Neuroscience posts
- March 20, 2016
- 08:06 AM
- 420 views
A Detached Sense of Self Associated with Altered Neural Responses to Mirror Touch
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
Our bodily sense of self contributes to our personal feelings of awareness as a conscious being. How we see our bodies and move through space and feel touched by loved ones are integral parts of our identity. What happens when this sense of self breaks down? One form of dissolution is Depersonalization Disorder (DPD).1 Individuals with DPD feel estranged or disconnected from themselves, as if their bodies belong to someone else, and “they” are merely a detached observer. Or the self feel........ Read more »
Adler, J., Schabinger, N., Michal, M., Beutel, M., & Gillmeister, H. (2016) Is that me in the mirror? Depersonalisation modulates tactile mirroring mechanisms. Neuropsychologia. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.03.009
Lenggenhager, B., Pazzaglia, M., Scivoletto, G., Molinari, M., & Aglioti, S. (2012) The Sense of the Body in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury. PLoS ONE, 7(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0050757
- March 19, 2016
- 11:36 PM
- 429 views
The amygdala: Beyond fear
by neurosci in Neuroscientifically Challenged
THE AMYGDALA SHOWN ALONG WITH OTHER LIMBIC SYSTEM STRUCTURES.
The amygdala---or, more appropriately, amygdalae, as there is one in each cerebral hemisphere---was not recognized as a distinct brain region until the 1800s, and it wasn't until the middle of the twentieth century that it began to be considered an especially significant area in mediating emotional responses. Specifics about the role of the amygdala in emotion remained somewhat unclear, however, ........ Read more »
LeDoux, Joseph. (2007) The Amygdala. Current Biology. info:/
- March 19, 2016
- 03:01 PM
- 285 views
Forgetting, to learn
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
They say that once you’ve learned to ride a bicycle, you never forget how to do it. Unfortunately for students who hope this applies to studying, they might not like new research suggesting that while learning, the brain is actively trying to forget. While this may at first blush seem like a bad thing, it actually may be useful for those suffering from PTSD.
... Read more »
Madroñal, N., Delgado-García, J., Fernández-Guizán, A., Chatterjee, J., Köhn, M., Mattucci, C., Jain, A., Tsetsenis, T., Illarionova, A., Grinevich, V.... (2016) Rapid erasure of hippocampal memory following inhibition of dentate gyrus granule cells. Nature Communications, 10923. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10923
- March 17, 2016
- 04:43 PM
- 442 views
Psychologists Throw Open The "File Drawer"
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
The 'file drawer problem' refers to the fact that in science, many results remain unpublished - especially negative ones. This is a problem because it produces publication bias.
Now, a group of Belgian psychology researchers have decided to make a stand. In a bold move against publication bias, they've thrown open their own file drawer. In the new paper, Anthony Lane and colleagues of Leuven say that they've realized that over the years, "our publication portfolio has become less and less... Read more »
Anthony Lane, Olivier Luminet, Gideon Nave and Moïra Mikolajczak. (2016) Is there a publication bias in behavioral intranasal oxytocin research on humans? Opening the file drawer of one lab. Journal of Neuroendocrinology. info:/
- March 17, 2016
- 03:47 PM
- 437 views
Preventing Alzheimer’s, with an implant
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Alzheimer's has been a losing battle, sure we can fight back with drugs, but that still just prolongs the inevitable. With that said we can all hope this research pans out, to something meaningful. In a cutting-edge treatment for Alzheimer's disease, EPFL scientists have developed an implantable capsule that can turn the patient's immune system against the disease. Even better, the implant is subdural, not intracranial.
... Read more »
Lathuilière, A., Laversenne, V., Astolfo, A., Kopetzki, E., Jacobsen, H., Stampanoni, M., Bohrmann, B., Schneider, B., & Aebischer, P. (2016) A subcutaneous cellular implant for passive immunization against amyloid-β reduces brain amyloid and tau pathologies. Brain. DOI: 10.1093/brain/aww036
- March 16, 2016
- 09:59 AM
- 429 views
An open letter to all science lovers who want to defend science ... please don't.
Last week I had an animated discussion on Facebook over an older post in which I describe some literature I dug out on possible (underline “possible”!) correlations with autism. True, my post is highly incomplete, but it was meant as a discussion starter to point at things that scientists have been looking at in an attempt to unravel what feels like a rise in autism. Is autism the new childhood plague of our modern society or has it always been around and we just became more aware of it? And........ Read more »
Kushak RI, Buie TM, Murray KF, Newburg DS, Chen C, Nestoridi E, & Winter HS. (2016) Evaluation of Intestinal Function in Children with Autism and Gastrointestinal Symptoms. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition. PMID: 26913756
Li, Q., & Zhou, J. (2016) The microbiota–gut–brain axis and its potential therapeutic role in autism spectrum disorder. Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.03.013
Heijtz, R., Wang, S., Anuar, F., Qian, Y., Bjorkholm, B., Samuelsson, A., Hibberd, M., Forssberg, H., & Pettersson, S. (2011) Normal gut microbiota modulates brain development and behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 3047-3052. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1010529108
Mulle, J., Sharp, W., & Cubells, J. (2013) The Gut Microbiome: A New Frontier in Autism Research. Current Psychiatry Reports, 15(2). DOI: 10.1007/s11920-012-0337-0
- March 15, 2016
- 03:44 PM
- 359 views
Where aging memories get stored in the brain
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Think back to when you were a child. Now instead, try to think of something that happened just a few minutes ago; would you believe that you are using different portions of the brain? When we remember events which occurred recently, the hippocampus is activated. This area in the temporal lobe of the brain is a hub for learning and memory. But what happens, if we try to remember things that took place years or decades ago?
... Read more »
Lux, V., Atucha, E., Kitsukawa, T., & Sauvage, M. (2016) Imaging a memory trace over half a life-time in the medial temporal lobe reveals a time-limited role of CA3 neurons in retrieval. eLife. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.11862
- March 14, 2016
- 02:19 PM
- 343 views
Decrypting a collagen’s role in schizophrenia
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
What would be worse than having bad joints? How about schizophrenia and bad joints? To be fair that isn’t what is suggested, but they may, in fact, be linked. A small peptide generated from a collagen protein may protect the brain from schizophrenia by promoting the formation of neuronal synapses and study may lead to new approaches to treating the mental disorder.
... Read more »
Su, J., Chen, J., Lippold, K., Monavarfeshani, A., Carrillo, G., Jenkins, R., & Fox, M. (2016) Collagen-derived matricryptins promote inhibitory nerve terminal formation in the developing neocortex. The Journal of Cell Biology, 212(6), 721-736. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201509085
- March 14, 2016
- 02:19 PM
- 248 views
Decrypting a collagen’s role in schizophrenia
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
What would be worse than having bad joints? How about schizophrenia and bad joints? To be fair that isn’t what is suggested, but they may, in fact, be linked. A small peptide generated from a collagen protein may protect the brain from schizophrenia by promoting the formation of neuronal synapses and study may lead to […]... Read more »
Su, J., Chen, J., Lippold, K., Monavarfeshani, A., Carrillo, G., Jenkins, R., & Fox, M. (2016) Collagen-derived matricryptins promote inhibitory nerve terminal formation in the developing neocortex. The Journal of Cell Biology, 212(6), 721-736. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201509085
- March 14, 2016
- 09:53 AM
- 457 views
When Brain Waves Go Traveling
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
In July last year I asked, Could Traveling Waves Upset Cognitive Neuroscience? This was a post about a paper from David Alexander et al. arguing that neuroscience was overlooking the importance of how neural activity moves or travels through the brain.
Now Alexander et al. are back with a new PLoS ONE paper in which they describe traveling waves in human brain activity, as measured with magnetoencephalography (MEG). The authors scanned 20 volunteers during a visual and auditory task.
A... Read more »
Alexander DM, Nikolaev AR, Jurica P, Zvyagintsev M, Mathiak K, & van Leeuwen C. (2016) Global Neuromagnetic Cortical Fields Have Non-Zero Velocity. PloS one, 11(3). PMID: 26953886
- March 13, 2016
- 03:40 PM
- 375 views
New learning procedure for neural networks
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Rustling leaves, a creaking branch: To a mouse, these sensory impressions may, at first, seem harmless — but not if a cat suddenly bursts out of the bush. If so, they were clues of impending life-threatening danger. Researcher Robert Gütig has now found how the brain can link sensory perceptions to events occurring after a delay.
... Read more »
Gutig, R. (2016) Spiking neurons can discover predictive features by aggregate-label learning. Science, 351(6277). DOI: 10.1126/science.aab4113
- March 12, 2016
- 03:08 PM
- 366 views
People with anxiety show fundamental differences in perception
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
People suffering from anxiety perceive the world in a fundamentally different way than others, according to a new study. The research may help explain why certain people are more prone to anxiety. The study shows that people diagnosed with anxiety are less able to distinguish between a neutral, “safe” stimulus (in this case, the sound of a tone) and one that had earlier been associated with gaining or losing money.
... Read more »
Laufer, O., Israeli, D., & Paz, R. (2016) Behavioral and Neural Mechanisms of Overgeneralization in Anxiety. Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.01.023
- March 11, 2016
- 02:17 PM
- 353 views
Finding the circuit for experience-informed decision-making
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
How is the brain able to use past experiences to guide decision-making? A few years ago, researchers discovered in rats that awake mental replay of past experiences is critical for learning and making informed choices. Now, the team has discovered key secrets of the underlying brain circuitry — including a unique system that encodes location during inactive periods.
... Read more »
Kay, K., Sosa, M., Chung, J., Karlsson, M., Larkin, M., & Frank, L. (2016) A hippocampal network for spatial coding during immobility and sleep. Nature, 531(7593), 185-190. DOI: 10.1038/nature17144
- March 11, 2016
- 02:04 AM
- 338 views
Science shows part of brain having an important role in violence
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main Point:
Violence and aggression is found to be related to a component of hypothalamus in the brain.
Published in:
Nature Neuroscience
Study Further:
In a number of experiments performed by researchers at New York University, researchers found that premeditated violence – bullying, stalking, and possibly sexual aggression – in mice model (and probably in human beings) develops in a particular area of the brain known as the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypo........ Read more »
Falkner, A., Grosenick, L., Davidson, T., Deisseroth, K., & Lin, D. (2016) Hypothalamic control of male aggression-seeking behavior. Nature Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1038/nn.4264
- March 10, 2016
- 02:50 PM
- 419 views
Alzheimer’s on and now Alzheimer’s off?
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Alzheimer's disease, is anything more frustrating than seeing someone -- who otherwise looks healthy -- start to forget who you are? Worse than that, we don't know exactly what causes Alzheimer's disease, or how to stop it. Well actually that might be changing. Don't get too excited, because we've had false starts before, but an international group of scientists have succeeded in sorting out the mechanism of Alzheimer's disease development and possibly distinguished its key trigger.
... Read more »
Istrate, A., Kozin, S., Zhokhov, S., Mantsyzov, A., Kechko, O., Pastore, A., Makarov, A., & Polshakov, V. (2016) Interplay of histidine residues of the Alzheimer’s disease Aβ peptide governs its Zn-induced oligomerization. Scientific Reports, 21734. DOI: 10.1038/srep21734
- March 9, 2016
- 02:36 PM
- 377 views
Want a younger brain? Stay in school — and take the stairs
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Taking the stairs is normally associated with keeping your body strong and healthy. But new research shows that it improves your brain’s health too — and that education also has a positive effect. Researchers found that the more flights of stairs a person climbs, and the more years of school a person completes, the “younger” their brain physically appears.
... Read more »
Steffener, J., Habeck, C., O'Shea, D., Razlighi, Q., Bherer, L., & Stern, Y. (2016) Differences between chronological and brain age are related to education and self-reported physical activity. Neurobiology of Aging, 138-144. DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2016.01.014
- March 6, 2016
- 11:51 PM
- 376 views
From evolutionary morphology to Godzilla
by adam phillips in It Ain't Magic
I recently spoke with Chief Scientist Shigeru Kuratani about evolutionary morphology, sci-fi monsters, the genius of Alien, and more.... Read more »
Sugahara, F., Pascual-Anaya, J., Oisi, Y., Kuraku, S., Aota, S., Adachi, N., Takagi, W., Hirai, T., Sato, N., Murakami, Y.... (2016) Evidence from cyclostomes for complex regionalization of the ancestral vertebrate brain. Nature, 531(7592), 97-100. DOI: 10.1038/nature16518
- March 6, 2016
- 07:46 AM
- 479 views
No, We Can't "Upload Knowledge To Your Brain"
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
According to a spectacularly misleading article in the Telegraph: Scientists discover how to 'upload knowledge to your brain'
Feeding knowledge directly into your brain, just like in sci-fi classic The Matrix, could soon take as much effort as falling asleep, scientists believe. Researchers claim to have developed a simulator which can feed information directly into a person’s brain and teach them new skills in a shorter amount of time...
Researchers from HRL Laboratories, based in Cali... Read more »
Choe J, Coffman BA, Bergstedt DT, Ziegler MD, & Phillips ME. (2016) Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Neuronal Activity and Learning in Pilot Training. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 34. PMID: 26903841
- March 5, 2016
- 04:21 PM
- 449 views
Brain connectivity reveals your hidden motivations
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
To understand human behaviors, it is crucial to understand the motives behind them. So far, there was no direct way to identify motives. Simply observing behavior or eliciting explanations from individuals for their actions will not give reliable results as motives are considered to be private and people can be unwilling to unveil - or even be unaware of - their own motives.
... Read more »
Hein G, Morishima Y, Leiberg S, Sul S, & Fehr E. (2016) The brain's functional network architecture reveals human motives. Science, 351(6277), 1074-8. PMID: 26941317
- March 5, 2016
- 11:15 AM
- 328 views
Een aap met maatgevoel? [Dutch]
by Henkjan Honing in Music Matters
Hieronder een videoimpressie van de Diesrede uitgesproken tijdens de 384ste Dies Natalis van de Universiteit van Amsterdam met de titel ‘Een aap met maatgevoel’. In die lezing beschrijf ik wat muzikaliteit is of kan zijn, maar ook in hoeverre we muzikaliteit delen met andere dieren, om er zo achter te komen of muzikaliteit een biologische basis heeft. Lang niet alle wetenschappers zijn het daar over eens.... Read more »
Wilson, M., & Cook, P. (2016) Rhythmic entrainment: Why humans want to, fireflies can’t help it, pet birds try, and sea lions have to be bribed. Psychonomic Bulletin . DOI: 10.3758/s13423-016-1013-x
Merchant, H., & Honing, H. (2014) Are non-human primates capable of rhythmic entrainment? Evidence for the gradual audiomotor evolution hypothesis. Frontiers in Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2013.00274
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