Neuroscience posts
- September 15, 2010
- 03:48 AM
- 480 views
Another step to understanding self
by Janet Kwasniak in Thoughts on thoughts
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }
An open question in neuroscience is “How is the self, the ‘I’ constructed?” The more it is examined, the less simple the idea of the self becomes. There is more than one self for different purposes and the limits of these selves are variable depending on the circumstances. We do not [...]... Read more »
Menzer, F., Brooks, A., Halje, P., Faller, C., Vetterli, M., & Blanke, O. (2010) Feeling in control of your footsteps: Conscious gait monitoring and the auditory consequences of footsteps. Cognitive Neuroscience, 1(3), 184-192. DOI: 10.1080/17588921003743581
- September 14, 2010
- 04:46 PM
- 1,212 views
The Neurocircuitry of Anorexia Nervosa
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Walter Kaye, M.D., Director of the Eating Disorders Treatment and Research Program at the University of California, San Diego presented a Frontiers in Neuroscience lecture on September, 14, 2010. The presentation was titled: “ Is anorexia nervosa an eating disorder? New insights into puzzling symptoms”. The presentation highlighted some his recent research that has been summarized in the manuscript cited at the end of this blog post.Dr. Kaye noted that eating disorder........ Read more »
Kaye WH, Fudge JL, & Paulus M. (2009) New insights into symptoms and neurocircuit function of anorexia nervosa. Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 10(8), 573-84. PMID: 19603056
- September 14, 2010
- 11:06 AM
- 533 views
Stopping Antidepressants: Not So Fast
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
People who quit antidepressants slowly, by gradually decreasing the dose, are much less likely to suffer a relapse, according to Baldessarini et al. in the American Journal of Psychiatry.They describe a large sample (400) of patients from Sardinia, Italy, who had responded well to antidepressants, and then stopped taking them. The antidepressants had been prescribed for either depression, or panic attacks.People who quit suddenly (over 1-7 days) were more likely to relapse, and relapsed sooner, ........ Read more »
Baldessarini RJ, Tondo L, Ghiani C, & Lepri B. (2010) Illness risk following rapid versus gradual discontinuation of antidepressants. The American journal of psychiatry, 167(8), 934-41. PMID: 20478876
- September 14, 2010
- 09:11 AM
- 702 views
Predicting new molecular targets for known drugs, Pharm 551A: Keiser et al., 2009
by JUNIORPROF in JUNIORPROF
On the agenda today is a fascinating paper titled: predicting new molecular targets for known drugs, Keiser et al., Nature 2009 [PMC]. This is one of my favorite papers of the past two years. I have to admit that it … Continue reading →... Read more »
Keiser, M., Setola, V., Irwin, J., Laggner, C., Abbas, A., Hufeisen, S., Jensen, N., Kuijer, M., Matos, R., Tran, T.... (2009) Predicting new molecular targets for known drugs. Nature, 462(7270), 175-181. DOI: 10.1038/nature08506
- September 14, 2010
- 09:09 AM
- 902 views
Rapid behavior-based identification of neuroactive small molecules in the zebrafish, Pharm 551A: Kokel et al., 2010
by JUNIORPROF in JUNIORPROF
Today’s paper is a continuation of our discussion on screening compounds for drug discovery: Kokel et al, 2010 Rapid behavior-based identification of neuroactive small molecules in the zebrafish, Nature Chemical Biology [PMC]. Having just returned from the IASP meeting in … Continue reading →... Read more »
Kokel, D., Bryan, J., Laggner, C., White, R., Cheung, C., Mateus, R., Healey, D., Kim, S., Werdich, A., Haggarty, S.... (2010) Rapid behavior-based identification of neuroactive small molecules in the zebrafish. Nature Chemical Biology, 6(3), 231-237. DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.307
- September 13, 2010
- 10:35 PM
- 868 views
The wandering male versus female brain
There has certainly been a good amount of recent controversy over the science of sex differences and the brain. Pop-science books such as The Male Brain and The Female Brain that emphasize (and probably exaggerate) sex differences have drawn major criticism. A couple of new books expose flaws in the stereotypical 'men think about sex every 5 seconds because they are programmed to' theory and related ideologies.The above figure summarizes the well-accepted theory of male versus female brain funct........ Read more »
Weissman-Fogel I, Moayedi M, Taylor KS, Pope G, & Davis KD. (2010) Cognitive and default-mode resting state networks: Do male and female brains "rest" differently?. Human brain mapping. PMID: 20725910
- September 13, 2010
- 10:05 PM
- 1,290 views
Using eyetracking to investigate language comprehension in autism
by Jon Brock in Cracking the Enigma
In her classic book, Autism: Explaining the Enigma, Uta Frith coined the term 'weak central coherence' to describe the tendency of people with autism to focus on details at the expense of pulling together different sources of information and seeing the big picture. Frith described this as the "red thread" running through many of the symptoms of autism, including both the difficulties with social interaction and the strengths in attention to detail.
Frith argued that the ability to pull togeth........ Read more »
Jon Brock, Courtenay Frazier Norbury, Shiri Einav, & Kate Nation. (2008) Do individuals with autism process words in context? Evidence from language-mediated eye-movements. Cognition. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.06.007
- September 13, 2010
- 04:00 PM
- 672 views
Whiplash, Compensation and Recovery
by Lorimer Moseley in BodyInMind
When you hurt your neck in a car accident, what are the chances that you will get better? Well, Michele Sterling’s research team has put aside its Jacaranda Gazing and Cane Toad Stomping, to gather some really helpful information on this. What is more, Sterlo has been so kind as to squeeze another nanosecond out [...]... Read more »
Sterling M, Hendrikz J, & Kenardy J. (2010) Compensation claim lodgement and health outcome developmental trajectories following whiplash injury: A prospective study. Pain. PMID: 20307934
- September 13, 2010
- 11:41 AM
- 852 views
Late-Life Alcohol Consumption and Mortality Risk
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
A recent study from Dr. Charles Holahan and colleagues has been posted on the new articles section of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. This study examined the role of alcohol consumption and mortality in a group of men and women between the ages of 55 and 65 followed for twenty years. The media highlighted this study often headlining that heavy drinking was linked lower mortality rates than being abstinent from alcohol. This study deserves further analysis and co........ Read more »
Holahan CJ, Schutte KK, Brennan PL, Holahan CK, Moos BS, & Moos RH. (2010) Late-Life Alcohol Consumption and 20-Year Mortality. Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research. PMID: 20735372
- September 13, 2010
- 10:52 AM
- 593 views
Shotgun Psychiatry
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
There's a paradox at the heart of modern psychiatry, according to an important new paper by Dr Charles E. Dean, Psychopharmacology: A house divided.It's a long and slightly rambling article, but Dean's central point is pretty simple. The medical/biological model of psychiatry assumes that there are such things as psychiatric diseases. Something biological goes wrong, presumably in the brain, and this causes certain symptoms. Different pathologies cause different symptoms - in other words, there ........ Read more »
Dean CE. (2010) Psychopharmacology: A house divided. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology . PMID: 20828593
- September 13, 2010
- 08:00 AM
- 1,137 views
Want to be immune to deadly poison? It’ll cost you
by Zen Faulkes in NeuroDojo
This animal could kill seven people.
No wonder it looks a little smug.
That newt “Sure, you might try and eat me, but when your brain stops, I’ll have the last laugh, sucker.”
And that newt wouldn’t be kidding.
Some rough skinned newts (Taricha granulosa) have something in common with poison dart frogs, blue-ringed octopus, and pufferfish. They all contain within them a poison called tetrodotoxin.
Tetrodotoxin is a neurotoxin that stops neurons from initiating action potentials. I........ Read more »
Lee C, Jones D, Ahern C, Sarhan M, & Ruben P. (2010) Biophysical costs associated with tetrodotoxin resistance in the sodium channel pore of the garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis. Journal of Comparative Physiology A. DOI: 10.1007/s00359-010-0582-9
- September 12, 2010
- 09:33 AM
- 599 views
You're (Brain Is) So Immature
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
How mature are you? Have you ever wanted to find out, with a 5 minute brain scan? Of course you have. And now you can, thanks to a new Science paper, Prediction of Individual Brain Maturity Using fMRI.This is another clever application of the support vector machine (SVM) method, which I've written about previously, most recently regarding "the brain scan to diagnose autism". An SVM is a machine learning algorithm: give it a bunch of data, and it'll find patterns in it.In this case, the input dat........ Read more »
Dosenbach NU, Nardos B, Cohen AL, Fair DA, Power JD, Church JA, Nelson SM, Wig GS, Vogel AC, Lessov-Schlaggar CN.... (2010) Prediction of individual brain maturity using fMRI. Science (New York, N.Y.), 329(5997), 1358-61. PMID: 20829489
- September 11, 2010
- 09:29 PM
- 333 views
Neuro Brain Thermodynamics
by Mike in Brain Stimulant
The brain is a metabolically expensive organ that uses quite a bit of energy. It's no surprise that it also generates a decent amount of heat during this energy usage process. A new paper has come out that poses and answers the question as to whether there is a thermodynamic limit to brain size (evolutionary wise). The author is basically asking how big can a brain get before it becomes too hot to function properly? What sort of constraints does evolution have in constructing a bigger brain,........ Read more »
Karbowski, J. (2009) Thermodynamic constraints on neural dimensions, firing rates, brain temperature and size. Journal of Computational Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1007/s10827-009-0153-7
- September 10, 2010
- 05:16 PM
- 707 views
fMRI, BOLD and the Beautiful
by amiya in Physiology physics woven fine
When we want to examine the brain of a person noninvasively by Computed Tomography (CT) or MRI, we get a ‘snapshot’ of the anatomy (or pathology, if any) of the subject’s brain. We are however clueless as to its functional aspect. fMRI or Functional Magnetic Resonant Imaging allows us to do just that. The difference is not unlike a ‘still picture’ versus a ‘video of a moving train’. PET scans, previously described, also can asses the functional state of the brain.Whenever we do a t........ Read more »
Gore, J. (2003) Principles and practice of functional MRI of the human brain. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 112(1), 4-9. DOI: 10.1172/JCI200319010
- September 10, 2010
- 10:00 AM
- 1,444 views
More acupuncture quackademic medicine infiltrates PLoS ONE
by Orac in Respectful Insolence
I hate to do this to Bora again. I really do. I'm also getting tired of blogging all these crappy acupuncture studies. I really am. However, sometimes a skeptic's gotta do what a skeptic's gotta do, and this is one of those times.
As you may recall, a mere week ago I was disturbed to have discovered the publication of a truly horrifically bad acupuncture study in PLoS ONE. It had all the hallmarks of quackademic medicine: an implausible hypothesis, trying to correlate mystical concepts of merid........ Read more »
Quah-Smith, I., Sachdev, P., Wen, W., Chen, X., & Williams, M. (2010) The Brain Effects of Laser Acupuncture in Healthy Individuals: An fMRI Investigation. PLoS ONE, 5(9). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012619
- September 10, 2010
- 04:09 AM
- 589 views
The neuroscience of creativity and insight
by William Lu in The Quantum Lobe Chronicles
Have you ever wondered what was going on in your noggin when on that rare occasion you had an "aha!" moment or found yourself in a creative flow state, where even your screaming girlfriend couldn't snap you out of? Well Dietrich and Kanso over at the American University of Beirut seem to have mapped out the phenomena for us nicely. However, it's not quite as simple as you think. In their review paper published in this months Psychological Bulletin, they cover three broad categories relate........ Read more »
Takeshi K, Nemoto T, Fumoto M, Arita H, & Mizuno M. (2010) Reduced prefrontal cortex activation during divergent thinking in schizophrenia: A multi-channel NIRS study. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology . PMID: 20673784
- September 9, 2010
- 10:36 AM
- 1,084 views
Vitamin B and Brain Atrophy in Alzheimer's Disease
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Disclosure: I am not a big supporter of vitamin therapy for clinical neuroscience disorders. Of my previous 131posts, I have only referenced on study related to vitamin therapy---that was a study that found no improvement in treating dementia with vitamin E. Nevertheless, today's post focusses on a new study of B vitamins in mild cognitive impairment. I ran across a randomized controlled trial using B vitamins in a controlled study of brain atrophy (Hat tip to BBC news). ........ Read more »
Smith, A., Smith, S., de Jager, C., Whitbread, P., Johnston, C., Agacinski, G., Oulhaj, A., Bradley, K., Jacoby, R., & Refsum, H. (2010) Homocysteine-Lowering by B Vitamins Slows the Rate of Accelerated Brain Atrophy in Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Trial. PLoS ONE, 5(9). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012244
- September 9, 2010
- 08:00 AM
- 1,381 views
World Congress on Pain throws up a few gems
by Lorimer Moseley in BodyInMind
I have just been in Montreal for the World Congress on Pain – numerous presentations and about 1600 posters. It is the posters I really like – can be intimidating but there are always a few gems. Here is some preliminary work that I thought was interesting and which is relevant to work that our [...]... Read more »
Van Damme S, Gallace A, Spence C, Crombez G, & Moseley GL. (2009) Does the sight of physical threat induce a tactile processing bias? Modality-specific attentional facilitation induced by viewing threatening pictures. Brain research, 100-6. PMID: 19094970
- September 9, 2010
- 08:00 AM
- 2,229 views
Eating your own brain: Ocean of Pseudoscience repost
by Zen Faulkes in NeuroDojo
Southern Fried Scientist decided to feature a week of surreal science related to the oceans. I take this opportunity to be a lazy blogger and repost this piece (slightly rewritten) from May 2008.
Adult sea squirts (also known as tunicates or ascidians) are sessile animals. As adults, they really don't move. But if anyone has heard about sea squirts, they’ve probably hear that little sea squirts start life as smart little tadpoles, searching this way and that for a place to land. Once they’v........ Read more »
Mackie GO, & Burighel P. (2005) The nervous system in adult tunicates: current research directions. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 83(1), 151-183. DOI: 10.1139/z04-177
Meinertzhagen IA, & Okamura Y. (2001) The larval ascidian nervous system: the chordate brain from its small beginnings . Trends in Neurosciences, 24(7), 401-410. DOI: 10.1016/S0166-2236(00)01851-8
- September 9, 2010
- 04:22 AM
- 1,274 views
Lamme model - less emphasis on introspection
by Janet Kwasniak in Thoughts on thoughts
According to Victor Lamme, the reason that the study of consciousness is so difficult is that it gives priority to introspection and behaviour so, as a result, we are fooled into thinking that we know what we are conscious of. By adding evidence from neuroscience into the mix, he hopes to [...]... Read more »
Lamme, V. (2010) How neuroscience will change our view on consciousness. Cognitive Neuroscience, 1(3), 204-220. DOI: 10.1080/17588921003731586
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
