Brain Splain Brains, explained.
Biological Psychology Spring 2018 University of San Francisco
Letter from the editor
The human brain is complex and powerful. Though neuroscientists have learned much about its inner workings, many brain processes remain mysterious. Luckily, in this issue of BrainSplain magazine, our esteemed contributors will help you to learn more about features of the mind and brain you never knew you were curious about. The systems responsible for sensing, thinking, feeling, and acting are headquartered in the brain, but their nerve cells extend throughout our bodies. The human nervous system cooperates at levels both microscopic and macroscopic to produce patterns of activity that are fundamental to our experience as human beings. In this issue, we explore the brain and the nervous system at large. We hope this issue of Brainiac enlightens you and inspires new questions. Happy reading!
Sarah Hillenbrand, Ph.D.
Nature VS. Nurture: A Tale As Old As Time By: Nike Adelekan
“I got It from My Momma!”
You may have heard the phrase, “ I got it from my Momma.” Well I am here to inform you that the phrase can only go so far. When discussing things like physical appearance or anything that happens to deal with DNA and genetics, it is completely possible you got it from your Momma (or even your father). But what about personality? Are your personality and behavioral tendencies passed on through Your family or is it learned from the environment you are exposed to? This question of the influence of nature versus nurture is one of the oldest issues in psychology. What is Nature and Nurture? In this context nature is all of the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we are. This can include anything from physical
traits to personality characteristics. Nurture, on the other hand, is associated with the environmental variables that impact who we are. Some example of this are early childhood experiences, social relationships, and surrounding culture. Great Minds Throughout the world of psychology, there are two different outlooks on how we become who we are. In history, the great minds of Plato and Descartes had a theory that strongly supported the idea that who we are is influence by nature with “inborn” traits. They believed that we are born with our whole lives planned out through our genetics. Whether we like sports or not, if we grow tall or short, if we like vegetables or not, these would all be determined by our DNA. But on the other hand, there are the ideas of scientists such as John Locke and John B. Watson. These two scientists believe that we are born with a clean slate. They say that everything about us from taste in music, taste in food, and our personality is all determined by what we are exposed to growing up. The only flaws with these theories is that there are some components that could depend on either nature or nurture, our genetics or our environment. This could include things such as life expectancy and height. These things have a strong biological component but also they are influenced by the person’s lifestyle and environmental factors. What Now? Today many scientists realize both nature and nurture play critical roles in life. The
two interact in important ways throughout life and the combination of the two is what has the most influence on who we become. For further research, scientists are interested in examining and determining how genes impact environmental influences and vice versa. So the next time you are trying to decide where you get things; such as laugher, taste in music, or even height, know that it comes from combinations of your DNA and the environment you have been exposed to while growing up.
References South, S. C., Krueger, R. F., Knudsen, G. P., Ystrom, E., Czajkowski, N., Aggen, S. H., & … Reichborn-Kjennerud, T. (2017). A population based twin study of DSM–5 maladaptive personality domains. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, And Treatment, 8(4), 366-375. doi:10.1037/per0000220 Markon, K. E., Krueger, R. F., Bouchard, T. J., & Gottesman, I. I. (2002). Normal and abnormal personality traits: Evidence for genetic and environmental relationships in the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart. Journal Of Personality, 70(5), 661-693. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.05020 Segal, N. L. (2013). Personality similarity in unrelated look-alike pairs: Addressing a twin study challenge. Personality And Individual Differences, 54(1), 23-28. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2012.07.031 Loehlin, J. C., & Martin, N. G. (2018). Personality types: A twin study. Personality And Individual Differences, 12299-103. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2017.10.012 Schexnayder, C. (2017, November 26). How Twins Help Us Understand Nature and Nurture » Brain World. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from http://brainworldmagazine.com/twins-help-us-understand-nature-nurture/
WHY DO WE ALWAYS FAIL TO STICK TO THE PLAN? : the Emotional gap between Cold-state and Hot-state By Il Yung Cheong
What was your plan for today? To be honest with you, my plan was to get up, exercise, get a morning cup of coffee and start on homework after school. But the reality? I ignored my alarm, woke up late and had to pack my backpack hurriedly on an empty stomach. After class, as I was chatting with friends, I lost track of time and forgot about starting homework. Sound familiar? Have you ever planned to just buy milk and eggs but found yourself overspending? Have you ever found yourself getting ready to study only to remain on social media and getting stressed later? Have you ever tried to talk things over with your lover but ended up shouting at them and losing your temper? Why is it hard to act as we plan and think?
DIFFERENT STATES BETWEEN MAKING PLANS AND ACTUALLY DOING THEM. We struggle with sticking to plan because we underestimate how much emotional situations influence our own attitudes, preferences, and behaviors. This is called the Hot-Cold Empathy Gap. We usually plan while in the ‘Cold-state’. This state provides us a useful buffer for thinking in a rational way that helps with important choices. For example, we can write a shopping list thinking of a budget or promise ourselves to study hard. Our prefrontal cortex, in charge of logical and rational thinking, works properly in this calm and painless cold-state. When we actually go shopping or sit in the library, however, we are trapped by the ‘Hotstate,’ where high levels of emotion can impact the rational process of making a decision. In this state, a free sample at the supermarket suddenly makes you consider buying more. A new picture posted on Instagram and articles about celebrities catch your attention more than stressful study materials. We can pledge to wake up early and exercise, but end up in just turning over and over in bed. And here comes the biggest problem. In ‘Hot-state,’ even if we remember what we planned to do, our bodies don’t follow those ideal plans. Why is this happening?
SUBHEADING IN ANY COLOR THE POWER OF EMOTION CHANGES YOUR DECISIONS As you might have guessed already, emotion plays an important role in decision making. When we are in a calm and peaceful state, our ‘thinking brain’ (the neo-cortex, especially the prefrontal cortex) works properly and we can make logical judgements. However, when we are actually doing something, we face an exciting situation that changes our body state. For example, we did not feel hungry before tasting a sample. We weren’t angry before our lover started to argue with us. We weren’t that stressed by a surfeit of homework before we actually started working on it. These changes in the body state make ourselves more emotional and we call this hot-state. In this hot-state, information that helps us to make decisions is overruled by a network of emotion. Blood flow concentrates in the area of the brain called the brain stem, which prevents our ‘rational brain’ from absorbing energy from the bloodstream and working properly. There is also another explanation. Neuropsychologist Barbara Sahakian scanned people’s brain activity with fMRI, which examines neural electrical activity. Results showed that in a cold-state, the neural network in the brain is activated in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Interestingly, in the hot-task, it activates different neural circuitry in the brain. This involves an area of the frontal cortex, but this time it is the orbital frontal cortex that gets activated. This brain activity shows that we think differently between cold and hot state. When we make plans, we do
not recognize there might be different stimuli that will change us from cold to hot state. It is as if we are forcing Person H (Hot-state us) to follow Person C(Cold-state us)’s plans which are made by just considering Person C’s circumstances, only to fail. So, is there a way for us to plan and stick to it?
DO NOT JUST PLAN, PLAN FOR YOUR HOT-STATE The solution could be simple. We have to consider how we will likely think and how we have behaved in the hot-state when we are planning in a cold-state, learning from past experiences. This will decrease the empathy gap and help us overcome challenges that come in the hot-state. We can strategic plan to just take the cash that we need when grocery shopping. We can leave our smartphone back in our room before we go to the library and put our alarm far away from the bed. We can put our emotions in a letter to our lover instead of into an argument. In this way, we can prevent ourselves from overspending money, wasting time in the bed and instagram, yelling at people we care about, and finally stick to what we plan.
REFERENCE Lieberman, M. D., Eisenberger, N. I., Crockett, M. J., Tom, S. M., Pfeifer, J. H., & Way, B. M. (2007). Putting feelings into words. Psychological science, 18(5), 421-428. Kang, M. J., & Camerer, C. F. (2013). fMRI evidence of a hot-cold empathy gap in hypothetical and real aversive choices. Frontiers in neuroscience, 7, 104. Gupta, R., Koscik, T. R., Bechara, A., & Tranel, D. (2011). The amygdala and decision-making. Neuropsychologia, 49(4), 760-766. Hiser, J., & Koenigs, M. (2018). The multifaceted role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in emotion, decision making, social cognition, and psychopathology. Biological psychiatry, 83(8), 638-647. Blakemore, S. J., & Robbins, T. W. (2012). Decision-making in the adolescent brain. Nature neuroscience, 15(9), 1184.
Psycho
regions of the brain. You can tell something is wrong when there is an imbalance of neurotransmitters, but that should not
Breaking down Schizophrenia, not a
frighten you! We will go over the early warning signs of this Psychosis, different brain structures and how they are affected,
Hitchcock film By: Aaron Collazo
Distorted perception of reality, hallucinations, emotional irregularity,
and everyone’s favorite physiological topic: neurotransmitters.
Brain Structures There are 3 main brain regions that
distorted thoughts and actions, and hearing
are affected with Schizophrenia. At first this
voices that are never there are all symptoms
seems like a lot, but they all tie in together
of Schizophrenia. Contrary to popular belief,
to make a huge alteration once someone has
it’s not just a mental breakdown or a general
been diagnosed. The main area affected is
term to toss around, but someone who is
the Prefrontal Cortex; this region right
“Psycho” most likely has a psychotic mental
behind our forehead is in charge of
illness, the most common one being
behaviors and decision making. Those who
Schizophrenia.
are diagnosed with schizophrenia have trouble conducting this area, which is why
Schizophrenia affects people in different ways and alters various different
their actions are so sporadic. The limbic system also plays an important role in
Schizophrenia; this area primarily regulates
reward system, too much dopamine will
learning and is in charge of emotions. If you
result in Schizophrenic symptoms.
have ever seen a Schizophrenic, you would
Glutamate plays an important role in the
notice their emotions are always on edge
foundation for learning, forming and
and spiking, and it’s hard to learn how to
encoding new memories. Psychologists have
control them. Schizophrenic patients also
found that those who are diagnosed with
have reduced brain volume. Psychology is
Schizophrenia have low levels of Glutamate,
known for the phrase, “correlation does not
resulting in a higher stress level when it
mean causation”, so not everyone with
comes to trying to control their symptoms,
reduced brain volume has Schizophrenia,
they aren’t able to remember therapy
but those who do have Schizophrenia also
practices.
have reduced brain volume.
Early Warning Signs Neurotransmitters A neurotransmitter is a “brain
Schizophrenia affects men more than women, and they usually go through a
messenger”, they help carry information
Prodrome phase: it gets bad before ending
from one brain cell to another. The two main
up worse. Doctors tend to call early warning
culprits for this psychotic disease are
signs “positive symptoms”, but that doesn’t
dopamine and glutamate. Dopamine being
mean they’re good. These include
the main neurotransmitter involved has even
hallucinations, delusions, confused thoughts
got it’s own nickname, we call it the
and speech, trouble concentrating and
Dopamine Hypothesis. Being primarily
sporadic movement. “Negative symptoms”
involved in movements, thoughts and the
are what stops happening in a person with
Schizophrenia: loss of emotion, withdrawal,
time, but hopefully now that you know the
Cognitive symptoms (thinking problems),
basis for this disorder you won’t be as
and struggling with basic daily tasks.
shocked when you see someone acting up.
Schizophrenia may seem scary to someone who is seeing it unfold for the first
References: Veague, H.B. (2009, May 12). Health.am, “Schizophrenia and neurotransmitters.� Available online. URL: http://www.health.am/psy/more/schizophrenia-and-neurotransmitters/
(2018). Schizophrenia society of saskatchewan, Causes of Schizophrenia. Retrieved from http://www.schizophrenia.sk.ca/what-are-the-facts-about-schizophrenia/what-isschizophrenia/causes/
(2016). WebMd. What is schizophrenia? Schizophrenia, and overview. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/default.htm
Dunn, LB. (2005). Schizophrenia bulletin, Emerging Empirical Evidence on the Ethics of Schizophrenia Research. 32, 1-68 https://academic.oup.com/schizophreniabulletin/article/32/1/47/2888606
Chakraborty, Sudipta. (2017). Live Strong, Areas of the Brain Affected by Schizophrenia. Retrived from https://www.livestrong.com/article/88264-areas-brain-affected-schizophrenia/
SYNESTHESIA: A HALLUCINOGENIC EXPERIENCE OR A COGNITIVE BENEFIT? By ETTORE CROCETTI MARZOTTO
Most people are aware of synesthesia as a
experience of a second sensory or cognitive
state only induced by Hallucinogenic drugs.
pathway. In other words, the activation of
However, synesthesia is not just some kind
one sense triggers another. In the case of a
of ‘trippy’ experience. In reality, 3 to 5% of
graphene-color synesthete, an individual is
the population has some form of
likely to associate individual letters, or
synesthesia, despite being on drugs. Which
numbers, with a specific color. This
means that there are actually various
association has interestingly been found not
different types of synesthesia, up to 60 in
to be random. Often times the following
fact, with the most researched and talked
image is shown when talking about
about being graphene-color synesthesia,
synesthesia.
and odor-color synesthesia. In this article, I will illustrate how having these types of synesthesia could in fact, potentially be considered a cognitive benefit.
GRAPHENE-COLOR
As you can see the letter ‘A’ is red. This is not
SYNESTHESIA
by chance, in a big study by Root et al.,
Synesthesia in general is a condition in
(2018), the researchers found that even
which stimulation of one sensory, or
across five different languages, this
cognitive pathway, leads to the involuntary
relationship between the letter ‘A’ and the
color red was present. This is interesting
It is doable but you might have struggled
because it shows the difference between a
for a bit. Now try to find the 2s in this table.
synesthetes experience brought on by hallucinogenic drug, which can manifest itself in various ways, and that of a graphene-color synesthete, which is much more defined. How is this beneficial though? Well, when studying whether children with graphene-color synesthesia show cognitive benefits compared to baseline norms, Simmer & Bain (2018), found that graphene-color syntesthetes demonstrated above-average performance, in both a processing-speed task, a pretty significant advantage in a letter-span task, and benefits in memory tasks, such as recalling letters. All thanks to the particular experience of associating letter with specific colors, graphene-color synesthetes gain a definite edge. A subsequent benefit, is best
Definitely much easier, no? This is the way that a graphene-color synesthete would see the first table, showing a second clear advantages for them over non graphemecolor syntesthetes.
illustrated through a task that you can try out yourself. In the following table try to find the
ODOR-COLOR SYNESTHESIA
2s among all thee 5s.
In the case of odor-color synesthesia, a sensation in one sense, such as hearing would trigger a sensation in another sense, such as vision. In a study by Speed & Majid (2018), looking into cognitive benefits resulting from odor-color synesthesia, the researchers found some positive results. Specifically, they found that odor-color syntesthetes outperformed the control condition on tests of both odor and color
discrimination, meaning that they were also
synesthesia such as, graphene-color
more consistent at accurately naming odors.
synesthesia, and odor-color synesthesia.
Their ability to have two internal stimuli, i.e
These differ from the hallucinogenic
hearing the sound, and seeing the particular
experience because the distortion in
color the corresponds to it, instead of just
perception is much more consistent, as we
hearing the sounds alone, allows them to
saw with the case of the letter ‘A’ being red.
better distinguish individual sounds.
Lastly, based on the studies examined here, it might also be fair to consider having some type of synesthesia to be a potential cognitive benefit too.
CONCLUSION So, although synesthesia is most commonly associated only with a drug-induced hallucinogenic state, we have discovered that there are also many other types of
Root, N. B., Rouw, R., Asano, M., Kim C. Y., Melero, H., Yokosawa, K., Ramachandra V. S. (2018). Why is the synesthete “A” red? Using a five-language dataset to disentangle the effects of shape, sound, semantics, and ordinality on inducer-concurrent relationships in graphemecolor synesthesia. Cortex: A Journal Devoted To The Study Of the Nervous System And Behavior, 99, 375-389. doi:10.1016/j/cortec.2017.12.003 Simner, J., & Bain, A. E. (2018). Do children with grapheme-colour synaesthesia show cognitive benefits?. British Journal Of Psychology, 109(1), 118-136. doi:10.1111/bjop. 12248Speed, L. J., & Majid, A. (2018). Superior olfactory language and cognition in odorcolor synaesthesia. Journal Of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception And Performance, 44(3), 468-481. doi:10.1037/ xhp0000469.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN . . . Do you remember when you celebrated your third birthday or when you were ten and you went on a trip to visit your? By AFREEN FATHIMA
Shows the many neuronal connections of the brain Source: loonylabs
To start off, keep in mind that there are many types of memories and each one lasts a different amount of time. There’s short-term (lasts for a few milliseconds), working (lasts for about a
example, smells, sounds, touch, and emotions can trigger memories. Memories of your grandmother could be triggered by smells of freshly baked cookies or the sound of a car skidding could trigger memories of a car accident you were in.
minute), long-term (lasts anywhere from an hour or several years — as explained by Sherwood (2017)), declarative (memories (facts and events) you can consciously remember and describe)
WHY CAN’T I REMEMBER THINGS FROM WHEN I WAS YOUNGER?
and non-declarative (memories of
The lead psychologist in the study
activities (routines or habits) that are
into childhood amnesia, according to an
automatically performed) memories
article written by Gray, 2014, Bauer
(Ranpura, 2013). We encode memories
(2013), has found that childhood
depending on our surrounds. For
amnesia occurs at and around the age
of seven. She also found that the older
travel through the synapse, which
you get, the less you remember from the
basically connects nerve cells to other
earlier parts of your life. Batcho (2015),
cells (Encoding, 2018). When the
who studies nostalgia, wrote in her
dendrites receive the impulses, it allows
article that “The childhood memories we
the synapse to increase the number of
choose to hold on to reveal aspects of
electrical signals sent out. The NMDA
what we consider important. Those
receptor controls the flow of information
memories don’t inform others about
between neurons. To activate the
who we are.”
receptors, glutamate has to be released, bind to the postsynaptic neurons and
SO, HOW DOES MY BRAIN REMEMBER THINGS? In general, encoding begins with
excite it. The brain then regroups and reorganizes itself and the memories as you experience, learn and do new things (Wikipedia, 2018).
our perceptions and sensations, which travel to the brain’s hippocampus where they are combined into one single experience. The hippocampus then decides what type of memory this experience should be placed in. For example, when it decides to commit to long-term memory, the information is spread out and stored in various parts of the brain. This causes an engram, a physical and chemical change in the brain due to memories being formed (Mastin, 2018). Looking at this process at a molecular level, we see that electricity and various chemicals are used to encode a memory. Electrical signals release neurotransmitters when they
Shows the different areas of the brain that memories can be broken down and stored in Source: lumenlearning
The next step is storage. Without finding a place to store the memory that
was encoded, the memory is useless
have been made, the memory is
and unretrievable. Newer memories are
reconstructed. Some information is only
stored in the hippocampus for a while
available when you’re in the situation
before being moved further into the
where it is needed. For example, if
frontal cortex. During this step,
you’re swimming, the memories on
memories you’ve just made and
“how to swim” will be recalled. While
memories you’ve made before group
memories get stronger the more they’re
together by similarities — the same
recalled (the strength of synapse
memories can be in multiple categories
increase the more they are used
(Burnett, 2015).
(Sherwood, 2017)), they just as easily are
Looking at it on a deeper level, memories are stored throughout the brain in groups of neurons that, when fired together, create the original experience. Each part of the memory is stored in the part of the that activated it. For example, sight is stored in the visual cortex and smell is stored in the olfactory bulb. Memories can be encoded multiple times in each part of the brain in case you damage your brain and it erases the engram from one part of the brain. Thus, memories are always reconstructed from the scattered information in different areas of the brain (Mastin, 2018). The last step is retrieval. This is where you recall the memories you’ve made, encoded and stored away in your brain. To recall a memory, the brain signals the frontal cortex and by using the axons and other connections that
altered for the purpose of being relevant to the situation you’re in (Burnett, 2015).
HOW COME I FORGET SOMETIMES? Forgetting happens for a variety of reasons and theories that explain why people forget. As McLeod (2008) wrote, “Forgetting information from short term memory (STM) can be explained using the theories of trace decay and displacement. Fo r g e t t i n g from long term memory (LTM) can be explained using the theories of interference and lack of consolidation.” The loss of ability to remember short-term memories can be explained by two theories. The theory of trace decays states that the trace that a memory leaves in the brain fades or decays because of time limitations. As stated at the beginning of the article, short-term memory can only be
held in your memory for a few seconds unless you rehears it. The theor y of displacement states that there’s only a limited about of storage space in your short-term memory (on average you can only remember seven words, plus or minus two). The old information is replaced by the new information (McLeod, 2008). The loss of long-term memories can be explained by two theories. The theory of interference states that you can’t learn new information because of two different types of interferences. Proactive interference occurs when old learning interferes with new earning. Retroactive interference occurs when new learning interferes with old learning (McLeod, 2008).
HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY MEMORY? Memor y can be improved in a variety of ways but remember that it’s always important to exercise your brain! Challenge your mind and try something new that’ll improve the skills you already know but also help you build new ones. For example, try mastering a complex music piece or try doing that sudoko puzzle you see every week on the newspaper. Healthy relationships, having fun and stress management will not only keep you a happy , flourish person but also carries a lot of health benefits and will will also help with memory improvement. Cut out any toxic relationships that are making
you unhappy. Also remember that life isn’t all about being serious so make sure you surround yourself with fun people that’ll make you step out of your comfort zone. You can also keep your stress levels in check by taking breaks throughout the day to te n d to y o u r s e l f a n d y o u r n e e d s (meditate!) and have a balance between your mental, emotional, and physical health as well as your social life. Physical exercise is also a great way to improve memory. It increases oxygen to the brain and improves blood flow. Sleeping for 7-9 hours and eating the right foods and vitamins will also help memory. Having a balanced diet and making sure you’re getting all the nutrients your body needs is another great and easy way to keep your brain active and healthy. Omega-3s, seafood, fruits, vegetables, green tea, red wines, and unsaturated fats are very good for your health and they also improve blood flow. Remember to also checkin with your primary doctors often to make sure that you you keep your body healthy and don’t have any underlying health problems (Smith and Robinson, 2018).
References Batcho, K. I. (2015, April 4). What Your Oldest Memories Reveal About You. Bauer, P. J., & Larkina, M. (2013, November 18). The onset of childhood amnesia in childhood: A prospective investigation of the course and determinants of forgetting of early-life events. Burnett, D. (2015, September 16). What happens in your brain when you make a memory? The Guardian. Encoding (memory). (2018, April 10). Gray, R. (2014). Scientists pinpoint age when childhood memories fade. Mastin, L. (2018). Memory Processes. McLeod, S. A. (2008). Forgetting. McLeod, S. A. (2007). Stages of memory - encoding storage and retrieval. Sherwood, C. (2017, December 07). How Does the Human Brain Remember Things? Leaf Group Education. Smith, M. and Robinson, L. (2018). How to Improve Your Memory: Tips and Exercises to Sharpen Your Mind and Boost Brainpower. helpguide.org. Ranpura, A. (2013, March 12). How We Remember, and Why We Forget. Brain Connection.
DREAM SPEECH Dont worry. Your secrets are (probably) safe. By Nicole Fernandez When you think about sleeping, what comes to mind? Depending on who you are, you’ll think of a peaceful time to recharge or how impossible it feels to stop thinking. Whatever it may be, I bet you didn’t imagine yourself murderously screaming at obscene hours of the night or talking about your goldfish in your slumber. If you’re a sleep talker, then this probably sounds familiar to you. Too bad you never remember what you say. While it’ll earn you some embarrassment when your roommate describes the late-night entertainment, sleep talking, scientifically known as “somniloquy”, is pretty harmless. It’s also fairly common considering 60% of people have at least one sleep talking episode in their lifetime and 40% of children ages 3-7 talk in their sleep. In fact, there’s a good chance that at 2 a.m. you’ll be the one letting out a swear word or two and yelling about a lobster stealing your bread. While it makes for great comedic material, why do we talk? Is what we’re saying meaningful or unrelated to reality? Should you worry about sharing your deepest, darkest secrets? Unfortunately, it’s pretty hard to say. Sleep talking is commonly considered a sleep utterance which includes groaning, muttering, and other verbal noises made during sleep. It can also be addressed as a parasomnia, a sleep disorder where unusual behaviors occur within the nervous system, that is associated with the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) stages of sleep. But according to some statistics, about 80% of episodes occur during NREM and 20% can happen during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. You might be wondering why the stages of sleep matter, but depending when you talk during your 90minute cycle, what you share might be completely irrelevant or alarmingly revealing. Before diving into why you might confess to committing a murder you hopefully never did, we should know what the stages of sleep are. After getting relaxed, eventually you’ll settle into stage 1 of sleep, drifting in and out of consciousness but still having muscle activity. During stage 2, eye movement stops and brain waves slow down. Then come stage 3 and 4 where you have slow brain waves called “delta waves” indicating the synchronization of neurons. After this is REM sleep or “paradoxical sleep” where there is increased brain activity along with the paralyzation of
the body; you’re in what seems to be both light and deep sleep. There are accounts of sleep talking associated with each stage – some occurrences being more rare than others. While the stage of sleep can indicate the causes of your dream speech, we may never know if your confession of love for Justin Bieber is legit. We dream most vividly during REM sleep whereas in non-REM stages, there are only random streams of thought and images. Funny enough, this doesn’t seem to matter when it comes to sleep talking. Even if you’re having the greatest dream of Betty White giving you a medal of honor, your bed partner might hear you complain about dropping your pancakes. Even when you let out some memorable phrases in the transition periods between stages where wakefulness interrupts sleep, what you say will have nothing to do with reality. Only on rare occasions does our speech clearly reflect active dreams during REM. But wait a minute… how can you talk if you’re paralyzed? Well, your brain doesn’t always do its job. Shocker.
The areas of the brain where speech production is localized, mainly in the frontal and temporal lobes of the left hemisphere, remain active during sleep. In cases where people overtly say what is happening in their dream, you’ll have “motor breakthroughs” where the brainstem has temporarily failed to paralyze the muscles leaving your vocal cords and mouth ready for action. This occurs because the neurotransmitters gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine fail to inhibit the neurons involved in motor control, but causes for this have yet to be established. Regardless, if it seems like you’re letting out potential blackmail material, it’s all probably a bunch of nonsense. Some factors that have been claimed to contribute to sleep talking are unfamiliar locations, medications, alcohol consumption, emotional stress, sleep deprivation, fevers, and mental disorders. While these give possible reasons as to why we might talk about our pet T-rex, we might never know if our speech means anything important. Just in case you were worried, your subconscious probably won’t be betraying you any time soon.
References Barrett, D., Grayson, M., Oh, A., & Sogolow, Z. (2015). A Content Analysis of Dion McGregor’s Sleep-Talking Episodes. Imagination, Cognition & Personality, 35(1), 72-83. doi:10.1177/0276236615574495 Patino, E. (2013, July 12). Why Do We Talk in Our Sleep? Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/why-do-we-talk-in-our-sleep.aspx Peeter, D., & Dresler, M. (2014, April 24). Scientific Significance of Sleep Talking. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2014.00009 Revere, A. M., Kuhn, D. R., Crossley, J., & Fleischacker, M. D. (2012, September 17). All About Sleep Talking. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from http://www.personal.psu.edu Rosen, D., M.D. (2009, May 24). Why do people sleep talk? Retrieved April 04, 2018, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sleeping-angels Saner, E. (2017, Oct 11). What does it mean when we talk in our sleep? - It’s a compelling idea that people talking in their sleep might reveal their deepest secrets – but a new study suggests we mostly just say ‘no’ and use swear words. Guardian, The (London, England), p. 3.. Retrieved from http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news Wolchover, N. (2012, March 26). Why Do People Talk In Their Sleep? Retrieved April 5, 2018, from https://www.livescience.com/33794-people-talk-sleep.html
Inner Circuits: COMT gene and ADHD The Role of Genetics in ADHD By: Rocio Flores-Villa
You may have heard many people say that that the COMT gene was responsible for ADHD is the daydreaming condition that decreasing
levels
of dopamine in
the
leads to inattentive and hyperactive people. In prefrontal cortex area of the brain. fact, such condition has been characterized as The result of this genetic occurrence is that it similar as a car without breaks. Often, ADHD affects attention in people, as well as the has been joked upon by people who are tendency to have defiant behaviors as a result forgetful, can’t sit still, and seem to talk about of it. everything at once. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The COMT Gene? The COMT Gene, or catechol O
(CDC), ADHD is present in 6.1 million methyltransferase, is an enzyme that inhibits children in the United States ranging from age neurotransmitters after being released. 2-17. When compared to statistical evidence Such actions of the COMT gene enhance an of 2003 and subsequent years, ADHD has individual’s mood and cognitive focus, often increased by a million cases each year. a problem in people with ADHD.
Interestingly, it is most common in children than adults.
The Role of COMT in ADHD Why is COMT highly correlated with ADHD? COMT mutations have been found to have a positive correlation with ADHD. Such Attention Deficit Disorder and COMT Gene
mutations result in individuals carrying the
One of the primary interests of researchers is methionine allele which results in excessive to determine how it is that ADHD occurs in amounts of dopamine in the brain. Thus, people. Many have attributed this diagnosis resulting in impulsive and irrational behavior. with environmental factors. The National
In order to improve ADHD in individuals,
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), defines researchers have begun to observe ways in Attention Hyperactive Disorder as “a brain which they can prevent a slow COMT gene. disorder marked by an ongoing pattern of However, the environment has been proven to inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity hinder such advances due to the many toxins, that
interferes
development”
with
(NIMH,
functioning 2016).
or and harmful stressors of the outside that affect
However, an individual.
recent studies have shown a correlation between
the
COMT
(catechol-O-methyltransferase)
gene
and
ADHD. After extensive research, it was found Sources Antshel, K. M. (2015). Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Oxford Clinical Psychology. doi:10.1093/med:psych/9780199733668.003.0002 E. (2018, April 25). Move Over, MTHFR: Time to Look at COMT. Retrieved from http://ndnr.com/pediatrics/move-over-mthfr/ Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: E7720. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720. (n.d.). doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f Lynch, B. (2018). Dirty Genes: A Breakthrough Program to Treat the Root Cause of Illness and Optimize Your Health. HarperCollins. Myöhänen, T. T., Schendzielorz, N., & Männistö, P. T. (2010). Distribution of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) proteins and enzymatic activities in wild-type and soluble COMT deficient mice. Journal of Neurochemistry. doi:10.1111/j.1471-4159.2010.06723.x Sun, H., Yuan, F., Shen, X., Xiong, G., & Wu, J. (2013). Role of COMT in ADHD: A Systematic Meta-Analysis. Molecular Neurobiology, 49(1), 251-261. doi:10.1007/s12035-013-8516-5 Turic, D., Williams, H., Langley, K., Owen, M., Thapar, A., & Odonovan, M. (2005). A family based study of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD). American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 133B(1), 64-67. doi:10.1002/ajmg.b.30123
Kelly Pizarro 4/18/18 Word Count: 450 Don’t you Just Love Peanut Butter Cookies!? Unfortunately, some may never get to experience a soft peanut butter cookie because it is highly toxic to them. Peanut butter can give allergic reaction that can be life threatening. Good thing there is a way to save a person if they are experiencing an allergic reactions to peanut butter or accidentally bit into a food that has peanut butter in it. The original allergic reaction is from the peanut. Peanuts are all over our world and they are also known to be a grain and not just a nut. A peanut is extremely high in oil which is part of the reason why so many people are allergic to it. The peanut allergy is one of the most common allergic reactions amongst people. The symptoms you see from a peanut allergy can vary from runny nose, skin reactions, digestive problems, tightening of the throat, and shortness of breath. Whew! Those are some scary symptoms! The tightening of the throat with the shortness of breath can sometimes lead to death! Oh NO! Unfortunately for people that are highly allergic to peanuts cannot eat a soft buttery peanut butter cookie! BUT Fortunately there is a way we can save people who have accidentally eaten a food that has peanuts in it with an allergic reaction. We are able to stop the process of the symptoms taking over the body using a device called the Epipen! The Epipen is used to help control the symptoms with people who are having an allergic reaction! It is an injection filled with a Neurotransmitter called epinephrine. Epinephrine is also known as adrenalin. It is also known as a hormone and a medication like the Epipen. The Epipen gets injected on the outer thigh of the person that is having an allergic reaction. When it is injected it releases active adrenaline into the body. Adrenaline is already naturally produced and released inside the body to help with stressful situations. It is also known to help with the “fight or flight” response in certain situations.
The release of epinephrine narrows blood vessels and open airways in the lungs.This helps with the symptoms people show with allergic reactions. Especially with the tightening of the throat and the shortness of breath. It almost “tricks” one’s brain into ignoring the allergic reaction and opens the body’s air pathways. Which is is really good news because this can lead to potential death. But now! With the epipen slowing down the process of these symptoms you can get the person with the allergic reaction safety to the hospital.
Reference page Kilanowski, J., Stalter, A., Gottesman, M. (2006). Preventing Peanut Panic. J Pediatr Health Care. Columbus, Ohio. The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.
Varandani, S. (2016). https://www.medicaldaily.com/what-epipen-and-what-does-it-doeverything-you-need-know-about-epinephrine-395809
PARACHUTING THROUGH THE BODY A description of how the body can parachute its nerves down safely. By PATRICIA GRAHAM
Imagine you’re in a plane at around 12,000
improve (adrenergic agonists and asthma.
feet above the ground. Your heart is racing
ANS functions without conscious, voluntary
as you are preparing yourself to skydive out
control and influence the activity of most
of the plane. Once your parachute is
tissues and organ systems in the body.
prepared and you finally gain the courage
Some of the many homeostatic functions
to jump. Your adrenaline has rushed and,
regulated by ANS are, the regulation of
finally, you jump. You feel a rush of energy
blood pressure, gastrointestinal responses
and endorphins after the jump and even let
to food, contraction of the urinary bladder,
out a scream. After free-falling for around 60
focusing of the eyes, and thermoregulation.
seconds, you open your parachute. Now,
The ANS is composed of 2 divisions, the
you find yourself slowly becoming calmer as
sympathetic nervous system and the
you continue your 10 minute parachute
parasympathetic nervous system. Both
journey down, safely to land.
system provide some degree of nervous input to a given tissue at all times.
THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (ANS) The autonomic nervous system place a crucial role in homeostasis. This system may play a role in many systemic diseases (heart failure) and drugs that affect this system may
Essentially, the sympathetic nervous system predominates during emergency “flight or flight” reactions. The parasympathetic nervous system predominates during “rest and digest” reactions to conserve and store energy as well as to regulate basic body functions such as digestion and urination.
messenger for the increase of heart rate and stronger contractions of the heart muscle.
THE PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (PNS) As they say, what goes up, must come back down. Although the parasympathetic nervous system is active during times of rest and normal conditions, the body uses the parasympathetic nervous system to bring or calm down the body after the “fight or flight” response is activated. This built-in
THE SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (SNS) Once activated, the sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for emergency situations, also known as “fight or flight” reactions. The SNS increases heart rate, constricts blood flow to the most peripheral arteries, and raises blood pressure. The
mechanism allows the body to handle stress and helps the body rest, digest, and recover. The parasympathetic nervous system conserves energy as it slows the heart rate, increases intestinal and gland activity, and relaxes sphincter muscles in the gastrointestinal tract.
purpose of these functions is to supply
PARACHUTING
more blood to the brain, heart, and muscles,
In this analogy above, SNS activates in the
by reducing blood flow to the skin and to
action of jumping out of the plane,
the digestive system.
activating your “fight or flight” response,
With the activation of SNS, it stimulate two endocrine systems: the hypothalamicanterior pituitary-adrenomedullary axis (HPA) and the sympatho-adrenomedullary axis (SAM). Activation of HPA releases the stress hormone cortisol, while the activation o f S A M re l ea s e s a d re n a l i n e . Th e s e hormones, cortisol and adrenaline, act as a
which in this case is flight. This is why your heart rate increases and your lungs increase oxygen intake as you gasp for air. PNS acts as your parachute and slowly brings you down with the activation of your “rest and digest” response. This reaction calms you down as you slowly parachute to the ground. These responses are not only present during parachuting but also present during any emergency situation.
References Bankenahally, R., & Krovvidi, H. (2016). Autonomic nervous system: Anatomy, physiology, and relevance in anaesthesia and critical care medicine. BJA Education, 16(11), 381-387. doi: 10.1093/bjaed/mkw011
• Discusses the structure of PNS and SNS. Provides diagrams and images of each. (https://academic.oup.com/bjaed/article/16/11/381/2445840)
Ramsey, A., Rolnick, K., Smith, R., Weng, C., Li, Y., & Lokuta, A. (n.d.). Activation of the human sympathetic nervous system: Effects on memory performance. Retrieved from http://jass.neuro.wisc.edu/2012/01/Lab 603 Group 10 Final Submission Ramsey, Rolnick, Smith.pdf
• Breaks down the endocrine system in response to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system
Kenney, M. J., & Ganta, C. K. (2014). Autonomic nervous system and immune system interactions. Comprehensive Physiology, 1177-1200. doi:10.1002/cphy.c130051
• Discusses how the Sympathetic Nervous System and Parasympathetic Nervous System play an important role in regulating many different
function of the body. (http://www.comprehensivephysiology.com/ WileyCDA/CompPhysArticle/refId-c130051.html)
Stress effects on the body. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-body.aspx
• Breaks down the responses your body as with the activation of the autonomic nervous system.
Terfera, D., & Jegtvig, S. (n.d.). A clinical overview of the nervous system. Retrieved from http:// www.dummies.com/education/science/anatomy/a-clinical-overview-of-the-nervoussystem/
• Breaks down each nervous system providing simple explanations of the jobs of PNS and SNS.
Zmijewski, C. (2014, November 26). Activate the parasympathetic nervous system to improve recovery. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from http://www.ptonthenet.com/articles/activate-theparasympathetic-nervous-system-to-improve-recovery-3910
• Discusses what triggers the SNS and what encourages the activation of PNS.
The Neurology of a Psychopath Natalie Hagen The Psychopath Fascination Most of America seems to be very much obsessed with the concept of a psychopath. From TV shows, to movies, to Halloween costumes, people are fascinated by the mystery of the psychopath. What makes a psychopath murder? What motivates them? What makes them different from any other person you would see on the street? Science Daily describes psychopathy as a personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy and remorse. They report that around 23% of people in prisons are characterized as psychopaths and in the average population 1% are characterized as psychopaths. So what makes this 1% different from the rest of us? Research has shown that there are physical changes in areas of the brain and neurological differences such as hormone levels in the brain of someone who is considered normal and someone who is considered a psychopath. This often time raises the question on how to punish psychopaths. If their actions are brought on by
physical and chemical differences in the brain, which is something that they cannot control, sound they be held responsible for their action? Many people’s brain scans show neurological differences similar to those seem in psychopaths, but most of them never end up being violent in society. The Scientist who Realized he was a Psychopath A crazy story that emerged from the scientific world was the story of James Fallon. Fallon was a scientist that had been studying PET scans to connect the link between physical brain structures and psychopathic tendencies. When he was looking at scans from a different study regarding Alzheimer’s disease and its effects on the brain he came across a scan that clearly showed the brain of someone who should have psychopathic tendencies. Looking at the details of the scan and its code he realized that he was looking at a scan of his own brain. That’s crazy. Fallon never ended up demonstrating psychopathic tendencies which goes to show how strong of a role nature and nurture can play in the making of a psychopath. Are Their Brains Actually Different? Knowing that a large influence on psychopaths decision to act out violently is based on their upbringing or environment (nurture), there must be
a physical difference in brains of psychopaths or people with psychopathic tendencies that explains their unique and often disturbing behaviors (nature). People generally seem to be interested in what makes someone “different� and many scientist have studied the differences in the brain of a nonpsychopathic individual compared to one and one characterized as a psychopath. In a study done at a medium-security prison on 121 inmates who had mild to severe psychopathic tendencies, they utilized an fMRI scan to try and locate which parts of the brain were active or not active when psychopaths were shown scenarios of pain to themselves and pain to others. An fMRI gives you a visual map of changes in the blood flow to areas of the brain. It is useful because when areas of the brain are active more blood flow goes to the area and allows scientist to map activity. The results of these fMRI showed that inmates were capable of showing sympathy to themselves when they imagined themselves in pain, but not when they imagined other people in pain. The brain areas that failed to be activated when they were imagining others in pain were areas within the prefrontal cortex and temporal poles. These areas within the brain have been shown to be involved with empathy, something that psychopaths clearly lack.
What Now? So knowing that there are actually physical differences in a person’s brain who is a psychopath or a murder left me as a person of society kind of conflicted. It goes back to the ethical question of how to punish psychopaths. It’s not a person’s fault that their pre-frontal cortex is not activated or that other areas in the brain that are involved in empathy or decision making fail to work properly. Do we jail them, do we give them the death penalty? These are question that I don’t know how to answer and I don’t think I have an answer to, but what I do know is that the work of scientists who have found this psychical difference have opened a whole new world of discussions on how people with these differences should be treated both mentally and physically.
References Decety J, Chen C, Harenski C and Kiehl KA (2013) An fMRI study of affective perspective taking in individuals with psychopathy: imagining another in pain does not evoke empathy. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 7:489. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00489 Our results demonstrate that while individuals with psychopathy exhibited a strong response in pain-affective brain regions when taking an imagine-self perspective, they failed to recruit the neural circuits that are were activated in controls during an imagine-other perspective, and that may contribute to lack of empathic concern. Frontiers. (2013, September 24). Neurological basis for lack of empathy in psychopaths. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 2, 2018 www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130924174331.htm When individuals with psychopathy imagine others in pain, brain areas necessary for feeling empathy and concern for others fail to become active and be connected to other important regions involved in affective processing and decision-making. psychopaths showed an increased response in the ventral striatum, an area known to be involved in pleasure, when imagining others in pain. Haridy, R. (2017, July 07). Inside the brains of psychopaths. Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://newatlas.com/psychopath-brain-mri-study/50365/ Brain activity across several regions involved in pain empathy failed to activate, including the anterior insula, the anterior midcingulate cortex, somatosensory cortex, and the right amygdala, when the psychopathic prisoners had to imagine other people feeling pain, but they were activiated when they imagined an accident happening to them. n highly psychopathic criminals an abnormally high connectivity was identified between the rewardsignaling ventral striatum and the behavior-controlling dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. people with psychopathy are unable to accurately evaluate the future consequences of their actions. Kiehl, K. A. (2006, June 15). A cognitive neuroscience perspective on psychopathy: Evidence for paralimbic system dysfunction. Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2765815/ This review has examined data from psychological, electrophysiological, and brain-imaging studies in psychopathy during language, attention and orienting, and affective tasks. In summary, converging evidence suggests that psychopathy is associated with paralimbic system dysfunction. This hypothesis is supported by indirect evidence from studies of behavioral changes following lesions or damage to the paralimbic system. The particular neural regions implicated include the orbital frontal cortex, insula, amygdala, parahippocampal regions, anterior superior temporal gyrus, and rostral, caudal and posterior cingulate. Probing Psychopathic Brains. (2017, July 05). Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170705123121.htm
Using a mobile MRI scanner to image the brains of prison inmates, researchers have found that the brains of people who show signs of psychopathy are wired in a way that leads them to over-value immediate rewards and neglect the future consequences of potentially dangerous or immoral actions. What they found was people who scored high for psychopathy showed greater activity in a region called the ventral striatum -- known to be involved in evaluating the subjective reward -- for the more immediate choice. Psychopaths' brains show differences in structure and function. (2017, November 07). Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://www.med.wisc.edu/news-and-events/2011/november/psychopaths-brains-differencesstructure-function/ The study showed that psychopaths have reduced connections between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex the part of the brain responsible for sentiments such as empathy and guilt, and the amygdala, which mediates fear and anxiety. Two types of brain images were collected. Diffusion tensor images (DTI) showed reduced structural integrity in the white matter fibers connecting the two areas, while a second type of image that maps brain activity, a functional magnetic resonance image (fMRI), showed less coordinated activity between the vmPFC and the amygdala.
What happened last night? Why drinking too much causes memory “blackouts” By Kai Hennings
You ever get black-out drunk? Or as I like to call it, time travel? One minute you’re at Haley’s slamming beers, the next you’re at the bar doing shots, then you’re playing darts in some speak-easy with a few Russians. How you got to all those places and what happened between the flashes of consciousness, only God can tell. Losing chunks of memory due to alcohol over-indulgence is actually not as common as the media would have you think, but you could still miss the signs, both in you and your friends. People can function well enough while blacked out, albeit drunkenly, and only realize they had drunk too much when they sober up the next day with a pineapple in their bed and $50 missing. Alcohol-induced amnesia like this is referred to as “anterograde,” as only events recorded while intoxicated are erased. No memories formed before drunkenness are at risk, so no, it’s not actually possible to “drink to forget.” The most immediate predictor of a possible memory black-out is BAC, blood alcohol concentration. This measure scales depending on the size of the person, which is beneficial, as the number of drinks a person has had cannot accurately predict their intoxication level. For example, two beers will hit a 100-lb girl much harder than a 250-lb man, and thus their BACs would be drastically different. According to a study by UCSD, a BAC between 0.14 to 0.28 is the danger zone for blacking out. Once you have a certain amount of alcohol in your body, your brain starts to function differently. Alcohol was found to have a strong affect on “pyramidal cells” in the hippocampus, the memory center of the brain. That’s the squishy biological bit you can thank for humanity’s innate
ability to vividly remember how they humiliated themselves in front of their crush in the third grade. When the pyramidal cells are activated in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, it’s usually because you are utilizing long-term or place memory. Long-term memory refers to organisms’ abilities to recall powerful and important memories over long periods of time. And you can think of place memory as how your brain allows you to move around your bedroom in the middle of the night and only sometimes lets you stub your toe.
The Location of the Hippocampus and the CA1 Region Within
Normally, the pyramidal cells fire and form connections within the hippocampus, allowing for all kinds of memory retrieval, but alcohol actually suppresses that firing. A neurotransmitter called glutamate, which typically functions in transcribing data and creating memories, is inhibited. This means that you don’t actually forget anything. With shoddy glutamate reception, your brain doesn’t even bother writing it down. Researchers White and Best discovered this by injecting alcohol into rats until their BAC was 0.16, twice the legal driving limit. Drunken rats wandered around an area looking for food and could only remember their area of the map for a short time. After the alcohol had passed through their system, they still had no idea how the area was set up or where they had or hadn’t found food. As they tested the rats, they also found that frequent alcohol-induced blackouts started to erode the hippocampus’s ability to reform the connections cut off during extreme drunkenness. Even during sobriety, memory would become shoddier in rats highly experimented on. This may bring back memories of your old friend Dave, who takes a few shots and then a few more, and regales you with the same tale about a raccoon in his apartment five times throughout the night. During his blackout, Dave remembers the raccoon, and he remembers enough to hold a short conversation about the animal, but he fails to recall that he just mentioned it forty-five minutes ago. No one likes it when you get this drunk, Dave. No one thinks it’s funny that you had to stop drunkenly flirting with that girl so you could go puke in the street. And it’s not cute when you post “lmao what happened last night guys” to your Instagram story. For the sixth time this semester. A very high amount of alcohol is not safe for you physically or mentally. And it doesn’t just put your brain at risk. While your brain is incapable of both forming coherent thoughts, due to typical drunkenness, and incapable of retrieving potentially important information, you are not safe. Many people who have frequently experienced blackouts have found it frightening waking up in unknown situations or without any idea of what dangerous things they could have possibly done the night before. It’s a slippery slope of heightened suggestibility, poor judgement, and
inability to remember key details that compounds personal damage with physiological damage to your brain. The next time a friend of yours laughs about not remembering how hard they partied, you might just have to be thankful that they are okay enough to talk about it at all. And you should warn them that frequent blackouts will not only put them in danger, but start to damage their memory permanently, not just their livers.
Harvey, Alistair J.; Kneller, Wendy; Campbell, Alison C. (2013). The effects of alcohol intoxication on attention and memory for visual scenes. Memory, 21(8), 969-980. Jackson, J. (2013, February 22). What Happens to Your Brain When You Get Black-Out Drunk? Retrieved from gizmodo.com Moulton, Patricia L.; Petros, Thomas V.; Apostal, Kathyrn J.; Park, Ronald V. II; Ronning, Elizabeth A.; King, Brent M.; Penland, James G. (2005) Alcohol-induced impairment and enhancement of memory: A test of the interference theory. Physiology & Behavior, 85(3), 240-245. Van Oorsouw, K.; Merckelbach, H.; Smeets, T. (2015). Alcohol Intoxication Impairs Memory and Increases Suggestibility for a Mock Crime: A Field Study. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29(4), 493-501. White, A. M. (2004). What Happened? Alcohol, Memory Blackouts, and the Brain. Retrieved from National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Are you left or right brained? By: Madison Durham Do you find yourself choosing art over sports? Are you afraid of taking risks? If you answered yes to any of these questions, Congratulations, you have a personality. Today we will talk about the myth of being left or right brained. The theory is that if you are left brained you are analytical while if you are right brained you are creative. The brain is split into two hemispheres, the right and the left which are asymmetrical. The right hemisphere specializes in intuition and creativity. The left hemisphere specializes in language and logic. So it is not a question of right or left brained but you are combined of both parts. Not one part of your brain is more dominant than the other side. The questions presented showed that, based on your personality, you have preferences not because of the makeup of your brain. There is a link between brain structure and personality. But
your brain changes as you grow but your personality remains persistent. This being said, your preferences for certain things is based on your personality and shaped by your experiences than on dominance of a side of the brain. So remember next time you take a fun brain quiz, it is really testing your personality not the dominance of one side of your brain.
References Corballis, M. C. (2014, January). Left Brain, Right Brain: Facts and Fantasies. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3897366/ Rosa, E. L. (2014, September 30). Are You More Right-Brained Or Left-Brained? https://www.buzzfeed.com/erinlarosa/are-you-more-right-brained-or-leftbrained?utm_term=.cu3QDmLw3x#.devwxNLo7D Kalbfleisch, M. L., & Gillmarten, C. (2013). Left brain vs. right brain: Findings on visual spatial capacities and the functional neurology of giftedness. Roeper Review: A Journal On Gifted Education, 35(4), 265-275. doi:10.1080/02783193.2013.829549
Shmerling, R. H. (2017, July 28). Right brain/left brain, right? https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/right-brainleft-brain-right-2017082512222
Why was that so freaking funny? By: Rachel Kirkes
What was it about my roommate yelling and proceeding to fall out of her bed in the middle of the night resulting in her sprawled on the floor with the mattress on top of her that I found so purely humorous that I laughed hysterically for twenty minutes without pause? What is it about puns so perfectly inserted in the moment that makes everyone within a near vicinity bust out a snort of laughter? Humor has been a part of human nature since the beginning, but why is it that certain circumstances cause us to laugh while other ones do not? Before getting all psychological and theoretical, I find it necessary to insert a quick joke. Why can’t you hear a pterodactyl going to the bathroom? Because the P is silent. Okay, time to get all psychological and theoretical. I hope you found that little pun quite humorous, I know my father did, he laughed until he cried and I have never seen him cry before in my life. Anyways, that pun was funny because it was a benign violation of linguistic rules. Calm down, I will explain. Benign violations are things that violate expectations, but are ultimately harmless. For example, a situation where your best friend trips and falls, but is safe and unharmed is hilarious, but a situation where
your best friend trips and falls, but breaks their arm is quite the opposite of hilarious. The breaking arm situation fulfilled the criteria of being unexpected, but it was not ultimately benign. This theory is the best at explaining why different instances with very similar qualities elicit such different responses ranging from humorous to terrifying. Now take something such as a one liner joke. The world tongue-twister champion just got arrested. I hear they’re gonna give him a really tough sentence. Why is this so funny to us? The incongruity theory steps in to explain. This is a three-stage theory of humor, suggesting that we find humor in the different incongruities found between what we expect reality to be and how we perceive reality. The three stages of this theory include: 1. Mentally picturing or representing the joke. • (ie. visualizing the tongue-twister champion in your mind) 2. Understanding the incongruity or discrepancy between different possible interpretations of the joke.
• (ie. “tough sentence” could have two meanings, one regarding literature and the other regarding the law) 3. Being able to resolve that incongruity or discrepancy by pushing away the literal interpretations that are not funny, and accepting and appreciating the meaning of the funny interpretation. • (ie. put aside the boring idea that the world tongue-twister champion was literally arrested and tap into that sense of humor of yours and realize that this little one-liner is in fact pretty funny) The problem with this three-stage theory is that it is unable to explain why humor has the ability to help people cope with stress. This however is solved by the benign violation theory by essentially combining the two theories and creating incongruities people would find to be funny. Then they transform the actual violations of these incongruities into benign ones, ultimately reducing tension and stress. Okay, so enough theories. What about the brain? What happens in the brain to make us find six second long vines and random memes strewn throughout the internet so absolutely hilarious?
Dr. Vinod Goel conducted a study in 2001 using fMRI scans that showed an association between the reward system in the brain and humor. The jokes that were found funny to the patients in the brain scanners activated the medial ventral prefrontal cortex, or the area of the brain responsible for reward. Another part of the study revealed that fMRI scans showed that seconds before laughing at a joke, the posterior temporal lobes were activated, or the area of the brain linked to the identification of incongruities. Then, while they were laughing at the joke, their amygdalas were activated, or the part of the brain also associated with reward, further showing the relationship between humor and reward. So that’s cool. So as we have figured out, there are different things that people find humorous, and it all depends on the context and the consequences involved. So before you start laughing at your friend for violating the expectations of reality, make sure the result is ultimately benign first. Hey, would you look at that. You knew what all that meant. Ha.
References Markman, A. (2016). Can psychology explain humor? Psychology Today. https://www. psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ulterior-motives/201604/can-psychology-explain-humor Gibson, J. M. (2016). Getting serious about funny: psychologists see humor as a character strength. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/getting-serious-about-funnypsychologists-see-humor-as-a-character-strength-61552 Venosa, A. (2017). This is your brain on humor. International Business Times. http://www .ibtimes.com/your-brain-humor-2536778 Borgella, A. (2016). Science deconstructs humor: what makes some things funny? The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/science-deconstructs-humor-what -makes-some-things-funny-64414 Shane, S. (2014). A quest to understand what makes things funny. The New Yorker. https://www .newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-quest-to-understand-what-makes-things-funny Hull, R., Tosun, S.,Vaid, J. (2017). What’s so funny? Modelling incongruity in humor production. Cognition and Emotion. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2015.1129314
Amygdala: Source of all Emotions 4/10/2018 Danny Lau
Did you know emotions are regulated almost exclusively by one area of the brain? The Amygdala is a membrane in the temporal lobe. It sends signals toward the hypothalamus to act on the autonomic nervous system. Amygdala will act as a central system for emotions. It has aspects of fear conditioning and fear extinction for understanding fear. It also involved many areas for the brain to generate a bodily response.
Intro to amygdala The amygdala is located in the limbic system of the brain. A small almond shape that is the central point for our emotions. It can act as a receiver for all regions in the brain, and the afferent signals goes from the central nuclei of amygdala. One function is acting as a receiver for many areas in the brain and sends out signals toward the central nuclei. This will send projections toward automatic and somatic areas as responses. One of the issues study is what happens if the amygdala had lesions? During the 1930’s, scientists studied monkeys with damaged amygdala. They discovered monkeys have less fear instincts
because of decreased effects for fear extinction and conditioning. Fear extinction is the antagonist of fear and the return to homeostasis. Conditioning refers to a conditioned stimulus; an example is bright lights shining on rodents, merging with unconditioned stimuli, electrical shock. This was a study on rodents to force them to fear electrical shocks. Monkeys with amygdala lesions showed a decrease of the two areas because fear conditioning cannot occur. A research links the fear conditioning of regular patients and PTSD patients. An important concept is their fear conditioning stimuli. They have impaired learning on fear extinction. Their amygdales have increase sensitively toward any fearful situations. Also drugs are utilized for allowing fear extinctions to occur often. Bodily responses during fear Fear activates through the stimulus encoding toward the limbic system. If you see a brown bear, your body will activate different responses. This includes increasing blood flow to limbs, digestion slowing down, and rush of adrenaline toward our muscles. Limbic system contain both hippocampus and amygdala. Hippocampus will be important in interpreting the threat and controls the endocrine system to send out specific hormones. Another important area is the prefrontal cortex. This region allows use to plan our thoughts and think about the consequences. Judgement for consequences is important before carrying out the action One example of a fearful situation is glancing at an object while hiking in the woods. The object began to move, and you can perceive it as a snake. This will lead to alertness and increased blood flow. However, the object is garbage that was sliding around. The response is caused by the amygdala, and the inaccurate sight allow for impulsive responses. You will have a sharper vision with more time; however, the amygdala will react to allow us to react to ensure survival.
One of the components of excitatory neurotransmitter is glutamate that contains ionotropic receptors. Rodents were studied through the blocking of these receptors to decrease the fear conditioning. Overall, the amygdala will allow for fear responses toward possible threats. Bodily responses are a reaction from the stimuli. Fear extinctions is one of the major issues for PTSD patients. They have a lower activation, which allows them to relive their nightmares longer than non-PTSD patients. Time is essential because our amygdala will respond to any stimuli that we recognize as a threat. It is hard to believe that an almond shaped membrane can guide our actions from our mood to our judgement.
References Bergland, C. (2013, February 06). Decoding the Neuroscience of Fear and Fearlessness. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theathletes-way/201302/decoding-the-neuroscience-fear-and-fearlessness Edwards, S. (2005, March). BrainWork. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from http://www.dana.org/Publications/Brainwork/Details.aspx?id=43615 Horror Movie Scenes Help Researchers Identify Key Brain Circuits for Fear Processing. (2017, February 08). Retrieved April 05, 2018, from http://neurosciencenews.com/amygdala-hippocampus-fear-movies-6082/ Kim, J. J., & Jung, M. W. (2006). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4342048/ Mahan, A. L., & Ressler, K. J. (2012). Fear Conditioning, Synaptic Plasticity, and the Amygdala: Implications for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Trends in Neurosciences, 35(1), 24–35. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2011.06.007 Schaffhausen, J. (2016, November 29). Fear Conditioning: How the Brain Learns about Danger. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://brainconnection.brainhq.com/2005/08/26/fear- conditioning-how-thebrain-learns-about-danger/ Wright, A. (n.d.). Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s4/chapter06.html
A LOOK INSIDE THE BRAIN’S ‘MUSIC ROOM’ How scientists are on their way to discover the unique way music affects our brain By AMARIS LEAL
What Music Does To Your Brain http://www.musicroom.com/blog/what-does-playingmusic-do-for-your-brain
When do you listen to music? What’s your favorite song… and why? We all have a favorite genre, artist, album, song, etc.. These choices are based on the subjective way we interpret music. But have you ever heard a song that made you feel something you couldn’t explain? Or why is it that, if music is just sound, we don’t react the same way as we do when we hear a dog’s bark or a baby’s cry? There is something truly extraordinary about the way humans react to music. A study done in 20142015 highlights a much more tangible consumption of music, through apps like Spotify, Apple Music and Youtube (Media, 2015). It’s almost as if we’re always listening to music, which only makes it fitting that MIT recently conducted a study on how music affects our brain in comparison to other sounds. Their hypothesis was to see if we have a “music room” in our brains that
is specific to helping us interpret and understand music. In 2015, MIT tested the auditory cortex of the brain through an fMRI scan to see if they could catch a glimpse on the way the brain organizes music. Before we go into the details of the study, let’s make sure we understand what was going on. The auditory cortex is a section in our brains that is part of the temporal lobe where it is basically in charge of hearing and our understanding of the sounds in our environment. An fMRI scan stands for functional magnetic resonance imaging, which is basically a fancy way of describing a technique that is used to measure our brain’s activity. The way this is made possible is the scan takes very fast images of neural activity when a certain stimulus is given to the patient. Since the scan is heavily based on the amount of blood we have
flowing in our brain, the more blood-flow, the more neural activity… the better the fMRI signal!
such as “wind chime” and “ringtone.” These were also categorized as “mechanical” and
One of the experiments the study consisted of was measuring the average response of voxels (which is basically a unit of information that defines a point in three dimensional space— like a picture). Figure 1 lists off a few of these sounds. As you can see, these are considered everyday sounds that are heard throughout the day that produce little to no response.
“environmental” sounds. Those non-musical sounds produced a low response in Component 6, even if they had pitch, like speech.
The study showcased that there are six components that have different characteristics of how the brain was affected by sound… especially music. Four of these components were very sensitive to acoustic features like pitch, modulation and frequency. The other two components were particularly selective with Figure 1:Stimulus Set for Experiment
music and speech, naming them “category labels,” and couldn’t be as easily explained as the acoustic features were.In Figure 2, you can see that the first four graphs are more responsive to the acoustic measures (brown), where the category labels have a much higher percentage of explainable component response variance in the fifth and sixth graph (blue). Specifically, Component 6 is what responded the most to sounds that are categorized as music,
Figure 2: Fraction of Component Response Variance Explained by All Acoustic Measures and All Category Labels
How these components are distributed tells us that “speech-and-music-selective responses” are concentrated in very specific regions of our nonprimary auditory cortex, which is activated by sounds with spatial and non-spatial properties… a fancy way of talking about the way our brain’s activity is spaced out. Although there was no specific answer to the hypothesis of a “music room” in the brain—the results that were found in this experiment tell us that our auditory cortex (what helps us determine sound) has very distinct anatomical pathways for
the way music is analyzed. The answer may not have been found, but at least we are one step closer to finding how the miraculous complexity of music affects us (and our brains)!
References Angier, N. (2016, February 8). New Ways Into the Brain’s ‘Music Room.’ Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/09/science/new-ways-into-the-brains-music-room.htm Media. (2015, January 22). Everyone Listens to Music, But How We Listen Is Changing. Retrieved from: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2015/everyone-listens-tomusic-but-how-we-listen-is-changing.html Haignere, S., Kanwisher, N., McDermott, J. (2015, December 16). Distinct Cortical Pathways for Music and Speech Revealed by Hypothesis-Free Voxel Decomposition. doi:10.1016/ j.neuron.2015.11.035 Kanwisher, N. [nancykanwisher]. (2014, September 16). What is fMRI? [video file] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=228&v=VjaX2hYOTX8 Margulis, E. (2013). On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind. England, UK: Oxford University Press.
Unusual Connections: How the brain rewires itself By: Carolyn Leroux
While it is not all that surprising that the brain is constantly communicating with the entire body to coordinate movements through the sending and receiving of signals, the incredible ability of the brain to fully perform complex functions with widespread damage begs the question of how a three pound organ can do this successfully. Neuroplasticity—the ability of the brain to make new connections and reorganize itself in response to the environment, new information, damage, or disease—is in part responsible for this amazing feat. Neurons, or brain cells, are specialized to send and receive electrical signals. They communicate with the whole body and are the basis of neuroplasticity; when we say new connections are made, we mean these brain cells have physically changed to function with new neurons by sending signals to more areas, new areas, or in different ways. You may be thinking, “Why should I care? As long as my body knows what to do and
when to do it, I don’t need to know how it works!” It’s true that you don’t have to know how your brain works for it to work, but have you ever thought about what happens when become injured? What happens then? Now this isn’t an easy, straightforward question to answer because, depending on the extent of the damage and placement of it, there are numerous ways to heal. And in some cases, you may never quite be the same. However, in many cases, thankfully for us, your body can adapt and learn from experiences in order to perform those lost functions again. In Jody Miller’s case, she suffered from seizures and gradual impaired cognitive and physical decline over the first three years of her life. She underwent a hemispherectomy, where her right brain hemisphere was removed. Although drastic, this stopped the seizures from occurring and allowed her to survive. However, she became paralyzed on the left side of her body as a result.
Now not every story has a happy ending, but in Jody’s case she recovered. The doctors knew that the remaining half of Jody’s brain would be able to, with the incredible ability of those neurons, form new connections in order to regain control of her left side. Although it was assumed she would still suffer some permanent disability, through the impressive work of her brain, she was able to function relatively normally and could perform coordinated movements like dancing. Neuroplasticity allowed this little girl to grow up and be successful. Her brain did the incredible; it rewired itself in unique ways to heal and fully function. There are so many fascinating examples of the extraordinary capabilities of the brain. Another example of neuroplasticity is exemplified by looking at a ten-year-old girl who was born with only a left brain hemisphere. Aside from all the amazing things this girl could do— like walking, talking, and controlling both sides of her body— perhaps the most incredible ability is that, with half a brain, she could see a complete picture of the world. Let’s take a little detour to explain the basics of vision. When light enters one of your eyes, you see things from both the left and right side of the world. This information is then passed through the eye and into the brain and the information is sorted contralaterally. Everything you see from the left side of the world goes to the right side of the brain and everything from the right side
of the world goes to the left side, as seen by this diagram.
Now, this girl, who only has a left hemisphere, should have only been able to see the things in the right visual field. However, due to neuroplasticity, the brain rewired itself so she could see a complete picture of the world. With her right hemisphere missing, the neurons in her brain changed so instead of her brain dealing with only the right visual field, new connections were made so the neurons in her left hemisphere could receive information from both sides of the world. This enables her to lead a normal life where she can do things like roller-skating! Although these are extreme and remarkable examples of neuroplasticity, it is important to remember that the brain is constantly doing this. It improves and modifies the connections between neurons as you go about your life learning and practicing skills. This unique ability of the brain shows how capable one organ is in healing and controlling your body, without you even being aware of what’s happening.
References
Anjum, Z. (2018, March 16). Is It Possible to Live With Only Half a Brain? Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://inkspire.org/post/is-it-possible-to-live-with-only-half-abrain/-KMQYFwF2IVuQXelPS5Gl Daily Mail Reporter. (2009, July 21). Girl born with half a brain is only person in world to see both fields of vision through one eye. Retrieved April 04, 2018, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1200958/Girl-born-half-brain-person-worldfields-vision-eye.html Muckli, L., Naumer, M. J., & Singer, W. (2009). Bilateral visual field maps in a patient with only one hemisphere. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, 106(31), 13034-13039. doi:10.1073/pnas.0809688106 Streetwisdom Billy. (2011, July 03). Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaDlLD97CLM
Pickles & Ice Cream & Coco-Craze By: Lucy Li Have you ever wondered why pregnant women develop obscure cravings such as wanting to eat pickles with ice cream? Have you ever wondered why you get certain cravings for chocolate and other sweets during your period? Few studies have been dedicated to investigating the relationship between female pregnancy and bizarre cravings or menstrual periods and cravings for specific foods such as chocolate. Additionally, of the studies that have investigated this phenomenon, there has been inconclusive and ambiguous results. So will we ever find out what exactly is the cause of these cravings? Menstrual Chocolate Cravings Do you ever wonder why females crave chocolate when they are on their periods? Is there a biological change that invokes such cravings? For Julia Homes’ study, researchers surveyed 275 female undergraduate students who represented a broad range of cultural backgrounds, with 81 born outside of the United States. Results concluded that those who were born in America reported more chocolate cravings attributed to their menstrual periods compared to the female students born outside the United States, who reported less cravings attributed to their menstrual cycles. "Menstrual chocolate cravings may be a culture-bound construct," said study lead author Julia Hormes. She is a psychologist at the University at Albany, State University of New York.
"In a society that emphasizes the 'thin ideal' of female beauty, women may view menstruation as a socially acceptable excuse to indulge in otherwise 'taboo' food," Homes explained. Just as Hormes and many other researchers hypothesize, cultural and societal values, traditions and practices may be the major factor that influences, promotes, or discourages certain behaviors such as craving chocolate during one’s menstrual period. Pregnancy Cravings Pregnancy is often associated with abnormal smell and taste perception, phantom smells, and specific food aversions as well. Abnormal smell and/or taste perception is reported in roughly 75% of women. Studies have suggested that some of the first signs of pregnancy include “increased sensitivity to odors” and “a metallic taste in your mouth.” It can be hypothesized that some pregnancy cravings may be related to a desire to “cancel” out these undesired aversions (for example, a sense of a bitter taste may be neutralized by ice cream, and therefore a pregnant may frequently crave ice cream). This idea is supported by some research that suggests that salt sensitivity is decreased during pregnancy and bitter sensitivity is increased. Cravings appear to be affected by smell and taste sensitivity, but not enough conclusive research has been done to support this idea. Additionally, women in different cultures also seem to crave foods based on what’s culturally and regionally available. A study of over 200 pregnant women in Tanzania concluded that the most common cravings among the women who craved were meat (23.3%), mangoes (22.7%), yoghurt (20.0%) oranges (20.0%), plantain (15.3%) and soft drinks (13.3%). Therefore, it can also be hypothesized that pregnancy cravings may also be more greatly influenced by social and cultural factors aside from possible biological changes. Research suggests that pregnant women tend to develop cravings for certain foods from their culture(s). The bottom line is that, although we have some interesting ideas as to what might be causing the specific menstrual and pregnancy cravings, we still don’t really know.
Think about it! Although it seems that more research will have to be done in order to find a conclusive answer as to what the specific cause(s) for menstrual and pregnancy cravings are, not all hope is lost. The studies done on researching this topic causes another important question to arise. We come to the age old debate on the superiority of nature versus nurture. Do menstrual and pregnancy cravings stem solely from biological changes and needs or do they result from cultural and societal values and traditions? If so, to what extent can our actions can truly be attributed to biological needs? How many of our actions is dominated by social and cultural influences that may pass through our minds unnoticed?
References
Bannow, T. (2016, May 19). OHSU expert: U.S. culture encourages pregnancy cravings. Retrieved from http://www.bendbulletin.com/health/4315879-151/ohsu-expert-us-culture-encourages-pre gnancy-cravings Graves, A. (2010). The Mystery of Pregnancy Cravings » Synapse | Blog Archive | Boston University. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from http://www.bu.edu/synapse/2010/07/28/the-mystery-of-pregnancy-cravings/ Hormes, J. M. & Niemiec, M. A. (2017). Does culture create craving? Evidence from the case of menstrual chocolate craving. PLoS ONE 12(7): 181-445. doi:10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0181445 Hunt, K. (2017). Pregnancy Cravings May Not Be Real. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/thrillist/pregnancy-cravings-may-no_b_8545528.html Manejwala, O. (2013). What Really Causes Pregnancy Cravings? Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/craving/201306/what-really-causes-pregnanc y-cravings McKerracher, L., Collard, M., & Henrich, J. (2016). Food Aversions and Cravings during Pregnancy on Yasawa Island, Fiji. Human Nature 27(3):296-315. doi:10.1007/s12110-016-9262-y Mozes, A. (2017, August 25). Are Her Chocolate Cravings a Product of the Culture? Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://consumer.healthday.com/pregnancy-information-29/menstruation-news-473/are-h er-chocolate-cravings-a-product-of-the-culture-725703.html
Orloff, N. C., & Hormes, J. M. (2014). Pickles and ice cream! Food cravings in pregnancy: hypotheses, preliminary evidence, and directions for future research. Frontiers In Psychology 5(1076). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01076 Placek, C. (2017). A test of four evolutionary hypotheses of pregnancy food cravings: evidence for the social bargaining model. Royal Society Open Science 4(10): 170-243. doi: 10.1098%2Frsos.170243 Templeton, E. M., Stanton, M. V., & Zaki, J. (2016). Social norms shift preferences for healthy and unhealthy foods. PLoS ONE 11(11): 166-286. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166286
THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT THE HARD STUFF: ALCOHOL’S EFFECT ON THE BRAIN By SOPHIA LONGI
A Friday night out with your friends. A baseball game with some coworkers. A party at your best friend’s house. What do all of these things have in common? The chance to let loose after a long day with the “hard stuff” - alcohol. Today, we are surrounded by opportunities to engage in the social catalyst that is alcohol, but do we truly know the effects of it on our brain?
While alcohol in moderation doesn’t pose too much of a threat, and while in some research it has been found to be helpful for the heart, it is alcoholism that can really do a number on your brain, and its structure. What does alcohol do to your brain exactly? The feeling of being drunk is mostly due to the role of the cerebellum when consuming alcohol. The cerebellum is in charge of controlling fine
Shrinkage of the cerebellum due to alcoholism can been seen. The right MRI shows a normally functioning cerebellum and the left MRI shows cerebellar shrinkage.
movements. For example, touching your finger to your nose with your eyes closed would be no problem to someone with a functioning cerebellum; however, for someone who has ingested alcohol, this movement might seem jerky and appear uncoordinated. It is also involved in balance, such as walking in a straight line. Alcohol interferes with the intricate communication between nerve cells and all other cells, which in turn suppresses the activities of excitatory nerve pathways, and increasing the activities of inhibitory nerve pathways. The University of Chicago Medical Center: Alcohol and Anesthetic Actions, looks at the ability of alcohol to
enhance the effects of the neurotransmitter GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter. By enhancing GABA, this explains why you see a drunk person acting sluggish. Alcohol affects various centers in the brain, but proceeds in this order: cerebral cortex, limbic system, cerebellum, hypothalamus and pituitary gland, medulla (brain stem). Yes, these brain areas sound complex but they are a key role in giving people the appearance of being drunk when affected by the consumption of alcohol. What does alcohol do to your brain over time, such as cases of alcoholism? With the effects of alcohol on the cerebellum understood, now we can begin to understand the long term effects in the worst case scenario of ingesting alcohol alcoholism. Alcoholics suffer from cerebellar damage, which in turn leads to motor incoordination. A study conducted in 1995, found that alcoholics’ cognitive functioning has deficits in visuospatial processing and
problem solving. They also found in an MRI study, there was shrinkage of the cerebellum in alcoholic patients who were detoxed from alcohol. Another study found shrinkage of the cerebellum in alcoholics, as well as the loss of Purkinje cells, which correlates with clinical ataxia/ unsteadiness. You might wonder what clinical ataxia is. It is defined as the the loss of full control of bodily movements. This is why you might see an alcoholic struggling to remain balanced - an easy everyday task for non-alcohol ingesting people. What if I were to tell you that alcoholism could be predicted in as soon as 5 days after birth? Crazy to think about, right? In as soon as five days after your birth, your alcohol drinking habits can be predicted? That can’t be. But it’s absolutely true. A 2005 study found that alcoholism is comorbid with many neuropsychiatric disorders linked to deficits in the cerebellum. Measures in
childhood motor development included deficits in muscle tone 5 days after birth, delays in the age to sitting, and delays in the age to walking. This suggests that develop- mental markers of cerebellar functioning in infancy are predictive of alcoholic drinking by 30 years of age. You might also wonder what all this means for someone who doesn’t drink alcohol in excessive amounts, like those who suffer from alcoholism. I think educating yourself about the effects of alcohol on your brain not only benefits you but also the people around you. The truth is that alcohol has numerous negative effects on the brain, more than I believe people have a handle on today. Educate yourself. Educate others. After all, education is the basis of knowledge, and knowledge is power.
References Harper, C. (2009). The neuropathology of alcohol-related brain damage. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 44(2), 136-140. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agn102 Kaplan, J. S., Nipper, M. A., Richardson, B. D., Jensen, J., Helms, M., Finn, D. A., & Rossi, D. J. (2016). Pharmacologically counteracting a phenotypic difference in cerebellar GABAA receptor response to alcohol prevents excessive alcohol consumption in a high alcohol-consuming rodent genotype. Journal of Neuroscience, 36(35), 9019-9025. doi:10.1523/ jneurosci.0042-16.2016 Manzardo, A. M., Penick, E. C., Knop, J., Nickel, E. J., Hall, S., Jensen, P., & Gabrielli, W. F. (2005). Developmental differences in childhood motor coordination predict adult alcohol dependence: Proposed role for the cerebellum in alcoholism. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 29(3), 353-357. doi:10.1097/01.alc.0000156126.22194.e0 Shanmugarajah, P. D., Hoggard, N., Currie, S., Aeschlimann, D. P., Aeschlimann, P. C., Gleeson, D. C., . . . Hadjivassiliou, M. (2016). Alcohol-related cerebellar degeneration: Not all down to toxicity? Cerebellum & Ataxias, 3(1). doi:10.1186/ s40673-016-0055-1 Sullivan, E. V., Ph.D., Rosenbloom, M. J., M.A., Deshmukh, A., M.D., Desmond, J. E., Ph.D., & Pfefferbaum, A., M.D. (1995). Alcohol and the cerebellum: Effects on motor coordination, and cognition. Alcohol Health & Research World, 19(2). Retrieved April 3, 2018.
Exercise Your Brain: Do brain games actually improve cognitive function? April 27, 2018 By: Lilliana Lowe
Have you ever scrolled through the App store curiously looking for a new addicting game to play? You come across a game that says it can improve your memory and your problem-solving abilities. You give into this promise and download it. As you play the game, you see your problem solving score increasing! But… have you ever wondered if these games actually work?
What are brain games? Brain games such as Lumosity and Elevate are popular mobile games that claim to improve cognitive functions such as memory, attention, and problem solving. These brain games have the player complete a series of quick games such as “Familiar Faces.” This game supposedly improves the player’s memory by asking them to recall the names of the faces they see based off their physical characteristics. The player’s scores are then compiled, so the player can keep track and compare their previous scores and other players’ scores. But how effective are games like Familiar Faces?
How do we learn a new skill? Some researchers suggest that brain training can be effective by the effects of brain plasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt and change in response to environmental, behavior, and neural changes. For instance, the brain has the amazing ability to learn a new skill such as juggling running chainsaws!!! (Just kidding. Don’t do that unless you are a professional juggler)
Do they work?
A study conducted by a group of researchers investigated whether brain games actually improve cognitive function. A group of 395 young adults played the popular brain game, Lumosity, 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 10 weeks. All participants completed cognitive assessments before and after training and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) which measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow.
Based off the results, the researchers discovered that cognitive performance did improve... but only for the games provided by the mobile app. The skills obtained from playing brain training games could never actually be applied to meaningful tasks such as driving. So‌ no, they do not technically work as promised.
How else can I improve cognitive function? Although these apps do not technically do as promised, there are other ways to keep your brain healthy and active. According to the campaign, What is brain health?, being well rested, maintaining physical balance, and staying connected with others are just a few activities that play an important role in your brain health. This campaign launched by Hector Elizondo spreads awareness about how you can make the most of your brain as you age.
So... the next time you see a game that promises to exercise your brain, just download Angry Birds instead.
Word count: 445
References Brain Games & Brain Training - Lumosity. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.lumosity.com/
Engage Your Brain - What is Brain Health? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://brainhealth.nia.nih.gov/Engage-your-brain Exercise your brain [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/ braingames/braingames.htm Kable, J. W., Caulfield, M. K., Falcone, M., McConnell, M., Bernardo, L., Parthasarathi, T., ... & Diefenbach, P. (2017). No Effect of Commercial Cognitive Training on Neural Activity During Decision-Making. Journal of Neuroscience, 2832-16. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI. 2832-16.2017 Sharma, N., Classen, J., & Cohen, L. G. (2013). Neural plasticity and its contribution to functional recovery. In Handbook of clinical neurology (Vol. 110, pp. 3-12). Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-52901-5.00001-0
THE EVOLUTION OF RUNNING
By Isaac Lu
Humans have been running since they first
aerobically, meaning with the consumption
came into existence. Before it became a
of oxygen, and are resistant to fatigue.
sport, running was a necessary means of
Type II muscle fibers are also known as fast-
transportation for primitive humans to travel as well as hunt for meat. Today, running has evolved greatly, and can essentially be classified physiologically based upon the demands it has on the body’s energy systems. There is long-distance running, such as marathons, as well as short-distance running, like a sprint. While both encapsulate essentially the same sport of running, they are entirely different from each other and a number of genetic factors come into play when determining which one your body will excel at, if any. Skeletal muscle fibers can be classified into two main types: type I and type II. Type I
twitch muscle fibers. They can be further broken down into two categories: type IIa and IIb. IIa fast-twitch fibers can in a sense be considered the middle ground between type I and type IIb fibers, since they are not as resistant to fatigue as type I fibers but have the capability to contract powerfully like type II fibers. In fact, studies have even found that type
IIa
fibers
can
display
training
adaptations to become better at aerobic or anaerobic activity, depending on the type of training that an individual does. However, this shift towards slower or faster-twitch is limited to about 10%. These IIa fibers generate energy by utilizing oxygen to convert
muscle fibers are also known as slow twitch
glycogen into ATP.
muscle fibers. As the name suggest, slow-
Type IIb muscle fibers operate completely off
twitch fibers excel at activities occurring at a slower pace. Contractions are not very powerful with slow-twitch fibers. They work
of ATP stored within the muscle cell to generate maximal contractions. Their activity is completely anaerobic, meaning without
oxygen. As a result, type IIb fibers can only
on the other hand, ran the 100m in 9.58
sustain activity for a very short period of time.
seconds in 2009. After conversion, Mo Farah’s sprint time was 10mph slower than Bolt. Let’s look at the opposite. Usain Bolt has stated in the past that he has never even run a mile before! The closest comparison we have for him is an 800m dash, where he timed a 2:10. That’s 30 seconds slower than the world record for that event. Due to his fasttwitch dominance, there is no way that Bolt would be able to hold up in longer distance
Athletes with different proportions of muscle
events.
fiber types will excel at different athletic
You might be wondering, where does the
endeavors. On one hand, you have ultra-
average person stand in terms of muscle fiber
marathoners such as Mo Farah, the world
proportions? Well, more than likely, we have
record holder for fastest 2-mile run, who can
closer to a 50/50 split between slow twitch
run extremely long distances for extended
and fast twitch muscle fibers. Translation:
periods of time. These athletes have a much
average to below average performance in
higher proportion of type I fibers to type II
either side of the spectrum. The average
fibers. On the other hand, you have super-fast
athlete would not exceed in long-distance
sprinters such as Usain Bolt, who, at the 2009
running due to a lack of slow twitch
World
dominance, but would not be great at
Championships
in
Berlin,
was
measured to have a maximum speed of 27.8 miles per hour! That’s some serious speed. Bolt will undoubtedly have a much higher proportion of type IIb muscle fibers than type I fibers.
sprinting due to a lack of fast-twitch fibers. Through the analysis of world-class athletes, it is apparent that some individuals are more genetically predisposed to reaching athletic superstardom than others. Runners have
Now, what would happen if you tried to take
evolved into two completely species, with
Mo Farah, Usain Bolt, and swap their events?
some dominating in long distance events and
The results would not be so spectacular. In a
others
BBC Superstars Challenge, Mo Farah did in
Understanding the genetic basis of human
fact participate in a just-for-fun 100m dash.
performance
His time? A leisurely 12.9 seconds, average
between Usain Bolt, Mo Farah, and the
with most high school sprinters. Usain Bolt,
Average Joe.
blazing is
away key
in to
short
sprints.
distinguishing
References Larsen, H. (2005). Kenyan Dominance in Distance Running. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise,37(Supplement). doi:10.1097/00005768-200505001-00707 McCall Health and Fitness Expert Pete McCall, P. (2015, October 30). Slow-twitch vs. Fast-twitch Muscle Fibers. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.acefitness.org/education-andresources/professional/expertarticles/5714/slow-twitch-vs-fast-twitchmuscle-fibers Penney, S., Comana, F., Lecovin, G., Miller, K., Gonzalez, J., Stull, K., & Yaremko, M. (2018, March 23). Fast-Twitch, Slow-Twitch: Whats the difference and does it matter? Retrieved April 06, 2018, from http://blog.nasm.org/fitness/fast-twitchslow-twitch-whats-difference-matter/ Usain BOLT. (2017, June 26). Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.olympic.org/usain-bolt Wilson, J. M., Loenneke, J. P., Jo, E., Wilson, G. J., Zourdos, M. C., & Kim, J. (2012). The Effects of Endurance, Strength, and Power Training on Muscle Fiber Type Shifting. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research,26(6), 1724-1729. doi:10.1519/jsc.0b013e318234eb6f
I NEED A NAP!!! The role our internal clocks and sleep inertia play on naps By FIORELLA MARTINEZ
As the day progresses, it is very likely that you have felt the urge to take a nap. Right then and there. In the middle of the day. Putting a hold to all the responsibilities you may have in your hands. You may even feel like the need for a nap comes in the untimeliest manner. Fun fact: your body is programmed to work this way!! But what can be worse than this? Actually, deciding to take a nap, and not feeling rested after. Instead, you feel all groggy and want to keep sleeping. An individual’s circadian rhythm, or internal clock, plays a role when it comes to the yearning feeling for a midafternoon nap. And if you do decide to take a nap, the length of sleep is a very important factor so that it is an effective nap. Sleep cycles play their own role.
BIOLOGICAL RHYTHM OF SLEEP AND ALERTNESS
There is a scientific reason that explains why some individuals tend to feel sleepy after lunch. However, it is not due to the food you just ate. This sleepiness kicks in regardless of eating. The urge does not happen because we are simply tired or did not get enough sleep. It is actually internally generated by our bodies. Studies show that 12 hours after the stages of “deep sleep” in the sleep cycle, otherwise known as stages 3 and 4, the body is less altered. On average, each sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes, and then it restarts; there are a total of 6 stages, with the last one being REM (Rapid Eye Movement, the stage where dreaming occurs). As the night progresses, more REM sleep is experienced, and less SWS (Slow Wave Sleep). Sleep stages 3 and 4 are characterized by SWS, meaning to say, less “deep sleep” is experienced. So, let’s say you went to sleep from 10 P.M. to around 6:30 A.M., then you would experience deep sleep around 2 A.M., and the urge for a nap would creep in around 2 P.M. The sleepiness creeps in twelve hours after our deep sleep. Our internal clocks are in need of a night time sleep, as well as an afternoon sleep. Therefore, if you do take a nap, then you will most likely feel refreshed and more alert. But that may not always be the case.
WHY DO I STILL FEEL TIRED AFTER A NAP?
If you’ve ever woken up and felt disoriented, then you probably woke up during the stage of REM sleep. This feeling is known as sleep inertia, and it is the disorientation and grogginess experienced due the fact that you have high levels of melatonin when you wake up, keeping your body partially asleep. Melatonin is the hormone that increases sleepiness. And the more you sleep, the higher the levels of melatonin there are in REM sleep.
Melatonin molecule structure
During this time, our performance is not as sharp as it usually would be. The decision-making and self-control center, the prefrontal cortex, is not caught up to the rest of our body that is physically aroused when the brainstem is activated after waking up. Nap sleep inertia is a real thing, and that’s why you may still feel tired after a nap.
THE PERFECT LENGTH FOR YOUR NAP
The more sleep you get, the more likely you’ll experience deep sleep. When a nap lasts 30-60 minutes, it usually results in sleep inertia. However, if you do want a lengthy nap, then a 90minute nap could do you some justice because it is the time it takes to complete a sleep cycle. To be realistic, a 90-minute nap is not always possible. We have busy schedules of going to school, work, and other obligations we need to take care of. We do not always have the luxury to take a break for such a long time. Honestly, a 20minute nap can be very effective! Twenty minutes of napping results in experiencing the lightest stage of sleep. This means you’ll experience all the benefits of a good nap: feeling recharged, more alert, and your mood may even brighten up. Next time you start feeling tired in the afternoon, you’ll know that it’s not just ‘cause you’re lazy or due to lack of sleep, but because our bodies are programmed to be this way. We urge for a nap in the middle of our day due to our biological circadian rhythm. Remember that if you do cave in, a 20-minute nap is all you need.
References Goleman, D. (1989, September 12). Feeling sleep? An urge to nap is built in. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/12/science/feeling-sleepy-an-urge-to-nap-is-builtin.html Hilditch, C. J., Dorrian, J., & Banks, S. (2017). A review of short naps and sleep inertia: Do naps of 30 min or less really avoid sleep inertia and slow-wave sleep? Sleep Medicine, 32, 176-190. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2016.12.016 Van Winkle’s. (2015, July 9). What is sleep inertia, and how can I beat it? HuffPost Lifestyle. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-winkles/what-is-sleep-inertiaand_b_7764850.html
Frontal Lobe and Schizophrenia Bresh Merino Think About It‌. If you could take a test that could determine if you were going to develop schizophrenia, would you take it? Studies have shown that this disorder is more localized in the brain than it was originally thought. According to the
Healthy Place, there are regions of the brain that are more highly activated in schizophrenic patients (Gluck, 2017). Researchers identified areas in the frontal lobe and hippocampus that are overactive in vulnerable individuals (Gluck, 2017). With 71 percent accuracy, these areas of the brain can be looked at and your likelihood of developing schizophrenia can be determined (Gluck, 2017). This study has risen the question: how does schizophrenia affect the brain and where? Introduction This article will examine the frontal lobe and schizophrenia. First, I will explain what schizophrenia is and how the frontal lobe functions in a neurotypical individual. Then, I will examine how schizophrenia affects the frontal lobe and how this can contribute to its symptoms. It is important to note that there are many regions of the brain that contribute to schizophrenia and its symptoms, however, for this paper I will just be focusing on the frontal lobe. What is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects the ability for an individual to think, behave, or feel normally. According to National Institute of Mental Health, some symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, unusual thoughts, disorganized speech, and agitated body movements. These body movements can be described as disorganized and erratic. Some patients can also experience catatonia which is when a person does not move for hours. What is the Temporal Lobe? The frontal lobe is the lobe at the forefront of the brain. One of its functions is movement as it contains the precentral and postcentral gyrus which is important for voluntary movements. It is also important for speech and language production—as it also contains the Broca’s area which is important for forming thoughts to words (Villines, 2017). Other cognitive functions include distinguishing items, empathy, reward-seeking behavior and motivation as this is where “dopamine-seeking” neurons tend to live. How does Schizophrenia affect the Frontal Lobe? I.
Dopamine/Hallucinations
Rashmi Nemade Ph.D and Mark Dombeck Ph.D looked into brain imaging methods such as MRI and CT scans to examine the difference between the frontal lobe between neurotypical individuals and individuals with schizophrenia. It appears that the frontal lobe of schizophrenic patients is more sensitive to dopamine (Nemade & Dombeck, 2017). This could be one explanation to why schizophrenic patients experience hallucinations. It appears the dopamine plays an important role to contributing to hallucinations. Drugs that cause dopamine to be more present in the brain can cause hallucinations even for neurotypical patients (Nemade & Dombeck, 2017). In fact, medication to stop hallucinations (antipsychotics) block dopamine from being produced (Nemade & Dombeck, 2017).
II.
Pre and Postcentral Gyrus/Catatonia In another study conducted by Ateeq Mubarik and Hassaan Tohid, it was observed that there was reduced activity in the precentral gyrus and postcentral gyrus of the frontal lobe (Mubarik & Tohid, 2016). This would make sense as the precentral gyrus is important for voluntary movement of skeletal muscles. If the activity of that region is irregular it could explain why many schizophrenic patients have disorganized movements and experience ‘catatonia’ which is when a patient goes completely still (muscular rigidity) for minutes or even hours. Conclusion To conclude, schizophrenia has a huge effect on the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe typically deals with movement, sensory information and interpretation, and reward-seeking behaviors through dopamine neurons. Studies have come to shown that the frontal lobe acts very differently in patients who have schizophrenia. Things such as inactivity in the postcentral and precentral gyrus and high sensitivity to dopamine are abnormalities seen in these patients’ brain and can explain many of the symptoms that schizophrenic patients experience.
Reference Section. Mubarik, Ateeq, & Tohid, Hassaan. (2016). Frontal lobe alterations in schizophrenia: a review. Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 38(4), 198206. https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2237-6089-2015-0088 M., T., & H. (n.d.). Frontal lobe alterations in schizophrenia: A review. Retrieved from http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2237-60892016000400198#aff1 Gluck, S. (2017). Schizophrenia Brain: Impact of Schizophrenia on the Brain - Schizophrenia Effects - Thought Disorders. Retrieved April 18, 2018, from https://www.healthyplace.com/thought-disorders/schizophrenia-effects/schizophrenia-brainimpact-of-schizophrenia-on-the-brain/ Nemade, R., Ph.D, & Dombeck, M., Ph.D. (2017). Evidence That Schizophrenia is a Brain Disease. Retrieved April 18, 2017, from https://www.gulfbend.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=8812&cn=7 Villines, Z. (2017, June 29). Frontal lobe: Functions, structure, and damage. Retrieved April 18, 2017, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318139.php
THE MASTER “MIND� OF PSYCHOPATHY Inside the Brain of a Psychopath By: PAYTON MITCHELL
Ted
Bundy.
Jeffrey
Dahmer.
Charles
others because of their keen ability to mimic
Manson. Josef Mengele. Do any of these
normal emotional responses. So, what is it
names ring a bell? Maybe you have heard
that makes psychopaths so different from
them in a crime television show such as
normal individuals if they possess the same
Criminal Minds or Law and Order. Maybe
characteristics throughout the majority of
they appeared in a documentary or podcast
their daily lives? Researchers think the brain
you heard. Maybe you have never heard
and
these names before. Either way, these are
something to do with it.
its
anatomical
structures
have
just four of the most famous serial killers and cult leaders. More importantly, these people are psychopaths. What is psychopathy? It is a developmental disorder identifiable by antisocial behavior, reduced empathy, and lack of emotional fear. Additionally, psychopathic individuals show an increased tendency of aggression and criminal activity. Although psychopaths have tendencies to engage in violent and criminal activity, they also possess the ability to interact within society in a convincingly normal manner. So much so, that they can easily manipulate
STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES One of the structural differences between the brain of a psychopath and a normal individual can be found in the amygdala. The amygdala is located in the medial temporal lobe of the brain and plays an
important role in learning, specifically,
feel empathy for others and prevents them
stimulus-reinforcement learning and
from being able to compare experiences
aversive conditioning. These two processes
and
allow for an individual to make decisions
experiences. This is somewhat of a recipe for
and learn from stimuli such as fear. For
disaster, if someone cannot identify the fear
psychopaths, fMRI scans have shown that
of a certain situation, then they will not
there is less activity in the amygdala,
recognize when they put someone in that
stunting an individual’s ability to form
fearful situation.
feeling
associated
with
those
decisions and learn from fearful situations. Additionally, the prefrontal cortex exhibits some differences among an average person and a psychopathic person. The region of interest in the prefrontal cortex is called the orbitofrontal cortex. In a normally functioning brain, this area helps in recognition of emotional expressions on one’s face. Once again, those who are a psychopath have measurably low activity and brain volume in this region. What does this mean? Well, this makes it harder to identify how someone is feeling, and as a result a psychopath might not be able to identify when someone is scared or in pain. Further, without this realization they may find themselves acting in a manner that terrorizes or scares others without knowing.
In short, psychopaths have identifiable differences in their brain structure and function in comparison to other individuals. Does this mean that if your brain resembles that of a psychopath or functions similarly that you will become a murderer or cult leader?
The
answer
is
probably
and
hopefully not. As far as research goes thus
Additionally, the ventromedial prefrontal
far, the findings are correlational not
cortex also varies between psychopaths and
causational. Only when you seize to feel
those that are not psychopaths. This area at
empathy towards others, begin to partake in
the front of the brain helps with emotional
a life of crime, or find yourself lacking in
regulation. For individuals who do not get as
social interaction would I be worried.
much activity in this region, they face more suppression of emotion. The inhibition of feelings makes it harder for an individual to
Sources used are listed here
References Blair, R.J. (2008). The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: functional contributions and dysfunction in psychopathy. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences. 363, 2557–2565. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0027. Buckholts, J.W., et al. (2010). Mesolimbic dopamine reward system hypersensitivity in individuals with psychopathic traits. Nature Neuroscience. 13, 419-421. doi:10.1038/nn.2510. Keysers, C. (2013). Inside the Mind of a Psychopath – Empathic, but not always: brain imaging shows psychopaths can empathize but do not empathize spontaneously. Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. Pera-Guardiola, V., et al. (2016). Brain structural correlates of emotion recognition in psychopaths. PLOS One. 11 (5), 1-17. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149807 Tracy, N. (2016). The psychopathic brain: is it different from a normal brain?. Healthy Place.
DOGS AND LOVE… A peak into dog’s brains and how they might feel about you. By Martha Monroy
All of us dog owners and dog lovers know
comfortable doing this. They were able to
that of course our dogs love us!
stay super still (for a few minutes) and they
Nonetheless, we would like science to
got a lot of treats. Also, all dogs wore
confirm it. And recently, a team of scientists
custom-made earmuffs to protect their ears
in Atlanta decided to conduct a test that
from the sounds the MRI makes. So, they
would give more insight into what’s going on
were well cared for.
in our best friend’s brain.
Dr. Gregory Berns and his dog Callie before an MRI scan
Dr. Gregory S. Berns and his colleagues trained around 12 dogs to be very still inside
Then Dr. Berns decided to specifically look
a Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner (MRI) while they took the images of their brains. All of this while they were awake. This is no easy task because they had to stay as perfectly still as possible. You can imagine the challenge this can represent. They were the first ones to attempt to do this and accomplish it. At least one previous test similar to this one
into the canine brain responses to familiar
was performed by another group of
and unfamiliar scents of both humans and
scientists in dogs that were anesthetized but
dogs. It made sense to study social
the results then were not optimal because
cognition through dog’s great sense of
when sleeping you can’t see the actual
olfaction. They hypothesized that “if dog’s
impact of activities, scents, etc. in the brain.
primary association to reward, whether it is
The training conducted by Dr. Berns and his
based on food or social bonds, is to
colleagues did was through positive
humans, then the human scents would
reinforcement. The dogs had a specific
activate the caudate more than conspecific
personality and were very eager to learn
(other dogs) scents.” (Berns. 2014).
new things, so they did all willingly. They cared first of all about the wellbeing of the dogs, it was essential that all the dogs were
How did they actually test this?
Well, they designed an experiment where
(with no deodorant) after a light exercise
the handler would be on the other side of
session. And from the perineal-genital area
the MRI machine presenting a cotton swab
in the case of the dog scents.
with one of 5 scents to the dog. The dog
The handlers were blind to the code
was inside the scanner and they recorded
assigned to each scent to avoid giving cues
the images generated in his/her brain.
to their dogs. What they found was that
They did mini sessions for this. The scent
“while the olfactory bulb was activated to a
was presented for around 3 seconds and
similar degree by all scents, the caudate
they had between 10-15 seconds between
was activated maximally to the familiar
trials. The scents presented were: the scent
human” (Berns. 2014).
of the dog being tested (self), the scent of a
The caudate is the region of the brain
familiar human that was not present
associated with reward and it’s thought to
(different scent from the handler), the scent
have a role in positive expectations,
of a strange human that has never
including social rewards. And even when
interacted at all with the dog, the scent of a
the regions of the brain have usually
familiar dog and the scent of a strange dog
multiple functions the scientists stated: “it is
(one that has never interacted at all with the
still significant because the familiar human
dog). For the humans they were careful to
was not present during the scanning. Thus,
get scents from the opposite sex of their
any association would have to be distant in
handlers but the same sex for both the
space and time (there was no prospect of
familiar and unfamiliar person. The scents
immediate reward from the donor human). In that regard, the caudate response resembled that of humans seeing pictures of loved ones who are not physically present”. (Berns. 2014). So, even though more studies are needed and this if not a definitive answer to our initial question it brings us a little bit closer to getting to know more about our best friend’s brains and how they feel about us.
were taken from the armpits of the humans Callie inside the MRI scanner.
REFERENCES
Berns GS, Brooks AM, Spivak M. (2014). Scent of the familiar: an fMRI study of canine brain responses to familiar and unfamiliar human and dog odors. Behavioural Processes. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376635714000473
Sniffing Memories How scents trigger your memory By: Bernadette MuĂąoz
You know that feeling where you smell
linked to scents tend to be stronger and more
something and it just takes you back to a
vivid to remember.
specific time or place instantly flooding your mind with memories?
In the past, smelling was seen as a way to survive. This may not be the case anymore
Say you walk into a bakery and the first
due to the endless amount of ways that
thing that hits your senses is the smell of
fragrances that can be created or mixed.
fresh baked pie. Suddenly flashbacks come
Now, scents can do more than just bring
rushing in of perhaps your favorite holiday
memories but it can also have an affect on
or times when you would visit your
your health.
grandma. Just as some scents can bring positive moods and memories, it can also
In regards to health, scents can help in
remind us of bad ones.
lowering stress, making you fall asleep, boosting attraction, and even in
Memory and smell work together to the
concentrating. A decline in the sense of
point that we use memory to remember
smell can be a warning to diseases such as
smells and some smells even remind us of
Parkinson's, Huntington's, and Alzheimer’s.
certain memories. Recollections that are
Scents through the nose and into the
hippocampus 4.
brain When inhaling a (potent) smell, the scent
A lingering memory - connections to
goes through your nostrils, meeting
the brain
receptors in the nose and soon travels up the
In a study mentioned in “A hint of
olfactory1 membrane. The odor molecules
memory”, they discuss how odor can link to
stimulate the lining of nerve cells triggering the olfactory system. After hitting the olfactory bulb2, the information is linked to
memory because of the connection between the brain’s olfactory bulb and the hippocampus.
two brain regions associated with emotion and memory: the amygdala3 and the
In “A hint of memory”, another study was constructed where they found that scents we recognize are able to trigger our memory and bring us to a state of nostalgia. As easy as it is for a scent to make us remember memories, it is also easy for our mood to be altered due to these flashbacks. Not only can our current state be affected by the sniff of an object or setting but also in emotions to a longer lifespan.
1
Relating to sense of smell Smell-analyzing region in brain 3 A small almond-shaped region in the brain involved with experiencing emotions 2
4
Involved in emotion, memory, and autonomic nervous system (control system that does things unconsciously, breathing, digestion, etc)
As much as it is nice to take a breather and
smell your favorite scent to put you in a
not having any scents up your nose, using
good mood or use it to help lower your
some fragrances to your advantage can help
stress levels.
you through the day or even in your life. So
References Dobson, R. (2015). How smell affects your body and mind. SAGA. Retrieved from http://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/health-wellbeing/mind/how-smell-affects-your-body-andmind.aspx Fields, H. (2012). Fragrant flashbacks. Association for psychological science. Retrieved from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/fragrant-flashbacks Green, H. (2015). How smells trigger memories. SciShow. Video retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=198&v=vY-HbcPInXw Olender, T., Keydar, I., Pinto, J. M., Tatarskyy, P., Alkelai, A., Ming-Shan, C., & ... Lancet, D. (2016). The human olfactory transcriptome. BMC Genomics, 171-18. doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2960-3 PT Staff. (2007). The Hidden Force of Fragrance. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200711/the-hidden-force-fragrance Saive, A.-L., Royet, J.-P., & Plailly, J. (2014). A review on the neural bases of episodic odor memory: from laboratory-based to autobiographical approaches. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8, 240. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00240 Thorpe, J. (2017). The science of scent and why it brings back memories. Bustle. Retrieved from https://www.bustle.com/p/the-science-of-scent-why-it-brings-back-memories-45852 White, A. (2014). Smells ring bells: how smells can trigger emotions and memories. Retrieved from https://lions-talk-science.org/2014/10/08/smells-ring-bells-how-smells-can-triggeremotions-and-memories/ White, J. (2016). A hint of memory. Psychology Today, 49(3), 20.
Williams, R. M. (2004). Fragrance Alters Mood and Brain Chemistry. Townsend Letter For Doctors & Patients, (249), 36-38.
THE ART OF REMEMBERING THE PAST WHILE BUILDING A FUTURE Gillian Ochoa
As time goes on the ability to remember information becomes more difficult and for people with Alzheimer’s the task of remembering can be outright impossible. Alzheimer’s Disease affects 47.5 million people worldwide. New studies
Pictured is an elderly woman exercising to remain in shape and keep not only her body healthy, but also
Remember the days when you were young, playing sports, and learning more than you ever thought you could in school? Those days were great, the body was in shape and subconsciously the mind was more available to accept new information. This ability to learn stems from firing neurons and adequate oxygen to sustain the brain.
reveal methods which can help reduce the onset of Alzheimer’s or even completely eradicate the disease. One factor that is proven to possibly limit the effects of this disease is routine exercise. Aerobic exercise maintains and can improve a person’s cognitive functioning. Daily exercise has benefits that can improve a person’s health both physically and mentally. New studies have shown how strengthening the body and the mind simultaneously can drastically
reduce the onset of the memory loss, a
There are recent studies that claim to slow
major factor in Alzheimer’s disease.
the progression of memory loss in older
Alzheimer’s is the primary form of
adults. Staying active and increasing one’s
dementia that is affecting a large population
heart rate daily may be the key to resisting
of elderly people. The symptoms of
dementia. Many older adults do not partake
Alzheimer’s develop slowly, causing nerve
in physical activity, which is detrimental to
cells to degenerate and hinders a person’s
mental health. The stimulation of the brain
ability to recall past events that have
that comes from the release of endorphins
occurred. These cells are present
during exercise is lost, leading to
throughout the fluid that protects the brain
impairments in learning and memory.
and spinal cord from injury. This disorder
A wide range of research, claims physical
deteriorates pathways that control motor
activity increases the expression of proteins
and learning skills. This impacts the
which improves the functioning of the
hippocampus which is the site of memory
hippocampus. This promotes the survival
formation in the brain. Drugs have short-
and growth of nerve cells in the brain which
term beneficial effects, but there is no
create an overall better mental state. This
treatment that can lead to the prevention of
that prolongs the onset of Alzheimer’s
the disorder.
symptoms, such as memory loss.
The notion that a person must keep
Partaking in physical activity
their mind young because their body will
increases the endurance of cells and tissues
not always be young, is not a rule to live by.
in the brain aiding brain health and energy
metabolism. Cognitive and physical training
Remaining physically active improves
can reduce the progression of dementia in
nerve cell networks and stimulates the
people over the age of 55. One study
growth of new ones. With a strategic plan
measured middle-aged adults, with one
combining both exercise and memory tasks
group staying active and another sedentary.
simultaneously, older adults’ attention and
Then a sample of fluid that protects the
reasoning abilities can improve ( Law L.L.,
brain and spinal cord was taken. This
2018). Aerobic training allows for the
revealed active adults had a reduced
improvement of processing speed and
likelihood of being diagnosed with
procedural memory.
Alzheimer’s.
While there is not yet a cure for this disorder, studies show that physical activity combined with cognitive training may improve memory and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. References Arkin, S. M. (2003). Student-led exercise sessions yield significant fitness gains for Alzheimers patients. American Journal of Alzheimers Disease & Other Dementiasr, 18(3), 159-170. doi:10.1177/153331750301800302 Foster, P. P., Rosenblatt, K. P., & Kuljiš, R. O. (2011). Exercise-Induced Cognitive Plasticity, Implications for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease. Frontiers in Neurology, 2. doi:10.3389/fneur.2011.00028
Pictured is an elderly man maintaining his mental health by exercising.
Intlekofer, K. A., & Cotman, C. W. (2013). Exercise counteracts declining hippocampal function in aging and Alzheimers disease. Neurobiology of Disease, 57, 47-55. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2012.06.011 Lange-Asschenfeldt, C., & Kojda, G. (2008). Alzheimer’s disease, cerebrovascular dysfunction and the benefits of
exercise: From vessels to neurons. Experimental Gerontology, 43(6), 499-504. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2008.04.002 Law, L. L., Rol, R. N., Schultz, S. A., Dougherty, R. J., Edwards, D. F., Koscik, R. L., . . . Okonkwo, O. C. (2018). Moderate intensity physical activity associates with CSF biomarkers in a cohort at risk for Alzheimers disease. Alzheimers & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, 10, 188-195. doi:10.1016/j.dadm.2018.01.001 Mcewen, S. C., Siddarth, P., Abedelsater, B., Kim, Y., Mui, W., Wu, P., . . . Merrill, D. A. (2018). Simultaneous Aerobic Exercise and Memory Training Program in Older Adults with Subjective Memory Impairments. Journal of Alzheimers Disease, 62(2), 795-806. doi:10.3233/jad-170846 Radak, Z., Hart, N., Sarga, L., Koltai, E., Atalay, M., Ohno, H., & Boldogh, I. (2010). Exercise Plays a Preventive Role Against Alzheimers Disease. Journal of
Wish You Had No Fears? Think Again. By Lorena Olmedo Imagine having the ultimate superpower of having no fears. Just take everything that you’re afraid of now and imagine it being wiped away. Sounds pretty cool right? Well, you may want to think about that again. As it turns out, fear is a very vital emotion that we experience, despite the uneasy feelings it brings us and patient S.M. can vow for this. Patient S.M. is a now a 52 year old woman who suffers from a rare disease called Urbach-Wiethe disease which results in damage to certain parts of the brain. For her specifically, this disease caused the destruction of the amygdala. What is the amygdala?
Now, you may be wondering what in the world is the amygdala? Humans actually have two amygdala which are small almond-shaped regions located in the medial temporal lobe. They are a part of the limbic system and help us process emotions as well as interpret other people’s facial expressions to help us label emotions. Not to mention, it plays a large role in emotional memory. Over the years though, the amygdala has acquired the label of being the brain’s “fear center” as it most prominently controls this emotion. The way fear is wired is that it first starts off by sending visual and auditory information to the amygdala. Here is where it is interpreted
and evaluated, and if it is dangerous, the amygdala will then send a distress signal to the hypothalamus which elicits a “flight” or “fight” response. Patient S.M.
As I mentioned before, patients who no longer have functioning amygdala are essentially fearless. Patient S.M. was one of the first people who were discovered to have this strange phenomenon. At first thought it may seem amazing. But, as a matter of fact it can be quite harmful to one. Because patient S.M has no working fear center, she has gotten herself into many dangerous situations that have threatened her life. There have been multiple occasions in which she’s been held at gunpoint while walking down dark streets at night, but because she didn’t feel any sense of threat or fear, she was unable to avoid these situations. Researchers became intrigued by this fearless women leading them to conduct studies on her. They had her walk through one of the most haunted places in the world and record her experience of it. Instead of being scared like every average person would, she showed excitement. The study also exposed her to dangerous snakes and spiders, yet she was intrigued by them and had to be geared away from them. Studying patient S.M. gave us a lot of insight and manifested how vital the amygdala is in powering fear. Fear is Vital
So, at this point if you initially thought it would be cool to have no fears you might want to reevaluate your answer. From the information discussed above, it becomes evident that being able to experience and feel fear is a super important aspect of a person’s emotions. It is our internal warning signal that helps guide our decisions and keeps us away from danger.
References Amygdala. (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/amygdala.htm This page explains about the physical structure of the amygdala and where in the brain it is located. Feinstein, J. S., Adolphs, R., Damasio, A. R., & Tranel, D. (2011, January 11). The human amygdala and the induction and experience of fear. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3030206/ This page is a research study that looked at how the destruction of the amygdala is related to fear and specifically looked at patient S.M. It wanted to pin point how the amygdala was involved in fear control. Javanbakht, A., Saab, L., (2017, October 27). What Happens in the Brain When We Feel Fear. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-happens-brain-feelfear-180966992/ This article explains the way that fear is activated in the brain. It talks about why the amygdala was essentially given the name of the fear center and touches base upon the way it elicits a physiological response. LeDoux, J. E. (2008, February 3). Amygdala. Retrieved from http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Amygdala This page goes into detail about the connections the amygdala has with other regions of the brain. It also discusses how it controls the physiological response of fear.
Yong, E. (2010, December 16). Meet the woman without fear. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/12/16/meet-the-womanwithout-fear/#.Wsbq0GaZPzU This article talks about patient S.M. It discusses the disease that she suffers from and goes into some detail about an experiment that was done on her to test her fear response.
He Woke Up and Could Suddenly Play Tchaikovsky! By: Haley Palmer
Introduction I’m sure at one point in your life, you had wanted to have an extraordinary talent. And maybe you do have one, but you had to work very hard in order to get there. Now what if I told you there were people in the world that were talented in one area without practicing or trying? These types of people are called savants. Savant syndrome is a condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills at which savants excel is generally related to memory. This can include rapid calculation, artistic ability, mapmaking, or musical ability, but usually there is only one skill present.
Theories The condition only affects around one in a million people, and those with autism are between 1 in 10 to 200 to have savant syndrome to some degree. The reason why some autistic and disabled people have these abilities is not fully understood, but the strong link with autism does give a good starting point. Some theories include biologicaldevelopmental-such as genetic, neurochemical, left hemisphere dysfunction, and frontal and temporal lobe damage; and cognitive-such as deficits in executive function and abstract thinking.
Cases The popular movie, Rain Man, was based off of the life of a savant named Kim Peek. He had a very good memory, being able to recall the contents of at least 12,000 books. While this is a very famous case of savant syndrome, there are many others that show their abilities in different ways.
Kim Peek Take Leslie Lemke, for example. He was born with severe birth defects that required doctors to remove his eyes, and wasn’t able to stand until the age of 12. At 16 years of age, Leslie bloomed. In the middle of the night, his mother woke up to find him playing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Leslie had never had any classical music training and was playing the piece flawlessly after hearing it once on the television earlier. He had only needed to hear a piece be played once until he was able to play it perfectly. Some other examples include people like Orlando Serrell, who was able to perform complex calendar calculations and remember the weather every day from the day
he got into his accident; Stephen Wiltshire, who was able to draw an accurate and detailed landscape of a city after seeing it just once; and Daniel Tammet, who was able to recite Pi to 22,514 decimal places by memory, and can speak 11 languages.
What’s Next? While these people have extraordinary abilities, it’s because something else in their brain isn’t functioning the way it should. There are many theories that have been presented over the years to try and give an explanation for Savant Syndrome, but scientists can’t agree on one reason because it can be different for each person. Research hasn’t led us to one definitive answer yet, but each day scientists are getting closer and closer to finding out how and why savants are truly amazing.
Brainsplain Magazine: Annotated Bibliography
Savant syndrome. (2018, April 05). Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savant_syndrome This page talks about the signs and symptoms of Savant Syndrome, as well as the psychological and neurological mechanisms behind it. It also gives information on the epidemiology, history, and societal aspects of the disease. It gives a lot of good background information and understandable points. Santoso, A., K., & Harmon, J. (n.d.). 10 Most Fascinating Savants in the World.Retrieved April 06, 2018, from http://www.neatorama.com/2008/09/05/10-most fascinatingsavants-in-the-world/ This page gives a list of the 10 most fascinating savants in the world. The people listed all have different talents and different circumstances when they discovered they had Savant syndrome. Treffert, D. A. (2009, May 27). Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677584/ This article gives an introduction to Savant syndrome, what we know about it, and what we should do in the future of research for it. It also discusses the relationship between autism and savant syndrome. Edelson, S. M. (n.d.). Research: Autistic Savants. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.autism.com/understanding_savants
This article talks about the research that has been done regarding Savant Syndrome. It also lists the different forms of savant abilities, along with examples of some of the abilities like incredible memory or musical talent. Piore, A. (2013, February 19). When Brain Damage Unlocks The Genius Within. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-02/whenbrain-damage-unlocks-genius-within This article focuses on how brain damage is the cause of Savant Syndrome. It includes a story about how a man had an accident that resulted in brain damage and how musical ability was discovered through it. It also talks about the neurological causes of savant syndrome.
DID WE DISCOVER THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH? The science behind Brain age reversal! By: Roger Rochart
We have all thought about death at one point in our lives, whether its pondering about the afterlife or questioning the reasons for why we die. The good news is as science and technology continue to advance at the current pace, living forever might be a feasible option for many of us in the coming future. Currently, researchers discovered what may be the first clue to the fountain of youth. Saul Villeda, the leader of this research initially began his work to look for a treatment option for Alzheimer’s disease. Little did he know that he would stumble across something much greater. He initially began his experiments with mice models, one old and one young, to find significant differences between their hippocampi, the organ of the brain responsible for memory, and try to pinpoint a region that the disease targets. He conducted many dissections and memory experiments on these mice until he had the idea of parabiosis. Parabiosis is the physical joining of two organisms. Conducting the same experiments on the joined mice, he discovered that the old/young pair had an average memory of the young and old mice individually. He then dissected the brains and carefully examined the hippocampi
and found that the brain of the older mouse appeared younger. The next question was what was causing this age reversal process? Was it because they were connected that their brains “synced” or was it something else? What followed was a series of blood transfusions between the mice and then tested their memory. The results showed, that older mice who received young mouse blood performed significantly better on memory-based tasks like maze running. Which means, that some part of the blood was responsible for this age reversing process. The next step was how to figure out whether it’s a protein/specific molecule in the young blood or if it’s genetic? Their results showed something rather strange. They noticed that after transfusion, old mouse hippocampal cells had increased gene expression which essentially means that a specific part of the genetic code is being used more often. For example, we all have the genes that allow us to produce hair but those who grow more hair have increased gene expression. Similarly, these researchers found a gene known as Creb which usually shows high expression in babies’ brains because it signals neurogenesis, the birth of new neurons. But wait, the fun doesn’t stop quite yet because they also found that cells of young mice who had received old mouse blood had a significant decrease in Creb expression, dialing down the creation of new neurons, and accelerated aging! This indicated that the rejuvenation process was genetic but that some external factor in the blood was somehow modulating the expression levels like adjusting a radio’s volume by turning the knob. This led them to conclude that ‘pro-youthful’ factors or the knob turner, from young blood can reverse age-related impairments in the brain, and a second possibility could be stopping ‘pro-aging factors’ from aged blood in their tracks counteracting impairments such as Alzheimer’s. Today, Saul and many other investigators are on the hunt for what these factors may be and how to isolate them from blood for future clinical trials. Such a breakthrough may hopefully serve as a treatment option for those with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. However, in our future we may see an expansion of this treatment as solution to aging or at least prolonging it. We may see a future with a much greater life expectancy so if you’re scared about not having enough time to do everything you would want to, rest assured that the near future may provide a solution. The fountain of youth, a myth that many spent their entire lives searching for was inside us the entire time! What might this discovery mean for the future of humanity?
References Villeda SA, et al. (2014, June 20). The ageing systemic milieu negatively regulates neurogenesis and cognitive function. Retrieved from Nature. 477:90–94. [PubMed: 21886162] 2. Scheff SW, Price DA, Schmitt FA, DeKosky ST, Mufson EJ. (2007, May 1). Synaptic alterations in CA1 in mild Alzheimer disease and mild cognitive impairment. Retrieved from Neurology 68:1501–1508. [PubMed: 17470753]
UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO // ISSUE 42 // VOLUME 1
BRAINSPLAIN MAGAZINE acts as a serotonin agonist, which means it heightens the effects serotonin has on the body. DMT has been used for thousands of years for spiritual awakening rituals, especially in South America, for its extremely powerful hallucinogenic effects. This drug is characterized as a white powder that comes from plants in South America and Mexico and is either smoked in a pipe, brewed in tea, or snorted for the effects to be experienced.
What happens while on DMT?
DMT: YOUR LAST RESORT FOR FINDING GOD BY MEGAN SCHNEIDER
What is DMT?
You may have heard about DMT before from your one really alternative friend who believes hallucinogens cure any ailment, but you may not know exactly what it is. Besides the fact that it allowed your trippy friend to unlock the secrets of the universe, like most people, you probably know very little about DMT. DMT is short for Dimethyltryptamine, and is a naturally occurring psychedelic commonly called the “spirit molecule.” Very little is known about the effects of this substance, and how it reacts with the body, but new research is examining this. What is known is that this drug has a similar chemical composition to serotonin (your happiness hormone) which means that on a molecular level, these two very different substances appear similar. DMT also
Okay, so now that you know what DMT is you’re thinking cool, so like similar to mushrooms, right? Wrong. DMT is not similar to other hallucinogens which produce long lasting, and comparatively subtle trips. DMT creates intense visual and auditory hallucinations that only last for 10-20 minutes, although your perception of time is completely shattered.
Many people report interacting with celestial beings called “DMT Elves”
at this compound and its effects. In this study, participants took DMT and reported their experiences. In an ongoing study, researchers at John Hopkins University School of Medicine are surveying people who have taken the drug and found themselves interacting with celestial beings, in hopes of simply understanding this phenomenon more. Participants mark the dosage they took, what they experienced, and how they felt before, during, and after the trip. Minimal research has been done on this psychedelic, and it is controversial to allow participants to What research has been done? There is a Netflix documentary narrated by Joe use it, so conducting quality research has Rogan called DMT: The Spirit Molecule, that gives proven very difficult. an accessible explanation of this drug. The Why should I care? documentary interviews participants of an Research on other hallucinogens like experiment that looked psilocybin, aka magic mushrooms, has been done and found that using this psychedelic in small doses can aid treatment resistant depression, especially in cancer patients. DMT is similar to serotonin, and is a serotonin receptor agonist, which could mean it could also have effects on depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses that may be resistant to treatment. The most prominent theory on DMT came from Dr. Strassman in the 1990’s who proposed that Many people report interacting with celestial beings called “DMT Elves” or feeling God’s presence. Experiences are often other worldly, or near death, and in either case people often have life changing revelations. Some trips are so traumatic people develop PTSD. There are youtube videos that attempt to recreate the experience of DMT without ingesting the substance, and I highly recommend you watch one not only to learn about the effects of DMT, but purely for their entertainment value.
DMT is only released in the body during our birth and death through the pineal gland. The pineal gland is known to produce melatonin as well, the hormone that helps you fall asleep, but it has not been scientifically proven to release DMT. No theories about DMT have been consistently proven.
So now what?
DMT is crazy stuff. We don’t really know what purpose it could possibly have, but we do know it is intense. It can cause spiritual revelations or traumatic experiences, and there are a lot of theories on what it does and when. More research is starting to be done, but not much about people’s experiences is quantifiable, so how can we determine what is going on? Maybe we can’t, but does this mean people will stop being curious? No! Does this mean hippies will suddenly switch to valium for their problems? No! People will continue to be curious about DMT and how it can align your chakras… or something like that… and the FDA and other narrow minded bureaucrats will not end the peaceful revolution, or the research!
References Carhart-Harris, R. L., Bolstridge, M., Day, C. M. J., Rucker, J., Watts, R., Erritzoe, D. E ,. . H. V., Nutt, D. J., (2017). Psilocybin with psychological support for treatmentresistant depression: six-month follow-up. Psychopharmacology, 235, pp 399-408. Davis, K. (2017, March 24). Everything You Need to Know About DMT. Medical News Today. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/306889.php Mahapatra, A., Gupta, R., (2017). Role of Psilocybin in the Treatment of Depression. Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, 7, pp 54-56. Main, D., (2016). Psilocybin, from Magic Mushrooms, Eases Anxiety and Depression in Cancer Patients. Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-andfamilies/psilocybin-from-magic-mushrooms-eases-anxiety-and-depression-incancer-patients-a7465191.html Mathews-King, A. (2018). Academics want to Speak to People Who Think They may have seen God. Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/goddrugs hallucinogenic-vision-dmt-trip-magic-mushrooms-study-a8282791.html PsychedSubstance. (2017, February 8). What DMT Feels Like: Interactive Experience [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6umdf4Ef970 Schultz, M. (Producer), & Schultz, M. (Director). (2002). DMT: The Spirit Molecule. [Motion picture]. (Available from Netflix)
SAVANTS OR SUPERHEROES Analyzing the neurobiology of savant syndrome. Adolescence is a time where imagination
the smallest skyscraper and grey tinted
runs through the depths of our mind, each
window in another. This is just a detailed
By KIANA SERESINHE
Drawing by Stephen Wiltshire, “cityscape savant” of us can relate to the time when we had our ideal superhero or imagined a superpower
example of one of the remarkable talents possessed by those who possess this
we would want. These superheroes are
syndrome.
humans with a vast plethora of extra
The question many may ponder over is how
abilities, humans that obviously don’t exist within our reality. What if humans with extra abilities did exist? The answer to this fascinating question would be yes! Calendar calculation, mathematical computations, skyline artwork and musical abilities are just some of the amazing talents developed within people who have savant syndrome. Flying over a beautiful skyline in a helicopter, seeing hundreds of buildings ranging in size and dimension and color, one could merely remember the image in their head following this experience. A miraculous ability found within some people who possess the savant syndrome is being able to completely draw the skyline down to
this syndrome is developed, how does the brain play a role in this? The neurobiology of savant syndrome remains unknown but scientists believe deficits in the structure and function of brain regions could be factors that contribute to the remarkable combination of cognitive deficits with amazing, solitary skills. Take a guess as to which brain hemisphere you think these abnormalities occur and which hemisphere these exceptional abilities typically arise from? If you answered left and then right, you would be correct. These abnormalities that occur within the left hemisphere can possibly cause an over enhancement of the right hemisphere. How would this madness
even occur? When we are born, an
through an injury but also is directly
abundance of neurons are lost , exactly 40%
correlated with autism disorder.
actually. Yet, the survival of these neurons is based on a certain relationship, that of the neuron and its target. Damage to any region of the brain during these important developmental stages can spark the other region to overdevelop. This could be due to the lack of competition for targets. Savant syndrome is not merely created through an abnormality formed in the brain but can occur when FLASH, an injury takes place. Just like spiderman being bitten by a radioactive spider, his injury causing his unique ability. People with savant syndrome can develop these abilities after a brain injury.
Autism: Relationship to Savant Syndrome Examining the relationship between autism and spectrum disorder gives questionable theories into how the neurobiology of autistic savants works. A massive 50% of the savant population is actually autistic. When peering into the brain of an autistic savant, one could see that savant skills emerge from an autistic brain. Why do you think this takes place? Some scientists believe that the lack of neural connectivity within an autistic brain could potentially contribute to these skills arising. This is one of the many interesting
The novel struck by genius is a fascinating novel about how a man gained miraculous mathematical abilities from a brain injury.
neurological theories behind savant syndrome. Savant Syndrome should be scientifically explored because of its
This medical marvel who was a victim of a violent mugging awoke with a newfound relationship with physics and math, changing Jason Padgett from a below average student into a full fledged award winning artist and amazing student.
This
man is an example of how savant syndrome can be instigated after an injury has taken place. Padgett describes his injury in clear depth, “ an injury that can kill neurons
mathematical drawing by Jason Padgett
or
damage them so badly, they are no longer able to communicate.” (Padgett, pg. 35) Savant Syndrome is not purely instigated
fascinating neuroanatomy as well as amazing Padgett, Jason & Seaberg, Maureen(2014). Struck by genius: How a brain injury made me a mathematical marvel. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
abilities possessed by many who have this syndrome.
References Dubischar-Krivec, Anna Milena; Bölte, Sven; Braun, Christoph; Poustka, Fritz; Birbaumer, Niels; Neumann, Nicola.(2014). Neural mechanisms of savant calendar calculating in autism: An MEG study of few single cases. Brain and Cognition, Vol 90, 157- 164. Treffert, Darold A.( 2014). Savant Syndrome: Realities, myths and misconceptions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Vol 44(3), 564-571.
Wehmeyer, Michael L. (1992). Developmental and psychological aspects of the savant syndrome. International Journal of Disability, Development and
Education, Vol 39(2), 153-163.
Young, Robyn. (2005). Neurobiology of Savant Syndrome. New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum
Publishers.
Brainsplain
MAGAZINE April 27, 2018 By Madeline Starkenburg
Would you tell someone with the flu to just “get over it”? The answer is no and you would probably seem insensitive to say such a thing. Asking a person with misophonia to “just ignore the sounds and get over it” is just as unreasonable.
Can you imagine sounds infuriating you? The very act of someone eating chips or an apple putting you over the edge? That is the everyday reality of those who suffer from misophonia. This may sound (pun intended) like a silly or made-up condition, but in reality, it impacts the day to day function of a select group of people. In people with misophonia, the part of the brain that controls emotion and emotional awareness-the insular cortex- is typically hyperactive. This shows why people who suffer from misophonia are sent into fight or flight mode when they hear sounds such as loud breathing, chewing, tapping, or popping. The emotion that is dominant in situations like these is most often anger, which may come as a surprise because many people would assume it would be disgust. This condition appears in every person in a different way, just like any other mental health condition. Some of the reported cases of misophonia have very specific triggers, meaning it's their sibling’s chewing that invokes a reaction or the tapping of their father’s foot that angers
1
them. This is a very interesting phenomenon because it adds a level of complexity to the condition, further showing it is definitely not a “one size fits all” situation. Misophonia and other mental health conditions Due to the fact that misophonia is in its early stages of research and it is not universally understood yet, there is still question as to whether it directly relates to other mental health disorders such as autism or OCD. The reason this is suspected because both of of these diseases could cause a sensitivity to sound. There is research currently being conducted to discover if there are neurological overlaps between misophonia and other conditions. There have been some links to the extreme hatred of sounds and autism. Although there is no definite connection between the two, it is reasonable to guess that there may be because autism is typically associated with heightened sensitivity to sensory inputs. In more recent studies and examinations of the disease it has been proposed that misophonia may not be able to be exclusively classified as its own disease, but rather a subcategory of Obsessive and compulsive disorders. This further supports the hypothesis that there may be a neurological connection between the two. Severity of misophonia Some people have the condition so severely that they are prevented from performing everyday tasks like riding the train or even going to work. In many cases people with misophonia are also not able to sustain healthy relationships with people around them since there is such a deep hatred and disliking for the sounds these people may be making.
2
Because this is a relatively new condition it is not in the DSM-5 manual, the guide for identifying and diagnosing mental health conditions, however, many advocacy groups for misophonia re raising awareness for it and bringing it to the forefront. What’s next? I am sure you are thinking, “well if this is such a severe condition in some people it must be treatable” and I am sure all researchers and mental health professionals are thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, because of its newness in the realm of mental health conditions, there are very limited treatment options available. Some people who suffer have found ways to cope, whether they are healthy or effective, that it still up for debate. Some of these ways include wearing earplugs or headphones, mimicking the triggering sounds in an angry fashion, or simply removing oneself from the situation. Scientists are trying to determine the effectiveness of exposure therapy or different combinations of pharmacotherapy.
3
References Dresden, D. (2018, January 21). Misophonia: What it is, symptoms, and triggers. Retrieved April 04, 2018, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320682.php Gallagher, J. (2017, February 03). Misophonia: Scientists crack why eating sounds can make people angry. Retrieved April 04, 2018, from http://www.bbc.com/news/health-38842561 Kumar, S., & Griffiths, T. D. (2017, June 29). The Brain Basis for Misophonia. Retrieved April 04, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5489594/ Lewin, A. B., Storch, E. A., & Murphy, T. K. (2017, October 11). Like Nails on a Chalkboard: A Misophonia Overview. Retrieved April 04, 2018, from https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/misophonia/ Sanchez, T. G., & Silva, F. E. (2017, July 29). Familial misophonia or Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome: Evidence for autosomal dominant inheritance? Retrieved April 04, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28823694 What Is Misophonia? (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2018, from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-misophonia
4
Synaptic Transmission: It’s Easy as 1, 2, 3, 4 The Race for Release ___
By Audrey Sun
INTRODUCTION Imagine your watching a relay race with runner’s stationed at each corner of the track, each one ready to receive the baton from his or her teammate. When the start gun is pulled, the first person takes off. When the baton makes contact with the second runner’s hand, he or she takes over, repeating the process until finally the fourth person has the baton and crosses the finish line. Nerve cells, or neurons, perform a similar process. In order to communicate with one another, neurons release neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that are released from a neuron, the presynaptic neuron, and travel through a space called a synaptic cleft in order to reach another neuron, a postsynaptic neuron. This process is known as synaptic transmission and has four basic parts to it, just like a relay race. I. Synthesis and Storage of Neurotransmitters Neurotransmitters are synthesized with the help of special proteins called enzymes and they are stored within vesicles of a neuron. In these vesicles, neurotransmitters remain in the “ready” position, just as runners get ready to race once they hear the words “on your marks, get ready.” As soon as the word “go” is heard, the first runner takes off, just as neurotransmitters are released and “take off” when an electrical signal occurs. II.
Neurotransmitter Release As the first runner rounds the corner, the second runner gets in position to take off once the baton hits his or her hand. The same concept applies to neurotransmitters as they get ready
2
to be released. At the membrane of the presynaptic cell, there are vesicles called “active zones” and these are where the neurotransmitters are kept until release. These zones are similar to a “start line” in a race. These vesicles are held in place by calcium sensitive membrane proteins called vesicle membrane proteins. This period of waiting is just like the second runner waiting for the baton. The calcium channels in the presynaptic neuron membrane open, causing calcium ions to rush in, when the neuron is hit with an electrical signal. The storage vesicles then release the neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft by a process called exocytosis. The now empty vesicle can be recycled or broken down. The first lap of the race is over, and now the second step, or “second runner,” takes off. III. Neurotransmitter Postsynaptic Receptors Once released into the synaptic cleft, the neurotransmitters then bind to the receptor proteins on the membrane of the postsynaptic cell. This causes ion channels on the membrane to either open, causing an electrical signal to happen which can lead to a short term or long-term response in the body. At this third step, the neurotransmitter is almost to its finish line, as it completes another lap and activating the “third runner”, a receptor on the postsynaptic cell. IV.
Inactivation of Neurotransmitters With the finish line in site, the neurotransmitter does its job and delivers its message. Once a neurotransmitter has been recognized by a postsynaptic receptor, it gets released into the synaptic cleft. The fourth step, or “fourth runner” is done. In the synapse, the neurotransmitter is inactivated so that it does not constantly stimulate the postsynaptic cell and cause an excessive amount of action potentials. Some neurotransmitters are recycled and others simply diffuse away. This inactivation point is the finish line; the end of a race. The runners are finished and are ready for the next race. Conclusion The mechanism of synaptic transmission is quite simple and moves in a circle. Each step depends on the previous one in order to keep the process going, similar to runners in a relay race. Each team member depends on the previous one until the race is finally finished. Neurotransmitters are integral to keeping the brain functioning properly and any imbalance in any neurotransmitter is very dangerous.
3
As with any race, there’s a big sigh of relief and a moment of joy once the last relay runner crosses that finish line. The individual’s job is done for the time being, and he or she will always be ready for that next race just as the neurotransmitter will be ready for when it is next needed.
References
1. Lentz, T. L., & Erulkar, S. D. (2018, January 29). Nervous system. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/science/nervous-system/The-neuronal-membrane#ref606394 2. Südhof, T. C. (2014). The molecular machinery of neurotransmitter release (nobel lecture). Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 53(47), 12696-12717. 10.1002/anie.201406359 Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201406359 3. Zimmerberg, B. (2018). Multimedia Neuroscience Education Project. [online]
Web.williams.edu. Retrieved from https://web.williams.edu/imput/synapse/index.html [Accessed 3 Apr. 2018].
Magic Mushrooms & Their Microdose Effects Candyce Torrez April 16, 2018 You remember your phone is in your hand, but don’t mentally perceive the feeling of it being there; nonetheless, you proceed to check your texts, only to find that your eyes can’t exactly focus to type words. The letters appear to be swimming along the keyboard at the bottom of your screen. After a minute of staring at your phone, you forget why you’re looking at it so your gaze moves to the world around you which appears to be glowing; the colors are extra vibrant and the sky is so bright. You can sense everything yet you feel... nothing? The world is so beautiful and the flowers are so precious! Tears start welling up in your eyes as you feel a oneness with creation. This is what patients probably experienced during a magic mushrooms trip in recent studies which looked at the effects of magic mushrooms on human consciousness and cognition. Studies like these have taught us what we know about psychedelic drugs. New data has brought to light how taking psychedelics in microdoses could help treat depression and anxiety.
HOW DO MAGIC MUSHROOMS WORK BRO? Magic mushrooms, otherwise known as shrooms or mushies, contain the psychedelic compound, psilocybin which is known to induce hallucinations, feelings of euphoria, perceptual distortions, and an inability to distinguish fantasy from reality. Magic mushrooms have these effects because psilocybin affects the brain's prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain responsible for regulating abstract thinking, and thought analysis. It also plays a key role in mood and perception.
STUDIES HAVE SHOWN… Psilocybin actually reduces brain activity, which is seen as decreased brain blood flow when comparing brain scans before and after being injected with the drug. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) are two areas that are regarded as important network hubs because they maintain the connectivity of many areas of the brain. The PPC and mPFC are activated when people are asked to think about themselves, therefore, they play roles in the regulation of self-awareness. While these areas show much higher activity than other parts of the brain normally, they show the greatest deactivation while under the drug. The reduced activity of the brains connector hubs may be to blame for the “unconstrained style of cognition” that comes with the psychedelic effects of magic mushrooms.
MAGICAL MICRODOSING!! Studies are beginning to show that using small amounts of psilocybin in a controlled setting could lead to life-changing positive experiences that, overall, increase long-term psychological well-being. Taking psilocybin in therapeutic settings, could even help treat conditions like addiction, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, research has shown. Researchers have seen that psilocybin decreases mPFC activity, as many depression treatments do, meaning that this may be an effective alternative to antidepressants. The two most widely known pilot studies were conducted at John Hopkins University and NYU. In both studies, participants showed dramatic decreases in depressive symptoms. It can also be noted that even six months after the experience with psilocybin, 80% of the JHU participants and 60-80% of the NYU participants showed significant decreases in depression and anxiety. Unlike antidepressants, which often come with a multitude of negative side effects, researchers have not found any serious, long-lasting adverse effects of psilocybin.
WE GOTTA DO MORE RESEARCH FAM The effects of psilocybin on the brain bring up more questions related to the brain and consciousness and should, therefore, be further studied. Scientists have only recently begun to study hallucinogen substances again after the drug prohibition era put an end to research on these drugs. Unfortunately, studying an illegal drug makes it harder to receive approval for research. There’s a lot we still don’t know about the brain and cognition, but research in areas related to psychedelics could be significant in our path towards understanding our beautifully complex brain.
REFERENCES Brodwin, E. (2016). Here's What Magic Mushrooms Do to Your Body And Brain. Retrieved on March 29, 2018 from https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-what-magic-mushrooms-does-to-your-body-andbrain Carhart-Harris, R. L., Erritzoe, D., Williams, T., Stone, J. M., Reed, L. J., Colasanti, A., … Nutt, D. J. (2012). Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(6), 2138–2143. Retrieved April 3, 2018 from http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1119598109 Imperial College London. (2012). Magic mushrooms' effects illuminated in brain imaging studies. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 3, 2018 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120123152043.htm Loria, K. (2016). Hallucinogenic drugs could soon work 'like a surgical intervention' for mental illness. Retrieved on March 29, 2018 from http://www.businessinsider.com/psilocybin-hallucinogentreatment-depression-anxiety-2016-11# Shroder, T. (2014). Revisiting the Magic in Magic Mushrooms. Retrieved on April 01, 2017 from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/acid-test/201412/revisiting-the-magic-in-magicmushrooms. Wing N. and Gregoire C. (2017). What We Really Know About Psychedelic Mushrooms. Retrieved on March 29, 2018 from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/14/psychedelic-mushroomsfacts_n_6083436.html
Beauty and the Brain
By: Taryn Vasquez Do you ever wonder why you are attracted to certain people? What it is specifically about them that signals to you: “this person is beautiful.” Or maybe you find yourself enticed by someone you never thought you would be interested in? Well, evolution and the brain can help explain this. What is beauty? Beauty is defined as: “The quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind.” The key word in this definition is the brain. Our brains play a large part in what we determine as attractive or beautiful in the world. However, even though everyone has unique concepts of what it means to be beautiful, there are certain traits that our brains will inherently look for that is the same in all of us. Evolution and Beauty Most of the time, someone is defined as beautiful according to what society approves of as “attractive”. But, the concept and standards of beauty have actually been determined over time by evolution. Back when our ancestors were just trying to survive, there were a few key things that they were subconsciously looking for in a mate: Symmetry Weight Lack of Imperfections Smell
All of these factors showed vital signs of a preferable mate and someone that would produce the best offspring. A positive outer appearance (usually) meant that person was healthy on the inside. Thousands of years ago, they had to rely solely on instincts and experience. So, anyone with negative aspects were usually not favorable to mate with because those features signaled that person was unfit. Now, let’s dive deeper into each of these concepts. Symmetry Our bodies were meant to be symmetrical. We have two eyes, ears, legs, arms etc. One half of our body (for the most part) looks like the other half. This is the most obvious and important way that someone can be seen as attractive. Weight A healthy weight, not too skinny or too overweight, is evolutionarily seen as attractive. This means that person eats well but is still active. Weight (depending on gender) indicates good health, fertility, ability to provide and protect etc. Lack of Imperfections Any scarring or imperfections can be signs that, again, the person is either injured, sick or unfit. This, in a way, links with symmetry in that it is one of the more obvious physical features that can stand out initially. Smell This is a less subtle/obvious way to be able to interpret a person. Body odor usually signals: health, diet, genetic compatibility, and fertility. Our brain processes this information more unconsciously, so you are less aware of it. However, liking a person’s natural smell is a large sign of attractiveness. Voice You can tell a lot about a person from their voice. Such as, fertility, body size, strength, and dominance. Voice can also be heard first from a distance and can be a determinant even before physical appearance. Face Shape Face shape is mostly based off of bone structure. Men with strong jawlines and bold eyebrows are seen as more attractive and strong. Women with high cheek bones, small chins and more prominent eyes are seen as fertile. Regardless of all of these traits that may define a person as beautiful, it is important to recognize the fact that our concept of beauty is changing. We no longer need to rely on signs to
tell us whether someone is a good potential mate anymore. There is modern advanced medicine to help with any sicknesses, diseases etc. Beyond physical appearances, many people base who they are attracted to off of personality, success and compatibility. There are so many attributes about a person that can determine whether they are “beautiful” or not that physical appearances are becoming less important. Because of this, “beautiful” is always changing. What was attractive 50 years ago is completely different now and will continue to change.
References: McDowell, Carly; Jones, Meghan (2017). 10 Science-Backed Reasons for Sexual Attraction. Reader’s Digest. Gregorie, Carolyn (2015). The Strange Science of Sexual Attraction. Huffington Post. Groyecka, A., Pisanski, K., Sorokowska, A., Havlíček, J., Karwowski, M., Puts, D., …Sorokowski, P. (2017). Attractiveness Is Multimodal: Beauty Is Also in the Nose and Ear of the Beholder. Frontiers in Psychology. Pairs, Wendy (2017). Why We Want Who We Want. Psychology Today. beauty. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
MID DAY’S REVENGE The science behind food comas By YVETTE VEGA
You’re at Sunday brunch with your friends, and you’ve ordered enough food to feed a family of ten. During all the socializing and catching up, you’re suddenly overcome with what feels like a food baby. The only thoughts that occupy your mind are unbuttoning your jeans for relief. Suddenly you’re faced with a dilemma…how on earth are you going to manage to stay awake on the drive home? We’ve all been in this situation— when we overindulge in our guiltiest pleasures only to experience the inevitable food coma. But is this a scientific phenomena or simply slang created by millennials?
To further study the science behind food comas, scientists at Bowling Green State University and Florida’s Scripps Research Institute studied fruit flies in order to determine the neurobiological effects between eating and sleep.
Drosophila, fruit flies, were used to conduct research on the connection between food comas, eating, and fatigue.
You might be surprised to find out the correct term for food coma is postprandial somnolence, which is derived from the Latin term for feeling sleepy after eating. As food enters our stomach and activates the gastrointestinal tract, blood flow shifts from our muscles and brain to our stomach and digestive system. As the volume of blood decreases in the brain, we experience feelings of wooziness and fatigue.
In order to track the fruit flies’ food consumption levels and behavior, researchers used video tracking and computer vision technology. The system sensed when fruit flies landed on a tiny platform and reached up to eat from a tube. A computer-generated program wired to the feeding tubes measured the number and duration of each feeding in addition to the fly’s activity levels.
When we eat a meal, the parasympathetic nervous system, dubbed the “rest and digest” system, is activated. The parasympathetic nervous system also aids in conserving energy through decreasing heart rate and increasing intestinal activity, resulting in our body properly absorbing a meal’s nutrients.
According to the researchers’ findings, the main cause of food comas turned out to be protein and salt. Another important factor was the time of day at which the food was consumed. However, sugar did not seem to play a role. When flies experienced a food coma, they remained still for a period of time
and were less responsive to multiple kinds of cues than they normally would be. Protein is known to delay gastric dumping, which means that protein, and its supply of blood, stays in the stomach longer compared to other foods, such as liquids and carbohydrates. Fats are also known to have similar effects. However, when ingested with carbs, small portions of protein and fat do not induce sleepiness due to the slowing rise in blood sugar, thus preventing blood sugar spikes and crashes. Another driving factor of food comas is the time of day at which food is consumed. Circadian rhythms, which act as internal biological clocks, are responsible for a decrease in arousal that normally occurs during early to mid-afternoon. Because many individuals eat during this time, it is normal to experience a food coma due to a natural dip in arousal. Many people also encounter this feeling in the evening, when the normal circadian decrease in body temperature occurs. So how exactly does one avoid a food coma? Decrease the size of your meals— the bigger the meal, the greater the chance you will experience fatigue. You may also consider eating meals at earlier times in order to avoid circadian dips. So instead of eating lunch at 1pm, try eating around 11:45am and see how you feel. When given the choice, choose carbs that are low on the glycemic index. These include whole wheat bread, oatmeal, beans, fruits, and non-starchy vegetables. And in the worst case scenario, you can always plan on wearing stretchy pants to your next Sunday brunch.
References Bazar, K. A., Yun, A., & Lee, P. Y. (2004). Debunking a myth: Neurohormonal and vagal modulation of sleep centers, not redistribution of blood flow, may account for postprandial somnolence. Medical Hypotheses, 63(5), 778-782. doi:10.1016/j.mehy. 2004.04.015 Bowling Green State University (2017, January 9). Blame ‘Food Coma’ On The Brain. Neuroscience News. Retrieved January 9, 2017 from http://neurosciencenews.com/foodcoma-neuroscience-5899/ Drayer, L. (2017, February 03). Are 'food comas' real or a figment of your digestion?. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/03/health/food-comas-drayer/ index.html Hosie, R. (2017, January 11). Eating protein and salty foods at lunch causes food comas, says new study. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/foodand-drink/protein-salty-food-diet-lunch-food-comas-afternoon-meetings-work-officehealth-lifestyle-a7521306.html Stewart, A. (2015, September 25). Here's Why Eating Too Much Can Give You a 'Food Coma'. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.sciencealert.com/health-check-food-comasor-why-eating-sometimes-makes-you-sleepy
Gabby Verkhosh Gummy for your Pain?
“AHHH MY BACK” Kyle yelled, as he reached for the little metallic tin of multi colored gummies he recently purchased. After eating one of the orange flavored ones, he laid on his stomach, stretched out as much as he could and massaged his lower back. After a few minutes, he was able to feel the effects settle in and the pain subdued. You see, Kyle suffers from lower back pain and his doctor recommended that he use medical marijuana if he felt that his pain was severe. As per this recommendation, Kyle decided to try this. However, because he still had responsibilities at work he had to find a balance, so he began to do research to find the perfect medical marijuana for himself. It turns out, that there are a total of 80 active chemicals found in marijuana plants. One of these is Cannabidiol. Cannabidiol (CBD) is just one type of cannabinoid that can block or stimulate a special kind of receptor known as an endocannabinoid receptor that functions similarly to some of the brains own naturally occurring cannabinoids. However, CBD is non-psychotropic, meaning there is no effect to the a person’s mental state, so although it will produce the therapeutic effects that are desired, it will not produces the same euphoric effects one experiences with THC. This was perfect for Kyle, and he was ecstatic, could it be that he found something that could help with his pain and not cause him to feel a high?
He decided to take a closer look at this chemical and in fact it was true, CBD does not produce the feeling of euphoria. This is due to which receptors are interacting with the cannabinoids, specifically the CB1 and CB2 receptors. It has been shown that CBD has a
Verkhosh 2 very low binding affinity for these receptors causing it to produce little to no of this euphoric effect. Kyle was impressed; it was shown to be effective in treating pain, antiseizure, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-tumor, anti-psychotic, and anti-anxiety. Thanks to google, Kyle found himself in a wormhole, reading article after article about the positives and negative of CBD. One such article he came across was about the CBD store on Bradenton, which was opened by Rachael Quinn. She explained that she began using CBD oil because it helped treat her active Crohn’s disease for about four years and wanted to provide others with easier access to the drug. He read her story online and the stories of others. She even recommended the brand, American Shaman, if you preferred oil! Kyle, later found out that gummies where more his style, they tasted better and were much more inconspicuous. Kyle found this story motivational and saw the benefits of CBD, but needed just a little more. He read in The Chicago Tribune based on research by Hefei Wen and Jason Hockenberry that “there is widespread agreement among doctors and public health experts that marijuana is effective at treating chronic pain” and “marijuana is one of the potential alternative drugs that can provide relief from pain at a relatively lower risk of addiction and virtually no risk of overdose”. Already convinced that CBD was going to be the best thing for him, Kyle came across some research where they looked at people who have been using cannabis for a long time and the effects on CBD has on them. After reading these finding, he was intrigued and astonished. In this study there were twenty participants in a ratio of 16 to 4, mostly male, who underwent pre and post psychological evaluations. The median age was about 25 and had been using cannabis for several years, that median being 5.5 years. These participants underwent daily oral treatments over the course of 10 week, taking 200 mg of CBS while continuing their regular marijuana use. There results showed that the CBD showed no side effects, improved psychological symptoms and cognitive abilities. Kyle could not believe that even people who have used this for years could experience the benefits of this chemical and took the advice of his doctor and looked for places that he could purchase his medical marijuana, specifically CBD. After that he lived pain free with his colorful gummy bears.
Verkhosh 3 References CBD oil brought her relief. Now she's bringing it into the mainstream in Bradenton. (2018, March 29). Retrieved from http://www.bradenton.com/news/business/article207263454.html Medical Marijuana. (2017, September 24). Retrieved from https://nccih.nih.gov/health/marijuana National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2015, June 24). The Biology and Potential Therapeutic Effects of Cannabidiol. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/aboutnida/legislative-activities/testimony-to-congress/2016/biology-potential-therapeuticeffects-cannabidiol Peter Grinspoon, MD. (2018, January 9). Medical marijuana - Harvard Health Blog. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/medical-marijuana2018011513085 A Primer About Cannabidiol And The Benefits Of CBD. (2017, March 2). Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cannabidiol-cbd-aprimer_us_58b7129ee4b0ddf654246290 Ramanathan, L. (2018, March 30). CBD is cannabis that won't get you high. So why are so many people using it? Retrieved from http://www.chicagotribune.com/g00/lifestyles/health/ct-cbd-trend-20180330story.html?i10c.encReferrer=&i10c.ua=1&i10c.dv=13 Solowij, N., Broyd, S. J., Beale, C., Prick, J., Greenwood, L., Van Hell, H., ‌ Yßcel, M. (2018). Therapeutic Effects of Prolonged Cannabidiol Treatment on Psychological Symptoms and Cognitive Function in Regular Cannabis Users: A Pragmatic Open-
Verkhosh 4 Label Clinical Trial. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, 3(1), 21-34. doi:10.1089/can.2017.0043
WHAT THE BARK DOES MY DOG SEE ? By: Francesca Vertucci April 26th, 2018 As we all know, our four-legged companions make questionable decisions at times. From barking at the mail man to barking at seemingly NOTHING, it’s reasonable to wonder what exactly they must be seeing through their tiny little eyes. I mean, how hard is it to understand that I didn’t even throw the toy, anyway? It turns out, color vision in dogs is only slightly different from color vision in humans. No, dogs don’t see everything through the lens of a 50’s television program, ie black and white. Their world is surprisingly full of color! If not just a little different from our own. Humans have tiny sensory receptors in our eyes called rods and cones. Rods are responsible for black and white vision, while cones are responsible for color vision. It turns out, dogs have these too! But their cones are set up a little differently from our own. Humans have three types of cones- red cones, green cones, and blue cones. These cones interpret wavelengths, which in turn combine to create different colors. This is how we see the colors of the world. Red-Green colorblindness is a thing in humans, meaning that these humans tend to get red and green confused for the other. Their cones are a little different from most people. It doesn’t make color vision impossible for these humans, it just makes it a little bit trickier sometimes. Dogs essentially have this redgreen colorblindness. Instead of having a Trichromatic response to the world like humans, using red, green, and blue cones, dogs have a Dichromatic response to the world, involving blue and what is thought to be yellow cones. They see color, just perhaps not as brightly as we do. Red isn’t a color for them! Contrast between colors can be hard, and that could be why that red toy you just threw in your green grass is confusing the heck out of your dog.
But that’s sad! Why can’t they see the colors we do? Your dog can’t see a rainbow the way they do, this is true. But honestly, it might be them who think WE are the ones missing out. Dogs tend to use their sense of smell WAY more than humans do. It’s what has helped them survive over the course of history- smelling their food is easier to do than seeing it. So, dogs have evolved to have a better sense of smell than sight. That could be why your dog’s currently drooling next to you as you eat your burrito. You can’t smell the lettuce, and corn, and beans, AND chicken, but your dog certainly can! This holds true with hearing, too. Your dog can hear WAY more than humans, and while it would be nice to have this “super sense,” we don’t and we’re still doing pretty well, I’d say. OK, so what. Do we still see better than dogs? Yes and no. We can see color better, yes, but it’s proven that dogs can see better in dim, i.e. dark, lighting. Remember those rods I was talking about earlier? Dogs have more of those than humans do to compensate for their lack of cones. More receptors seeking out black and white stimuli means a better ability to see those things in the environment. So, the next time you’re sound asleep at night and your dog starts barking, you can be sure that they probably saw something that you just can’t see. Whether that’s a ghost or a bug remains unknown, but we’re sure it’s nothing to worry about. So, I wouldn’t fret about what your dog is seeing right now. Just know he’s probably more concerned with your burrito than seeing a rainbow. Speaking of which, you better give him some! Just look at those eyes!
“Excuse me, do I know you?” Prosopagnosia By Claudia Vila “People I have known for over 20 years, I look at them and I don’t know who they are.” This is what USF professor Martin Claussen told me when I interviewed him about a condition that only 2% of the population suffer from: prosopagnosia. Also known as “face-blindness,” it is defined as the inability to recognize faces. Imagine being professor Claussen and, like he described to me, picture yourself at his scene: going to your wife’s Christmas party, meeting up with people you have known for most of your life, and having your brain be unable to connect their faces with their names. “It makes me feel embarrassed and scared, it made me not want to go to social events and meet new people.” Even though its causes are still being researched, most of the people who suffer from it have had damage to the frontal lobe, specifically in the right fusiform face area. This part of this lobe includes a visual pathway responsible for recognition of faces and several other objects. Even though psychologists conflict in the FFA’s role and function, several studies have shown that electromagnetic neuronal disruption in this area makes the subjects score a lesser score when choosing faces. “People I see all the time seem like strangers.” The most common kind of prosopagnosia is developed due to FFA lesions and is known as acquired prosopagnosia. On the other hand, Claussen’s prosopagnosia is referred to as congenital (or developmental) prosopagnosia since it gradually appears without any apparent brain damage. “It goes all the
way back to college,” he said. “We don’t know the cause, they didn’t tell me, when I was diagnosed.” My professor’s form of prosopagnosia is the most scientifically challenging and mysterious one. He hasn’t suffered any trauma to the frontal lobe yet he couldn’t recognize his college roommate whom he has lived with for 4 years. “I just could not see him, I couldn’t see the guy.” Even though there is no cure, his advice to another prosopagnostic would be “don’t despair.” There exist many other routes for recognition that don’t involve faces. Some popular tricks people with “flace-blindness” use involve secondary clues such as hair, gait (the way you walk), outfits, or glasses. “As a teacher it’s not the best thing to have,” but another piece of advice he gave us is to “be open and honest,” just like he did with us during our first day of class. He told us not to take it personally, that it wasn’t because of lack of interest in learning our names. Professor Claussen is an excellent teacher and a brilliant person, and even though he has trouble recognizing us sometimes, he jokes around about it and was very inclined to answer my questions. He said he has learned to live with it, and that’s what all prosopagnosics have to learn to do. Even though it’s not his case, severe prosopagnosia involves not being able to recognize your relatives or even yourself in the mirror. This can be incredibly disrupting and even more troublesome in that person’s day-to-day basis. As of now, it is unclear whether the FFA gyrus deals strictly with facial recognition or not, what causes congenital prosopagnosia, and what can remedy (or at least alleviate) this disorder. A lot more research needs to be done in this condition as well as in the key role that
this brain area plays in our daily lives that we don’t even think about, and that we even take for granted.
Bibliography PROSOPAGNOSIA USF Professor Martin Claussen interview.
Shah, P. (2016). Royal College of Psychiatrists. Identification, diagnosis and treatment of prosopagnosia
Biederman I, Shilowich BE, Herald SB, Margalit E, Maarek R, Meschke EX, Hacker CM. (2018). The cognitive neuroscience of person identification.
Barton, J.S., Press, D.Z., Keenan, J., O’Connor, M. (2002). Lesions of the fusiform face area impair perception of facial configuration in prosopagnosia
Mirror Neurons: The Reason Why Everyone is a Copycat By: Ashley Wagoner
Copying, it’s something that everyone is familiar with. From the early stages of children whining about, “they’re copying me” to teens sneaking a glance at their neighbors paper during an exam, and adults standing at the tail end of a copy machine waiting for the new document to be printed out. Everyone, has experience with copying. But the thing about copying is, why do we do it? With the abundance of unique ideas swimming around in our heads, why do we catch ourselves accidently saying our best friends signature catch phrase, or standing in the same position as the person we’re talking to? Well now, you can thank these special groups of cells in the brain called mirror neurons for the reason why everyone is a copycat. First discovered in marquee monkeys in 1992, by researcher Giacomo Rizzolatti who conducted research at the University of Parma, Italy. Mirror neurons were identified as the firing of a cells action potential when a particular behavior is seen preformed and then is replicated. Mirror neurons were first thought to be localized in the prefrontal lobe, but has now been identified in various regions of the brain. These neurons help the brain identify contrasts
between seeing and hearing, this is proposed as to being the reason why we can distinguish between our own individual actions, and the actions of others. The name mirror neurons comes from the fact that these cells fire when an action of another is being observed, this observation can then be replicated by the individual allowing them to mirror the behavior. The first developmental appearance of mirror neurons is thought to be in the innate capability of children being able to mimic facial expressions. Neurally, mirror neurons are how we are able to identify emotions. Being able to identify emotions allows individuals across species to bond to others. In a study conducted in 2008 by neurological researcher Ferrari, him and his team working with a set of monkeys, had conditioned the monkeys with a reward system. That reward system being when the monkeys returned the token given to them they would be rewarded with treats. The monkeys had the option of two researchers they could return the token to, one who was mimicking the monkeys actions and one who was not. Each monkey continuously chose to return the token to the researcher that was imitating their own actions. This study proposes that on a primal level, humans are attracted to the familiar, recognizing our own actions in others provides us with a sense of community. So, the next time you want to pull your hair out because someone's copying you, whether it be from the words you use, or the way you stand. Just remember, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. The imitation of your actions means that you are the most relevant stimuli in which that particular individual’s mirror neurons are responding to, and no matter how irritating it may be, you're doing it too.
References Conniff, R. (2006, December 21). The Copycat in All of Us. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/the-copycat-in-all-of-us/ Marshall, J. (2014). Mirror neurons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(18), 6531. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1404652111 Kilner, J. M., & Lemon, R. N. (2013). What We Know Currently about Mirror Neurons. Current Biology, 23(23), R1057–R1062. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.10.051 Yarbrough, M. (2017, August 30). The Surprising Truth About Why We Tend To Imitate Others. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://medium.com/the-mission/the-surprising-truth-about-whywe-tend-to-imitate-others-b15831070cd9 . Sullivan, M., & UCLA. (2016, March 23). Your brain might be hard-wired for altruism. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/your-brain-mightbe-hard-wired-altruism
Ehrenfeld, T. (2011). Reflections on Mirror Neurons. APS Observer, Vol(20), 3rd ser., 11-13.
GOT TRAUMA? The Curious Case of PTSD and the Shrinking Hippocampi By Elianna Wiersma・April 27, 2018
There might not be many things
in storing memories, but it’s also important
more intimidating than the term
in recalling them”. A damaged hippocampus
hippocampal shrinkage. Or there might be.
is not unlike a damaged hard drive in a
For example, the traumatic events that are
computer, and it often results in recall that is
actually associated with the shrinkage of
too fast or slow and unspecific.
such a major part of the brain! The hippocampus is a part of the
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is basically the inability to recover
limbic system in your brain and deals
from a traumatic event. People with PTSD
specifically with you memories. You have a
often find themselves struggling with
left and right hippocampus, one in each
distinguishing between new and old
temporal lobe. The name comes from a
memories and experiences, and interpreting
combination of the Greek words for sea
environmental contexts correctly. If PTSD
monster and horse. So what do these
patients struggle with their memories of
seahorses do?
traumatic events, there must be a
According to psychiatrist Ulrike Schmidt, “the hippocampus plays a big role
connection, right? It turns out that the hippocampi of patients with PTSD are smaller than the hippocampi of people without PTSD. The question then is if the relationship between the structure and the disorder is causal or correlational. In other words, does PTSD
cause hippocampal shrinkage, or does an
thought to occur in patients with reduced
already small hippocampus make someone
hippocampal volume because it can no
more predisposed to developing PTSD after
longer distinguish between their past
a traumatic event? Let us explore both
memories and the current environment. This
options.
hypothesis was tested in 2010 and the study
For a long time it was hypothesized
concluded that “Hippocampal volume
that the constant stress on the hippocampus
reduction is associated with trauma
caused by PTSD damages the structure,
exposure,” and this volume reduction is
reducing the volume of the hippocampus
often increased in those with PTSD
and affecting its functioning. A study has
diagnoses. There is strong evidence that PTSD causes the shrinkage of one’s memory hard drive. However, some doubt this assumed causal relationship. Neurologists are trying to figure out if maybe a smaller and
shown that these smaller hippocampi also
weaker hard drive makes one prone to
demonstrate decreased integrity of the cells
developing PTSD; if a small hippocampus is
that form it. Not only are these hard drives
simply a “biological vulnerability. A 2002
smaller, but they are much weaker and prone
study done on twins concluded that this is
to crashing. Thus, flashbacks have been
true; People who end up with PTSD often
As it turns out so often in
have a smaller hippocampus to begin with.
neuroscience, there is a good chance the
A study from 2015 on this hypothesis
relationship may comprise parts of both
concluded that a reduced left hippocampal
theories. Whether PTSD causes
volume is not the result of trauma, therefore
hippocampal shrinkage or hippocampal
it may be a preexisting condition that makes
shrinkage is just closely associated with
one vulnerable to PTSD.
PTSD, the idea of shrinking brain parts and
Despite this, many are still confident
PTSD is almost hair-raising. For now,
that the constant stress from PTSD has a
neurologists emphasize the importance of
negative impact on the structure and
validating the struggles of those with PTSD
functioning of the hippocampus. Some are
and working hard to help them to the best of
even working on therapy that tries to
our abilities. Ulrike Schmidt suggests
increase the volume of the hippocampus in
treating PTSD like the “spiritual wound� it
order to treat PTSD.
is, and we can let the experts worry about shrinking brains.
References Moore, M. S. (2011, July 06). PTSD Brain Studies Look at Hippocampus. Retrieved from https://psmag.com/news/ptsd-brain-studies-look-at-hippocampus-33419 SHIN, L. M., RAUCH, S. L. and PITMAN, R. K. (2006), Amygdala, Medial Prefrontal Cortex, and Hippocampal Function in PTSD. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1071: 67-79. doi:10.1196/annals.1364.007 van Rooij, S. H., Kennis, M., Sjouwerman, R., van den Heuvel, M. P., Kahn, R. S., & Geuze, E. (2015). Smaller hippocampal volume as a vulnerability factor for the persistence of post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychological Medicine, 45(13), 2737-2746. doi:10.1017/S0033291715000707 Woon, F. L., Sood, S., & Hedges, D. W. (2010). Hippocampal volume deficits associated with exposure to psychological trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in adults: A meta-analysis//doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.06.016 Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584610002332
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Football Players What is CTE? By Rebecca Zamora
Have you or someone you know ever played or play American Football? Have you/they ever suffered a concussion? Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative brain disease found in people with a history of repeated head trauma, many of the people affected being football players. However, football players are not the only ones at risk. For example, people like military veterans, boxers, and soccer players can also suffer from CTE. Within the past year, former tight end for the New England Patriots, Aaron Hernandez was found to have been suffering from a severe case of CTE. His case brought attention to the matter and raised ethical questions on playing football. Football is one of the nations most popular sports with over 90% of former football players having suffered from CTE. It is worth mentioning that the diagnosis of this disease could not be done until after death but recent discoveries might suggest otherwise. Furthermore, just because you have symptoms does not mean you have the disease.
CTE vs Alzheimer's Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is not to be confused with Alzheimer’s disease. CTE is usually diagnosed earlier in life (40’s) because this is around the age that many of the former football players die. However, Alzheimer’s disease is and can be diagnosed later in life, typically around the age of 65. While CTE and Alzheimer’s are two distinct diseases, they both result in memory loss, mood swings, and eventually can develop into dementia. However, unlike Alzheimer’s, CTE results in aggression and lack of impulse control. Although they are different, doctors still struggle to find a cure for both diseases.
Psychological Effects of CTE Imagine that you are a former NFL player in your mid 40’s who suffered over 15 concussions in your career, musculoskeletal pain, and a seizure. It isn’t until about five years after retirement that you begin experiencing chronic depression, insomnia, paranoia, memory loss and even suicide attempts. Imagine forgetting appointments you made, having trouble finding your way home, becoming angry at things that you normally would not be angry about, isolating yourself from your loved ones and social events, and staying up all night because you are unable to sleep. You probably wouldn’t assume it was the repercussions of playing football. In fact, many people who have CTE don’t even realize it. This is what happened to an anonymous
former NFL player who knew something was wrong with him, but didn’t understand what it was and never sought professional help. Eleven years after his retirement he committed suicide because of all the horrifying effects that he was experiencing due to his head trauma. It is not only professional football that can cause CTE and the effects that come with it. A high school football career can too lead to mood decline, memory loss, and attention difficulties.
The Science of CTE Have you ever wondered what happens to the brain when someone experiences a collision in a contact sport such as football? The brain moves back and forth, as well as rotationally in the skull. This movement causes the brain to stretch
and puts a forces on neurons and axons leading to the buildup of the protein tau. Tau contributes to the skeleton of the cell, helping hold cell shape. When damaged, tau comes off and clumps together eventually killing the cell. Within the past year researchers have found that CLL11, a protein associated with cognitive decline is a biomarker for CTE. CLL11 levels were studied in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the brain area most affected by CTE. There was a positive correlation between years of football played to CLL11 levels. If CLL11 levels truly are a biomarker for CTE, it can lead to early detection, and allow treatment to be provided to those with CTE before death. Now that we know that the only way to get CTE is from repeated hits to the head, it is probably best to avoid any type of horrific impact.
References
Cherry, et. al., (2017). CCL11 is increased in the CNS in chronic traumatic encephalopathy but not in Alzheimer’s disease. PLOS, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185541
CTE: How Repeated Head Blows Affect the Brain Associated Press https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxgbFQhKplk
Omalu, B. I., Hamilton, R. L., Kamboh, M. I., DeKosky, S. T., & Bailes, J. (2010). Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a National Football League player: Case report and emerging medicolegal practice questions. Journal Of Forensic Nursing, 6(1), 40-46. doi:10.1111/j.1939-3938.2009.01064.x
Raji, C. A., Merrill, D. A., Barrio, J. R., Omalu, B., & Small, G. W. (2016). Progressive focal gray matter volume loss in a former high school football player: A possible magnetic resonance imaging volumetric signature for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The American Journal Of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(10), 784-790. doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2016.07.018
What is CTE? CNN - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBLYs-pDaQY