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Mo
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- June 25, 2010
- 11:05 AM
- 1,358 views
Touch influences social judgements and decisions
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
APPLYING for a job? The weight of the clipboard to which your CV is attached may influence your chances of getting it. Negotiating a deal? Sitting in a hard chair may lead you to drive a harder bargain. Those are two of the surprising conclusions of a study published in today's issue of Science, which shows that the physical properties of objects we touch can unconsciously influence our first impressions of other people and the decisions we make about them.
Josh Ackerman of the Sloan School of Management at MIT, and psychologists Chris Nocera and John Bargh of Harvard and Yale Universities, respectively, performed a series of six experiments designed to investigate whether or not the weight, texture and hardness of objects can influence our judgements and decisions about unrelated events and situations. Their findings provide yet more evidence for the embodied cognition hypothesis, which states that bodily perceptions can exert a strong influence on the way we think.
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Ackerman, J., Nocera, C., & Bargh, J. (2010) Incidental Haptic Sensations Influence Social Judgments and Decisions. Science, 328(5986), 1712-1715. DOI: 10.1126/science.1189993
- March 10, 2009
- 04:19 PM
- 1,353 views
Experience induces global reorganization of brain circuitry
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
One of the central dogmas of neuroscience, which persisted for much of the history of the discipline, was that the adult human brain is immalleable, and could not change itself once fully developed. However, we now know that this is not the case: rather than setting like a piece of clay placed in a mould, the brain remains instead like a piece of putty, on which each new experience makes a lasting impression.
This phenomenon, referred to as synaptic (or neural) plasticity, involves reorganization of the connections between nerve cells, and is arguably the most important discovery in modern neuroscience. It is well established, from research carried out in the past 20 years or so, that the brain can adapt itself to any circumstance; this therefore opens up the possibility of therapies for a wide variety of neurological conditions.
Until now, it was thought that such reorganization is restricted to small numbers of connections within discrete areas of the brain. But new research published yesterday in the journal Current Biology now provides the first evidence that local modifications to small numbers of connections can induce global changes in brain connectivity.
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Santiago Canals, Michael Beyerlein, Hellmut Merkle, & Nikos K. Logothetis. (2009) Functional MRI Evidence for LTP-Induced Neural Network Reorganization. Current Biology, 19(5), 398-403. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.01.037
- June 5, 2008
- 01:24 PM
- 1,345 views
Human embryonic stem cells rescue mice from fatal brain disease
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
Researchers report today that human stem cells can rescue mice from an otherwise fatal neurological condition caused by the brain's inability to conduct nervous impulses. The findings, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, raise the possibility of cell transplantation treatments for a number of neurological diseases in which the ability of nerve cells to communicate with each other has been compromised. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...... Read more »
Martha Windrem. (2008) Neonatal Chimerization with Human Glial Progenitor Cells Can Both Remyelinate and Rescue the Otherwise Lethally Hypomyelinated Shiverer Mouse. Cell Stem Cell, 2(6), 553-565.
- June 6, 2008
- 04:14 PM
- 1,338 views
Socializing promotes survival of new nerve cells & may preserve memory
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
Photo by Einat Adar
Our feathered friends provide us with some beautiful examples of the link between brain and behaviour. In some bird species, groups of cells involved in seasonal behaviours die after they have performed their function, but are regenerated by neurogenesis as and when they are needed.Male songbirds, for example, serenade females; the brain nuclei which produce the vocalizations die when the mating season ends, and regenerate as the next one approaches. Similarly, the Clarke's nutcracker stores tens of thousands of pine se... Read more »
E Adar, F Nottebohm, & A Barnea. (2008) The Relationship between Nature of Social Change, Age, and Position of New Neurons and Their Survival in Adult Zebra Finch Brain. Journal of Neuroscience, 28(20), 5394-5400. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5706-07.2008
- September 26, 2008
- 06:28 PM
- 1,332 views
New neurons are needed for new memories
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
Around 15 years ago, researchers discovered that the adult rodent brain contains discrete populations of stem cells which continue to divide and generate new cells throughout life. This discovery was an important one, as it overturned a persistent dogma in neuroscience which held that the adult mammalian brain cannot regenerate.
Since then, neural stem cells have been the subject of intensive investigation, in large part because of their potential uses in treating neurological conditions such as Parkinson's Disease, stroke and epilepsy. Even so, the function of newly-generated neurons has so far eluded researchers. Although numerous studies have shown that newborn cells are incorporated into pre-existing neuronal circuits, their precise role remained unclear.
Using an elegant new strategy for engineering strains of mutant mice, Itaro Imayoshi and his colleagues now provide strong evidence that the continuous generation of new neurons is critical for brain function, and that the newly-generated cells perform two distinct roles which are critical for tissue maintenance in the olfactory system and for the formation of two distinct forms of memory. Their findings are reported in the October issue of Nature Neuroscience.
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Itaru Imayoshi, Masayuki Sakamoto, Toshiyuki Ohtsuka, Keizo Takao, Tsuyoshi Miyakawa, Masahiro Yamaguchi, Kensaku Mori, Toshio Ikeda, Shigeyoshi Itohara, & Ryoichiro Kageyama. (2008) Roles of continuous neurogenesis in the structural and functional integrity of the adult forebrain. Nature Neuroscience, 11(10), 1153-1161. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2185
- October 8, 2009
- 05:00 PM
- 1,331 views
The virtual body illusion and immersive Second Life avatars
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
SECOND LIFE is an online "virtual world" which enables users to create a customised avatar, or digital persona, with which they interact with each other. Since its launch just over 6 years ago, it has become incredibly popular, with millions of "residents" now using it regularly to meet others, interact with them, and even to have sex. Users have also established virtual universities, businesses and a virtual economy.
Now, imagine a futuristic version of Second Life, in which avatars can transfer sensations to the bodies of their users. Such a scenario may seem far-fetched, but a team of European researchers has now taken us one step closer it. They demonstrate a perceptual illusion in which a computer-generated virtual body can be made to feel like one's real body, so that one can feel sensations from it and respond to it as if it were real.
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Slater, M. et al. (2009) Inducing illusory ownership of a virtual body . Front. Neurosci. info:/
- October 28, 2009
- 02:37 PM
- 1,331 views
Phantom limbs can contort into impossible configurations
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
FOLLOWING the surgical removal of a body part, amputees often report sensations which seem to originate from the missing limb. This is thought to occur because the brain's model of the body (referred to as the body image) still contains a representation of the limb, and this leads to the experience that their missing limb is still attached to their body. Occasionally, amputees say that they cannot move their phantom limbs. They are perceived to be frozen in space, apparently because they cannot be seen.
Yet, research shows that the body image is malleable and easily manipulated. And according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, so too are phantom limbs. The study shows that some amputees can make their phantom limbs defy the anatomical constraints of the physical body, using visual imagery to make them perform movements which could not possibly be performed by a real physical limb.
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Moseley, G., & Brugger, P. (2009) Interdependence of movement and anatomy persists when amputees learn a physiologically impossible movement of their phantom limb. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0907151106
- May 27, 2010
- 01:18 PM
- 1,325 views
Apparent motion steers the wandering mind
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
DAYDREAMING is a critical component of conscious experience. The mind can perform mental time travel - it occasionally strays from the present moment, to recollect an experience from the near or distant past, or to imagine an event that has not yet taken place. We know that imagining a future event is dependant on memory, because patients with amnesia cannot imagine new experiences. It involves piecing together fragments of past experiences to generate a plausible simulation of what might happen. This may have been an important development in human evolution, as it enables us anticipate a likely outcome and to plan the best possible course of action.
Space and time are intimately linked in the mind, and this is reflected in our metaphors. We often say that we are thinking back to a past event, or looking forward to one that will take place in the future. But the mind and body are also closely linked: think about a past experience, and you might find yourself moving backwards. A new study suggests that this can be reversed, by showing that apparent motion can influence the direction of the mind's wanderings. Thus, moving backwards could evoke long lost memories, while moving forward might make you think about the future.
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Miles, L. K., et al. (2010) The Meandering Mind: Vection and Mental Time Travel. PLoS One. info:/
- June 24, 2008
- 11:19 AM
- 1,321 views
Anaesthetics may increase post-surgical pain
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
General anaesthetics activate a heat-sensitive protein found in pain pathways and may exacerbate post-operative pain, according to a new study published online yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...... Read more »
J Matta, P M Cornett, R L Miyares, K Abe, N Sahibzada, & G P Ahern. (2008) From the Cover: General anesthetics activate a nociceptive ion channel to enhance pain and inflammation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(25), 8784-8789. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0711038105
- June 16, 2010
- 04:33 PM
- 1,314 views
Obesity linked to brain shrinkage and dementia
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
THE dangers of obesity are very well known. Being overweight is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, the two leading causes of death in the Western world. Gout is more common in overweight people, with the risk of developing the condition increasing in parallel with body weight. Obese people are twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes as those who are not overweight, and being overweight is also associated with several types of cancer. The list goes on...
Less well known is the effect of obesity on the brain. In the past few years, however, it has emerged that being overweight in middle age is linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia. Two new studies strengthen this association: the first, just published in the Annals of Neurology, shows that abdominal fat is linked to reduced brain volume in otherwise healthy middle-aged adults. The second, published last month in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that this reduction is associated with a common variant of an obesity-related gene.
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Debette, S., Beiser, A., Hoffmann, U., DeCarli, C., O'Donnell, C., Massaro, J., Au, R., Himali, J., Wolf, P., Fox, C.... (2010) Visceral fat is associated with lower brain volume in healthy middle-aged adults. Annals of Neurology. DOI: 10.1002/ana.22062
Ho, A., Stein, J., Hua, X., Lee, S., Hibar, D., Leow, A., Dinov, I., Toga, A., Saykin, A., Shen, L.... (2010) From the Cover: A commonly carried allele of the obesity-related FTO gene is associated with reduced brain volume in the healthy elderly. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(18), 8404-8409. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0910878107
- September 21, 2009
- 02:20 PM
- 1,306 views
Vegetative and minimally conscious patients can learn
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
THE vegetative and minimally conscious states are examples of what are referred to as disorders of consciousness. Patients in these conditions are more or less oblivious to goings-on in their surroundings - they exhibit few, if any, signs of conscious awareness, and are usually unable to communicate in any way. It is, therefore, extremely difficult to establish what these patients are experiencing, and the consciousness disorders are among the least understood, and most commonly diagnosed, conditions in medicine.
Recently though, technologies such as functional neuorimaging have enabled clinicians to gain some insight into the minimally consious and vegetative states. Nevertheless, proper assessment and diagnosis of patients are still major challenges, and there are big ethical questions regarding how they should be treated. However, researchers from the University of Cambridge have made what could be a significant advance.
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Bekinschtein, T., Shalom, D., Forcato, C., Herrera, M., Coleman, M., Manes, F., & Sigman, M. (2009) Classical conditioning in the vegetative and minimally conscious state. Nature Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2391
- January 13, 2010
- 11:40 AM
- 1,300 views
Viewing headless bodies causes face adaptation
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
VIEWING a stimulus for a prolonged period of time results in a bias in the perception of a stimulus viewed afterwards. For example, after looking at a moving stimulus for some time, a stationary stimulus that is viewed subsequently appears to drift in the opposite direction. These after-effects reveal to us the properties of our perceptual system. They occur because the neurons which are sensitive to the initial stimulus re-calibrate their responses; they adapt to compensate for the earlier enduring stimulus, and so can continue to encode current stimuli efficiently.
It was long thought that the properties of the initial (or adapting) stimulus have to be similar to those of the subsequent (or adapted) stimulus for any after-effect to occur. But a new study published this week in the journal Current Biology contradicts this assumption about perceptual adaptations, by showing that viewing headless bodies causes the brain to adapt to faces that are viewed afterwards.
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Ghuman, A., McDaniel, J., & Martin, A. (2010) Face Adaptation without a Face. Current Biology, 20(1), 32-36. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.10.077
- April 30, 2010
- 08:00 AM
- 1,291 views
The mirror movement mutation
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
MIRROR movements are involuntary movements that mimic, and occur simultaneously with, voluntary movements on the opposite side of the body. The movements are known to occur because of a failure in communication between the two sides of the nervous system. They are thought to be normal during infancy and early childhood, but usually diminish with age and disappear altogether by the age of 10, following maturation of the corpus callosum, the massive bundle of nerve fibres connecting the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
A large genetic study published online in the journal Science now shows that mirror movements are caused by a single genetic mutation. The mutation is located within a gene that encodes a well-known protein involved in guiding growing nerve fibres to their proper destination during development, and gives rise to mirror movements because the connections between the two brain hemispheres fail to form properly.
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Srour, M., Riviere, J., Pham, J., Dube, M., Girard, S., Morin, S., Dion, P., Asselin, G., Rochefort, D., Hince, P.... (2010) Mutations in DCC Cause Congenital Mirror Movements. Science, 328(5978), 592-592. DOI: 10.1126/science.1186463
- July 9, 2008
- 05:16 PM
- 1,286 views
Neuroprotective effect of lifelong mental activity
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
A new study, published today in the open access journal PLoS One, provides evidence that remaining mentally active throughout life reduces the rate of age-related neurodegeneration and may therefore stave off Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...... Read more »
Michael Valenzuela, Perminder Sachdev, Wei Wen, Xiaohua Chen, Henry Brodaty, & Olaf Sporns. (2008) Lifespan Mental Activity Predicts Diminished Rate of Hippocampal Atrophy. PLoS ONE, 3(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002598
- November 19, 2009
- 04:10 PM
- 1,283 views
The cognitive benefits of time-space synaesthesia
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
SYNAESTHESIA is a neurological condition in which there is a merging of the senses, so that activity in one sensory modality elicits sensations in another. Although first described by Francis Galton in the 1880s, little was known about this condition until recently. A rennaissance in synaesthesia research began about a decade ago; since then, three previously unrecognized forms of the condition have been described, and a possible explanation for how it arises have been put forward.
Of all the forms of this fascinating condition, the least researched is time-space synaesthesia, but two new studies provide some insight into it. One is a case study of an individual whose time-space synaesthesia has an apparently unique characteristic. The second demonstrates that time-space synaesthetes have superior cognitive abilities than non-synaesthetes, and suggests that time-space synaesthesia may underly the savant-like abilities of people with hyperthymestic (or "super-memory") syndrome.
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Jarick, M., Dixon, M., Stewart, M., Maxwell, E., & Smilek, D. (2009) A different outlook on time: Visual and auditory month names elicit different mental vantage points for a time-space synaesthete. Cortex, 45(10), 1217-1228. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2009.05.014
Simner, J., Mayo, N., & Spiller, M. (2009) A foundation for savantism? Visuo-spatial synaesthetes present with cognitive benefits. Cortex, 45(10), 1246-1260. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2009.07.007
- October 18, 2009
- 07:43 PM
- 1,275 views
Mice navigate a virtual reality environment
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
USING an inventive new method in which mice run through a virtual reality environment based on teh video game Quake, researchers from Princeton University have made the first direct measurements of the cellular activity associated with spatial navigation. The method will allow for investigations of the neural circuitry underlying navigation, and to a better understanding of how spatial information is encoded at the cellular level.
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Harvey, C., Collman, F., Dombeck, D., & Tank, D. (2009) Intracellular dynamics of hippocampal place cells during virtual navigation. Nature, 461(7266), 941-946. DOI: 10.1038/nature08499
- November 13, 2009
- 11:10 AM
- 1,268 views
Dyslexia and the Cocktail Party effect
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
IMAGINE sitting in a noisy restaurant, across the table from a friend, and having a conversation with them as you eat your meal. To communicate effectively in this situation, you have to extract the relevant information from the noise in the background, as well as from other voices. To do so, your brain somehow "tags" the predictable, repeating elements of the target signal, such as the pitch of your friend's voice, and segregates them from other signals in the surroundings, which fluctuate randomly.
The ability to focus on your friend's voice while excluding other noises is commonly referred to as the cocktail party effect. Although first described more than 50 years ago, the brain mechanisms involved are unknown. But a new study by researchers at Northwestern University now shows that activity in regions of the brainstem are modulated by specific characteristics of the speaker's voice, and that this modulation is impaired in children with dyslexia.
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Chandrasekaran, B., Hornickel, J., Skoe, E., Nicol, T., & Kraus, N. (2009) Context-Dependent Encoding in the Human Auditory Brainstem Relates to Hearing Speech in Noise: Implications for Developmental Dyslexia. Neuron, 64(3), 311-319. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.10.006
- January 21, 2010
- 11:50 AM
- 1,265 views
Single cells in the monkey brain encode abstract mathematical concepts
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
OUR ability to use and manipulate numbers is integral to everyday life - we use them to label, rank, count and measure almost everything we encounter. It was long thought that numerical competence is dependent on language and, therefore, that numerosity is restricted to our species. Although the symbolic representation of numbers, using numerals and words, is indeed unique to humans, we now know that animals are also capable of manipulating numerical information.
One study published in 1998, for example, showed that rhesus monkeys can form spontaneous representations of small numbers and use them to choose containers with more pieces of fruit. More recently, it was found that monkeys can perform basic arithmetic on a par with college students. Now, German researchers report that not only do rhesus monkeys understand simple mathematical rules, but also that these rules are encoded by single neurons in the rhesus prefrontal.
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Bongard, S., & Nieder, A. (2010) Basic mathematical rules are encoded by primate prefrontal cortex neurons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0909180107
- July 31, 2010
- 12:35 PM
- 1,257 views
Motor imagery enhances object recognition
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
THOUGHTS and actions are intimately linked, and the mere thought of an action is much like actually performing it. The brain prepares for an action by generating a motor simulation of it, praticising its execution of the movements by going through the motions invisibly. Seeing a manipulable object such as a tool, for example, automatically triggers a simulation of using it - a mental image of reaching out and grasping it with the hand that is nearest to the handle.
Motor simulations and movements are known to influence thought processes. Magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex influences the processing of words related to arm and leg action, whereas polonged movements in one direction slow the comprehension of sentences related to movements in the other. Psychologist Jessica Witt of the Action-Modulated Perception Laboratory at Purdue University and her colleagues now provide further evidence of this link - in a study published online in the journal Psychological Science, they show that motor simulations may enhance the recognition of tools.
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Witt, J.K., et al. (2010) A Functional Role for Motor Simulation in Identifying Tools. Psychological Sci. PMID: 20639402
- May 10, 2011
- 03:10 PM
- 1,256 views
Sleepy brain waves predict dream recall
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
THE patterns of brain waves that occur during sleep can predict the likelihood that dreams will be successfully recalled upon waking up, according to a new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience. The research provides the first evidence of a 'signature' pattern of brain activity associated with dream recall. It also provides further insight into the brain mechanisms underlying dreaming, and into the relationship between our dreams and our memories.
Cristina Marzano of the Sleep Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of Rome and her colleagues recruited 65 students, selected on the basis of their sleeping habits. All of them had a regular sleep 'routine', going to bed at around the same time, and sleeping for an average of seven-and-a-half hours, every night. For the study, the participants slept for two consecutive nights in a sound-proof, temperature-controlled room in the lab. They were left to sleep uninterrupted on the first night, so that they would get accustomed to the new surroundings.
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Marzano, C., Ferrara, M., Mauro, F., Moroni, F., Gorgoni, M., Tempesta, D., Cipolli, C., & De Gennaro, L. (2011) Recalling and Forgetting Dreams: Theta and Alpha Oscillations during Sleep Predict Subsequent Dream Recall. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(18), 6674-6683. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0412-11.2011
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