ZOMBIE MIND CONTROL

In true Halloween fashion, today's post is about none other than...ZOMBIE MIND CONTROL. Okay, not really. However, it is about how we can use our thoughts to control what appears in the external world (even cooler).

The study alleging such psychical phenomena was conducted by Christof Koch (a neuroscientist at CalTech), Itzhak Fried (a neurosurgeon at UCLA) and Moran Cerf (a graduate student at CalTech); the original intention of the researchers was to explore whether or not surgically implanted electrodes deep within the neural centers of twelve epilepsy patients could aid in identifying the cause of the patients' epileptic seizures.

What these three researchers found, however, was much more than a cause. Through presenting images to the subjects on a screen and subsequently asking the subjects to think about a different image, the researchers were able to teach the subjects to change the projected image using only their brains!

How does this work? Each neuron is able to function as an essentially independent unit, meaning that the patients could train themselves to trigger certain neurons to respond to specific images (of Marilyn Monroe or Bill Clinton, for example). When these corresponding neurons were triggered, a cursor on a computer screen (visible only to the experimenter) moved up or down depending on the patient's preferences, and the image was altered accordingly.

Sound like something straight out of Frankenstein? Inspiration for the next psychological thriller (ahem, a chance for M. Night Shyamalan to redeem himself)? Believe it!

Here's the proof.

New Clinical Research in Neuroscience Course!!

Dr. Sherman Stein, clinical professor of neurosurgery, is offering his first course for undergraduates – Clinical Research in Neuroscience (BIBB-409-301) – in the upcoming spring semester!

Dr. Stein has two goals for this course. The first is to give students background about clinical research and the second is to get students involved in actually doing the research. He feels that one doesn’t need expensive, elaborate setup to address some of the many unanswered questions in neuroscience and medicine in general. Instead, he seeks to teach students a philosophy of how research works, which will be especially valuable for students who decide to attend graduate or medical schools.

BIBB 409-301 is a seminar-sized, interactive class comprised of ninety minute lectures, guest speakers’ presentations on topics like ethics and translational research, and student research. Students will be divided into teams of three to five and each team will decide on a specific clinical neuroscience question among the ones preapproved beforehand by the IRB. A possible topic of investigation may be the impact of the repealed motorcycle helmet law in Pennsylvania. Has it resulted in more deaths? Dr. Stein states that students will have to dissect the available data such as the trauma database or statistics published by the state and ask more detailed questions. For example, has the demographic of motorcycle riders changed due to the change in law? Is the sample of subjects representative of the population? How much of the annual deaths can be attributed brain injuries as opposed to breaking of the neck? Each team will work on its own topic or question throughout the semester under the supervision of a graduate student or a medical resident. Students will be guided along the whole process, from accessing research libraries to learning how to read and interpret research papers, how to collect data from human subjects and available literature, and how to write research papers. Dr. Stein will have weekly meetings with each team to check on their progress and be a readily available resource.

BIBB 109 is a pre-requisite and instructor’s permission is necessary to register. Dr. Stein is looking for students with intellectual energy and motivation; he hopes that self-motivated students will put in work outside of the classroom, since students will gain from this course as much as they invest in it. These projects may serve as foundations for analyses continued by grad students that may produce publishable results. There are plenty of possibilities for students to continue their involvement in this process and eventually even contribute to the research paper.

Interested students should set up appointments to meet Dr. Stein for a brief interview by emailing him directly at Sherman.Stein@uphs.upenn.edu

WHAT A HIT!

"At the 32 on third down and 6...Kolb in trouble, gets rid of it....OOOHHH! BIG HIT ON DeSEAN JACKSON!"

One of the hottest topics bridging sports and neuroscience today is the widespread prevalence of concussions in the National Football League.

In the 6th week of NFL play (OCT 17-18), there were at least 7 documented concussions. And in a league that emphasizes toughness, who knows how many other players ignored their symptoms leaving a concussion undiagnosed? Two notable brain injuries occurred on the same play when Philadelphia Eagles' receiver DeSean Jackson and tackler Dunta Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons viscously collided while running full speed. It'll be interesting to see how recent rule changes to avoid helmet-to-helmet contact and the increased awareness of the issue affect both the game and the longevity of its players.

So what exactly is happening to the brain of each player during one of these tackles?

Below is an alarming video from Sport Science (one of my favorite shows on television!) with an explanation of the average forces experienced by the head of an NFL player during a hit.

The Smell of Fear: It's Catching

How good is the human sense of smell? Smell provides us with information about our environment, but due to evolution plays second string to our more developed senses of sight and hearing. Cortical areas in our brains are more devoted to cognitive, visual, and auditory functioning, while other species, such as rats and dogs, have increased area in their brains devoted to the sense of smell (relative to their brains' total sizes). Despite our more significant dependency on our other senses, we can actually identify a variety of scents, each discriminated by a specific and intricate combination of chemicals to our olfactory receptors. While humans can get by just fine without a sense of smell, it adds a descriptive component to everyday life that would surely be missed by those of us who have it. Smell plays the role of a warning system, alerting us of dangers such as spoiled food or a fire, and that of an enhancer, supplying yet another quality to associate an object or experience with. Close your eyes and imagine waking up in the morning to the aroma of hot coffee, the fragrance of apple pie for dessert, or an attractive perfume on your date. It is not hard to believe that the areas of our brain connected to smell are closely related to those involved with memory formation. We tend to rely more on smell when our other senses are weak, as opposed to animals that depend on a more sophisticated olfactory system as a sense of direction and communication. With our slightly inferior noses, is it credible for humans to identify scents characteristic of things less tangible than food, smoke, or cologne…such as emotion?

According to several studies, humans can actually smell the emotion of fear (staying true to the theme for Halloween). This discrimination occurs at a subconscious level, influencing our interpretation of otherwise ambiguous situations as fearful ones. What is the source of this smell? Human sweat. "Our findings provide direct behavioral evidence that human sweat contains emotional meanings," said Denise Chen, a psychologist at Rice University in Houston. Supposedly, we are able to unconsciously detect whether or not someone is stressed/fearful via the release of a chemical pheromone through his/her sweat. Brain regions of the study participants associated with fear (the amygdala and hypothalamus) responded at stronger levels when the smell inhaled was of sweat collected from the armpits of petrified skydivers vs. sweat collected from exercisers. However, participants did not posses the ability to consciously distinguish between the two types of sweat.

This leads scientists to believe that emotions may in fact be contagious via a process of chemical transfer, adding a whole other component to social dynamics. Imagine the appeal to military institutions hoping to invoke fear in enemies, or perfume companies working to master the rules of sexual attraction (yes, there are pheromones in sweat during sex as well). Movie directors of horror films perhaps profit from this, because if one person in the movie is scared, chances are the viewers immediately around him will sense fear, starting a domino effect. The marketable value of these research results suggests a way in which pheromones may physiologically influence our behavior and perception. So the next time that you have an exam, remember not to show up too early with all of the worriers; just being around them can create a source of self-doubt when confidence is necessary to perform well.

For more information on two of these studies, click the links below:

http://www.livescience.com/health/090310-fear-scent.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/dec/04/smell-fear-research-pheromone

The Age of Adz

Commercials, billboards, labels, clothing--advertisements are everywhere. Look around. I can guarantee that an advertisement of some sort is within your visual frame. Though many of us consider ourselves immune to coercive marketing ploys (myself often included), a NeuroFocus study has shown that this is apparently not the case.

Gap, the multibillion dollar clothing company empire, recently attempted to update its old logo (on the left) to a newer, fresher, design (on the right). However, the strategy grossly backfired, ending with the decision to switch back to the original logo. Considering that upwards of ten million dollars were spent on the new look, this was clearly not an easy defeat to admit.

So, why the epic failure? According to the study, Gap's new design violated several aesthetic neural templates that humans intrinsically prefer, such as:

1. The blue cube covering part of the "p" distracts the viewer from the holistic brand name, which should be the focal point of the logo.

2. Our brains, being hardwired to avoid sharp edges, react negatively to those of the blue cube overlapping the "p."

3. The font of the new logo is relatively similar to most to which we're exposed on a daily basis, so there is no real sense of novelty.

4. There is less contrast in the new design, which is black on white, than in the old, which made the white letters stand out more against the blue background. Thus, we are inclined to pay less attention to the new logo than the old one.

5. "Gap" is capitalized in the new logo, which sparks our brains to search for some sort of tangible meaning to the word (like that found in a sentence). The most effective advertisements and marketing ploys tend to utilize all uniform letters, lending more attention to the brand name.

6. As is evident above, the new logo is a sharp contrast to the old logo. Because it is so unrecognizable from the original, people may have difficulty associating what they already know about Gap as a company with the new logo.

What do you think? Click here to read more, then let us know!

Multiple Choice Exam

Here's a cool brainteaser from "Brainbashers." You must get all of them correct! Good luck...

Q1. Which is the first question where c) is the correct answer

a) Q3
b) Q4
c) Q1
d) Q2

Q2. Which is the first question where a) is the correct answer

a) Q4
b) Q2
c) Q3
d) Q1

Q3. Which is the first question where d) is the correct answer

a) Q1
b) Q2
c) Q4
d) Q3

Q4. Which is the first question where b) is the correct answer

a) Q2
b) Q4
c) Q3
d) Q1

© Kevin Stone [Protected Puzzle]

http://www.brainbashers.com/showpuzzles.asp?formpost=Y&field=ctop10a&page=1&puzzletext=All+Time+Top+10

The ANSWER is posted in the comments section...Let us know if you got it right before looking at the answer!

Your Love Is My Drug

Even though the two can often times be synonymous, studies have shown that intense feelings of love can in fact counter the effects of pain, indicating a modulatory relationship. "It turns out that the areas of the brain activated by intense love are the same areas that drugs use to reduce pain," said Arthur Aron, PhD, one of the study’s authors. The neurotransmitter responsible for this analgesic effect is dopamine, known to influence our moods, and to play a prominent role in human “reward” processes. These processes involve activation of the reward areas of the brain during a multitude of experiences, from answering a question correctly in class, to winning the lottery, to taking drugs such as cocaine.

The study focused on undergraduates who were in the first nine months of a relationship, when love can still be considered “very passionate”. After that, habituation comes into effect, and the love one feels is more mature and less intense (not to discredit marriages, but it takes effort to keep the fire burning!). Since distraction has also been known to provide relief from pain, the experimenters used controls to ensure that these feelings of love provided more than mere distraction. While each may equally dissipate the effects of pain, love and distraction were viewed to stimulate very different areas of the brain: Distraction excites higher cortical areas of the brain, while love stimulates the deeper “reward” centers of the brain. The stimulation of these primitive underlying areas suggests pain relief at the spinal level. These regions are associated with our perception of reward and prove crucial for learning processes, as feelings of positive emotion help to reinforce desirable reactions, and also guide us in learning from previous mistakes. If a certain action is associated with the positive effects of dopamine, chances are we will continue performing that action to attain that feeling. This explains why this area is involved in situations of drug abuse; it’s hard to kick a habit when it evokes such a positive “high”.

This opens doors of limitless opportunity for those with chronic pain, because further research may lead to a day when a reliance on drugs is no longer necessary, potentially avoiding any problems associated with negative side effects of these drugs. A fiery, passionate love affair isn’t quite the ultimate cure for chronic pain just yet, but this knowledge holds a promising future for research into alternative methods for pain relief. Who knew, love is a drug: the high is great, withdrawal sucks, and it's no surprise that addicts already exist.

For more information, follow this link:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101013173843.htm