Neuroscience posts
- April 15, 2013
- 11:42 PM
- 129 views
Why do some memories fade while others endure?
by Shelly Fan in Neurorexia
Ah, the age-old question: why do we remember what we remember? One possible mechanism is selective “memory replay” during sleep, in which the brain reactivates specific patterns of neuronal firing as seen during learning. In other words, memories that are rehearsed during sleep will most likely be retained (“consolidated” in neurojargon) in the long run. [...]... Read more »
Oudiette D, Antony JW, Creery JD, & Paller KA. (2013) The Role of Memory Reactivation during Wakefulness and Sleep in Determining Which Memories Endure. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 33(15), 6672-8. PMID: 23575863
- April 15, 2013
- 03:27 PM
- 78 views
Brain-to-Brain Interface - Share Information via Internet
by Vivek Misra in Beautiful Mind
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE ... Read more »
Pais-Vieira, M., Lebedev, M., Kunicki, C., Wang, J., & Nicolelis, M. (2013) A Brain-to-Brain Interface for Real-Time Sharing of Sensorimotor Information. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/srep01319
- April 15, 2013
- 11:02 AM
- 56 views
Why The Tip Of Your Tongue Experience Is Useful
by Katja Keuchenius in United Academics
It happens mostly with names: you recall a person, can perfectly imagine his face, the first letter of his name may even be there, but he whole name just won’t come off the tip of your tongue. Everybody knows the feeling and most don’t dwell on it too long. But neuroscientists take if very seriously. What do we know about this strange phenomenon?... Read more »
Schwartz, B., & Metcalfe, J. (2011) Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states: retrieval, behavior, and experience. Memory , 39(5), 737-749. DOI: 10.3758/s13421-010-0066-8
- April 15, 2013
- 09:14 AM
- 75 views
The Man Who Shouldn’t Have Normal Vision
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
Usually, the human eye takes in signals that are processed by both sides of the brain. What’s remarkable is now these signals are distributed. In most brains, signals from one eye are sent to two places; directly back to the part of the optical lobe behind the brain, and by “crossing over” to the lobe on the opposite side of the brain. But a Canadian man literally sees things differently.... Read more »
Davies-Thompson, J., Scheel, M., Jane Lanyon, L., & Sinclair Barton, J. (2013) Functional organisation of visual pathways in a patient with no optic chiasm. Neuropsychologia. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.03.014
- April 14, 2013
- 09:56 AM
- 105 views
The Man With Uncrossed Eyes
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
“GB” is a 28 year old man with a curious condition: his optic nerves are in the wrong place. Most people have an optic chiasm, a crossroads where half of the signals from each eye cross over the midline, in such a way that each half of the brain gets information from one side of [...]... Read more »
Davies-Thompson, J., Scheel, M., Jane Lanyon, L., & Sinclair Barton, J. (2013) Functional organisation of visual pathways in a patient with no optic chiasm. Neuropsychologia. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.03.014
- April 13, 2013
- 10:54 AM
- 74 views
Seeing Inside Cells: Array Tomography
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
I wrote a lot about dopamine and its complicated nature last month after coming back from the IBAGs conference, so for a change of pace, I'll talk about some truly amazing new techniques that allow us to see inside cells with unprecedented resolution and at unprecedented volumes.I've previously discussed some traditional techniques for visualizing specific details in neurons, and this month I'm going to talk about some of the newest fanciest ways to look at cellular scale information. Firs........ Read more »
Micheva KD, Busse B, Weiler NC, O'Rourke N, & Smith SJ. (2010) Single-synapse analysis of a diverse synapse population: proteomic imaging methods and markers. Neuron, 68(4), 639-53. PMID: 21092855
- April 12, 2013
- 11:39 AM
- 104 views
Getting CLARITY: Hydrogel process developed at Stanford creates transparent brain
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
Combining neuroscience and chemical engineering, researchers at Stanford University have developed a process that renders a mouse brain transparent. The postmortem brain remains whole — not sliced or sectioned in any way — with its three-dimensional complexity of fine wiring and molecular structures completely intact and able to be measured and probed at will with visible light and chemicals.... Read more »
ANDREW MYERS. (2013) Getting CLARITY: Hydrogel process developed at Stanford creates transparent brain. Stanford School of Medicine. info:/
- April 12, 2013
- 07:40 AM
- 90 views
Exploring The Brain Without Cutting It Open
by Katja Keuchenius in United Academics
Until now we were able to use scans (like the one pictured on the left) to have a quick look at the brain. But to dig deeper into the mystery hidden in our skull, scientists had to slice the matter up, which makes it hard for them to keep the general overview of the brain. Now there’s a new way: biologists managed to make brains transparent.... Read more »
Chung, K., Wallace, J., Kim, S., Kalyanasundaram, S., Andalman, A., Davidson, T., Mirzabekov, J., Zalocusky, K., Mattis, J., Denisin, A.... (2013) Structural and molecular interrogation of intact biological systems. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature12107
- April 12, 2013
- 01:28 AM
- 110 views
A new cure for insomnia?
by Shelly Fan in Neurorexia
Many a nights I’ve tossed and turned, willing my brain to STFU and let me sleep. I’m not alone in this battle. 10-15% of adults suffer from insomnia, and up to a third take prescription sleeping pills to bring on the snooze – for a heavy cognitive price. Current sleeping drugs, such as Ambien and [...]... Read more »
Uslaner JM, Tye SJ, Eddins DM, Wang X, Fox SV, Savitz AT, Binns J, Cannon CE, Garson SL, Yao L.... (2013) Orexin receptor antagonists differ from standard sleep drugs by promoting sleep at doses that do not disrupt cognition. Science translational medicine, 5(179). PMID: 23552372
- April 11, 2013
- 11:02 AM
- 103 views
Looking through the brain with CLARITY!
by Gal Haimovich in Green Fluorescent Blog
Imaging single-layers of cells is very easy since the light can penetrate the cells quite easily. Imaging a tissue sample of several layers of cells is more difficult, because the passage of light is gradually block. To image a whole organ … Continue reading →... Read more »
Chung, K., Wallace, J., Kim, S., Kalyanasundaram, S., Andalman, A., Davidson, T., Mirzabekov, J., Zalocusky, K., Mattis, J., Denisin, A.... (2013) Structural and molecular interrogation of intact biological systems. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature12107
- April 11, 2013
- 10:43 AM
- 118 views
Rubber Hand Experiment Shows Kids Have More Flexible Body Boundaries
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
Close your eyes. Do you know where all your fingers and toes are? Can you pinpoint the exact edges of your body in space?
You may think your knowledge of your body is unshakeable, but a simple trick with a rubber limb can sway you. In kids, the effect is even more extreme—a finding that gives intriguing hints about how our body sense develops.
The new research relies on the "rubber hand illusion," first published in 1998. To produce this illusion, an experimenter sits across a table from........ Read more »
Cowie, D., Makin, T., & Bremner, A. (2013) Children's Responses to the Rubber-Hand Illusion Reveal Dissociable Pathways in Body Representation. Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1177/0956797612462902
- April 10, 2013
- 11:00 PM
- 116 views
Why do we sigh?
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Why do I sigh? Does it help regulate my breathing when I'm stressed? Is it a subconscious action I do to express to those around me that I'm anxious or upset? Perhaps a mental reset button, so to speak?... Read more »
Teigen KH. (2008) Is a sigh "just a sigh"? Sighs as emotional signals and responses to a difficult task. Scandinavian journal of psychology, 49(1), 49-57. PMID: 18190402
Vlemincx E, Van Diest I, Lehrer PM, Aubert AE, & Van den Bergh O. (2010) Respiratory variability preceding and following sighs: a resetter hypothesis. Biological psychology, 84(1), 82-7. PMID: 19744538
- April 10, 2013
- 09:40 AM
- 116 views
Not Quite Like a Rolling Stone
by Miss Behavior in The Scorpion and the Frog
Dung beetles are competitive little critters. And who can blame them? When a fresh pile of poo is at stake, wouldn’t we all be a bit competitive? …Okay, maybe not. But animal dung is actually chock-full of nutrients, which makes it a precious resource to the animals that can make use of them. The approximately 6,000 species of dung beetles and their babies are among the animals that make excellent use of those resources.Mmmm... A poo-pile worth fighting for! Image by Duwwel at Wikimedia.But........ Read more »
Dacke M, Byrne M, Smolka J, Warrant E, & Baird E. (2013) Dung beetles ignore landmarks for straight-line orientation. Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 199(1), 17-23. PMID: 23076443
- April 10, 2013
- 07:56 AM
- 119 views
(Appropriately powered) replication's what you need
by Jon Simons in Brain, n. An apparatus with which we think that we think
Thanks to Mark Stokes for pictureThere has been some truly excellent coverage this morning of the very important paper published today by Kate Button, Marcus Munafo and colleagues in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, entitled “Power failure: why small sample size undermines the reliability of neuroscience”.For example, Ed Yong has written a fantastic piece on the issues raised by the realisation that insufficient statistical power plagues much neuroscience research, and Christian Jarrett has an e........ Read more »
Button, K., Ioannidis, J., Mokrysz, C., Nosek, B., Flint, J., Robinson, E., & Munafò, M. (2013) Power failure: why small sample size undermines the reliability of neuroscience. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1038/nrn3475
Chambers, C. (2013) Registered Reports: A new publishing initiative at Cortex. Cortex, 49(3), 609-610. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.12.016
Kriegeskorte, N., Simmons, W., Bellgowan, P., & Baker, C. (2009) Circular analysis in systems neuroscience: the dangers of double dipping. Nature Neuroscience, 12(5), 535-540. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2303
Nieuwenhuis, S., Forstmann, B., & Wagenmakers, E. (2011) Erroneous analyses of interactions in neuroscience: a problem of significance. Nature Neuroscience, 14(9), 1105-1107. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2886
- April 9, 2013
- 11:37 PM
- 63 views
Diabulimia: A Dangerous Duet
by Shelly in Science of Eating Disorders
Type 1 diabetes (DMT1, or T1DM) is a lifelong disease often diagnosed in children or adolescents. Though causes of DMT1 are complex and not fully understood, it results from the body’s immune system destroying its own insulin-producing cells. This drastically lowers insulin levels and leads to high blood sugar (insulin is crucial for regulating blood sugar). If not managed properly, DMt1 can wreck havoc on the nerves, heart, and retina. The onset of DMT1 often results in dramatic weight l........ Read more »
Walker, J., Young, R., Little, J., & Steel, J. (2002) Mortality in Concurrent Type 1 Diabetes and Anorexia Nervosa. Diabetes Care, 25(9), 1664-1665. DOI: 10.2337/diacare.25.9.1664-a
Alejandra Larrañaga, María F Docet and Ricardo V García-Mayor. (2011) Disordered eating behaviors in type 1 diabetic patients. World J Diabetes., 2(11), 189-195. info:/10.4239/wjd.v2.i11.189
- April 8, 2013
- 01:00 AM
- 99 views
Should Psychological Neuroscience Research Be Funded?
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
In my last post, when discussing some research by Singer et al (2006), I mentioned as an aside that their use of fMRI data didn’t seem to add a whole lot to their experiment. Yes, they found that brain regions … Continue reading →... Read more »
Singer, T., Seymour, B., O'Doherty, J., Stephan, K., Dolan, R., & Frith, C. (2006) Empathic neural responses are modulated by the perceived fairness of others. Nature, 439(7075), 466-469. DOI: 10.1038/nature04271
- April 7, 2013
- 06:22 PM
- 198 views
Marijuana and Strokes: Medical Reality or Scare Story?
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Heavy tokers may be at higher risk, but alcohol is the hidden confounder.
Young people don’t suffer from strokes, as a rule. And when they do, at least half the time there is no obvious cardiovascular explanation. So it’s not surprising that drugs are often invoked as the culprit.
A New Zealand study earlier this year once again raised the specter of a possible link between stroke and marijuana smoking. As reported by Maia Szalavitz at Time Healthland, the confounding issue, as is typic........ Read more »
Wolff V., Armspach J.-P., Lauer V., Rouyer O., Bataillard M., Marescaux C., & Geny B. (2013) Cannabis-related Stroke: Myth or Reality?. Stroke, 44(2), 558-563. DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.112.671347
- April 7, 2013
- 01:51 PM
- 120 views
The fantastic organ
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
‘we now know that one of the main reasons expressionist art appeals to us so strongly is that we have evolved a remarkably large, social brain. Moreover, the brain’s mirror neuron systems, theory of mind system and biological modulators of emotions and empathy endow us with a great capacity for understanding other people’s minds and emotions.’... Read more »
Friston, K. (2013) The fantastic organ. Brain, 136(4), 1328-1332. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awt038
- April 7, 2013
- 05:45 AM
- 110 views
The Brain, Speaking In Tongues?
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
Glossolalia – ‘speaking in tongues‘ – is a practice best known in association with ‘Charismatic’ branches of Christianity. Practitioners, often as part of religious services, produce streams of speech which correspond to no known language. But could glossolalia sometimes be associated with a brain abnormality? Here’s an interesting case report: Temporal lobe discharges and glossolalia [...]... Read more »
Reeves, R., Kose, S., & Abubakr, A. (2013) Temporal lobe discharges and glossolalia. Neurocase, 1-5. DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2013.770874
- April 6, 2013
- 03:16 PM
- 235 views
Induced Hibernation in Rat: an interview with Matteo Cerri
by Eugenio Maria Battaglia in Semanto.me
The possibility of inducing a suspended animation state similar to natural torpor would be greatly beneficial in medical science, since it would avoid the adverse consequence of the powerful autonomic activation evoked by external cooling. Previous attempts to systemically inhibit metabolism were successful in mice, but practically ineffective in nonhibernators. Here we show that the selective pharmacological inhibition of key neurons in the central pathways for thermoregulatory cold defense is ........ Read more »
Cerri, M., Mastrotto, M., Tupone, D., Martelli, D., Luppi, M., Perez, E., Zamboni, G., & Amici, R. (2013) The Inhibition of Neurons in the Central Nervous Pathways for Thermoregulatory Cold Defense Induces a Suspended Animation State in the Rat. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(7), 2984-2993. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3596-12.2013
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