Chance are that if you know "Jacek' you are a SciFi fan!
Here is what I am reading today:
“… I believe it’s important for patients to know what to expect in a typical cognitive behavior therapy session, not only so they can assess the treatment they’re receiving, but also so they’re prepared for therapy and understand and agree with how treatment typically proceeds….”
“Recent research in Oxford and elsewhere has shown that one type of brain stimulation in particular, called transcranial direct current stimulation or TDCS, can be used to improve language and maths abilities, memory, problem solving, attention, even movement.
Critically, this is not just helping to restore function in those with impaired abilities. TDCS can be used to enhance healthy people’s mental capacities. Indeed, most of the research so far has been carried out in healthy adults.”
(READ the NEXT post!)
“HDCkit is a cost-effective modular system for Direct Current (DC) stimulation, designed specifically for both research and clinical use. It consists of a stimulator (HDCstim), a programmer (HDCprog) and a set of electrodes (HDCel), which also has the option of a headcap).”
“THREE million children in this country take drugs for problems in focusing. Toward the end of last year, many of their parents were deeply alarmed because there was a shortage of drugs like Ritalin and Adderall that they considered absolutely essential to their children’s functioning. “
…”Memories in our brains are maintained by connections between neurons called “synapses”. But how do these synapses stay strong and keep memories alive for decades? Neuroscientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered a major clue from a study in fruit flies: Hardy, self-copying clusters or oligomers of a synapse protein are an essential ingredient for the formation of long-term memory.”
“…The pupil is best known for changing size in reaction to light. In a dark room, your pupils open wide to let in more light; as soon as you step outside into the sunlight, the pupils shrink to pinpricks. This keeps the retina at the back of the eye from being overwhelmed by bright light. Something similar happens in response to psychological stimuli, says Bruno Laeng of the University of Oslo, who cowrote the paper with Sylvain Sirois of Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and Gustaf Gredebäck of Uppsala University in Sweden. When someone sees something they want to pay closer attention to, the pupil enlarges. It’s not clear why this happens, Laeng says. “One idea is that, by essentially enlarging the field of the visual input, it’s beneficial to visual exploration,” he says….”
““Modern life is a welter of assorted desires marked by frequent conflict and resistance, the latter with uneven success,” said Asst. Prof. Wilhelm Hofmann of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Determining how to best resist desires is not as easy as it seems, say personality and social psychologists presenting new research Jan. 27 in San Diego at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.”
“On the surface, it’s simple: when night falls, our bodies get sleepy. But behind the scenes, a series of complex molecular events, controlled by our genes, is hard at work to make us groggy. Now, research suggests that a newly identified gene known as insomniac is an important reason why we don’t stay up all night. By cloning and testing this gene in fruit flies, Rockefeller University researchers say they have discovered an entirely new mechanism by which sleep is regulated.”
13 Comments
Aiwong · February 1, 2012 at 4:31 pm
In response to the “Brain Boosting, baby” article –
As convenient as it sounds, I am pretty skeptical about this idea. As we have learned in class, the brain is a very complex and important part of our body and even though they may promote the idea of how simple or harmless, there has to be some side effects in the long run. The article touched upon ethical concerns about this research and I would have to agree. There should be careful precautions about bringing this to public or to education institutions. Reminds me of Jurassic Park, don’t mess with mother nature!
N8 · February 1, 2012 at 5:24 pm
In response to “Brain Boosting…”
The first thing I bought of when reading this was the movie “Limitless” where the protagonist happens upon a drug that exponentially increases his mental capabilities and provides astonishing mental focus. I would agree with Aiwong in that there has to be some sort of side effect–this sounds too good to be true! From what we have learned thus far it seems that the brain is such a delicate structure that something like this may a first appear to help, but could easily take a downward turn. As with neurotransmitters (such as when you have too much or too little dopamine for instance results in lack of function or psychotic behavior) would having the presence of these electrodes potentially cause something similar?
Samantha_Neher · February 1, 2012 at 8:26 pm
In response to “the pupils are the real windows of the mind”
I definitely agree that pupil measurement is a good way of studying a person. The article mentions two ways it has been used; in studying people with damage to the hippocampus, as well as studying what babies are able to recognize. It seems that if a person with hippocampus damage could still recognize a photo they had seen before, even if they were unaware, maybe has hope of regaining some of those memory abilities that they had lost. This seems like a very useful method in helping people with hippocampus damage. As far as using pupil measurement to know what babies are able to recognize, I’m not sure it could work unless the babies were in a distraction free setting. I just hope they figure out how to know what a baby wants that easily before I have kids!
Samantha_Neher · February 1, 2012 at 9:44 pm
In response to “Ritalin gone wrong”
As I have noticed how many children are being put on medications for ADD at such young ages it has become a topic I tend to keep up on. Putting kids on medications for ADD is something I do not agree with at all. My mom always told me that there are other ways to help children learn to concentrate and to focus without having to give them the idea that they need these pills to succeed in life. This article really touched a lot of good points, but the one thing that stood out most to me was the following quote; “Drugs get everyone — politicians, scientists, teachers and parents — off the hook. Everyone except the children, that is.” I strongly believe that ADD has become something that parents and everyone else can use as an excuse when they cannot control children on their own. These children are developing depression, anxiety, and family stresses. Little kids need to be enjoying life, not taking drugs. There are other ways to help them. The fact that there is a ritalin and adderall shortage because of 3 million kids being diagnosed with ADD is something we should be concerned about.
phtran · February 2, 2012 at 2:18 pm
In response to “The ethics of brain boosting,” I found the development of a cognitive enhancer to be remarkable. I think that the advent of tDCS–if it really works (and with minimal side-effects)–does provide new opportunities for those previously limited by mental ability, and–depending on how well the treatment works–may open new doors for mankind as a whole.
However, there should be large ethical concerns if this type of treatment is eventually mass-marketed. Besides the fact that tDCS may likely result in undesirable side-effects (if it’s too good to be true–it probably is), the treatment will most definitely be abused (by those who don’t necessarily need cognitive enhancement, but choose to partake in treatment in order to gain an unfair advantage). Similar to professional sports, the world of academia is also highly competitive. With out-of-college job attainment so dependent on degree/grades and the fierce competition in graduate school admittance, what’s stopping the frantic pre-med student from ‘doping up’ before he takes his MCAT in order to do as well as possible?
Further, if treatments like tDCS attain this level of wide-spread usage, when will the line be drawn at which cognitive enhancement is deemed illegal? Such cognitive enhancers will most definitely push moral boundaries and should definitely be handled cautiously.
phtran · February 2, 2012 at 2:42 pm
In réponse to “watching a fruit fly sleep,” it was interesting to read that flies with mutations in their insomniac gene resultantly have dramatic reductions in sleep. It wasn’t particularly surprising to read that those with mutations in the gene (and therefore slept much less) didn’t live nearly as long as those with fully functional genes.
It was definitely interesting (and maybe even refreshing) to read that elimination of the gene in neurons and allowing the gene to remain functional throughout the rest of the body removed the causative relationship of sleep deprivation on lifespan. It would be a huge advancement if modification of a similar gene within humans could allow us to live sleepless, yet healthy and along lives.
Alana Snelling · February 5, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Brain Boosting:
You briefly brought this study up in class during bio-psych and it immediately interested and troubled me at the same time. The article states that this device is not something that can just be used and then have automatic side effects to pass all your tests the next day. I began to wonder if the individuals who participated in the study did better and learned more because psychologically they knew that while having the electrodes connected to them, that they could potentially learn more. That maybe it was more of a self fulfilling test where they tested better because they thought the electrodes would help them.
Alana Snelling · February 5, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Pupils:
This study focused primarily on individuals who had damage to the hippocampus causing severe amnesia, and it began to make me wonder if individuals who are blind have the ability to change pupil size even though they technically cannot see. During class you brought up the fact that our amygdala can sense fear without ever having to actually see fearful things. I am just curious to find out if individuals who have no eye sight whatsoever can have a change in pupil size in different light settings.
astiers · February 5, 2012 at 4:37 pm
In response to “Ritalin Gone Wrong”:
As college students it is not uncommon for hear of people using ritalin as a way to get an edge on tests. It is unfortunately being abused by people who do not suffer from ADD as a way to improve short- term memory. However, I agree with the article in that young children are being medicated first without seeking other options and that in the end, the medication doesn’t change the behavior. I think the shortage of medications illustrates the excessive use of Ritalin and doctors and parents need to realize the effects of medication have on the developing minds of millions of children, and reconsider prescribing drugs as a solution.
astiers · February 5, 2012 at 4:44 pm
In response to “making memories last” :
This new study provides vital information on the chemical reactions that create memories. With continued research, this new discovery of the functions of oligomers could help identify ways to prevent and reverse alzheimers as well as dimensia and even brain trama. This article was rather vague at how the oligomers work but i am curious about the potential of this substance.
jdeen · February 5, 2012 at 8:03 pm
In Response to “the pupils are the windows to the mind.”
After reading this article it almost seems intuitive that one’s pupils would dilate in response to an interesting visual stimuli, in order to “visually explore.” However, this concept has never crossed my mind. Also, while reading this article I thought of evoked potentials and how they are used to indicate autistic children’s perceptions of auditory stimuli; the pupillometry technique could possibly be used in a similar fashion.
jdeen · February 5, 2012 at 9:02 pm
In response to “Ritalin gone wrong.”
Having just gone over the effects of drugs on neural synapses, ritalin among them, this article seems relevant to those in the Bio 340 class at this time. Also, being a college student one is more often than not routinely around A.D.D. preventive drugs, either being the user or knowing those that use the prescribed drug. In an environment where one is constantly exposed to these drugs it is easy to go along with the mass assumption that A.D.D. preventive drugs are the all-in-one solution and to not give heed to other solutions, i.e. adjusting early childhood experiences as Alan Sroufe suggests.
N8 · February 7, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Reading Post Number 4 by Samantha_Neher my curiosity about Ritalin.
Drugs definitely seem to be the ‘easy way out’ and most popular route to take to get a seemingly simple or quick fix solution, but I see them as seemingly as a path toward personal destruction! (I can’t even come to take medication for a cold unless it gets really bad) As Samantha said, there are other routes for therapy that don’t need pills that as referenced in the article are more beneficial in the long-term. I completely agree with the article that by limiting ourselves to drug-only options we not only cause damage and don’t cure the problem, but also we prevent ourselves from pursuing the more complex solutions that might actually combat the problem, and eventually one day be able to reverse it. As my Dad likes to say: “what did they do in the good ol’ days?” Now, this doesn’t work for everything, but I still think it carries some substance in many situations!
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