A Step Toward a Living, Learning Memory Chip: Scientific American
"The results, Ben-Jacob says, set the stage for the creation of a neuromemory chip that could be paired with computer hardware to create cyborglike machines capable of such tasks as detecting dangerous toxins in the air, allowing the blind to see or helping someone who is paralyzed regain some if not all muscle use."
Showing posts with label neuroscience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neuroscience. Show all posts
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Friday, June 08, 2007
Research deciphers 'déjà-vu' brain mechanics
Research deciphers 'déjà-vu' brain mechanics - MIT News Office
"Tonegawa, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a frequent world traveler, described his own occasional experience of finding the airport in a new city uncannily familiar. This occurs, he said, because of the similarity of the modules--gates, chairs, ticket counters--that comprise airports worldwide. It is only by seeking out unique cues that the specific airport can be identified, he said. "In this study, we have revealed that learning in the dentate gyrus is crucial in rapidly recognizing and amplifying the small differences that make each place unique," Tonegawa said."
"Tonegawa, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a frequent world traveler, described his own occasional experience of finding the airport in a new city uncannily familiar. This occurs, he said, because of the similarity of the modules--gates, chairs, ticket counters--that comprise airports worldwide. It is only by seeking out unique cues that the specific airport can be identified, he said. "In this study, we have revealed that learning in the dentate gyrus is crucial in rapidly recognizing and amplifying the small differences that make each place unique," Tonegawa said."
Friday, March 30, 2007
Scientists discover 'shadow person'
Scientists discover 'shadow person' | COSMOS magazine
"Ever feel as though you're being followed? As if someone is behind you, shadowing your every move? It might be your ‘shadow person', created by unusual activity in a specific brain region, a new study shows.
The paper, published in the British journal Nature, describes the case of a 22-year-old woman with no history of psychiatric problems who was being evaluated for treatment of epilepsy. When a region of her brain called the left temporoparietal junction was electrically stimulated, the woman described encounters with a ‘shadow person' who mimicked her bodily movements.
"Electrical stimulation repeatedly produced a feeling of the presence of another person in her extra-personal space," said Olaf Blanke, co-author of the study conducted by a team of researchers from University Hospital in Geneva, Switzerland.
When the patient was lying down, stimulation of this brain region caused her to feel that someone was behind her. She described the person as young, of indeterminate sex, "a shadow who did not speak or move, and whose position beneath her back was identical to her own", according to the researchers.
When the patient sat up, leaned forward and clasped her knees, she felt that the figure was also sitting, embracing her in its arms - a feeling she described as "unpleasant"."
"Ever feel as though you're being followed? As if someone is behind you, shadowing your every move? It might be your ‘shadow person', created by unusual activity in a specific brain region, a new study shows.
The paper, published in the British journal Nature, describes the case of a 22-year-old woman with no history of psychiatric problems who was being evaluated for treatment of epilepsy. When a region of her brain called the left temporoparietal junction was electrically stimulated, the woman described encounters with a ‘shadow person' who mimicked her bodily movements.
"Electrical stimulation repeatedly produced a feeling of the presence of another person in her extra-personal space," said Olaf Blanke, co-author of the study conducted by a team of researchers from University Hospital in Geneva, Switzerland.
When the patient was lying down, stimulation of this brain region caused her to feel that someone was behind her. She described the person as young, of indeterminate sex, "a shadow who did not speak or move, and whose position beneath her back was identical to her own", according to the researchers.
When the patient sat up, leaned forward and clasped her knees, she felt that the figure was also sitting, embracing her in its arms - a feeling she described as "unpleasant"."
Monday, March 12, 2007
Puppet Masters 2
Mind-Control Microbe
"When he looked at the clinical records of more than 1,800 babies born from 1996 to 2004, he noted a distinct trend: The normal sex ratio is 104 boys born for every 100 girls, but in women with high levels of antibodies against the parasite, the ratio was 260 boys for every 100 girls. Exactly how the parasite might be tipping the odds in favor of males isn't understood, but Flegr points out that it is known to suppress the immune system of its hosts, and because the maternal immune system sometimes attacks male fetuses in very early pregnancy, the parasite's ability to inhibit the immune response might protect future boys as well as itself."
"When he looked at the clinical records of more than 1,800 babies born from 1996 to 2004, he noted a distinct trend: The normal sex ratio is 104 boys born for every 100 girls, but in women with high levels of antibodies against the parasite, the ratio was 260 boys for every 100 girls. Exactly how the parasite might be tipping the odds in favor of males isn't understood, but Flegr points out that it is known to suppress the immune system of its hosts, and because the maternal immune system sometimes attacks male fetuses in very early pregnancy, the parasite's ability to inhibit the immune response might protect future boys as well as itself."
Monday, August 14, 2006
Pure Novelty Spurs The Brain:
Now, researchers Nico Bunzeck and Emrah Duzel report studies with humans showing that the SN/VTA does respond to novelty as such and this novelty motivates the brain to explore, seeking a reward. The researchers of University College London and Otto von Guericke University reported their findings in the August 3, 2006, issue of Neuron, published by Cell Press.
Now, researchers Nico Bunzeck and Emrah Duzel report studies with humans showing that the SN/VTA does respond to novelty as such and this novelty motivates the brain to explore, seeking a reward. The researchers of University College London and Otto von Guericke University reported their findings in the August 3, 2006, issue of Neuron, published by Cell Press.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
A Nation of Neurotics? Blame the Puppet Masters?
According to this blog entry, personality traits like self-doubt and insecurity, can sometimes be attributed to a brain parasite infestation.
"So Lafferty wondered, is there a relationship between a country's prevalence of Toxoplasma and its culture?
The answer, he argues, is yes. He selected a few key features of human personality that Toxoplasma appears to influence, and which have been measured on a national scale--such as neuroticism, uncertainty avoidance, and "masculine" sex roles. Lafferty predicted that in countries with higher Toxoplasma rates, these features would all be stronger. He gathered data from studies on 39 countries in from all five continents. He corrected for various factors, for example including per capita gross domestic product as a variable. He found a signficiant correlation between high levels of the parasite and high levels of neuroticism. There was a positive but weak correlation between Toxoplasma and levels of uncertainty avoidances and masculine sex roles. However, if he excluded the non-Western countries of China, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, and Indonesia, the correlations of both personality measurements with Toxoplasma got much stronger."
"So Lafferty wondered, is there a relationship between a country's prevalence of Toxoplasma and its culture?
The answer, he argues, is yes. He selected a few key features of human personality that Toxoplasma appears to influence, and which have been measured on a national scale--such as neuroticism, uncertainty avoidance, and "masculine" sex roles. Lafferty predicted that in countries with higher Toxoplasma rates, these features would all be stronger. He gathered data from studies on 39 countries in from all five continents. He corrected for various factors, for example including per capita gross domestic product as a variable. He found a signficiant correlation between high levels of the parasite and high levels of neuroticism. There was a positive but weak correlation between Toxoplasma and levels of uncertainty avoidances and masculine sex roles. However, if he excluded the non-Western countries of China, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, and Indonesia, the correlations of both personality measurements with Toxoplasma got much stronger."
Friday, June 23, 2006
Reality Grip
Our grip on reality is slim, says UCL scientist:
The neurological basis for poor witness statements and hallucinations has been found by scientists at UCL (University College London). In over a fifth of cases, people wrongly remembered whether they actually witnessed an event or just imagined it, according to a paper published in NeuroImage this week.
"Our work has implications for the validity of witness statements and agrees with other studies that show that our mind sometimes fills in memory gaps for us, and we confuse what we imagined occurred in a situation - which is related to what we expect to happen or what usually happens - with what actually happened.
"Most of us, though, have a critical reality monitoring function so that we are able to distinguish well enough between what is real and what is imagined and our imagination does not have too great an impact on our lives - unless the reality check system breaks down such as after stroke or in cases of schizophrenia."
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Neural Space
The Universe trapped in its own web:
This inhomogeneous distribution of matter is called the “Large-scale distribution of the Universe.” When the Universe is considered as whole, this distribution has a similar appearance to a spider’s web or the neural network of the brain.
This inhomogeneous distribution of matter is called the “Large-scale distribution of the Universe.” When the Universe is considered as whole, this distribution has a similar appearance to a spider’s web or the neural network of the brain.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
A Collection of Unusual Neurological States
This is pretty interesting. Kind of small for a "collection" though. There are 4 neurological states described with a link for each to further research or articles. If nothing else, this is an excellent source for story ideas for you creative types.
It includes Capgras' Syndrome ("The Capgras' patient will typically identify people close to them as being imposters - identical in every possible way, but identical replicas."), along with some other, even more disturbing neurological hiccups.
I'm especially intrigued by Cotard's Syndrome, where the patient believes that they are dead, even though they are walking and talking. Creepy.
It includes Capgras' Syndrome ("The Capgras' patient will typically identify people close to them as being imposters - identical in every possible way, but identical replicas."), along with some other, even more disturbing neurological hiccups.
I'm especially intrigued by Cotard's Syndrome, where the patient believes that they are dead, even though they are walking and talking. Creepy.
Words Influence Smells
Here's an interesting study.
It seems that our brains' interpretation of stimulus is affected by the sight of words. I'm not sure if this has any bearing on the ongoing discussion of qualia, but it might.
Need to think about it more.
It seems that our brains' interpretation of stimulus is affected by the sight of words. I'm not sure if this has any bearing on the ongoing discussion of qualia, but it might.
Need to think about it more.
Mind Reading or Virtual Reality?
Click here for a very interesting article on how empathy might be established in individual minds.
If this theory is correct, and the evidence in the article seems pretty substantial (of course, being a single article with the intention of publicizing the theory, there could be some bias), I'm not sure the short-hand implication that's being touted is totally accurate.
Instead of being an example of mind-reading, these "mirror neurons" seem to me to be establishing an internal "virtual" reality simulation of events outside of the bio-temporal meat suit we all wear; A form of role playing rather than the communication implied in the "mind-reading" model. If this is true, the implications for the definition of individual identity and that pesky free will question we're talking about below, are pretty staggering, I think. It's not just empathy that's a possible result of the functioning of these "mirror neurons" but learning and decision making (at least decisions not based entirely on previous personal experience) as well.
Or maybe I'm just overreacting.
If this theory is correct, and the evidence in the article seems pretty substantial (of course, being a single article with the intention of publicizing the theory, there could be some bias), I'm not sure the short-hand implication that's being touted is totally accurate.
Instead of being an example of mind-reading, these "mirror neurons" seem to me to be establishing an internal "virtual" reality simulation of events outside of the bio-temporal meat suit we all wear; A form of role playing rather than the communication implied in the "mind-reading" model. If this is true, the implications for the definition of individual identity and that pesky free will question we're talking about below, are pretty staggering, I think. It's not just empathy that's a possible result of the functioning of these "mirror neurons" but learning and decision making (at least decisions not based entirely on previous personal experience) as well.
Or maybe I'm just overreacting.
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