Neuroscience posts
- January 31, 2013
- 12:47 PM
- 164 views
Neuroscience of Human Attachment
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Attachment is the ability to form human relationship bonds. Individuals vary in their ability to develop social relationships. The ability to form secure human relationships plays a key role in successful personal and occupational development.Attachment theory evolved over 50 years ago. This theory proposes all humans have an innate biological mechanism that supports social engagement. This engagement is necessary during infancy to encourage nurturance and provision of a ........ Read more »
Vrtička, P., & Vuilleumier, P. (2012) Neuroscience of human social interactions and adult attachment style. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00212
- January 31, 2013
- 02:00 AM
- 125 views
Extra, Special Need for Social Connections
by Thomas Shultz in Evolutionary Games Group
There is now evidence that the payoffs designed by researchers are not the only source of variation in human strategies in two-player symmetric games. In many cases, discrepancies from behavior predicted by variation in payoffs might be explained by social factors such as avoidance of inequality, desire for social harmony, or likability of the opponent. [...]... Read more »
Lee, D. (2008) Game theory and neural basis of social decision making. Nature Neuroscience, 11(4), 404-409. DOI: 10.1038/nn2065
- January 30, 2013
- 04:58 PM
- 215 views
Intuition or a sense of Smell?
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
I've long been fascinated by the idea that those feelings often attributed to 'intuition' or 'following your gut' might occur physiologically in the form of odor cues that we don't consciously register.Intuition or Olfactuation? (source)An example of this might me when you can just 'tell something is wrong' in a situation and decide to leave, and later found out that something bad happened later that evening. These sorts of stories are often used as evidence that people have psychic powers of so........ Read more »
de Groot JH, Smeets MA, Kaldewaij A, Duijndam MJ, & Semin GR. (2012) Chemosignals communicate human emotions. Psychological science, 23(11), 1417-24. PMID: 23019141
- January 30, 2013
- 02:13 PM
- 154 views
Never make a decision on an empty stomach… or a full stomach…
by neuroecology in Neuroecology
You are hungry already and dinner is hours away. You’re getting irritable and making stupid decisions that you normally wouldn’t. Or maybe you just had a big meal and you’re sated. Your friend who is seated next to you turns and asks for a favor; you pleasantly agree and sink into your chair sleepily. What’s [...]... Read more »
Burghardt, P., Love, T., Stohler, C., Hodgkinson, C., Shen, P., Enoch, M., Goldman, D., & Zubieta, J. (2012) Leptin Regulates Dopamine Responses to Sustained Stress in Humans. Journal of Neuroscience, 32(44), 15369-15376. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2521-12.2012
Cocker, P., Dinelle, K., Kornelson, R., Sossi, V., & Winstanley, C. (2012) Irrational Choice under Uncertainty Correlates with Lower Striatal D2/3 Receptor Binding in Rats. Journal of Neuroscience, 32(44), 15450-15457. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0626-12.2012
Dunn, J., Kessler, R., Feurer, I., Volkow, N., Patterson, B., Ansari, M., Li, R., Marks-Shulman, P., & Abumrad, N. (2012) Relationship of Dopamine Type 2 Receptor Binding Potential With Fasting Neuroendocrine Hormones and Insulin Sensitivity in Human Obesity. Diabetes Care, 35(5), 1105-1111. DOI: 10.2337/dc11-2250
- January 30, 2013
- 01:55 PM
- 314 views
Origins of The Scorpion and The Frog and the Social Brain
by Miss Behavior in The Scorpion and the Frog
Starting a weekly journalistic-type blog is a daunting task, especially for someone who is holding down other jobs (as most bloggers do). But I can't be happier that I started down this path in order to share with you all these wonderfully quirky stories of animal behavior and physiology. This week, I am happy to announce that The Scorpion and the Frog turns 1! It has been a remarkable first year: We've covered topics from whale dialects, to birds that kill their "siblings", to steroids and domi........ Read more »
O'Connell, L., & Hofmann, H. (2011) The Vertebrate mesolimbic reward system and social behavior network: A comparative synthesis. The Journal of Comparative Neurology, 519(18), 3599-3639. DOI: 10.1002/cne.22735
O’Connell, L., & Hofmann, H. (2011) Genes, hormones, and circuits: An integrative approach to study the evolution of social behavior. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 32(3), 320-335. DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2010.12.004
- January 30, 2013
- 05:36 AM
- 104 views
Are organisations led by the limbic system?
by Alex Fradera in BPS Occupational Digest
(We're reporting from this month's Division of Occupational Psychology conference at the Digest. This post is by Dr Jon Sutton, Managing Editor of The Psychologist, and will also feature in that magazine's March issue. @jonmsutton / @psychmag)According to keynote speaker Gerard Hodgkinson (Professor of Strategic Management and Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School), ‘Descartes’s error is alive and well in the workplace’. In a bold and wide-ranging add........ Read more »
Hodgkinson, G., & Healey, M. (2008) Cognition in Organizations. Annual Review of Psychology, 59(1), 387-417. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093612
- January 28, 2013
- 08:30 PM
- 173 views
Smell and memory: old feelings in a new place
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Why do smells bring back deep, emotional memories even when we're in unfamiliar places?... Read more »
Rabin, M., & Cain, W. (1984) Odor recognition: Familiarity, identifiability, and encoding consistency. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 10(2), 316-325. DOI: 10.1037/0278-7393.10.2.316
- January 28, 2013
- 02:22 PM
- 143 views
Another Scuffle In The Coma Ward
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
It's not been a good few weeks for Adrian Owen and his team of Canadian neurologists.Over the past few years, Owen's made numerous waves, thanks to his claim that some patients thought to be in a vegetative state may, in fact, be at least somewhat conscious, and able to respond to commands. Remarkable if true, but not everyone's convinced.A few weeks ago, Owen et al were criticized over their appearance in a British TV program about their use of fMRI to measure brain activity in coma patients. N........ Read more »
Goldfine, A., Bardin, J., Noirhomme, Q., Fins, J., Schiff, N., & Victor, J. (2013) Reanalysis of "Bedside detection of awareness in the vegetative state: a cohort study". The Lancet, 381(9863), 289-291. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60125-7
- January 28, 2013
- 02:22 PM
- 77 views
Another Scuffle In The Coma Ward
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
It’s not been a good few weeks for Adrian Owen and his team of Canadian neurologists. Over the past few years, Owen’s made numerous waves, thanks to his claim that some patients thought to be in a vegetative state may, in fact, be at least somewhat conscious, and able to respond to commands. Remarkable if [...]... Read more »
Goldfine, A., Bardin, J., Noirhomme, Q., Fins, J., Schiff, N., & Victor, J. (2013) Reanalysis of "Bedside detection of awareness in the vegetative state: a cohort study". The Lancet, 381(9863), 289-291. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60125-7
- January 28, 2013
- 11:35 AM
- 195 views
11 People Trace Synesthesia to One Set of Alphabet Magnets
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
Most people with synesthesia can't tell you exactly why they perceive the letter M as purple and not orange, or a high C-sharp as bright yellow and not blue. For one group of synesthetes, though, there appears to be an answer. For their green D's, red G's, and so on, they can thank the toy company Fisher-Price.
Stanford researchers Nathan Witthoft and Jonathan Winawer discovered, through word of mouth and from synesthetes contacting them online, a group of people who share a "startlingly sim........ Read more »
Witthoft, N., & Winawer, J. (2013) Learning, Memory, and Synesthesia. Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1177/0956797612452573
- January 28, 2013
- 08:36 AM
- 159 views
Can monkeys spontaneously synchronize to audio?
by Henkjan Honing in Music Matters
Today a new study appeared in Nature Scientific Reports claiming to show rhythmic entrainment (or spontaneous synchronization as the authors refer to it) in the Japanese macaque (Macaca Fuscata). Intriguing! However, reading the paper it becomes clear quickly that the results might not be what they seemed at first sight. ... Read more »
Nagasaka, Y., Chao, Z., Hasegawa, N., Notoya, T., & Fujii, N. (2013) Spontaneous synchronization of arm motion between Japanese macaques. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/srep01151
Honing, H., Merchant, H., Háden, G., Prado, L., & Bartolo, R. (2012) Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta) Detect Rhythmic Groups in Music, but Not the Beat. PLoS ONE, 7(12). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051369
- January 28, 2013
- 06:16 AM
- 176 views
Beliefs and Questions About the Paranormal
by Jason Carr in Wired Cosmos
While people of different beliefs from all over the world believe in an afterlife, many of them can’t seem to agree with each other or accept views other than their own. Yet, men have talked about the supernatural since the beginning of time. Recently, authors like Bill Guggenheim, Dr. Raymond Moody, and Dr. Eben Alexander [...]... Read more »
Mobbs D, & Watt C. (2011) There is nothing paranormal about near-death experiences: how neuroscience can explain seeing bright lights, meeting the dead, or being convinced you are one of them. Trends in cognitive sciences, 15(10), 447-9. PMID: 21852181
Feinsod M, & Langer KG. (2012) The philosopher's swoon--the concussion of Michel de Montaigne: a historical vignette. World neurosurgery, 78(3-4), 371-4. PMID: 22381306
- January 28, 2013
- 12:04 AM
- 138 views
Football or Not…More Symptoms Equals More Time on the Bench
by Jane McDevitt in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Most athletes’ concussive symptoms are alleviated within 1 week; however, some athletes’ concussive symptoms may last longer. If we could identify risk factors for concussive symptoms that persists for over 1 week then this could lead to better evidence-based return-to-play policies since we could apply more cautious restrictions on patients with those risk factors. The purpose of this study was to determine the risk factors for concussive symptoms that persist for over 1 week among ........ Read more »
Chrisman SP, Rivara FP, Schiff MA, Zhou C, & Comstock RD. (2013) Risk factors for concussive symptoms 1 week or longer in high school athletes. Brain Injury, 27(1), 1-9. PMID: 23252433
- January 27, 2013
- 04:46 AM
- 136 views
Is This How Memory Works?
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
We know quite a bit about how long-term memory is formed in the brain - it's all about strengthening of synaptic connections between neurons. But what about remembering something over the course of just a few seconds? Like how you (hopefully) still recall what that last sentence as about?Short-term memory is formed and lost far too quickly for it to be explained by any (known) kind of synaptic plasticity. So how does it work? British mathematicians Samuel Johnson and colleagues say they have the........ Read more »
Johnson S, Marro J, & Torres JJ. (2013) Robust Short-Term Memory without Synaptic Learning. PloS one, 8(1). PMID: 23349664
- January 27, 2013
- 04:46 AM
- 60 views
Is This How Memory Works?
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
We know quite a bit about how long-term memory is formed in the brain – it’s all about strengthening of synaptic connections between neurons. But what about remembering something over the course of just a few seconds? Like how you (hopefully) still recall what that last sentence as about? Short-term memory is formed and lost [...]... Read more »
Johnson S, Marro J, & Torres JJ. (2013) Robust Short-Term Memory without Synaptic Learning. PloS one, 8(1). PMID: 23349664
- January 25, 2013
- 07:20 AM
- 211 views
Are we incentivizing hype in science? A case study
by Björn Brembs in bjoern.brembs.blog
There is a lively discussion going on right now in various forums on the incentives for scientists to publish their work in this venue or another. Some of these discussions cite our manuscript on the pernicious consequences of journal rank, others don't. In our manuscript, we speculate that the scientific community may be facing a deluge of fraud and misconduct, because of the incentives to publish in high-ranking journals, a central point of contention in the discussions lnked to above. An exam........ Read more »
Wasserman, S., Salomon, A., & Frye, M. (2013) Drosophila Tracks Carbon Dioxide in Flight. Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.12.038
- January 24, 2013
- 06:00 PM
- 185 views
Category representation in the brain
by Patrick Mineault in xcorr
You can solve most problems in life by buying more computers – or grad students, or microscopes, or lasers for that matter. Some of Jack Gallant’s lab recent efforts in fMRI analysis are a good example of this approach. They published an interesting paper in Neuron last month about the representation of categories in cortex.
Objects can be classified by humans in thousands of different categories. How are those categories represented in cortex? How would you even try to locate whe........ Read more »
Huth, A., Nishimoto, S., Vu, A., & Gallant, J. (2012) A Continuous Semantic Space Describes the Representation of Thousands of Object and Action Categories across the Human Brain. Neuron, 76(6), 1210-1224. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.10.014
- January 24, 2013
- 04:40 PM
- 207 views
Flipping the Switch: Using Optogenetics to Treat Seizures
by Jalees Rehman in The Next Regeneration
The recent paper "On-demand optogenetic control of spontaneous seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy" by Esther Krook-Magnuson and colleagues in Nature Communications (published online on January 22, 2013) applies the optogenetic approach to treat seizures in mice. The researchers used mice that had been genetically modified to express the inhibitory light sensitive protein halorhodopsin (normally only found in single cell organisms but not in mammals) in neurons. They placed an optical f........ Read more »
Krook-Magnuson, E., Armstrong, C., Oijala, M., & Soltesz, I. (2013) On-demand optogenetic control of spontaneous seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy. Nature Communications, 1376. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2376
- January 24, 2013
- 01:02 PM
- 124 views
A mechanics of depression
by neuroecology in Neuroecology
There are many reactions that can be taken in response to the world going crazy on you, and depression is one of these. Even though it is (rightly) seen as perhaps not the greatest illness to have, there is a case to be made that depression is an energetically-efficient response to overwhelming stress; it can [...]... Read more »
Chaudhury, D., Walsh, J., Friedman, A., Juarez, B., Ku, S., Koo, J., Ferguson, D., Tsai, H., Pomeranz, L., Christoffel, D.... (2012) Rapid regulation of depression-related behaviours by control of midbrain dopamine neurons. Nature, 493(7433), 532-536. DOI: 10.1038/nature11713
Tye, K., Mirzabekov, J., Warden, M., Ferenczi, E., Tsai, H., Finkelstein, J., Kim, S., Adhikari, A., Thompson, K., Andalman, A.... (2012) Dopamine neurons modulate neural encoding and expression of depression-related behaviour. Nature, 493(7433), 537-541. DOI: 10.1038/nature11740
Warden, M., Selimbeyoglu, A., Mirzabekov, J., Lo, M., Thompson, K., Kim, S., Adhikari, A., Tye, K., Frank, L., & Deisseroth, K. (2012) A prefrontal cortex–brainstem neuronal projection that controls response to behavioural challenge. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature11617
Amat, J., Baratta, M., Paul, E., Bland, S., Watkins, L., & Maier, S. (2005) Medial prefrontal cortex determines how stressor controllability affects behavior and dorsal raphe nucleus. Nature Neuroscience, 8(3), 365-371. DOI: 10.1038/nn1399
- January 24, 2013
- 07:29 AM
- 153 views
We Smell Ourselves (No, Not That Way)
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
Ever wonder why a perfume (or cologne) smells better on somebody else than on you? The reason lies in the interactions of our brains, immune system and nose. Our brains literally know exactly what we smell like and can set preferences based on that for associations with others (particularly sexual partners).... Read more »
Manfred Milinski, Ilona Croy,, Thomas Hummel, & and Thomas Boehm. (2013) Major histocompatibility complex peptide ligands as olfactory cues in human body odour assessment . Proc. R. Soc. B., 280(20122889). info:/10.1098/rspb.2012.2889
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