All posts; Tags Include "Cognitive Neuroscience"
- November 29, 2014
- 09:12 AM
- 360 views
Flavanols for brain health
by neurosci in Neuroscientifically Challenged
Some degree of memory decline as we get older is an inevitability that many of us dread. Over the years, countless potential treatments have emerged to mitigate the effects of age-related memory loss; some have been the result of legitimate research efforts, many more have not. Regardless of their origins, very few have stood the test of time.A recent addition to that list of potential memory-enhancing treatments is the intake of a class of compounds called flavanols. Flavanols are naturally-occ........ Read more »
Brickman, A., Khan, U., Provenzano, F., Yeung, L., Suzuki, W., Schroeter, H., Wall, M., Sloan, R., & Small, S. (2014) Enhancing dentate gyrus function with dietary flavanols improves cognition in older adults. Nature Neuroscience, 17(12), 1798-1803. DOI: 10.1038/nn.3850
- November 27, 2014
- 07:37 PM
- 324 views
Does hot cocoa delay brain aging?
by Shelly Fan in Neurorexia
Image credits: downloaded from http://www.wallpapermania.eu/, artist unknown. One of the most enjoyable things about the holidays is curling up with a good book and a cup of...... Read more »
Brickman AM, Khan UA, Provenzano FA, Yeung LK, Suzuki W, Schroeter H, Wall M, Sloan RP, & Small SA. (2014) Enhancing dentate gyrus function with dietary flavanols improves cognition in older adults. Nature neuroscience, 17(12), 1798-803. PMID: 25344629
- November 5, 2014
- 12:19 PM
- 314 views
Anorexia Nervosa as a Disorder of Perception
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
A key feature in anorexia nervosa is the disturbance in perception of the body.This perceptual disturbance is encapsulated in criteria 3 from DSM-5: "Disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low weight" Santino Guadio from Italy and colleagues recently published a nice summary of the support for body image disturbance in anorexia nervosa. This study focused ........ Read more »
Gaudio S, Brooks SJ, & Riva G. (2014) Nonvisual multisensory impairment of body perception in anorexia nervosa: a systematic review of neuropsychological studies. PloS one, 9(10). PMID: 25303480
- November 4, 2014
- 10:52 AM
- 374 views
Anorexia Nervosa: Fasting and Starvation Brain Effects
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Brain research in anorexia nervosa presents several challenges.Current knowledge of cognitive function in anorexia supports impairment in set shifting and global brain processing or central coherence.However, there are two issues that complicate understanding the underlying brain effects in anorexia nervosa.First, individuals with anorexia nervosa often have additional anxiety and mood disorders. It can be difficult to tease out the specific effects of anorexia nervosa from the effects of these ........ Read more »
Pender, S., Gilbert, S., & Serpell, L. (2014) The Neuropsychology of Starvation: Set-Shifting and Central Coherence in a Fasted Nonclinical Sample. PLoS ONE, 9(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110743
Billingsley-Marshall RL, Basso MR, Lund BC, Hernandez ER, Johnson CL, Drevets WC, McKee PA, & Yates WR. (2013) Executive function in eating disorders: the role of state anxiety. The International journal of eating disorders, 46(4), 316-21. PMID: 23354876
- October 27, 2014
- 11:10 AM
- 370 views
Brain Imaging In Alcoholic Brain Thiamine Deficiency
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Chronic consumption of large quantities of alcohol can produce severe deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1).This can precipitate an acute brain failure known as Wernicke's encephalopathy. Wernicke's encephalopathy is characterized by sudden onset of mental status changes, eye muscle impairment and disturbed gait or ataxia.Other illnesses can also produce this level of severe thiamine deficiency. A partial list of these non-alcoholism causes for thiamine deficiency with encephalopathy includes........ Read more »
Manzo G, De Gennaro A, Cozzolino A, Serino A, Fenza G, & Manto A. (2014) MR imaging findings in alcoholic and nonalcoholic acute Wernicke's encephalopathy: a review. BioMed research international, 503596. PMID: 25050351
- October 26, 2014
- 10:18 PM
- 407 views
Using neuroimaging to expose the unconscious influences of priming
by neurosci in Neuroscientifically Challenged
In 1996, a group of researchers at NYU conducted an interesting experiment. First, they had NYU students work on unscrambling letters to form words. Unbeknownst to the students, they had been split up into three groups, and each group unscrambled letters that formed slightly different words. One group unscrambled words with a "rude" connotation like aggressively, bold, and interrupt. Another group unscrambled "polite" words like considerate, patiently, and respect. And the third group unscramble........ Read more »
Schacter, D., Wig, G., & Stevens, W. (2007) Reductions in cortical activity during priming. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 17(2), 171-176. DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2007.02.001
- October 15, 2014
- 04:36 AM
- 434 views
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Mid-Cingulate Cortex
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
What happens in the brain during a highly immersive reading experience? According to the fiction feeling hypothesis (Jacobs, 2014), narratives with highly emotional content cause a deeper sense of immersion by engaging the affective empathy network to a greater extent than neutral narratives. Emotional empathy – in this case, the ability to identify with a fictional character via grounded metarepresentations of ‘global emotional moments’ (Hsu et al., 2014) – relies on a number of b........ Read more »
Hsu CT, Conrad M, & Jacobs AM. (2014) Fiction feelings in Harry Potter: haemodynamic response in the mid-cingulate cortex correlates with immersive reading experience. Neuroreport. PMID: 25304498
- October 9, 2014
- 08:06 PM
- 401 views
Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Mental Health – What Does it Take ?
by Vivek Misra in The UberBrain
“These are ways of treating illness that have developed outside the mainstream of modern medicine.” (The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2009) There is growing evidence that Complementary Therapies are being used to good effect within mental health services throughout the UK and Internationally. Many clinicians are expanding the spectrum and variety of services to be offered to patients/clients both in the hospital and in the community. In recent years complementary therapies have become inc........ Read more »
Eisenberg, D., Kessler, R., Foster, C., Norlock, F., Calkins, D., & Delbanco, T. (1993) Unconventional Medicine in the United States -- Prevalence, Costs, and Patterns of Use. New England Journal of Medicine, 328(4), 246-252. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199301283280406
Kessler, R. (2001) The Use of Complementary and Alternative Therapies to Treat Anxiety and Depression in the United States. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158(2), 289-294. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.158.2.289
Unützer J, Klap R, Sturm R, Young AS, Marmon T, Shatkin J, & Wells KB. (2000) Mental disorders and the use of alternative medicine: results from a national survey. The American journal of psychiatry, 157(11), 1851-7. PMID: 11058485
Briggs JP, & Killen J. (2013) Perspectives on complementary and alternative medicine research. JAMA, 310(7), 691-2. PMID: 23990064
- October 9, 2014
- 08:06 PM
- 26 views
Use of CAM in Mental Health – What Does it Take ?
by Vivek Misra in The UberBrain
“These are ways of treating illness that have developed outside the mainstream of modern medicine.” (The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2009) There is growing evidence that Complementary Therapies are being used to good effect within mental health services throughout the UK and Internationally. Many clinicians are expanding the spectrum and variety of services to be […]... Read more »
Eisenberg, D., Kessler, R., Foster, C., Norlock, F., Calkins, D., & Delbanco, T. (1993) Unconventional Medicine in the United States -- Prevalence, Costs, and Patterns of Use. New England Journal of Medicine, 328(4), 246-252. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199301283280406
Kessler, R. (2001) The Use of Complementary and Alternative Therapies to Treat Anxiety and Depression in the United States. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158(2), 289-294. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.158.2.289
Unützer J, Klap R, Sturm R, Young AS, Marmon T, Shatkin J, & Wells KB. (2000) Mental disorders and the use of alternative medicine: results from a national survey. The American journal of psychiatry, 157(11), 1851-7. PMID: 11058485
Briggs JP, & Killen J. (2013) Perspectives on complementary and alternative medicine research. JAMA, 310(7), 691-2. PMID: 23990064
- October 7, 2014
- 08:00 AM
- 758 views
Get Some Sleep - Your Brain Will Thank You
by Mark E. Lasbury in The 'Scope
We all know we should get more sleep, but new research is showing that it isn’t just a good idea, it preserves brain structure and function. Sleep loss affects learning, and new studies show that sleep deprivation can cause irreversible neuron loss in the locus coeruleus, and that depression associated with lack of sleep can reduce hippocampus size. In fatal familial insomnia, the prion plaques destroy the thalamus and indicate a decrease in mitochondrial function – the same type pro........ Read more »
Zhang J, Zhu Y, Zhan G, Fenik P, Panossian L, Wang MM, Reid S, Lai D, Davis JG, Baur JA.... (2014) Extended wakefulness: compromised metabolics in and degeneration of locus ceruleus neurons. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 34(12), 4418-31. PMID: 24647961
Qiao, H., An, S., Ren, W., & Ma, X. (2014) Progressive alterations of hippocampal CA3-CA1 synapses in an animal model of depression. Behavioural Brain Research. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.08.040
Prince TM, Wimmer M, Choi J, Havekes R, Aton S, & Abel T. (2014) Sleep deprivation during a specific 3-hour time window post-training impairs hippocampal synaptic plasticity and memory. Neurobiology of learning and memory, 122-30. PMID: 24380868
Tian C, Liu D, Sun QL, Chen C, Xu Y, Wang H, Xiang W, Kretzschmar HA, Li W, Chen C.... (2013) Comparative analysis of gene expression profiles between cortex and thalamus in Chinese fatal familial insomnia patients. Molecular neurobiology, 48(1), 36-48. PMID: 23430483
- October 5, 2014
- 11:45 PM
- 565 views
Models and metaphors we live by
by Artem Kaznatcheev in Evolutionary Games Group
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s Metaphors we live by is a classic, that has had a huge influence on parts of linguistics and cognitive science, and some influence — although less so, in my opinion — on philosophy. It is structured around the thought that “[m]etaphor is one of our most important tools for trying […]... Read more »
Narayanan, S. (1997) Embodiment in language understanding: Sensory-motor representations for metaphoric reasoning about event descriptions. PhD Thesis (University of California, Berkeley). info:/
- September 26, 2014
- 08:14 AM
- 494 views
Anthropomorphic Neuroscience Driven by Researchers with Large TPJs
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
For immediate release — SEPTEMBER 26, 2014Research from the UCL lab of Professor Geraint Rees has proven that the recent craze for suggesting that rats have “regrets” or show “disappointment” is solely due to the size of the left temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) in the human authors of those papers (Cullen et al., 2014). This startling breakthrough was part of a larger effort to associate every known personality trait, political attitude, and individual difference with the size of a un........ Read more »
Cullen, H., Kanai, R., Bahrami, B., & Rees, G. (2013) Individual differences in anthropomorphic attributions and human brain structure. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(9), 1276-1280. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nst109
Shabel, S., Proulx, C., Piriz, J., & Malinow, R. (2014) GABA/glutamate co-release controls habenula output and is modified by antidepressant treatment. Science, 345(6203), 1494-1498. DOI: 10.1126/science.1250469
Steiner, A., & Redish, A. (2014) Behavioral and neurophysiological correlates of regret in rat decision-making on a neuroeconomic task. Nature Neuroscience, 17(7), 995-1002. DOI: 10.1038/nn.3740
- September 18, 2014
- 11:11 AM
- 449 views
Genetics of Social Skills: Oxytocin Receptor Gene
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Social neuroscience is an emerging emphasis in the field of neuroscience research.Social cognition is the subset of cognitive functions related to social processes and includes factors such as facial recognition, social memory and ability to form friendships and other social bonds.Impairment in social cognition is a known feature in autism, schizophrenia and other mental disorders. This type of impairment can produce significant problems in life adjustment, employment and human attachment.Geneti........ Read more »
Skuse DH, Lori A, Cubells JF, Lee I, Conneely KN, Puura K, Lehtimäki T, Binder EB, & Young LJ. (2014) Common polymorphism in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is associated with human social recognition skills. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(5), 1987-92. PMID: 24367110
- September 16, 2014
- 11:01 AM
- 394 views
Cannabis-induced Paranoia: Cognitive Mechanisms
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Some individuals appear vulnerable to paranoia induced by exposure to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in cannabis.The mechanism for this effect is poorly understood.Daniel Freeman from University of Oxford along with colleagues in England and Switzerland recently conducted an interventional research study on this issue.In this study, 121 subjects were recruited to receive injections of THC in a laboratory setting.These subjects were required to have taken cannabis at least once before participation i........ Read more »
Freeman D, Dunn G, Murray RM, Evans N, Lister R, Antley A, Slater M, Godlewska B, Cornish R, Williams J.... (2014) How Cannabis Causes Paranoia: Using the Intravenous Administration of ∆9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to Identify Key Cognitive Mechanisms Leading to Paranoia. Schizophrenia bulletin. PMID: 25031222
- September 14, 2014
- 01:00 AM
- 503 views
Telepathy is Almost Here
by Viputheshwar Sitaraman in Draw Science
Telepathy is under works; it's just super clunky right now. Non-invasive technology enables brain-to-brain communication by converting words into binary and from binary into pulses of light and back. [Infographic]... Read more »
Grau C, Ginhoux R, Riera A, Nguyen TL, Chauvat H, Berg M, Amengual JL, Pascual-Leone A, & Ruffini G. (2014) Conscious Brain-to-Brain Communication in Humans Using Non-Invasive Technologies. PloS one, 9(8). PMID: 25137064
- September 8, 2014
- 10:41 AM
- 436 views
Coping with Stress – Some Essential Constructs
by Vivek Misra in The UberBrain
Anxiety, insomnia, muscle tension, fatigue, high blood pressure, and anger are just some of the symptoms of stress. Stress not only affects our body, but also our behavior that can lead to social withdrawal. This presentation will explore the nature of our mind and the various factors in our lives that cause us stress. We will learn simple meditation techniques that can nourish the mind which will lead to increased focus, greater productivity, and improved relationships. ~ Pandi Gadadhara Pandi,........ Read more »
Walsh F. (2009) Human-animal bonds II: the role of pets in family systems and family therapy. Family process, 48(4), 481-99. PMID: 19930434
- September 2, 2014
- 05:39 PM
- 317 views
Supernatural believers see minds at work behind random patterns
“Theory of Mind” is the term used to describe the mental ability to put yourself inside the mind of someone else – to imagine what it is that they are thinking. Recently, there’s been some evidence that people who do not have a strong theory of mind are more likely to be atheists. For example, [Read More...]
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Riekki, T., Lindeman, M., & Raij, T. (2014) Supernatural believers attribute more intentions to random movement than skeptics: An fMRI study. Social Neuroscience, 9(4), 400-411. DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2014.906366
- September 2, 2014
- 08:00 AM
- 693 views
The Anti-Vaccine Movement Is A Preventable Disease
by Mark E. Lasbury in The 'Scope
Yet another study that attempts to make a link between vaccines and autism has been withdrawn by the publishers. Data from the CDC was re-analysed, and low and behold, a link between vaccine timing and autism was drawn, but only for African-American boys. The problems with this paper and the anti-vaccine movement in general are discussed.... Read more »
Hooker, B. (2014) Measles-mumps-rubella vaccination timing and autism among young african american boys: a reanalysis of CDC data. Translational Neurodegeneration, 3(1), 16. DOI: 10.1186/2047-9158-3-16
Tang G, Gudsnuk K, Kuo SH, Cotrina ML, Rosoklija G, Sosunov A, Sonders MS, Kanter E, Castagna C, Yamamoto A.... (2014) Loss of mTOR-Dependent Macroautophagy Causes Autistic-like Synaptic Pruning Deficits. Neuron. PMID: 25155956
- September 1, 2014
- 09:24 PM
- 433 views
The neuroscience of self-control
by neurosci in Neuroscientifically Challenged
In the 1960s, a psychologist at Stanford named Walter Mischel began a series of experiments exploring the dynamics of self-control in children. In one such experiment, Mischel gave preschoolers the choice between two outcomes, one of which was clearly preferable. For example, they were able to choose between 2 marshmallows and 1 marshmallow (the experiments became known as the Stanford marshmallow experiments for this reason).But there was a catch. The experimenter would tell the children that h........ Read more »
Inzlicht, M., Legault, L., & Teper, R. (2014) Exploring the Mechanisms of Self-Control Improvement. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(4), 302-307. DOI: 10.1177/0963721414534256
- August 31, 2014
- 06:36 PM
- 582 views
Whitman Was Not a Neuroscientist
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
Do I contradict myself?Very well then I contradict myself,(I am large, I contain multitudes.)-Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself" (from Leaves of Grass)Science is the search for objective truth based on physical laws of the universe. Scientific theories try to explain the consistent and predictable behavior of natural systems. They are generally reductionist, meaning that complex systems are reduced to simpler and more fundamental elements. The principles of physics, for instance, are expressed in th........ Read more »
Chen, C., Huang, M., Yen, J., Chen, C., Liu, G., Yen, C., & Ko, C. (2014) Brain correlates of response inhibition in Internet gaming disorder. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. DOI: 10.1111/pcn.12224
Daniel Z. Freedman. (1994) Some beautiful equations of mathematical physics. CERN-TH.7367/94. arXiv: hep-th/9408175v1
Ko, C., Hsieh, T., Chen, C., Yen, C., Chen, C., Yen, J., Wang, P., & Liu, G. (2014) Altered brain activation during response inhibition and error processing in subjects with Internet gaming disorder: a functional magnetic imaging study. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1007/s00406-013-0483-3
Zeki, S., Romaya, J., Benincasa, D., & Atiyah, M. (2014) The experience of mathematical beauty and its neural correlates. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00068
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