MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'cortex'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:02:05 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5140020&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FG3_SB0nhgiw%2F Charting Brain Growth in Humans and Chimps (New York Times): – “Although baby humans and baby chimpanzees both start out with undeveloped forebrains, a new study reports that the human brain increases in volume much more rapidly early on.“ – “The growth is in a region of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex and is part of what makes humans cognitively advanced compared with other animals, including the chimpanzee, our closest relative. The prefrontal cortex plays a major role in decision-making, self-awareness and creative thinking.” –> To learn more about study Differential Prefrontal White Matter Development in Chimpanzees and Humans: click Here (requires subscription). –> To explore what may have happened otherwise, you may want to watch the new movie Rise of ... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5140020 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:59:35 +0100 5140020 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139879&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F08%2F16%2Fis-addiction-simply-a-brain-disease-it-is-now%2F Among addiction experts and researchers, there’s been a long-running debate as to whether drug or alcohol addiction, and even “behavioral addictions” such as compulsive gambling, are actual diseases or not. It’s not just a matter of semantics — if researchers can trace addiction’s root causes to an actual medical malfunction in the brain, perhaps that disease could be directly treated. Who am I to disagree with a “four-year process with more than 80 experts actively working on it?” Their result? Addiction is a “chronic brain disorder and not simply a behavioral problem.” I suppose if we wanted, one could argue that all mental disorders can be viewed as “brain disorders” and not “simply behavioral problems.”... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139879 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:39:38 +0100 5139879 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992688&cid=t_115746_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fdid-you-know-natalie-portman-co-authored-a-paper-about-neuroimaging%2F2011.07.01 Did you know that Natalie Portman (under the name, Natalie Hershlag) published a paper in a scientific journal in 2002 while at Harvard? Frontal lobe activation during object permanence: data from near-infrared spectroscopy. The ability to create and hold a mental schema of an object is one of the milestones in cognitive development. Developmental scientists have named the behavioral manifestation of this competence object permanence. Convergent evidence indicates that frontal lobe maturation plays a critical role in the display of object permanence, but methodological and ethical constrains have made it difficult to collect neurophysiological evidence from awake, behaving infants. Near-infrared spectroscopy provides a noninvasive assessment of changes in oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin and tot... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992688 Fri, 01 Jul 2011 20:00:03 +0100 4992688 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872259&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurodudes.com%2F2011%2F05%2F27%2Fmultisensory-homunculi-align%2F Read on for a talk abstract describing aligned visual and tactile homunculi in parietal cortex. MAPPING MULTISENSORY REPRESENTATIONS OF PERIPERSONAL SPACE Ruey-Song Huang Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience, Institute for Neural Computation, and Department of Cognitive Science http://sccn.ucsd.edu/~rshuang/ This talk will present our recent progress in mapping multisensory representations of peripersonal space using fMRI, with topics covering both technical developments and scientific findings. Recently, we have developed wearable techniques for high-density and/or wide-range tactile stimulation in the MRI scanner. Sixty-four channels (expandable to 128) of computer-controlled air puffs can be delivered via plastic tubes/nozzles embedded in the air suit, including the face mask, ... neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872259 Fri, 27 May 2011 07:26:31 +0100 4872259 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862637&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=34761&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedblitz.com%2F%7E%2F25979389%2F0%2Fneuromarketing%7ECloser-to-the-Buy-Button.htm A specific part of the brain responsible for making decisions about value has been identified by neuroeconomics researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. Using fMRI, psychology professor Joseph Kable has shown that the ventromedial frontal cortex, or VMF, plays a key role in decisions involving value. The study used subjects with normal VMFs as well [...] CommentsOne should always be wary of lesion studies. You can't claim ... by JeniusRelated StoriesNeuromarketing Study at OxfordSimple Slogans Double SalesThe Neuromarketing Challenge (Source: Neuromarketing) Neuromarketing blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862637 Wed, 25 May 2011 12:46:19 +0100 4862637 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4775488&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F-Sex1u-XPZI%2F The brains of children with neurological disorders seems to exhibit signs of neuroplastic changes, suggesting compensatory mechanisms for the disorder. This result opens up the possibility that brain training may be useful to help these patients control their symptoms. The disorder studied was Tourette syndrome (TS), which usually become evident in early childhood or adolescence before the age of 18 years.  The symptoms are involuntary movements (tics) as well as verbal tics or vocalizations.  These tics are frequent, repetitive and rapid.  Most cases of TS are mild and people lead productive lives. Participants in the study (average age of 14) performed a motor task with high levels of manual conflict (they had to obey instructions such as press a left key in response to an arrow point... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4775488 Mon, 02 May 2011 19:14:14 +0100 4775488 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4768118&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35068&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbrainwindows.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F29%2Fjournal-club-classic-single-unit-physiology-in-barrel-cortex%2F This one is for the aficionados. Here is a little review of four classic single-unit physiology papers investigating the response properties and information flow from whisker through thalamus and into cortex.  It’s quite interesting comparing this data taken from sedated or anesthetized rats to my own in awake, behaving animals. That’s a story for another time and publication venue though Filed under: electrophysiology, in vivo Tagged: barrel cortex, single unit physiology (Source: Brain Windows) Brain Windows blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4768118 Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:10:38 +0100 4768118 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4768117&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurodudes.com%2F2011%2F04%2F29%2Flocal-sleep-in-awake-rats%2F this experiment claims to show that (1) when rats are sleep-deprived, small populations of rat brain neurons can fall asleep while the rest of the rat is awake, and (2) this may correspond to performance degradation summary: http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/04/if-you-only-feel-half-awake-you-probably-are.ars article: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v472/n7344/full/nature10009.html i haven’t read the actual article yet… (Source: neurodudes) neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4768117 Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:39:25 +0100 4768117 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4696685&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F10%2Fgetting-the-love-you-want-over-and-over-again%2F In his New York Times bestseller, Getting the Love Your Want, psychologist Harville Hendrix explains why people who grew up in homes — well, a little like the one in the 2006 flick Little Miss Sunshine — without proper emotional nurturing seek dysfunctional relationships as adults. He explains the low brain — our more reptilian thought process that can’t handle anything different than what it already knows and reverts to fear as its primary gear — and the new brain, the cerebral cortex that is conscious, alert, able to reason and think logically. He writes: What we are doing, I have discovered from years of theoretical research and clinical observation, is looking for someone who has the predominant character traits of the people who raised us. Our old brain, trapped in t... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4696685 Sun, 10 Apr 2011 18:05:02 +0100 4696685 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4470466&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=37835&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iqscorner.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fthecognitive-atlas-project-way-cool.html Very intriguing article and description of the Cognitive Atlas Project, a scientific social collaborative knowledge project.Poldrack, R. A. (2010). Mapping Mental Function to Brain Structure: How Can Cognitive Neuroimaging Succeed? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(6), 753-761AbstractThe goal of cognitive neuroscience is to identify the mapping between brain function and mental processing. In this article, I examine the strategies that have been used to identify such mappings and argue that they may be fundamentally unable to identify selective structure–function mappings. To understand the functional anatomy of mental processes, it will be necessary for researchers to move from the brain-mapping strategies that the field has employed toward a search for selective associations. Th... Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4470466 Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:04:00 +0100 4470466 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4438938&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=37835&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iqscorner.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fresearch-byte-why-we-sometimes-struggle.html I think the following "in press" article is important. Why? Because I have been actively involved in reading research to better understand cognitive performance (working memory and executive attention in particular), the IQ Brain Clock (role of mental timing in human performance), and neuro-technology interventions (e.g., Interactive Metronome) that seem to improve cognitive efficiency. Across these different strands of research I have CONSTANTLY run across a number of common factors. In particular, I am constantly finding the dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex (PFC) as being critical to cognitive efficiency (working memory and cognitive processing speed), which in turn impacts intellectual functioning, especially Gf or fluid reasoning. The same brain area is implicated in mental timing and I... Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4438938 Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:50:00 +0100 4438938 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4349576&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FmMnjFqx8cMU%2F A fascinating New York Time article on solving puzzles: Why you do it, how you do it, and what’s going on in your brain while you do it. The appeal of puzzles goes far deeper than the dopamine-reward rush of finding a solution. The very idea of doing a crossword or a Sudoku puzzle typically shifts the brain into an open, playful state. There are different ways to solve a puzzle: an analytical way of trial and errors and an “insight” or creative way.  Recent neuroimaging studies looked at what happens in the brain of people preparing to solve a puzzle. Results suggest that a particular signature of preparatory activity, one that is strongly correlated with positive moods, can be observed in people’s brains who are more likely to solve puzzles with sudden insight than with trial and... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4349576 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:57:31 +0100 4349576 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3595667&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2010%2F05%2F25%2Fgender-differences-in-frontal-lobes%2F Frontal lobes is the shorthand for the prefrontal cortex. It’s an important part of the human brain, the conductor of the large orchestra called the brain. It’s the seat of our executive functioning. Executive function relates to abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts, determine good and bad, better and best, same and different, future consequences of current activities, working toward a defined goal, prediction of outcomes, expectation based on actions, and social “control” (the ability to suppress urges that, if not suppressed, could lead to socially-unacceptable outcomes). Before, I wrote about gender difference in empathy and other neurobiological subjects. Mark the word difference, not superior or inferior, not better of worse, just different. Re... Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3595667 Tue, 25 May 2010 06:01:40 +0100 3595667 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3331443&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35068&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbrainwindows.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F04%2Fjournal-scan-calcium-imaging-in-auditory-and-visual-cortex%2F A few papers on in vivo calcium imaging have just come out and are worth a careful read. The first two examine the fine organization of layer 2/3 of the mouse auditory cortex.  The canonical view of auditory cortex organization is that neurons are arranged in a tonotopic pattern, with a smooth gradient in auditory frequency tuning across the surface of the cortex.  Using two-photon imaging in anesthetized mice, the groups saw that, while there was an overall gradient, the tuning of neighboring neurons was highly variable.  These are similar results to what Sato et al and Kerr et al found in the whisker barrel cortex back in 2007.  Moral of the story : mapping brain organization by microstimulation or sparse sampling (as in the classic papers) can be very misleading. Functional organiza... Brain Windows blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3331443 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:18:48 +0100 3331443 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3290769&cid=t_115746_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fhuntingtons-chorea%2F Pathophysiology 1) progressive neurodegenerative disease with selective neuronal loss – caused by an excessive repeat of the CAG nucleic acid sequence in the gene on chromosome 4 that codes for the Huntington protein 2) unclear how altered Huntington protein contributes to the specific symptoms 3) the protein HAP-1, which binds to the Huntingtin protein, possibly contributes to the pathogenesis 4) usual duration from onset of symptoms to death is about 15 years 5) marked by involuntary movements, progressive dementia, striking emotional changes Signs and Symptoms 1) the greater the expansion, the earlier the onset of disease 2) onset is earlier by 3-4 years if condition is inherited from father 3) usual presenting signs – emotional and cognitive deficits (often by years) 4) mos... Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3290769 Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:19:44 +0100 3290769 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3059818&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurodudes.com%2F2009%2F12%2F04%2Fibm-cat-brain-simulation-scuffle-symbolic%2F You’ve probably read by now about the announcement by IBM’s Cognitive Computing group that they had created a “computer system that simulates and emulates the brain’s abilities for sensation, perception, action, interaction and cognition” at the “scale of a cat cortex”.    For their work, the IBM team led by Dharmendra Modha was awarded the ACM Gordon Bell prize, which recognizes “outstanding achievement in high-performance computing”. A few days later, Henry Markram, leader of the Blue Brain Project at EPFL, sent off an e-mail to IBM CTO Bernard Meyerson harshly criticizing the IBM press release, and cc’ed several reporters. This brought a spate of shock media into the usually placid arena of computational neuroscience reporting, ... neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3059818 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:48:17 +0100 3059818 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3036982&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=34761&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedblitz.com%2F%7E%2F2133634%2Fva0jh%2Fneuromarketing%7ESugar-as-Brain-Food.htm This isn’t great news for dieters, but sometimes sugar can be a good thing. Roy Baumeister, a psychologist at Florida State University, had subjects perform a mentally taxing task – watching a video while being careful to ignore random words scrolling across the bottom of the screen. (Apparently, it takes quite a bit [...] CommentsBy: stephanie by stephanieBy: Roger Dooley by Roger DooleyPlus 5 more... (Source: Neuromarketing) Neuromarketing blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3036982 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:22:24 +0100 3036982 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2920353&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.almaden.ibm.com%2Finstitute%2Fresources%2F2006%2FDisk2.avi We had read that Dr. Henry Markram of the Blue Brain project had given a talk at TED (technology, entertainment, design), but the video wasn’t released until this month.  This talk is geared towards a general audience, rather than getting into the specific details of the Blue Brain project, as he has before.  It is engaging and includes many suggestions towards the future of neuroscience and AI. Watch it online at the TED website. (Source: neurodudes) neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2920353 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:20:25 +0100 2920353 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2939370&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=34761&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedblitz.com%2F%7E%2F1593584%2Frvuh5%2Fneuromarketing%7EHow-We-Decide.htm Book Review: How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer Jonah Lehrer has been translating neuroscience into prose comprehensible by the lay reader for years, and How We Decide helps readers understand and even apply current research in the process of human decision-making. Lehrer begins with a look at expert decision-making, and how individuals with the right training and [...] CommentsBy: Roger Dooley by Roger DooleyBy: marybeth by marybethPlus 4 more... (Source: Neuromarketing) Neuromarketing blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2939370 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:52:08 +0100 2939370 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570895&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F0Nz1fWRE5Ic%2F (Editor's note: Daniel Goleman is now conducting a series of audio interviews including a great one with Richard Davidson on Training the Brain. We are honored to bring you this guest post by Daniel Goleman, thanks to our collaboration with Greater Good Magazine.)  --- Yes, You Can: New research suggests we can build our willpower -- By Daniel Goleman Those of us who struggle to resist junk foods or otherwise suffer a lack of willpower will be heartened by some good news from neuroscience. But there's some bad news, too. First, the bad news. A slew of studies suggest that we each have a fixed neural reservoir of willpower, and that if we use it on one thing, we have less for others. Tasks that demand some self-control make it harder for us to do the next thing that takes willpower. In ... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570895 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:52:45 +0100 2570895 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570912&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurodudes.com%2F2009%2F07%2F02%2Ftranscriptomics-of-the-fetal-human-brain%2F A cutting-edge application of the Affy total human exome GeneChip (4X coverage per exon, 40X coverage per gene): Functional and Evolutionary Insights into Human Brain Development through Global Transcriptome Analysis. From the News and Views, I was intrigued to learn that previous transcriptome analyses of adult human brains found very little difference in gene expression between brain areas: [...] this suggests that it is the gene expression during development that largely determines higher brain functions by specifying the complexity of neural connections. Numerically, the most important genes relating to cognitive differences between species may be genes that specify how the machinery is put together. In support of this hypothesis, many of the identified differentially expressed genes ... neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570912 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:59:16 +0100 2570912 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2469607&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F06%2F10%2Fwant-a-bigger-stronger-brain-start-meditating%2F Midweek Mental Greening “In meditation, effort must be applied in a direction opposite to what we are used to. Our ‘effort’ must be to relax ever more deeply. We must ultimately release the tension from both our muscles and our thoughts. When we relax so deeply that we are able to internalize the energy of the senses, the mind becomes focused and a tremendous flow of energy is awakened. Meditation is a continuous process, and can be said to have three stages: relaxation, interiorization, and expansion.” - John Novak, Lessons in Meditation. Even if you don’t practice meditation - or, like me, you try to but have no real understanding of the different kinds of meditation - chances are you probably have at least a working knowledge of meditation. Meditation is a ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2469607 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:53:05 +0100 2469607 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405719&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurodudes.com%2F2009%2F05%2F11%2Ffuturist-or-random-number-generator%2F Hmmm… Ray Kurzweil from Salon/bigthink.com on simulating the human brain: I think he might be right that we can simulate the brain before we understand it, however. (Source: neurodudes) neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405719 Tue, 12 May 2009 02:48:56 +0100 2405719 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348440&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F04%2F13%2Fthe-situation-of-confabulation%2F Helen Philips had a nice article  titled “Mind fiction: Why your brain tells tall tales,” in the October 2006 issue of New Scientist.  Here are some excerpts. * * * The kind of storytelling my grandmother did after a series of strokes . . . [n]eurologists call . . . confabulation. It isn’t fibbing, as there is no intent to deceive and people seem to believe what they are saying. Until fairly recently it was seen simply as a neurological deficiency - a sign of something gone wrong. Now, however, it has become apparent that healthy people confabulate too. Confabulation is clearly far more than a result of a deficit in our memory, says William Hirstein, a neurologist and philosopher at Elmhurst College in Chicago and author of a book on the subject entitled Brain Fiction .... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348440 Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:01:09 +0100 2348440 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2149626&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurodudes.com%2F2009%2F01%2F31%2Fscracm-chr2-circuit-mapping%2F As has become a hallmark of the Svoboda lab, this new paper in Nature (advance online publication) combines several cutting edge technologies (rAAV-delivered ChR2, most prominently, and 2-photon stimulation) to do some interesting synaptic physiology. The subcellular organization of neocortical excitatory connections : Article : Nature. They used ChR2 (with TTX and 4-AP to block action potentials) to find where on the dendritic tree particular inputs synapsed onto L3 and L5 cells and to measure the strength of those inputs. ChR2 depolarizes the input axon locally (60um spot diameter) at points of (potential) axodendritic contact. If you’ve heard the term “potential synapse” before, then think of this technique as a way of checking potential synapses and seeing if there re... neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2149626 Sun, 01 Feb 2009 02:40:17 +0100 2149626 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2033253&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35068&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbrainwindows.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F12%2F11%2F263%2F A simple view of what the brain does is acquire input, process it, then produce output. One strategy for understanding what processing takes place is to record the patterns of brain activity while showing many patterns of input, then see if you can use the information gained to predict a novel input, given the pattern of brain activity. The canonical example of this approach is visual input reconstruction based on recorded spike trains in the visual system of the blowfly. The blowfly is a relatively simple system (though quite efficient) with a tiny brain. Could a similar approach work in humans?  Although we can’t drop electrodes into the visual cortex (usually), we can put people in fMRI scanners to visualize the pattern of blood oxygenation, which is correlated with neural acti... Brain Windows blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2033253 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:21:31 +0100 2033253 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2017832&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35068&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbrainwindows.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F12%2F05%2Fjournal-club-rodent-somatosensory-cortex-sii%2F Who were the primary developers of two-photon microscopy for visualizing brain activity?  Watt Webb, David Tank, Winfried Denk, Karel Svoboda, and David Kleinfeld. What do they have in common?  They all worked at Bell Labs, and they all do imaging in rodent somatosensory cortex.  Primary somatosensory cortex (SI), particularly barrel cortex has many advantages. You can directly observe the input (whisker touching), you can get behavioral output, the cortex is smooth, has a vivid characteristic pattern of cytochrome oxidase staining and is accessible to a cortical window. Consequently, SI is one of the best characterized regions of cortex.  Far less understood is the structure and function of secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), but it likely plays an essential role in rodent sensory p... Brain Windows blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2017832 Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:03:55 +0100 2017832 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2011686&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F12%2F03%2Frich-brains-poor-brains%2F From a University of California, Bekeley press release, “EEGs show brain differences between poor and rich kids,” by Robert Sanders. * * * University of California, Berkeley, researchers have shown for the first time that the brains of low-income children function differently from the brains of high-income kids. In a study recently accepted for publication by the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, scientists at UC Berkeley’s Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and the School of Public Health report that normal 9- and 10-year-olds differing only in socioeconomic status have detectable differences in the response of their prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is critical for problem solving and creativity. Brain function was measured by means of an electroencephalogr... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2011686 Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:59:36 +0100 2011686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1826755&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F400952839%2F Great article in the New York Times titled Training Young Brains to Behave. A couple of quotes: - "But just as biology shapes behavior, so behavior can accelerate biology. And a small group of educational and cognitive scientists now say that mental exercises of a certain kind can teach children to become more self-possessed at earlier ages, reducing stress levels at home and improving their experience in school. Researchers can test this ability, which they call executive function, and they say it is more strongly associated with school success than I.Q." - “We know that the prefrontal cortex is not fully developed until the 20s, and some people will ask, ‘Why are you trying to improve prefrontal abilities when the biological substrate is not there yet?’ ” said Adele Di... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1826755 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:45:26 +0100 1826755 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1815309&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurodudes.com%2F2008%2F09%2F22%2Fneuroscience-of-voting%2F As the first presidential debate nears, there’s a lot of excitement (and worry) regarding the election. Today, Salon had an interesting piece on voter behavior and irrational attachment to ideologies and candidates. Recounting a recent psychology paper’s punchline: The article’s conclusion should be posted as a caveat under every political speech of those seeking office. And it should serve as the epitaph for the Bush administration: “People who lack the knowledge or wisdom to perform well are often unaware of this fact. That is, the same incompetence that leads them to make wrong choices also deprives them of the savvy necessary to recognize competence, be it their own or anyone else’s.” Slate had a story (”Why is every neuropundit such a raging l... neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1815309 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 03:07:44 +0100 1815309 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1802676&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F09%2F18%2Four-complex-brains%2F So after a decade or more of modern neuroscience research using fMRI and other advanced imaging scans as well as extensive gene studies, what do we know about the brain? It is a far more complex organ than we previously had imagined. A great article in this week’s edition of Newsweek by the editor in chief of the Harvard Mental Health letter, Michael Craig Miller, describes the difficulty in understanding emotions in the brain: Last year Drs. Peter J. Freed and J. John Mann, publishing in The American Journal of Psychiatry, reported on the literature of sadness and the brain. In 22 studies, brain scans were performed on nondepressed but sad volunteers. Sadness was mostly induced (subjects were shown sad pictures or films, asked to remember a sad event), although, in a couple of s... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1802676 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:52:43 +0100 1802676 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1672161&cid=t_115746_107_f&fid=36585&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHighlightHEALTH%2F%7E3%2F351674497%2F This article was published on Highlight HEALTH. Other Articles You May LikeIncreased Coffee Consumption Associated with Lower Risk of Liver CancerDid You Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables Today?More Education Decreases the Risk of Death Remembering Lunch Can Help Reduce the Desire to SnackTired? You May Not Be Getting Enough Sleep (Source: Highlight HEALTH) Highlight HEALTH blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1672161 Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:19:42 +0100 1672161 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1508241&cid=t_115746_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2008%2F6%2F11%2Flife-is-not-fair.html This study provided the anatomical locations where decision-making takes place. But what about function? What makes these neurological circuits come to life and contribute to decision-making? Knowing how things happen is in a way even more important than knowing where they happen. We know, for instance, that neurons communicate with each other through chemicals called neurotransmitters. So it would be nice to identify the neurotransmitters involved in decision-making. Once we understand how things work, or which chemicals are involved, it allows us to intervene, to modulate and modify the process. This remained unknown until a publication in Science magazine this month shed light on the mystery. In a paper titled “Serotonin Modulates Behavioral Reactions to Unfairness” scientis... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1508241 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:56:49 +0100 1508241 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1405360&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurodudes.com%2F2008%2F04%2F29%2Fa-computational-neuroanatomy-for-motor-control%2F An extremely interesting trend in neuroscience has been to use the language of Control Theory to explain brain function. A recent paper by Shadmehr and Krakauer does a very nice job of summarizing this trend and assembling a comprehensive theory of how the brain controls the body. Using control theory, they put forward a mathematically precise description of their theory. Because their theory uses blocks that are direct analogues of specific brain regions like the basal ganglia, motor cortex, and cerebellum, they can use brain lesion studies to undergird their ideas about these components. From the paper: The theory explains that in order to make a movement, our brain needs to solve three kinds of problems: we need to be able to accurately predict the sensory consequences of our motor comm... neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1405360 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:01:39 +0100 1405360 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1395090&cid=t_115746_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2008%2F4%2F24%2Fknow-your-place.html This study provides unequivocal neuro-anatomical proof.   (Source: The Doctor Weighs In) The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1395090 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:35:57 +0100 1395090 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1375057&cid=t_115746_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2008%2F4%2F16%2Frandom-walks-through-stock-trading-testosterone-guts-and-bra.html By Dov michaeli MD, Ph.DThe April 14 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences carried an intriguing article titled “ Endogenous steroids and financial risk taking on a London trading floor”. Both authors, J.M. Coates and J. Herbert are from the Dept. of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at Cambridge University . But J.M.C. is also from the School of business at Cambridge , and his main research interests are summarized by him thusly: “ I have been sampling endogenous steroids from traders on a trading floor in the City to determine the role of both testosterone and cortisol in their decision making and in their performance. I compliment this field work with behavioral experiments set in the lab and in artificial asset markets” Rag... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1375057 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:28:29 +0100 1375057 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4060725&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=34859&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.davemsw.com%2Farchives%2F2008%2F03%2Fthe_stress_of_poverty_changes_the_brain.php This is not surprising since we already know chronic stress changes many body elements in mostly a negative way. This is the first time I've seen that relates the stress of poverty to brain changes. This needs to be a target for prevention policy. Blogs Scientific American Community "The authors recruited 100 middle-aged volunteers from a Pennsylvania community registry and acquired three important measures from each. First, participants provided information that qualified as an objective indicator of personal and community socioeconomic status (for example, educational attainment and household income). Second, they received the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status. In this scale, participants were presented with a 10 step "social ladder" and asked to place an "X" on the step the... Ψ Dare To Dream... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4060725 Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:17:52 +0100 4060725 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1128992&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F210848180%2F Some very interesting brain fitness software market news: 1) Scientific Learning To Buy Out Soliloquy - "Scientific Learning Corp. has announced that it will acquire Soliloquy Learning from JTT Holdings. Both Scientific Learning and Soliloquy provide technology solutions for education. The acquisition will cost SLC about $11 million and is expected to be completed this month." - "Scientific Learning is the developer of Fast ForWord, a family of reading intervention tools targeted toward students who are characterized as struggling learners and designed to develop the required "neurocognitive skills" for reading and learning in general. Soliloquy is also a reading intervention developer." Comment: this acquisition consolidates Scientific Learning (NSDQ: SCIL) ... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1128992 Fri, 04 Jan 2008 01:49:32 +0100 1128992 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=996496&cid=t_115746_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F11%2F1%2Fthe-psychology-and-neuroscience-of-hypocrisy.html  By Dov Michaeli MD, Ph.DAn article in the Sept. 17 2007 issue of Time magazine tweaked my interest. In it the author, John Cloud, argues that the recent crop of Republican homosexual legislators deserves our understanding of their weakness, rather the opprobrium of hypocrisy. To quote Cloud, he is offering “a moistly liberal request: Can we have a moment of pity for moralizers who fall?”His argument runs as follows:“Hypocrisy is among the most universal and well-studied of psychological phenomena, and the research suggests that Craig, Haggard and the others may be guilty not so much of moral hypocrisy as moral weakness. The distinction may sound trivial at first, but as a society, we tend to forgive the weak and shun the hypocritical.Assume for a moment that Craig a... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=996496 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 05:58:37 +0100 996496 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=980496&cid=t_115746_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2Fsleep-deprivation-is-hazardous-to-your-health.html By Dov Michaeli MD, Ph.D“Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more!Macbeth does murder sleep’—the innocent sleep,… The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath,Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,Chief nourisher in life’s feast”Macbeth, William Shakespeare, 1600 AD.Four hundred years later UC Berkeley scientists used brain imaging techniques to explain Lady Macbeth’s sleep-deprived brain descent into the darkness of insanity. They studied 26 young adults, half of whom were kept awake for 35 hours straight and the other half were allowed a normal night’s sleep in that same time period. Their brain was then studied using fMRI imaging. This technique shows the blood flow to different areas of the brain... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=980496 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 03:11:40 +0100 980496 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=979229&cid=t_115746_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F175118560%2F A new theory from the first issue of the Frontiers in Neuroscience attempts to explain what autism is: Autism is an “intense world syndrome” in which a person has “hyper-perception, hyper-attention, and hyper-memory” and has “hyper-functionality” rather than “hypo-functionality”—-has an excessive amount of ability in some areas, rather than being simply lacking skills and abilities. The full abstract: While significant advances have been made in identifying the neuronal structures and cells affected, a unifying theory that could explain the manifold autistic symptoms has still not emerged. Based on recent synaptic, cellular, molecular, microcircuit, and behavioral results obtained with the valproic acid (VPA) rat model of autism, we pro... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=979229 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:51:30 +0100 979229 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=957422&cid=t_115746_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F171089254%2F Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us and we’ll share with it others. That’s right. Send us your announcements and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going. Here are some of the latest moves… ImpactRx named Greg Gallo, an exec vp, to head of business development; ImpactRx promoted Jill Walton to vp-gm oncology biz unit; EntreMed appointed Ken Bair sr vp of research and development; MacroChem named Mike Zasloff to its scientific advisory board; Ricerca Biosciences appointed Jim Szabo vp, biology services; Digitas Health named Kieran Walsh to senior vp; Bacchus Vascular appointed Scott Cramer ceo and president; CeNeRx BioPharma added Danl Burch as chief me... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=957422 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:10:43 +0100 957422 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=900853&cid=t_115746_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F9%2F25%2Fadults-vs-adolescents-is-there-a-real-difference.html ConclusionTo ascribe all behavior, good or bad, to the structure and function of the brain is not only simplistic and incorrect biologically, it is socially dangerous; “The devil made me do it” as an excuse for sociopathic behavior is simply not compatible with a functioning civil society. Unfortunately, defense attorneys are already recruiting expert witnesses who make this deterministic argument in court.  Males concludes his article thus: “ In reality, human brains are highly adaptive. Both teenagers and adults display a wide variety of attitudes and behaviors derived from individual conditions and choices, not harsh biological determinism. There’s no “typical teenager” any more than there’s a “typical” 45-year-old. Comment... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=900853 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:34:57 +0100 900853 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4060753&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=34859&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.davemsw.com%2Farchives%2F2007%2F07%2Fsometimes_even_the_experts_lack_common_sense.php I think it's probably a human trait that we seek the simplest solution to a problem even when more complex and proven methods are well known. Even scientists seem to do this, even in their area of study! Our culture seems to have decided thousands of years ago that negative emotions are bad and should be avoided. Everywhere in the psychological literature is examples of researchers seeking to find ways to help people avoid psychological pain. Has it occurred to anyone that psychological pain has a purpose? For those of us that believe we evolved to be human beings, we have to assume that most attributes that make us human in some way enhance our survival, or that trait would have been selected out of the gene pool. Negative emotions help us. I make that assumption and help people make s... Ψ Dare To Dream... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4060753 Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:29:53 +0100 4060753 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=707696&cid=t_115746_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F129576594%2Fwork_with_your_waking_brain.html By the time your alarm rang this morning your brain’s amazing auditory cortex and hypothalamus  leapt into the new day with gusto.  We often get miss miracles of the brain as we charge into another morning routine, and so we miss opportunities from its benefits.  Yet your brain prepared you for the day – even before the clock sounded time to get up. How so? First – your auditory cortex gathers information about the sound. In the meantime your inner clock, sometimes called a circadian rhythm, let’s you know the light is here and it’s time to rise. The Hypothalmus adjusts your system by lowering your levels of the chemical melatonin, which help you to awaken more fully for the day ahead.  Why not work with your brain in these two ways - 1). S... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=707696 Sun, 01 Jul 2007 23:33:55 +0100 707696 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=674828&cid=t_115746_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F6%2F8%2Fon-guys-groceries-and-dumb-blondes.html I was really amused by Dr. Pat Salber’s latest posting on hapless guys gone shopping.  Was this a subtle literary allusion to Damon Runion’s “On guys and dolls”? His ‘guys’ are pretty much the same: a bunch of pathetic, testosterone-exuding losers. Even more amusing was the storm of plaintive protests from our guy readers, who claimed that this was a stereotype that was divorced from modern reality.Seriously, how did stereotypes come to be accepted? If they did not have some roots in reality, Darwinian theory predicts that they would not survive the selective force of public acceptance. If you think that the “dumb blonde” or the “stupid jock” stereotypes have no basis in reality—think again.Evolutionary Psychology.Broad... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=674828 Fri, 08 Jun 2007 06:12:04 +0100 674828 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=631503&cid=t_115746_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F5%2F22%2Fthe-obesity-epidemic-genes-or-addiction.html A few weeks ago (May 9, 2007) we posted a comment on Gina Kolata’s article in the New York Times (May 8, 2007) The article basically laid the blame for the obesity epidemic afflicting us at our genes. Kolata reviewed work suggesting that genes are involved in obesity, with the implication that a fight to lose and maintain a lower weight is not only excruciating, it is practically futile.That simply didn’t sound right. At least 10 genes have been discovered thus far that are involved in obesity and diabetes; more are bound to be discovered. We also know that the US population is fast approaching the 50% mark of overweight (BMI 25-29.99) or obese (BMI > 30). These genes presumably are not recent mutations. Why is it then, that only relatively recently did these genes express t... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=631503 Wed, 23 May 2007 06:21:07 +0100 631503 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=602389&cid=t_115746_87_f&fid=34866&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecardioblog.com%2F2007%2F05%2F09%2Fstroke-triggers-brain-recovery-process%2F Filed under: ResearchDuring a stroke, it is common for a primary function area of the brain to be disrupted. In efforts to compensate for this disruption, the brain sort of kicks into high gear to help reorganize motor and cognitive ability. In some cases, this is the beginning of the recovery process. Researchers from the University of Oxford took a good, hard look into this "backup" brain region, and how it comes to the aid of the brain during a stroke. Focusing on the region of the brain known as the dorsal premotor cortex (which is known to govern the selection of an action), the researchers used magnetic pulses to stimulate and briefly disrupt one hemisphere of the brain and observed how the other hemisphere reacted. They found that during this disruption, the opposite hemisphere dor... The Cardio Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=602389 Wed, 09 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 602389 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=576480&cid=t_115746_122_f&fid=34755&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneuropsychological.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fgame-brain.html From today's Philadelphia Inquirer:Mental gymnastics to maintain the brainBoomers try games and gadgets to ease minds about agingBy Lini S. KadabaInquirer Staff Writer[snip]As more baby boomers enter their 60s and others witness their elderly parents descend into senility, say experts, they're chasing after cognitive fitness with the same vigor they've had while pursuing wrinkle-free skin and erectile function.By holding out the promise of sharper, longer-lasting brain cells, a plethora of gadgets, classes and computer games has captured the attention of forever-youngs - despite thin scientific proof that any of this will keep their minds humming.Nintendo's popular Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (1.3 million copies sold, according to the NPD Group) is more about fun than an a... BrainBlog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=576480 Sun, 29 Apr 2007 13:51:00 +0100 576480 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=570902&cid=t_115746_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F4%2F26%2Fthe-making-of-a-mass-killer.html  Genes In 1993 scientists reported on a Dutch family, 14 members of whom were sociopaths, involved in aggressive crimes such as bullying, physical violence, rape, and arson. They all had in common a mutation in a gene that makes an enzyme called MAOA. The function of this enzyme is break down neurotransmitters such as serotonin and noradrenaline (or norepinephrine, a chemical first cousin of adrenaline). The ready conclusion was: defective enzyme caused elevated level of serotonin and noradrenaline, resulting in overactive brain circuits that serve aggressive behavior. Case closed? Not so fast… In a wonderful summary of the topic in Newsweek magazine ( April 30, 2007 ) one of my favorite writers on the subject, Sharon Begley) describes a 2002 study in New Zealand of 442 men who... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=570902 Thu, 26 Apr 2007 08:00:48 +0100 570902 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=498494&cid=t_115746_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F3%2F23%2Fmoral-behavior-is-hardwired-in-your-brain.html A recent paper in the Journal Nature, Damage to the Prefrontal Cortex Increases Utilitarian Moral Judgments  (Nature, advance online publication 21 March 2007),  has provided strong evidence that we are indeed moral animals, and that certain aspects of our moral behavior are hardwired in our brain. The institutions involved in this research (U. Iowa Dept. of Neurology, Harvard U. Dept. of Psychology, and the Brain and Creativity Institute at the U. Southern California) reflect the multi-disciplinary approach required for such a study. Where in the brain is Morality? Our brain is organized in layers, somewhat like an onion. The deepest layer, like the brain stem and the structures around it, is the most ancient, or primitive, from an evolutionary point of view. These structures co... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=498494 Sat, 24 Mar 2007 00:21:09 +0100 498494