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POPSNicotinic B2 Receptor's Role In Hyperactivity (cont) It has been proposed that the alteration of behavioral adaptation in ß2−/− mice, coupled with unimpaired memory and anxiety, may model cognitive impairment observed in human disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) , or even in autism . This proposition relies upon the idea that behavioral flexibility is controlled by an adequate hierarchization of motivations, a process known to mobilize prefrontal and cingulate cortex. ADHD symptoms such as inattention lack of inhibitory control, and hyperactivity and prefrontal involvement indeed resemble ß2−/− behavioral deficits, and fit well with nAChR localization and function. Yet, the possible contribution of prefrontal cortex and higher-level top-down processes in open-field behaviors is at this stage not clear.
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POPSReplay During Sleep Consolidates Memories (Cont) During sleep, the hippocampus, a brain region important in learning and memory, repeatedly “replays” brain activity from recent awake experiences. This replay process is believed to be important for memory consolidation. In the new study at the University of Arizona they found reduced replay activity during sleep in old compared to young rats, and rats with the least replay activity performed the worst in tests of spatial memory.
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POPSAutism in Remission or Cured or What? Cont: Many also have above-average IQs and had been diagnosed with relatively mild cases of autism. At age 2, many were within the normal range for motor development, able to walk, climb and hold a pencil.
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POPSBill Joy's Worst Nightmare Cont: Nanoscale structures offer the opportunity to interface with cells on their own scale. In that sense, they have the potential to become "a totally new interface for living matter," Lieber says. His vision for nanoscale devices is not just to study cells but to use them to communicate with and control them. That in turn could lead to more precise neural prostheses to treat blindness or neurological diseases. "My overarching interest," he says, "is to ask whether one can blur the distinction between an electronic nonliving device and a living device, which is the cell."
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POPSFrom Stress to Depression (cont) "We see big differences in people who have experienced acute stress compared to chronic stress," he says. "The machinery becomes very different." If the stress remains long enough, a person may develop major depression. It is this kind of finding, say the UM researchers, that provides one reason to believe that depression has important connections to the stress axis, and why much research at the MHRI on this topic has involved clinical studies of people with major depression. Overall, says Akil, the stress axis uses "nested loops" of neurons and chemical messengers to provide many avenues for regulating the body's response to stress. Controls via the genetic machinery appear to "define the limits" of the stress response. Other pathways probably provide the various nuances of response. Many control mechanisms, however, remain to be discovered.
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POPSBrain Matrix Responds To God Issues Cont: A first part of the study established a range or spectrum of religious beliefs relating to God's perceived involvement in this world, God's perceived emotion, and personal experiences as opposed to abstract doctrine. The second part examined how participants responded to religious statements reflecting those beliefs, with the help of fMRI scanners.
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POPSEverything Forgets Continuing: At a computer museum, you can't miss the point that, sooner or later, every recording format eventually gets left in the dust. In fact, these days, new formats are coming faster and faster, and each one expires faster than what came before it. "There's a consensus that as the ability to store more and more data , the data itself has become less and less reliable," said Don Mennerich, an archivist at the New York Public Library. He's been working on preserving some historic 1968 audio interviews with rock stars: Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, The Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love of The Beach Boys, Phil Everly. In 1996 the library tried to rescue those 30-year-old recordings by transferring them to fresh, brand-new tapes. But Mannerich says now, less than 12 years later, "those tapes are already significantly degraded. "The tape actually, physically will shed against the head of the tape player, u
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POPSLonliness Impacts Brain Function (continuing on) About one if five Americans experience loneliness, Cacioppo said. And it is a growing problem in modern society in part because the average household size is decreasing. By 2010, 31 million Americans — roughly 10 percent of the population — will live alone, Cacioppo and his colleagues say. Previous work has suggested it can be as detrimental to health as smoking, Cacioppo said. In his book, "Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection" (W.W. Norton, 2008), he presented evidence that loneliness is related to less blood flow through the body, poorer immune systems, increased levels of depression and a faster progression of Alzheimer's disease.
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POPSGoogle Me Sentient "Although the present findings must be interpreted cautiously in light of the exploratory design of this study, they suggest that Internet searching may engage a greater extent of neural circuitry not activated while reading text pages, but only in people with prior computer and Internet search experience,"
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