior Easily Distracted Forgetting Things I received a comment from Kathy W. asking my opinion on brain training software and tools aimed at individuals with ADHD. This is a topic I haven’t covered here before, so I decided to outline a few initial programs with descriptions of how they work and in which areas they focus. This post will serve as the beginning of a discussion here at Brain…

  • CogniFit Launches A New Personal Brain Training Coach

    Erin
    22 Oct 2009 | 11:11 pm
    If you haven’t heard of CogniFit yet, get ready. The company was founded by cognitive psychologist, Dr. Shlomo Breznitz and has been producing award winning brain fitness software for ten years. The company is gaining popularity, and several of you have emailed me asking what I thought of its programs. The central brain fitness program, Personal Coach, has just been re-released with technical enhancements designed to provide a more effective training regimen. The company focused on its patented Individualized Training System which uses complex algorithms which allow the program to adapt…

  • Word Wanderer Takes You to Your Threshold

    Erin
    5 Oct 2009 | 12:56 pm
    Do you enjoy word games? There are many to pick from – crossword puzzles, letter jumbles, word searches, etc. Word games are a fun way to pass the time, and many of us play word games regularly as a way to keep the brain sharp. Does doing the daily crossword puzzle really improve your memory? The answer is: not was much as you might think. Word games tend to be stimulating for the brain when you first start doing them. Crossword puzzles, for example, help to improve your vocabulary and challenge your brain to think about language in terms of letter count, abstractions and comparisons. The…
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    N e u r o n a r r a t i v e

  • Delving Deep into Human Emotion

    David DiSalvo
    19 Nov 2009 | 1:51 pm
    As we move farther away from rational /emotional dualism–a tough habit to break–psychobiological research is increasingly focusing on the development and role of emotion in the brain.   The first of three videos below features neuroscientist Antonio Damasio contending that even though we view emotion as a human trait, it is probably one of the earliest evolutionary advancements, significantly predating human evolution. He explains that emotions are “a way to live for as long as possible”, asking “if you were a gene, what would you do?” In the…

  • The Words You Choose in an Argument Can Literally Break Your Heart

    David DiSalvo
    16 Nov 2009 | 11:48 am
    In the middle of a fight with your significant other, word choice is usually not foremost on your mind. But it should be, particularly if you’re a man, according to a new study in the journal Health Psychology – and not just to save your partner’s feelings. In the heat of stressful conflict, your brain is commanding the release of a stress-chemical cocktail comprised of proteins called cytokines–produced by cells in the immune system to help the body mount an immune response during infection. Abnormally high levels of these proteins are linked to cardiovascular disease,…

  • Thinking You’re in Control Can Lead to an Impulsive Demise

    David DiSalvo
    5 Nov 2009 | 11:44 am
    For six months you’ve worked really hard to stick to a diet, and it’s paying off.  Not only have you lost weight, but now more than ever you’re better able to restrain your impulse to eat fattening foods. Your friends are telling you how impressed they are with your resolve, and truth be told you’re feeling pretty damn good about yourself as well. Which is why, around month seven, you decide that your impulse control is sufficiently strengthened that avoiding being around ice cream, nachos, chicken wings, soda—and all the other things you used to eat out with your friends—is no…

  • The Dynamics of Human Tribes

    David DiSalvo
    4 Nov 2009 | 11:16 am
    At TEDxUSC, business professor David Logan talks about the five kinds of tribes that humans naturally form — in schools, workplaces, even the driver’s license bureau. Initially, Logan’s discussion may come across as a how-to for ascending ’tribal stages’ and a bit reductionistic, but around 11:00 the message gels, and it’s a good one.  Below that is a video, also from TED, with author Seth Godin discussing how the Internet has revived the human social need for tribes and people to lead them.  If you’re interested, you can download a free PDF…

  • Is the First Spot Always Best in a Preference Test?

    David DiSalvo
    30 Oct 2009 | 2:44 pm
    Does someone interviewing for a job stand a better chance of getting the position if she’s first on the list of interviewees, last, or somewhere in-between?  Does someone running for public office stand a better chance of getting elected if he’s first on the ballot, last, or otherwise?  These are questions of order in choice — and depending on who you’re asking, you’ll likely get a different answer about which spot in the picking order is more advantageous.  The issue is whether we can rely on a psychological standard for determining which slot in the order…
 
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    The Neurocritic

  • Bleed It Out

    20 Nov 2009 | 4:40 am
    I've opened up these scarsI'll make you face thisI pulled myself so farI'll make you, face, this, now!Linkin ParkDeliberate self-harm, or self-injury, is becoming increasingly recognized as a problem affecting adolescents and young adults. Rates are difficult to determine, as the behaviors are often concealed. One recent study tracked a group of 1400 Midwestern US high school students over a 5 year period (Muehlenkamp et al., 2009). Rates of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) over 2001-205 were as follows:Besides being associated with depression and eating disorders (especially among girls), the…

  • Good News/Bad News Update on Nucleus Accumbens DBS for Treatment-Resistant Depression

    18 Nov 2009 | 1:14 am
    Taken from Fig. 1 (Bewernick et al., 2009).Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (PDF) over time.Two and a half years ago, The Neurocritic wrote about the very early results of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the nucleus accumbens for severe, refractory depression. You can read about the details of the procedure and its scientific motivation here:More About the Nucleus AccumbensNAcc Localization for DBSBriefly, the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) is considered one of the brain's PLEASURE CENTRES:When the cortex has received and processed a sensory stimulus indicating a reward, it sends a signal…

  • I Feel Your Pain, I REALLY Do: Synaesthesia for Another's Pain

    14 Nov 2009 | 9:19 pm
    "I feel your pain"Empathy for another person's pain is a hot topic of study in the glamorous field of social cognitive neuroscience. The capacity for empathy supposedly involves mirror neurons, those media darlings of The Young, [The Not-So-Young], and The Neuro:A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting.These magical cells have even inspired famous neuroscientists to utter ridiculous hyperbole:The mirror…

  • Genomarketing!

    8 Nov 2009 | 2:42 pm
    You've heard of Neuromarketing, which measures the neural activity of consumers (via fMRI or EEG) in response to various products or advertisements. Now, get ready for Genomarketing! The Neuroethics & Law Blog has alerted us to a recent paper by De Neve and Fowler (2009) reporting that people with a specific low efficiency variant of the gene for monoamine oxidase A are significantly more likely to have credit card debt. Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) is an enzyme that breaks down the monoamine neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and serotonin). Using data from the…

  • A New Outlook

    6 Nov 2009 | 2:39 am
    "A New Outlook" is a multimedia installation by Bree Yenalavitch at......Project Room G3, an artist run project space found by Sojung Kwon started April 2009, that focuses on work which has a performative, temporal, and non-classical aesthetic. It is located at Angels Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro [in Southern California].Bree Yenalavitch is a Los Angeles area artist working in multimedia. She received her BA from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2002 and MFA from Otis College of Art and Design in 2006. Her recent online project can be viewed at www.thebree.tv, where she…
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    Brain Stimulant

  • Neurobots: Robots Controlled by Brain Simulations

    10 Nov 2009 | 5:09 am
    Researchers have been developing robots that are powered by better artificial brains. They have recently created a computer neural simulation consisting of 6,700 neurons with approximately 1.3 million synaptic connections. This technology builds on previous work in the field of neurorobotics. The robot they used for this experiment is shown on the left. It is equipped with a CCD video camera. The camera has IR sensors to avoid obstacles and an RF transmitter to process objects visually. The emulation attempts to model aspects of the mind that researchers believe to be important for…

  • Neural Interface

    25 Oct 2009 | 7:01 pm
    I found some more information about the HIVE project. A presentation was given November of last year discussing the potential of computer controlled brain stimulation (see PDF). The researchers definitely appear to have an eye towards some more futurist speculative uses of the technology.10 Mapping our brains to computers (the singularity)9 Jacking in (invasive interaction)8 Non-invasive Brain 2 Machine + Machine 2 Brain interaction7 Immersion (HMD/CAVE + haptics + ...) (also MR/AR) using natural sensesThere is also a new article in AlphaGalileo about it as well. Here's an excerpt (translated…

  • Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) for Brain Research

    10 Oct 2009 | 9:54 pm
    Graphics Processing Units (GPU) are commonly used to power video game software. However, they are also finding use for a more diverse array of scientific research as well. A GPU conference has recently taken place discussing some of the applications of this technology (see PDF 8.1 MB). Here are a few excerpts about the GPU brain projects. One deals with the connectome (circuit diagram).Determining the detailed connections in brain circuits is a fundamental unsolved problem in neuroscience. Understanding this circuitry will enable brain scientists to confirm or refute existing models, develop…

  • Electron Microscope to Image Living Cells

    6 Oct 2009 | 11:43 am
    I have previously mentioned about increasing the resolving power of light based microscopes in order to better image living tissue. Electron microscopes have an even greater ability to view finer details. The only problem is that focused electron beams can easily damage living cells. Now scientists are using the properties of quantum mechanics in order to develop electron microscopy that would be able to create pictures of that type of tissue without destroying it. The researchers believe that eventually this will allow them to achieve a resolution of several nanometers. At this level of…

  • Brain-Computer Interface and the Wireless Neurosociety

    4 Oct 2009 | 7:54 pm
    Investigators have been creating superior wireless brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Being able to shed wires has the promise of enhancing the usability of these devices for those with disabilities. As time goes forward we may increasingly become a wireless neurosociety. This has the potential to irrevocably transform how we relate to others and interact with the environment around us. New tools may enhance our ability to manipulate the world and allow an unprecedented new means of communication with both computers and people.Some scientists are additionally working on synthetic telepathy.
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