The Memory Code

The memory is something that has interested scientists for many years. Why do some people remember things better than others, and some have better long term or short term memories? The answer is a difficult one to find, but scientists believed they could discover the code of memory that could allow the design of smarter computers, robots, and even find new ways to peer into the human mind! They already knew that memory was greatly affected by a region of the brain called the hippocampus, but what they didn't know was how the activation of nerve cells in the brain represents memory. They wondered if there was a way to describe mathematically or pshysiologically what memory is.Scientists began there studies on mice, considering the size of their brain would facilitate the process, as well as many mice could be studied at once. They put each mouse through episodic events that they believed would leave a lasting memory on the mice. After the mice were tested they discovered that inside the brain, four "bubbles" appeared which all represented the four episodic events they went through. This allowed the scientists to see a distinct pattern of ativity in the brain corresponding with the events. They saw the activity begin resting in the bubble and then shoot out and return back to the bubble. This raised the interesting fact that the memory was continuing to play repeatedly and spontaneously in the mouse's head.Secondly, the brain encodes these different events based on cliques. Cliques are groups of nuerons that respond similarly to a select event and thus operate collectively as a robust coding unit. Each event will be coded differently based on how the regions of the brain view the event. Whether it is tragic, disturbing, or simply something that the brain wants to warn itself not to do again.All this information helped the scientists to determine a few different things. First, that nueral cliques serve as the functional coding units that give rise to memories. The amount of nuerons present may also affect how well something is remembered. Scientists also learned through these tests how to pass information from a brain to a computer as well as comparing memory patterns from brain to brain. Using Matrix inversion the scientists were able to translate the activities of the brain into a binary code. This will help with studying cognition and making it easier to design a more seamless for of communication between the brain and a machine.With these new discoveries scientists are beginning to wonder if in the future we will have the possibility to download our brains to computers considering we can translate the activities into simple numbers. Maybe someday we will be able to travel to far off places in the world and live forever in the network!

MY RESPONSE...
Personally I find this somewhat confusing but interesting at the same time. I guess that's why I'm not a scientist and they are. But the fact that we could transport the activities of our mind to a computer is crazy and kind of scary. But it would be cool to be able to travel this way. But what interests me the most is I wonder if they would be able to go into someones mind with a computer and possibly erase memories or even make memories that they never had. Possibly a way to remove tragic events from someones life or help someone with a mental disorder. Oh sooky sooky...

Are Immune Molecules Brain Builders?

Researchers set out to answer the question of how the developing brain forms its last synapses. They suprisingly found C1q which is an important gene invovled in the body's immune system. Researcher Ben Barnes said, " It stunned us." Until now scientists were under the impression that the brain worked free of immune cells. Now they found that they not only exist in the human brain but that they play a large and neccessary role. Researchers also found that immune proteins act differently on the surface of nerve cells than they do in the rest of the body. They guide signals between neurons and help control synapses sonnection strength or weakness. In the developing brain are many more synapses than neccessary. REsearchers found that this C1q is produced at the same time that these synapses are being weeded out, and that animals that lack C1q have extra connections in thier adult brains. Scientists also belive that over exposure to this molecule during development can be harmful and lead to disorders such as glaucoma and autism. When a mother is pregnant and sick her immune molecules are produced heavily. This could cause nuerological problems in the baby. Since synapse loss is a huge factor in Alzheimer's and autism, these new developments could prove huge for future research of these disorders and also in the future treatment of these two.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=are-immune-system-molecules-build-brains



My Response:
I was really wowed by this article becuase it shows how little we actually know about the human brain. I think that it would be awesome if doctors could find improved ways to treat Alzheimer's and Autism. This opens new doors for brain researchers, doctors, and drug makers alike. This could prove to be great for a huge number of people and it could even help lead to prevention of these horrible diseases.

Do You See What I See?

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=translating-images-from-brain-waves

Summary:
This article by Nikhil Swaminathan tells of new research developments in the mystery of decoding human thoughts and dreams, made possible by mathematical process developed by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley. The possibilities for this new discovery, researchers are saying, are endless. They say, “We could use the decoder to investigate difference in perception across people, to study covert mental processes such as attention, and perhaps even to access the visual content of purely mental phenomena such as dreams and imagery.” Preceding tries at deciphering mental activity in tested persons required knowing what image the individual was being given. Knowing this gave scientists an idea of what pattern of activity should go with the thought. This time around, scientists used fMRIs to take note of activity in the visual parts of the brain, studying it in divided voxels, or 3-D pixels. Different voxels would respond to different parts of the picture. According to John-Dylan Haynes, a professor at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, the team of researchers could guess what the person was seeing by noting what certain sections of the brain were doing and thinking of what kind of information would be found in the part of the photo to which the brain was responding. When tested with increasing numbers of images, the accuracy of the algorithm naturally decreased; however, remaining above 10%, it goes far beyond the efficiency of random guesswork. This process of course does not have the capacity to determine our innermost thoughts, but it still has the potential to be able to do many things, such as translate dreams.

Response:
Wow. Even seeing the title of the article put me in shock because this shows us how far technology has come. The fact that scientists can actually come up with a method of telling a person what he or she is thinking is truly astounding. I wonder what this kind of development can assist in studying aside from dreams, attention, and perception. It will be amazing to see what kind of future developments come from this. Perhaps someday science will be able to tell us our innermost thoughts and secrets.

Bugs Are Crawling In My Skin!!

Summary: Dr. Claire Panosian Dunavan, a tropical medicine specialist, dealt with a puzzling medical condition called Morgellons disease. This disease consists of the victim adamantly believing that they are infested with parasites that they feel crawling under their skin, but the truth of the disease is that there are no parasites involved, just a horrible skin infection. Dr. Dunavan met with a woman named Margo Riley, who had spent many months volunteering in Mexican orphanages. After her most recent trip she had begun to develop oozing pustules and sores that left her skin blotched and damaged. She defiantly stated to Dunavan that she was sure she had Morgellons, but Dunavan was not going to diagnose her without investigating. Riley told Dunavan that on her last trip to the Yucatan Peninsula everyone with her got bug bites, but her own bites spread rather than healed. She had been put on an antibiotic but to no avail. When Dunavan examined her skin she found that some of the large sores looked as though they had been picked at and de-scabbed repeatedly during healing. Dunavan confronted Riley about the picked-at sores and Riley responded by saying that she picked at herself because there were moving things beneath her skin. She even showed Dunavan pictures in a futile attempt to prove her point. Dunavan, being a doctor looking in at the situation as opposed to a desperate patient, realized that what Riley believed to be parasites were not parasites at all, just Morgellons disease. When her nose was swabbed and tested, Dunavan diagnosed her and was overjoyed to find an antibiotic to suit her needs. When Dunavan called Riley’s referring doctor, however, the doctor said that Riley had left and was trying to find an expert who would invest more time in her case because she was so convinced that she had a new species of parasite. She had let her assumptions drive her away from help for her condition.

Reaction: It’s so interesting that Morgellons disease has both physical and psychological effects. Victims of this disease have a horrible skin condition as well as an adamant belief that they have bugs in their skin. It is also quite interesting that Margo Riley came into the clinic believing she had Morgellons disease but at the same time believing that she had bugs beneath her skin. In other words, she believed she had a disorder that made her falsely believe she was infested with parasites but then also continued to believe that she had parasites beneath her skin despite the fact that she knew her condition had that psychological effect. Also, it is a very sad situation when your psychological disorder leads you away from adequate help for your condition.

http://discovermagazine.com/2006/dec/vital-signs-sore-mystery

How Plastic We’ve Become

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080223/food.asp

Our Bodies Carry Residues of Kitchen Plastics

Today there is an abundant amount of items made with plastic, and we can find residues of plastic everywhere- even in our bodies. A new study shows that BPA (bisphenol A)- a building block of the most widely used plastics- laces the bodies of the vast majority of U.S. residents’ young and old.

To make (polycarbonate) plastic, BPA is linked into long chains called polymers. This clear and brittle plastic is used in things like baby bottles and food ware. When polycarbonates are used and heated, they break down and the BPA gets released into the materials they come in contact with.

In studies, where they used rodents, it shows that BPA can produce many harmful changes in things such as: problems with reproduction, bad blood sugar control, and obesity. In a new study, the urine of 2,500 people was analyzed and roughly 92% of these people hosted measurable amounts of BPA.

Typically, only small traces of BPA turned up, concentrations of a few parts per billion in urine. However, there are agents that mimic hormones, such as BPA, even a tiny bit of it can have a big impact.

In some of these studies, the concentrations were substantially higher than those that have triggered disease and birth defects. But there is a breakdown product by which BPA is excreted, which means that BPA itself may not be present in the body, although few people actually are exposed to the breakdown product. A group of scientists have estimated that the daily BPA intake to create urine concentrations that were reported should be about 50 nanograms per kilogram of body weight. But another group of scientists figured that the total is actually closer to 100 micrograms per kilogram of bodyweight. Clearly, there is a huge difference of opinion and interpretations.

Globally, manufacturers produce about 2.8 million tons of BPA every year. Many of the products made from it are used in and around the home, but it is also used in dental sealants.

A Japanese research team showed that BPA was leaked out into baby bottles and plastic food ware, so two years later manufacturers found BPA substitutes for food cans. Then, two years after that a different group of Japanese scientists found BPA residues in the urine of college students. Half came from before the switch and half came after the BPA substitute replaced it. By comparing the two values, it showed that the BPA residues were much lower (down by at least fifty percent) after the BPA was eliminated.

Kids Appear Most Exposed

Research shows that statistically, men have lower concentrations of BPA than women. But the biggest difference is in age. Children have the highest concentrations, more than teens and adults. Some scientists think this could mean that children have higher exposures or that they can’t break it down quite as efficiently. Research has also shown that urine residues of BPA decreased with increasing household income and varied somewhat with ethnicity. There was also a difference with the time of day. It would be highest in the evening, lowest in the afternoon, and midway in between those in the morning. This would comply with the fact that BPA lives only in the body for six hours and that would be consistent with food being the major source of exposure.
BPA excretion also increased in women during their pregnancy. If this is because food exposure is increased than the baby could be in danger and blood values were much higher because the enzyme that breaks BPA down only a tenth a active in babies.

This article is interesting because when you use plastics to store food you normally use it to protect it from chemicals in the air to keep it from spoiling or making you sick, but this article tells us that it, ironically, could make you sick.

How Does Consciousness Happen?

In this article to leading scientist had a debate about the actual reasons that consciousness happens and now respond to the debate that happened, in 2006. The first of scientist to comment is Christof Koch of California his main theory is that the pyramidal neurons affect long distance from lobe to lobe of the brain, and that few of these neurons are needed. The other scientist is Susan Greenfield, her theory is that a mass of neurons are sent at the same time to discern between consciosness and when you are unconscious.

Koch suggests that when you see somebody that you recognize you may have a visual neuron sent throughout the brain, but when somebody calls out your name a different stronger auditory neuron may be sent out that causes the thought of the other person to fade away. His main focus is on things that happen while you are conscious and how you get different levels of conscious ness.

Greenfield suggest that you have large assemblies of neurons that are sent throughout your brain from when you are conscious and when you are unconscious. She suggest that the reason that dreams feel more real and can happen is because these assemblies of neurons are less than when you are awake yet you are still conscious. She also supports her theory by saying that strokes my jam the process that restrain the assemblies therefore you have multiple continuous actions.

In my opinion they both have great theories and may both be right they just focused on different parts of the argument. Greenfield talked about being conscious and being unconscious while Koch discussed different levels of consciousness. I believe that you may have assemblies that communicate from lobe to lobe in the brain and you send more depending on how urgent or familiar the stimuli are. The further we come along in technology the further we can go in this search for what causes consciousness.

Mrs. Forgrave i couldn't get the article of the internet because u have to have a user name on sciam and my scanner isn't working so ill try and get it on at school on tuesday. I hope you understand thanx.

"How does Consciousness happen" by: Christof Koch and Susan Greenfield, Scientific American October, 2007

The "Methuselah" Gene?

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=methuselah-mutation-linked-to-long-life

Researchers have known of a gene mutation in worms, flies, and mice which can extend life for quite some time now. However, they are now studying Ashkenazi Jews to attempt to find similar mutations in them. It has been discovered that the Ashkenazi Jews who lived to age 95 or older are much more likely to have similiar mutations in the gene for insulinlike growth factor 1 receptor than those who did not live to age 95.

The gene mutation makes cells less responsive to insulinlike growth factor 1 (IGF1), which is a growth hormone secreted by the liver. In mice, the decreased response to the hormone increased life span by up to 40 percent and also delayed age-related diseases. This hormone has been studied in dogs as well. In a study where dogs were fed a restricted calorie diet, the dogs lived longer and had lower levels of IGF1. When, in another study, the dogs were engineered to produce less IGF1, they lived up to 50 percent longer than normal dogs.

The studies done on humans have been much more ambiguous. Researchers have been studying a group of 384 Ashkenazi Jews who are all between the age of 95 and 108 and have a family history of longevity. These people were compared to a control of 312 living and dead people, also Ashkenazi Jews, who had no history of longevity. However, because many of the control group had died 30 years ago, they could not be directly compared with those who had lived to 95 or older. Therefore, researchers have been looking for inherited mutations in the offspring of each group. They were able to find insulinlike growth factor 1 receptor mutations in 9 of the older group, while only finding it in one of the control. They also found that IGF1 blood levels are actually higher in the centenarians, which may be attributed to the body releasing more IGF1 to compensate for the mutated receptors. They have found that males have other genes which increase their sensitivity to IGF1, so this mutation may not have much of an effect upon their aging.

The hormone somatostatin has been found to reduce IGF1 production in humans, but Professor Pinchas Cohen warns that IGF1 may still not be the "anti-aging miracle" that has been searched for ever since the mythical fountain of youth. Cohen states that "it's likely that centenarians have not just one lucky gene, but several." Cohen continues to research other huamn genes, searching for some combination which may actually be able to slow aging in humans.

RESPONSE:
This article gives a glimpse into how much genetic research and engineering is advancing. The concern I have about research like this is the ethics of it. How are we to know how far is too far in changing the genetic makkeup of a person? However, if, like the study with the mice, researchers can find a way to offset age-related diseases in humans, this study could be a huge breakthrough and could save many lives.

Plastic (Not) Fantastic

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=plastic-not-fantastic-with-bisphenol-a



Who couldn't love the shatterless, colorful, cheap, washable plastic bottles and other products available on the market today. 'Plastics make it possible' as we're heard from hospitals and other organizations which daily rely on the affordable and durability which plastic products provide. But is the bond we have formed to plastic products actually killing us? Recent studies show that a common chemical found in most plastics called Bisphenol A (BPA), can promote human breast cancer cell growth. BPA is a compound which mimics estrogen, the natural female hormones. These studies have brought up many questions about the safety of plastics.



Traces of BPA were found in nearly all urin samples taken by the U.S. Centers for disease Control (CDC) these samples showed levels ranging from 33 to 80 per kilogram of body weight in any given day, levels 1,000 times lower than the 50 micrograms per kilogram of bodyweight per day considered safe by the EPA, E.U. and the EFSA. Children and teenagers have higher levels of BPA in their systems than adults. The chemicals does not stay more than a few days in a persons system but may have long term effects if exposed on a regular basis. Animals which have become ill due to the levels of BPA are lower than levels in humans. This is concerning to many scientists because most baby bottles and cans which contain baby formula are made with BPA. The fear is that children and infants could be at risk and not yet show signs of illness. Rats with traces of BPA have been linked to increased breast and prostate cancer, altered menstral cycles and diabetes in rats which were still developing.

In spite of all these shocking laboratory conclusions the proof is not frightening enough to stop the manufacture of plastics made with BPA. Due to their low price, appealing looks, and convenient maintenance no one wants to give up plastics unless it is absolutely necessary.



Opinion:

This article, although hard to follow at times, gets me thinking about the world we live in. Will the children being born suffer in later years because they drank their baby formula from a contaminated bottle. The BPA is releases much faster when the temperature is warm which means babies that drink warm formula are at a higher risk. I'm not sure if this has any truth to it but it seems that in the past few years it is much more difficult for women to conceive a baby. Could this be a result of the excessive use of plastics in the U.S.? Breast cancer is also shockingly common these days, could BPA be a link? There are so many wonderful advanced in technology that have saved our culture from countless diseases and epidemics, yet are we also creating health issues because of all the new technology? TV, processed food, plastics, computers, vaccines, "safe sex", and abortion are all things which were not around (or this advanced) 200 hundred years ago. How beneficial are they to our physical and mental health? How much further will we go? And what price are we willing to pay for our "new and improved developments"? SO, my fellow classmates, PLEASE take care of yourselves and don't put your plastics in the microwave. Thanks for reading. Sorry for being in a dramatic mood.

Affairs of the Lips: Why We Kiss

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=affairs-of-the-lips-why-we-kiss&print=true



A kiss, varies from tradition to passion during the daylight and the wee hours of darkness.

"In the body, a kiss triggers a cascade of neural messages and chemicals that transmit tactile sensations, sexual excitement, feelings of closeness, motivation and even euphoria."

Kisses are said to be able to predict the future of the relationship. For example, If the first kiss goes bad the relationship may stop then and there. Some scientists believe that through kissing you can determine the extent of commitment from the other person.

I remember as a child my favorite animal to watch at the zoo was the bonobos or the 'kissing monkeys.' Well, evolutionists proposed the idea that we may have inheirited our desire to kiss from these chimpanzees (they were really feeding chewed up food mouth to mouth to their babies). When food was scarce the chimps could comfort and show affection to their babies by pressing their outturned lips against the babies lips. Bonobos, or the 'kissing monkeys' have been known to kiss using tongue!

Pheromones are used by plants and animals to get their message across to members of their own species. It has not yet been decided whether or not people have these silent chemical messengers. If humans do carry these pheromones it may explain a few mysteries including: why women the smell of male sweat may heighten sexual arousal in women it may also explain why women who live together tend to have the same menstrual cycle. If this theory of pheromones is true, kissing is a great way to pass them from one person to another.

Kissing tends to be addictive. Probably because the lips have the most sensory neurons in the smallest area of any body region. Kissing arouses these neurons which send constant messages to the brain "setting off delightful sensations, intense emotion and physical reactions."

Let me introduce you to a new kind of stress reliever, all-natural and drug free- Kissing! Kissing presumably allows your body to release a chemical (cortisol) which helps relieve stress. Love not only relieves stress but can also stimulate your brain in the same regions as drugs such as cocaine. People's brains were being scanned as they looked at pictures of people they were in love with and it aroused reward centers that released dopamine, the same neurotransmitter released by addictive drugs.

I guess the conclusion is this, next time you get in caught making out in the locker room during lunch you can just tell Mr. Marrah you were relieving some stress, eh? I think it's interesting that there is scientific evidence that kissing is addictive and has similar effects as drugs. So many people seem to be lovestruck and to everyone around it seems like a joke, but apperently it's possible they could be 'addicted and high off love'. I really never thought about/ I'm not sure I agree with the fact that a kiss can tell a person the level of committment one has for another with regards of having their children and whatnot. I agree with the quote above, "...chemicals that transmit tactile sensations, sexual excitement, feelings of closeness, motivation and even euphoria". I think it's important to be smart and not get to physical because of this uncontrollable desire that comes about when you're physically and romantically involved with someone. I think this knowledge should encourage you to think ahead and prepare yourself with boundaries and draw your lines before you're stuck; because when you're in a simply euphoric situation you will not want to make decisons that might hinder that sexual excitement. I know this is what you've been hearing from teachers and adults all of your life... BUT, now you have science to prove it!!!

Sounding Out Muscle Health

http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/56481?&print=yes


Karim Sabra is a mechanical engineer at Georgia Institute of Technology. He uses the sound that muscles make when they contract, to provide a universal standard that can be used to diagnose or aid in the treatment of muscular diseases. Muscle fibers when contracted, widen which makes quicker sound travel. In soft muscles sound travel is slower and vice versa for stronger muscles. Recently scientists havce used electrical stimulation to contract muscles and then measuring the sound with MRI's and ultrasound. Sabra believes that instead of measuring the sound that way, that using the same technology that Seismologist and other different scientific areas use. By using the passive sound of muscle, he can use sensors on the outside of muscles to measure the sound. Each sensor gives off its own reading. After a short time Sabra and other scientists recieved the the waveform of the sound throughout the leg. They then profiled the leg to find the characteristics of the muscle. Sabra is trying to form a universal standard for healthy muscle but due to different sizes of muscles in people, he knows extensive work is left to be done. This technology is more economical than previous technologies for this certain measurement. Also patients are not exposed to any radiation as the other techniques they were exposed to radiation. If the techniques proves to be successful muscular diseases such as Parkinson's disease could be diagnosed early and monitor the muscle during treatment. Also, a patient's progress in therapy for a muscle injury can be monitored and altered as needed. Another benefit is for athletes. They could use this technology to aid in the training that they are involved in.

Response

I think this new use of technology is a great investment. I think that people with muscle diseases or recovering patients could really benefit from this. This new techniques is economical and very practical. After more research and if a standard is set I think this will revolutionize the diagnosis of muscle diseases. I also think that there will be a substantial decrease in degeneration of muscles diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. I think that athletes using this could benefit majorly and would be able to train more specifically and efficiently.

Can Stem Cells Save Dying Hearts?

http://discovermagazine.com/2005/sep/stem-cells-save-dying-hearts/
Summary:

Ruth Pavelko had a blockage which cut off blood supply to part of her heart muscle. She had also suffered three heart attacks and even with thirteen stents to help open her arteries her left ventricle was expanded almost like a balloon. Usually with these kinds of conditions, patients are eligible for a heart transplant or for an artificial heart. But instead Pavelko was given other options at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston. This option was the injection of stem cells that have been extracted from her own bone marrow. The progenitor cells can separate into a few types of cells, some of which can form blood vessels.

When injecting the stem cells into the body it is very important to know where the scar tissue is because if the cells are injected into scar tissue then the stem cells would created more scar tissue. Emerson Perlin has used a 3-D electromechanical mapping devise to determine where the stem cells need to be injected. He has also introduced a catheter into Pavelko's heart which touches the wall of her contracting ventricle. This allows Perlin to see where the contractions are weak and how well they are contracting. Pavelko had about one million stem cells injected into her heart tissue.

The first trial was done in 2000 with the cells taken from the thigh muscle. At first the heart seemed to improve. But then patients developed arrhythmias because the thigh muscle contracted differently. A year later it was reported that stem cells have been extracted from bone marrow from mice and injected into their hearts. The result was 68% improvement in the hearts. Although many believed that the bone marrow would create scar tissue or that when released into the bloodstream they could get caught in narrow vessels causing clots. Despite these concerns 13 of 14 patients were given this procedure and were able to trap and use oxygen better.

The study was further researched on pigs hearts. The pigs hearts were given, first, gel to slow up their arteries. Then the pigs had bone marrow extracted and injected into their hearts. Using X-rays the researcher showed the pigs hearts before and after. The results of which had improved drastically. The FDA is approving a trial in the U.S. at John Hopkins using stem cells in patients who have suffered from heart attacks. These studies are still being researched.

Response:
Wow! Man God is great. To let us be able to use bone marrow to reconstruct our hearts. I can't believe all the research and the information. It is great that instead of artificial hearts or transplants we can use bone marrow. I am awestruck at the fact that God has given us everything we need to cure our diseases, it is just a matter of when we discover His awesome gift.

The Real Story on Gay Genes

Summary:

This article is basically about different universities and individuals that are researching homosexuality and the theories that they have proposed. The issue of homosexuality is highly controversial. Some people believe that homosexuality is a result of a personal choice or environmental and social background. Others believe that it is genetic. Many people from either side of the spectrum have begun researching this issue. They have come up with many theories including the following.
Theories:
1. A geneticist named Dean Hamer claimed to prove that homosexuality is genetic. He said that it is passed on by the X chromosome from the mother. He said that a piece of DNA called Xp28 has something to do with homosexual tendencies because it showed up in men who claimed to be gay.
2. William Reiner studied whether or not the environment and social upbringing of a child has any influence on sexuality. His studies showed that males that were raised as females were still attracted to women. This article says that if social upbringing did influence sexuality, then some of these males would have ended up attracted to men.
3. Sven Bocklandt is a geneticist at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In his study, he gathered DNA from two groups of fifteen pairs of identical twins. In the first group the the twins were both gay and in the second group one twin was and the wasn't. Identical twins have the same DNA, but there is something called Methylation that determines which inherited genes will be "turned on". Supposedly this methylation can be changed and affected by outward influences such as environment or diet. He says that methylation could prove why one identical twin could be gay, while the other one wasn't. Bocklandt believes that if homosexuality is genetic, that there will not be just one "gay gene" but multiple ones because of the complexity of the human body.
4. Alan Sanders is an associate professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University. He said that the biggest problem with homosexuality is that it goes against the idea of evolution of the human race. He says that if human kind is meant to reproduce, then homosexuality only hinders that. His theory, in light of this, is that the gene that makes men attracted to men can also be found in women. When found in women it does not make them attracted to women, it just makes them even more attracted to men.
5. Simon LeVay and William Byne both conducted separate studies that claimed that there is a part of the anterior hypothalamus called INAH-3, that is smaller in gay men. They said that the size of the INAH-3 in gay men was about the same size as women's.


Opinion:
I think that it's a little ridiculous that this article is titled "The Real Story on Gay Genes", since this article just proves that no one has come to any conclusion on the subject. The whole article seemed purposely vague. All these theories didn't have any real evidence for what they stated, at least not any shown in this article. I think a lot of the theories completely contradict themselves as well. Reiner's study said that children could not be influenced by the environment to be gay, but then Bocklandt claimed that methylation, which had to do with homosexual tendencies, could be affected by the environment. What?? This article just sounds like just a wild bunch of ideas to defend these people's view of homosexuality. The article claimed it was non-biased, but if this were so, why didn't the article just admit the fact that they (obviously) can not prove that it's genetic?

The Movies in Our Eyes

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/david%20starkey/Desktop/The%20Movies%20in%20Our%20Eyes.pdf

Vision was thought to be perceived by the eye and interpreted by the brain, but new experiments have shown that some processing of the incoming light occurs in the retina. The retina is a small transparent layer of cells only a third of a millimeter thick located on the outer layer of the interior part of the eyeball. It has been found that specialized groups of neurons, or
ganglions, process and send 12 different movie tracks to the brain. However, unlike film, which is a frame by frame representation of vision played faster than our brains can detect, our eyes transmit a constant stream of information as time advances. Each of 12 different ganglion types is responsible for the different movie tracks. The differing tracks each send specified information about a scene to the brain; some transmit only shadows or only highlights and another transmit a line-drawing of the image and still another responds only to movement.
In the retina, rod and cone cells absorb incoming light, convert it into neuronal activity, and connect to 10 different kinds of neurons called bipolar cells. These cells send the information into a region of the retina called the inner plexiform layer, consisting of 10 smaller layers or stratum, which acts as a relay station to the ganglion cell bodies. The signal is also modified or inhibited by yet another group of cells called amacrine cells, which help to coordinate the different movie tracks. "The interactions among bipolar and amacrine cells that are read out simultaneously by each set of ganglion cells make up the data we receive to interpret the visual world."
Scientists Frank Werblin and Botond Roska have been experimenting using a rabbit retina and a glass micropipette that acts as an electrode and can read the electrical signals made by the bipolar and amacrine cells. A small square of light is flashed at rabbit's eye lasting exactly one second. The results were very interesting. Electrical activity began slightly after the beginning of the flash and only lasted only one tenth of the full second the light was on. The scientists theorize that the particular ganglion type being studied specifically responds to change in light and not the sustained presence of light. Of the 7 ganglion types studied, an "...incredible diversity of activity occurs in response to a simple flashed square." The data received was input into a computer and extrapolated to analyze the movements of a talking face. The results showed further that each ganglion type extracts a "unique spacetime representation of the world..."

I picked this article because it dealt with the eyes and I have always marveled at the image God allows me to see everyday. As I expected, there is a large amount of information scientists don't know about how our eyes work, but it is amazing how complex the parts are that they do know about. It especially interested me how the different types of ganglions account for varying aspects of our vision. I wonder what it would look like to have only 11 types functioning?

The Cancer that Itches

Summary:
Robert Norman, a dermatologist in Tampa Florida, was confronted with an “itch” problem. One day, a patient called “Greta” cane in complaining that she felt a constant itch in her lower back. She described it as a deep itch. “It’s a different kind of itch, like I’m getting eaten up inside” Greta’s history revealed nothing. She had no diabetes, hives, infections, and drug use or alcohol consumption. . All Greta’s test: HIV, thyroid disease, anemia, etc. came back negative.

Itching or “puritus” begins with an external stimulus. If dust or a mosquito lands on your arm it can trigger a stimulus. Dermal skin receptors send an immediate message through fibers in the skin to the spinal cord and then to you cerebral cortex. This produces the ‘scratch”. Scratching is a normal defense mechanism of the body against outside (and inside) irritants.

Until Norman could diagnose her, he prescribed topical anti-itch medication, which barely made a difference. In a following visit she reported that she had lost 20lbs. in the past six months. Her mother had blamed in on feminine troubles and told her to see her ob-gyn. Doctor Norman agreed with her mother and told her to get a Pap smear. The results came back positive for cervical cancer. She had a tumor under the exact spot that had been itching for so long. The itch was stimulated in the body as a defense against the intruding tumor. The surgery was successful, and she was fine, all because they caught the disease early. The itch saved her life.

Response:
Upon reading this article, I of course started to itch. This is truly a fascinating article because it show how perfectly designed our bodies really are. Not only does the body try to fight dangers it can send out a warning in the form of an annoying itch. It goes to show that we must listen to our bodies. What would have happened to Greta if she ignored the itch? God wants us to take care of our bodies and it seems through the “itch”, He gave us another way to do just that.

http://discovermagazine.com/2008/feb/the-cancer-that-itches

The Medicated Americans: Antidepressant Prescriptions on the Rise

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-medicated-americans

Summary

There are around thirty available drugs used as antidepressants. With such a large variety of drugs to treat depression, it would be expected that the number of depressed Americans would be lower. But these drugs seem to be muddling the distinction between disease and disorder instead of treating serious health problems.
Instead of going to a psychiatrist for the treatment of mental problems, Americans are turning to these antidepressant drugs. In a study by the New England Research Institute, forty-three percent of those who were prescribed antidepressants had no psychiatric diagnosis and did not have any additional treatment beyond the drug prescribed. Antidepressants are prescribed twice as much to women as to men and one out of three doctor's visits by women concerned antidepressants.
Family doctors now commonly prescribe antidepressant drugs, instead of a psychiatrist. Often Americans, about one fifth, ask their doctor for a drug after seeing an advertisement for it and the doctor will almost always comply with the request. A study at the University of California in 2006 showed that half of the doctors did not indicate the dosage amount and two thirds of doctors did not talk to their patient about how long to take the medication or about the adverse side effects. The most serious adverse effect of antidepressants is the risk of suicidal behavior.
Americans today don't even need to go to a doctor to get antidepressants. Antidepressants are available online, all that is needed is a credit card. Antidepressants only encourage a distance from doctors. Only twenty percent of patients who take antidepressant drugs have any kind of follow-up appointment to monitor the medication and three quarters of adults and half of children do not see a doctor about their mental health after taking antidepressants for three months.
So while the rate of pharmacological treatment for depression doubled between 1987 and 1997, the number of psychotherapy visits for depression decreased. Americans rely more and more on antidepressants and less and less on psychologists. Only three percent of the population sees a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker for therapy.
Antidepressant SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) were first approved as treatment for clinical depression, but over the years more and more uses have been found for these drugs. They cover everything from obsessive-compulsive disorder to eating disorders to paraphilias. Now the drugs are prescribed for uses that have not been approved by the FDA. This is legal because it is supposed to give doctors the freedom to prescribe drugs that best suit their patients needs. But the major issue is the fact that these unapproved uses have little or no scientific support.
The most serious issue surrounding antidepressants today is the fact that these drugs have blurred the line between major depression and simply "feeling down". Depression was considered a rare disease usually associated with elderly women only a few years ago. Depression is now the overwhelming mental health diagnosis of our time and the mean age for the start of depression is fourteen years old. Real depression is very serious and the only treatments for it are hospitalization, supervision, rest, quiet, sedatives, sleep medications, and an appropriate level of antidepressants and electroshock therapy. The depression that is treated today is not the serious depression that needs antidepressants. In fact a study at New York University showed that one in four people who appears depressed and is treated for depression is dealing with the aftermath of a recent emotional blow. With all these people who are simply "feeling down", getting treatment for depression for those who have real severe and persistent mental illnesses are getting no care whatsoever.
As Americans, we are now treating "disorders", which have little meaning and can apply to just about everything. Everyone can have a "disorder" while only some have diseases. Diseases are painful, scary, often chronic and sometimes lethal. Instead of turning life problems into "disorders" we should treat them as life problems.

Response

I think it's ridiculous that we are treating people who have just been through something emotionally trying as depressed when they're really just "feeling down". America has obviously come to rely on medication far too much. I found it really disturbing that the doctors were so eager to prescribe whatever their patient suggested and that they didn't give their patient sufficient information about the drug they were prescribing. Making everything we go through into some sort of "disorder" distracts from those serious conditions that need medical attention. I think it's also very saddening that Americans are using medication instead of therapy and that we are starting medication at such a young age, giving drugs to fourteen year old children who have been diagnosed with depression.

Is There Really ab Autism Epidemic?

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=is-there-really-an-autism-epidemic&print=true

Autism has become more popular over the past decade or so. From 1993 to 2003 it has been noted that one in 166 children suffer from Autism; also during this time the U.S. Department of Education uncovered that there was a 657% increase in the rate of Autism. Because of these statistics many researchers often refer to this increase as an epidemic. But first we must find what is actually the problem.
Autism is a severe disorder that makes its appearance during infancy. People with this disorder can be described as having problems with language, social bonding and imagination; and all suffer from serious communication deficits, some of which are mute. Most choose not to engage in close relationships but rather keep to themselves in there own mental world. Because of that they participate in highly repetitive activities and dislike change greatly. About two-thirds are mentally retarded and for an unknown reason are mostly male. The cause of this disorder is still not clear so some clues lead researchers to believe that genetic factors play a significant role along with other possible agents such as: antibiotics, viruses, allergies, and parents with symptoms.

Are vaccines the problem?
Symptoms of Autism become clearer around the age of two, which is shortly after the infant would have received vaccinations for various diseases. Many claim that their child has developed Autism after having the vaccine for MMR (mumps, measles, and rubella) OR following vaccines that contained thimerosal which contains mercury. American, European, and Japanese studies show that the rate of MMR vaccinations have either remained constant or declined but the rate of Autism diagnoses has still soared. This study and others like it suggest that vaccines aren't the cause but they may help trigger the disorder in a small amount of children.

Changing Criteria
Over the years the criteria for the diagnoses of Autism has changed. In 1980 an individual was required to meet six of six criteria to be diagnosed with Autism and now using the 1994 edition one is required to meet only eight of sixteen criteria. The 1980 criteria contained only two diagnoses relevant to Autism; whereas, the 1994 version included five diagnoses such as Asperger's syndrome (high-functioning variant of Autism). Also legal changes mislead the actual number of Autistic children.

Swapped diagnoses
In 2005 psychiatrist Suniti Chakrabarti of the Child Development Center in Staffor, England, and psychiatrist Eric Fombonne of McGill University conducted an investigation that tracked the prevalence of Autism from 1992-1998 in 10,000 children in the same area. Found no change prevalence which suggests that the rates of diagnoses don't change over time. It was also found that from 1994-2003 the rates of mental retardation and learning disabilities decreased while rates of Autism diagnoses increase. Thus it is too early to suggest that there is an Autism Epidemic.

Response:
I think that this article brought the problem of over diagnoses. We should keep the criteria for diagnosing the same for as long as possible and not be so quick to label someone with a disorder. Also what does the diagnoses mean for someone who may not have Autism but do have the eight symptoms, does the medication given actually in turn cause Autism?

Bored?¿?

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=bored--find-something-to-live-for&print=true


Researchers say that boredom is subjective and rooted in aspects of consciousness. Level of attention, an aspect of conscious awareness, is important in boredom. Boredom can be decreased by improving a person's ability to focus. Along with attention, emotions can contribute to boredom. Those who are incapable of understanding their feelings and are distracted by their moods are more easily bored. Boredom can even cause anxiety, depression, and drug or alcohol addiction. People who suffer from boredom tend to display anger, aggressive behavior and lack of interpersonal skills; therefore, becoming socially awkward and poor performers at work and school.
After deliberating on the effects of inherently tedious tasks of bored and badly performing factory workers, a psychologist A. Hudson Davies, reported that boredom is related to mental fatigue and is caused by repetition and lack of interest in the minute and fragmented tasks of the productions assembly line. Davies also noted, "There are still people who are not bored by work of this kind and people who, even on the most varied work, maintain a steadily depressed attitude to life and complain bitterly of monotony." Another psychologist, Joseph Barmack of the City College of New York, proposed that boredom is a sleeplike feeling. He found that a trio of stimulants, ampetamines, ephedrine and caffeine, reduced reports of fatigue, sleepiness, inattention and boredom during repetitive tasks. Barmack noticed that giving his student subjects money aroused their interest, suggesting that boredom was a combination of low excitement and insufficient motivation.
Boredom susceptibility can be noted by two major factors, suggested b a 2005 analysis of the BPS, 28-question Boredom Proneness Scale, by Vodanovich, Wallace and Kass. The first factor is external stimulation, or the need for novelty, excitement and variety. According to Vodanovich, men score higher on that part of the BPS, because they are generally more bored than women. This need for stimulation may explain why extroverts, outgoing people, tend to be bored more often. According to personality pioneer, Hans Eysenck of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, extroverts require a constant and changing supply of stimulation to achieve their optimal excitement levels. Psychologist A.B. Hill conducted an experiment, taking thirty-two college students and having them perform the task of picking up and placing pushpins. The sixteen extroverts showed a much greater variation in the way they performed the task than the sixteen introverts. Their level of stimulation was increased by changing the work in subtle but interesting ways.
Extroverts may seek out more external stimulation, but also vary in the ability to generate their own stimulation, which is the second factor of boredom. Unfortunatly, a longing for thrills to get rid of boredom can and does lead people to destructive, sensation-seeking activities, including smoking, vandalism, gambling and drugs. In 2005 there was a study taken of 92 Scottish students, with results showing that boredom was a top reason for students taking drugs.
Attention is also linked with boredom. In another study by Vodanovich, Wallace and Kass found that scores on the BPS were connected with measures of adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), hinting that boredom may be caused by and attention deficit. Boredom has also been linked to everyday lapses in attention by Daniel Smilek, Al Cheyne and Jonathan Carriere- the type that causes a person to put the milk in the cupboard and the cereal in the fridge. Cheyne says, "Attention is the common link between lack of meaning, depression and boredom."
There are many different varieties of treatment for boredom. Csikszentmihalyi suggests that if the boredom is coming from unstimulating work, you may want to consider changing jobs or try to improve the work environment with new levels of complexity and challenge. In 1970, a study was conducted with long-distance truck drivers, who reported to be less bored when they played mental games, such as counting passing objects. While finding ways to cope with boredom, it may even help cure ills that boredom caused. For example, some research hints that if former drug addicts learn to deal with boredom effectively, they are less likely to relapse. Boredom is not only negative, it also has benefits. It may provide time for thought and reflection, and can be a sign that a certain task is a waste of time; ergo, we know it's not worth continuing.


I never realized there was acctually scientific things behind boredom. It just seems like it occurs because you're ingaged in an activity that you don't particularly want to be involved in. It was interesting to hear the things that cause, and are caused by boredom. Seeing all the different experiments conducted seemed to be an important part in finding out more information about boredom. I also thought it was interesting that men are generally more bored than women. I never would have guessed something as "innocent" as boredom could lead to something as serious as drug addiction. I have acctually found myself going to put the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard, and the thought that that may be caused by boredom never would have crossed my mind.

Seeking The Connection: Alcoholism And Our Genes

doc03062008160653.pdf (944KB)

Summary:

Scientists, for quite some time, have been trying to relate alcoholism to genetics. The tendency of becoming dependent of alcohol has been monitored over the years, and has been known to run in families. That piece of information have led scientists to suggest that the gene for alcoholism is passed down from generation to generation. With the technology that we have today, researchers are easily able to get to the biological roots of complex disorders such as alcoholism. This technology enables investigators to find specific genes that have strong influences on the person's body, and the possible risk of disease.

Alcoholism doesn't have just one single cause, but not all are genetic either. Genes have a very large role, but also a person's life experiences hold some responsibility of the disease of alcoholism. However, finding and understanding the genes involved in the body's response to alcohol may lead to finding the effects of other disorders as well.

One important strategy to search for the genes that cause the risk of alcohol dependence is by looking at and examining the endophenotypes, which are physical traits. These traits, or phenotypes, are not externally visible but can be measured and then can be studied to find certain patterns that may cause risks. Upon using this strategy, research groups have found that certain chromosomal regions and genes likely cause a major reason in the risk of alcoholism.


Researchers have also found that some genes that encode docking sites for the protein GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), which carries signals from one nerve cell to another, increase the vulnerability to alcoholism. GABA proteins are involved in behavioral undercontrol or impulsivity, which is what causes many phychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, substance abuse and chronic conduct problems. Studies prove that GABA activity and alcohol dependence is a very high possibility, because impulsivity is a main feature of many alcohol dependence cases.


Unfortunately not all can be determined by genes. Only about half of the risk of alcoholism is heritable, therefore the other half must come from someplace else. Many believe that the other half come from the environment and making poor choices in the past.

One genetic testing that is providing opportunities for self-assessment is called Microarrays. These Microarrays, or gene chips, can be used to detect a person's variations in gene activity, and can produce a series of medical, psychiatric and behavioral recommendations. With this type of genetic technology, scientists hope for figure out the complete reason of alcoholism.


Response:



This article was very reassuring to me. It showed me in many different ways how people and technology are taking steps to achieve a goal that many have been in pursuit of for a very long time. It just shows that the type of technology that we have access to today is truly amazing, and that genetic programs and technology can be a very big different maker in many years to come.

Watch what you eat!

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050402/bob9.asp

Summary
When you’re hungry, you should eat, right? New studies are showing that things besides the need for food are triggering the drive to eat. In fact, our body depends on a large group of cues to control how much we eat.
There are many factors that control the amount of eating hormones produced along with other eating cues. This is leading the medical community to experiment with new methods of treating obesity.
There are many chemical agents, mostly hormones, which control appetite. But most are secondary main hormones. The most powerful appetite encouraging hormone is ghrelin while the most powerful eating suppressants are insulin and leptin. These are the strongest hormones but when these active chemicals are absent, lesser controls take over but they are less efficient at starting and stopping the desire to eat.
In studies done with rats, rats with no insulin producing cells (similar to untreated diabetes) food intake was still censored but only about half as effectively. When diabetic rats are given a small amount of ghrelin, their amount of food intake increased three fold.
Fat, protein, and sugar are three nutrients that are known to fight the call to eat. Studies show that protein and sugar reduced the ghrelin concentration about 70 %, fat reduced is only 50% and at a much slower pace.
Another unusual find is that ghrelin concentrations increase as people lose weight rapidly, but when weight loss occurs over several months the level of ghrelin doesn’t change. And oddly enough, people that are obese have lower ghrelin levels that people suffering from anorexia nervosa. This led scientist to believe that the reception of hunger and hunger suppressants is muddled in heavy people. A study was done where they gave 20 normal weight people and 20 obese people milkshake meals ranging in calories from 250 to 3,000. The ghrelin concentrations fell in relation to the amount of calories in the normal weight people but in the obese people, the concentration fell about the same after all of them.
A study was also done specifically with sugars that showed although less fructose is required to sweeten something that glucose; it does promote calorie consumption which leads to over eating.
Although it has long been speculated, just recently studies have shown that hunger, or specifically weight, and sleep are linked. In a study, it was shown that leptin, the hormone that deters eating, was 20% lower in normal weight men who had had 9 hours of sleep for a week than it was in normal weight men who had only slept 4 hours a night for a week. During this study, ghrelin was also 28% higher in the sleep deprived individuals. The sleep deprived men increased their food intake by 24%, eating larger portions and selecting high calorie, high carb foods.
All the studies done are leading scientists to be able to treat obesity by blocking ghrelin receptors. These studies “look promising”.
Also the injection of suppressants for appetite may prove to be a good treatment. The final things we learn is that new ground is just being broken in the fact that the two forms of ghrelin, one called the active acylated form and the other believed to be the inactive unacylated form, cancel each other. Who knows where the studies of this multiple personality hormone will lead?
Opinion
I think that it is so interesting to see how something as simple as the bodies drive to survive is so complicated. So much is being done with one hormone, which will affect so many things. I have also learned that sleep is vital, it links itself to the outcomes of so many things. When you ignore sleep, the article made that point that humans are the only animals that willing do that, you reek havoc on almost everything.

10 Unsolved Mysteries of the Brain

The brain is one of the most complex objects in the entirety of the known universe. But even with all the advances made by dedicated scientists, many questions still remain unanswered. What follows are the partial answers and experimental theories presented in response to some of the most challenging, intriguing questions raised in neuroscience.
1. How is information coded in neural activity?
Neurons are the specialized cells of the brain that send electrical impulses all through the body, but what we really want to know is what the code of these impulses are. Different impulses mean different things to different parts of the body at different times. In the central nervous system, impulses relate to the external environment; in the peripheral nervous system, impulses relate to bodily functions, such as heat or muscle contraction. However, impulses are not restricted to the CNS and the PNS, and while it is somewhat difficult to determine the code of the neurons involved, it becomes increasingly more challenging to understand the code of neurons involved in complex activities, such as judgements and futures. Scientists believe the information is not stored in single neurons, but rather in large groups and patterns of them. But determining which neurons belong in what group, how to measure the thousands of potential neurons in any given group, and how to monitor the connections between individual neurons presents a daunting challenge. Worse yet, neurons may not be the only (or quickest or most effective) way that information is carried: glial cells, gases, and peptides have been considered as information carrying alternatives.
2. How are memories stores and retrieved?
New information that is learned results in a physical change to the brain, but what those changes are, how they are moved, how they are stored, and how they can be retrieved later is hard to understand. Contributing to the problem is the fact that the brain has more than one kind of memory: short term and long term, each with declarative and non-declarative types of memories, and within those, there are subtypes of each category. But many scientist agree that synaptic changes create associations when two cells are connected at the same time, and the reconnection of the same two cells causes the association to be retrieved. And yet, several greater problems remain: why memories relate relationships more than actual details, how a person can instantaneously remember a fact, and why some memories are distorted while others are not.
3. What does baseline activity in the brain represent?
Neuroscientists mainly study the brain related to external stimulus, but the "baseline" activity of the brain while it is at rest may prove to be far more vital. Many of the most important activities our brain does is done without stimulus - such as emotions or plans. Experiments show that certain parts of our brain decrease activity just before a task is performed, and that the same areas are decreased. Many scientist believe, as a result of this experiment, that during those periods, our brains are running baseline programs in the "downtime". Traditionally, scientists believed that our senses received information and it was passed to the brain to be interpreted. But thanks to recent research, our sense may only be revising what our brain does, and our "awake" brain may be essentially the same as our "dreaming" brain.
4. How do brains stimulate the future?
Little is known about how the brain stimulates the future, and the reason is simple: modern science is not suited for recording mental emulations. Scientists present the idea that not only does the brain interpret stimulus and react to it, but it creates simulations of the external world and reacts to that as well. Another idea is that perception comes from connecting incoming data to internal expectations, not a "data hierarchy". As this idea develops, another questions arises: how does our brain learn to make expectations? Memory may be the key to this answer.
5. What are emotions?
Emotions are, by definition, "measurable physical responses to salient stimuli". Not to be confused with emotions come feelings, which are the experiences that accompany emotions. And emotions seem to be an unconscious mechanism. Different people from totally different backgrounds and regions of the world share common emotions. A popular theory is that emotions are states of our brains that assign values to different outcome, and give us a plan of action. Similarly, the brain has a parallel memory system that deals with emotional memories. Neuroscience has a new subtext, dealing solely with emotions, and involving the nature of emotional disorders and faulty emotion regulations.
6. What is intelligence?
The question of what is intelligence is not a simple one; nor can it be answered with a simple answer. In fact, the question is not just one question, but a series of questions, each requiring a complex and challenging answer. For example, how is it that our brains can intake information, stimulate internal situations, and store and retrieve memories? What does our brain do to come to the solution of a problem? And the more modern question: is artificial intelligence plausible, and if so, to what extent? To this day, artificial intelligence (AI) is barely more than battery operated toy robots. But what is it that is holding us back? Two reasons present themselves: either we are incapable of creating the proper neuron simulations or we don't understand the workings of the brain well enough to recreate it. Whichever it is, one thing remains clear: intelligence is an essential part of what makes up a human.
7. How is time represented in the brain?
The visual parts of our brains are some of the hardest working. The brain does alot to synchronize incoming signals from the outside world. Our brains do a great deal of editing to make us feel that external simulations are instantaneous. In fact, our idea of the smooth passage of time is built by our brains. Using the brain's system of solving timing problems could help scientists understand dyslexia and sight-related issues better.
8. Why do brains sleep and dream?
Sleep is deeply important, though we do not understand why. We spend more than a third of a our lifetimes sleeping, but the exact reasons why are remarkably unclear. Neuroscientists have three main guesses to help us answer the question. First, sleep is necessary because of its restorative qualities, as well as replenishing and saving the bodies fundamental energy sources. Second, sleep gives the brain an opportunity to run simulations before putting them to practice in the real world. The third, and best supported theory, is that the brain uses sleep as a time to store important memories and remove unneeded ones. Recently, due to an experiment performed on laboratory mice, scientists believe that information replayed during sleep may contribute to what we remember later. Studying the affects of drugs and other external influences, as well as how we can moderate sleeping habits, may play a key role in understand our need for sleep.
9. How do the specialized systems of the brain integrate with one another?
Traditional science would tell us that different parts of the brain do completely different things, but in reality, the brain has many separate functions that take place in several parts of the brain. In fact, it is extremely difficult to understand how the brain works so well with each of its different parts, in total harmony. Likewise, it is also very challenging to understand how the brain can coordinate all the systems so quickly and effectively. Realistically, the brain does something similar to a computer's parallel processing, but much faster and more effectively. And where computers are extremely slow at comparing data and decided what to do next, the brain is amazingly fast at doing nearly the same thing. The brain has no special region where information from all its separate regions gathers; instead, it has interconnected areas that create links and systems throughout the entire brain.
10. What is consciousness?
Consciousness is a topic that has baffled scientists for ages. The questions that arise, such as where memories are before they are called into consciousness, how they are stored before and after, and what the difference between those states are, are intricate and some of the most difficult to answer. One of the main problems is that consciousness may not be just a single thing; rather, it could be a number of phenomenons, all contributing to consciousness as a whole. Many scientists believe that consciousness is derived from the material stuff of the brain, due to the fact that even the smallest changes to our brains alter our experiences. One of the difficulties in experimenting with consciousness is that at some moments, neural process will correlate with our consciousness, while at others it will not. Another problem scientists face is the fact that consciousness could come from a variety of physical levels, and could be a result of interactions between several of these levels. Neuroscientists are working to determine which parts of the brain actually work with consciousness, and why they do. The answer, if it can be found, could be part of the fundamental experiences of a human.


OPINION:
Well, let me just say that this article and I developed a love-hate relationship. I thought it was fascinating, but it was just difficult to summarize, because there were no definite answers. The questions that the author brought up were all very good questions, and the answers provided helped, but it really made me wish that there were more concrete answers. And after much consideration, I don't think that is altogether a bad thing. I think neuroscience is so interesting, and I'm hooked now, so I'm excited to see where the research will lead. I think the most interesting part was the part about memories. I've always wondered where we store our memories, and how we store them, how we can recall them, and why some are crystal clear and others aren't. I also liked the part about timing, and how our brains work so hard to make us think things happen smoothly and instantaneously. I kind of found that vaguely amusing, its almost as if our brains are tricking us. The part I found somewhat confusing was the part about emotions. I had thought science had emotions pretty well locked down, but this article proposed otherwise, but didn't do a very good job (in my opinion) of explaining what they didn't know. Overall, I really liked this article, and I would like to stay up with the developments in neuroscience.

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/aug/unsolved-brain-mysteries

Estrogen: Wonder hormone?

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080105/bob10.asp

Summary: Estrogen was believed to only affect reproduction in women. Therefore, until recently, the only receptor known was the estrogen receptor ά (ERά) , found in the uterus. But about a decade ago the discovery of another estrogen receptor, estrogen receptor β (ERβ), changed the entire field of estrogen study.
Estrogen circulates in the blood and is produced largely in the ovaries, as well as the liver, adrenal glands, breasts, and testes. Estrogen initiates it effect by entering an organ and attaching to receptors, modifying the behavior of the gene.
About the time the ERβ was discovered by Dr. Gustafsson, Dr. Korach was doing studies in mice lacking ERά. He was surprised they lived at all. The discovery of the second receptor seemed to answer the question of how they survived but when Korach bred mice lacking both receptors, they still survived. This proved you didn’t need the use of estrogen to live. However, those mice missing specifically the ERβ suffered from obesity, brittle bones, large spleens, few, small litters, high blood pressure, and a disease similar to leukemia. Almost every major organ system in the mice was affected. The list of health problems continues to grow.
While the ERά were the only ones found in the ovaries, the discovery of the second receptor showed that it too existed in the ovaries. But because it was believed that estrogen was involved in only reproduction, no one had ever bothered to look for another receptor. The discovery of the ERβ in the ovaries and uterus led to studies to see whether or not the blockage of ERβ could be used as a form of birth control, since the ERβ and ERά don’t exist in the same cell.
The discovery of this new receptor has opened a wave of possibility for the medical community concerning birth control but there is a plethora of other fields feeling the shockwave of change from this breakthrough.
Phytoestrogens, found in soy and coffee, are believed to be key in lowering the risk of prostrate and breast cancer. The discovery of the estrogen ERβ is monumental because it responds more effectively that the ERά does. Not only does it prove promising in fighting cancer, it is seen to hold preventive promise. When estrogen binds to ά receptors in a cell, it signals it to begin duplicating. But if something goes wrong in that replication, ERβ brings it to a halt. That occurs because compounds that bind only ERβ stop the cell multiplication. This earns ERβ the nick name of “watchdog”.
Therefore, it is no surprise to scientists that there are more ERβ in healthy prostrate and breast tissue than in cancerous ones, which is why the cancer develops in the first place.
The last field that has made significant advances thanks to the discovery of the ERβ is that of pain treatment. Women that are being treated for breast cancer with aromatase inhibitors, a drug that stops the production of estrogen, report feeling pain over their entire body. There is no or very little estrogen, so it doesn’t bind with ERά or ERβ. Because of new experiments done with mice, there is believed to be link between pain and ERβ.
This led to the theory that there is a link between ERβ and pain, and ERβ and depression. When ERά is stimulated, mice become anxious and isolated; when ERβ is stimulated they don’t show these behaviors.
Opinion: I thought that this article was very interesting because it showed how far we still have to go. Something that we thought we understood, estrogen, turned out to have unpredictable effects in previously unthinkable areas. The idea that estrogen is linked to birth controlled really surprised me, because you think that it would be easy to stop the egg from dropping but there is really so much more involved in it. Again, this article just shows me how complicated God created us. I feel that this article also shows God’s sense of humor. He took something so universally stereotyped as the dominant female hormone and established it to have so many more effects.

Killer Fat

article:
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/feb/visceral-fat/article

summary and response:
In his statement, "Visceral fat does seem to be truly evil," Philipp Scherer makes an important distinction between visceral and subcutanoues fat. Visceral obesity ("beer belly") refers to intrabdominal fat, below the muscle wall, packed around the internal organs. It feels hard to the touch from the fat pushing up against the muscles of the abdominal fat and is related to a vast number of diseases and disorders, most notably diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Subcutaneous fat, on the other hand, is soft and flabby. It appears outside the abdominal wall in the belly, and also in the thighs and buttocks. "Peripheral (subcutaneous) fat is, in reality, good fat," states Osama Hamdy. They are like "two separate organs," Hamdy continues. But what makes up these differences? At first, location was thought to be the main difference. Vicseral fat is right around the liver and small intestines, but there seems to be more to the difference than just that.
Until 1994, adipose was simply thought to store oil. While this is true, discoveries are being made indicating that fat is actually a very active tissue. It secretes everything from hormones to enzymes and lipids. Fat is "now considered to be an active, complex endocrine organ, like the pancreas," (Discover). Visceral fat is one of the most active kinds of fat, but the problems arise when the fat cells "mature and become lazy, large, and dysfunctional" (Hamdy), as in old or obese patients. However, the majority of the negative impacts of visceral obesity are most likey caused by a very slight inflammation resulting from the clean-up of ruptured fat cells. This inflammation, while very slight, over chronic exposure "can have a negative impact on cardivascular health and insulin sensativity," (Scherer).
Research is also being done into the genetic differences between the two types. When James Kirkland cultured subcutaneous and visceral fat, he noticed that they still had distinct, differnt charascteristcs after 40 population doublings. "They seemed to retain a memory of the fat depot they came from." In mice, Kahn noticed 200 different genes in the two types -- 12 of which control develpment.
The best ways to reduce viseral obesity are mostly obvious: lose weight, excercise. Avoid trans fat, but also reduce stress.
I found this article to be extremly fascinating, especially the statement that fat is considered to be an endocrine organ. The genetic connection between obesity and the location of fat is much stronger than I would have thought. The influence of stress on visceral fat was also somewhat surprising. The article gave an interesting example about sumo wrestlers. While they would seem to be ideal candidates for diabetes, heart problems, and viseral obesity, the opposite is the case. Presumably through hours of excersice they manage to maintain a low viseral fat level while, through heavy eating, they have massive amounts of subcutanoeus fat. So the amount of fat doesn't mattter nearly as much as the location. Women have the advantage here, until menopause at least. The effects of the differences between the fats is also clearly evident in lyposuction patients. Since lyposuction removes only subcutaneous fat, it has no positive effects on insuling sensitivity, and can actually make things worse.

Do People Only Use 10% of Their Brains?

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=people-only-use-10-percent-of-brain&page=2

The brain is very complexed and very little is known about how it functions. Over the years however a myth has been out there that the humans use only 10% of the brain. Scientists accepted the fact that we used only that 10% for a while but after recent research, scientists have discovered that this is infact a myth and probably not accurate. Neurologist Barry Gordon was out to prove that we do use more that just 10 percent of the brain. One thing that helped him prove that it was infact a myth is that the brain, which weighs about three percent of the body weight, uses over 20 percent of the body's energy. The energy used by the brain is for all kinds of functions and more than 10% of the brain is needed for these functions. The brain coordinates body movements and balance, breathing, conscious activities such as driving a car and firing millions of neurons communicating with eachother. John Henley, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn, says that by using brain imaging technologies they can prove that most of the brain is continually active over a 24 hour period. Even at night the brain is still controlling high levels of thinking, self awarness and somatosensory area that help people sense their surroundings. The article gives the example of all the ways the brain is working in the morning. In just seconds the occipital, parietal lobes, motor sensory, basal ganglia, cerebellum and the frontal lobes are all active. What is interesting however is that if a part of the brain is severely damaged , you can still perform daily duties. People who have partial or even severe brain damage are still able to live fairly normal lives. The brain takes over for the missing part of the brain and other parts of the brain compensate for the part that is damaged. Scientists have concluded that it's not that we use only 10% of our brains but that we only understand 10% of how it functions.



Response
I really liked the article because it was a really clear reponse to the question. It was really interested to think that some people thought we used only 10% of our brains. I thought it was also pretty cool to think that even though the brain weighs only three pounds that it takes up over 20% of the energy of the body. That just goes to prove how important and how much work our brain does for us eben though we don'e even realize it. I also think it was cool how when part of the brain is damages how other parts of the brain compensate for that missing part and how we can go on living relatively normal lives even if part of the brain is damaged. The brain shows us how we can only be made by one masterful creator, God, because of its complexity.

The Biology of... Panic

discovermagazine.com/2002/apr/featbiology/?searchterm=hereditary



Summary:

Molecular geneticist Xavier Estivill thinks that almost every social phobia and panic disorder is rooted in a single stretch of about 60 genes." While working with physician Antoni Bulbena, it was noticed that double-jointed patients complain more often than others about nervous disorders. Estivill did a study looking for genetic abnormalities in the DNA and found that 87% of the double-jointed people and 90% of the people with nervous disorders had a duplicate region of DNA stretching for 60 genes. He did a follow-up study with unrelated people and found that 97% of the people with a known nervous disorder had the same duplication of 7% of the general population.

Estivill's research shows that the duplication isn't being transfered the way other mutations are. The duplication changes position on the chromosome and sometimes the sequences are inverted. Regular mutations are in a specific location on a specific chromosome. Estivill says that the duplication itself isn't being passed on, it's the tendency to duplicate. Estivill says that there are two ways that the duplication can occur. 1) the enzymes copying our DNA could be faulty and start doubling errors, or 2) junk DNA could throw of the copier enzymes.

Estivill thinks that this could be behind other disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and schizophrenia or illnesses such as heart disease and asthma.

Because of his discoveries, treatments might be found, but a cure might be "going too far." ..."a certain amount of anxiety is good for people."

Response:

Using Estivill's research, we might just finally understand how people become they way they are. I never really put together a connection between double-jointed people and anxiety-ridden people, but hey, if it's related, then I guess that explains alot.

What Are We Thinking When We (Try to) Solve Problems?

Summary:
Researchers have begun making discoveries on what happens in the brain as it solves a problem, specifically when a "eureka moment" occurs. They did this by scanning the brains of people with an EEG as they solved problems presented to them by the research team. They found that the parietal cortex regions of test subjects who got stumped tended to have stronger gamma rhythms, which are tied to a high degree of focused attention. When the subjects did find solutions, if they consciously changed their thought process, they received a weaker eureka feeling (in general) than those who happened upon the solution spontaneously. In these latter cases the subjects displayed strong alpha rhythms that are present in a "relaxed and open" mind.
In addition to this discovery it has been found that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) not only guides the mind toward the right answer, but it also tells the brain to stop looking when it has found the key to the answer. This is based on an experiment in which monkeys attempted to figure out which symbols on a screen would give them treats. While discovering the key the monkeys' ACCs were active, but after catching on to the trick activity there went down. Moreover, disfunctionality in this area has led to "maladaptvie social behavior and disrupted cognotive abilities," in addition to being part of the cause for drug addiction.

Response:
This research is important in understanding problems with drug addiction and behavioral issues. If this is explored further it could possibly help people suffering from such problems as those that result from an abnormally funtioning ACC. This would help these people to live closer-to-normal lives, if not curing them altogether. Besides this, if scentists and doctors find a way to manipulate the brains rhythms, this could allow people who normally have trouble solving problems to understand more abstract concepts and enable them to rescructure their thinking, an exciting prospect. Both of these discoveries could benefit students who may have trouble learning due either to inflexible thinking represented by high gamma rhythms or to problems caused by functional issues in the ACC. After all, the purpose of discovery is its application, and the purpose of the application is to help mankind.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=what-are-we-thinking-when