Category: News
“Avatar" Virtual Reality: Scientists Explore Self-Consciousness
In the 2009 film Avatar, scientists exploring the planet Pandora used alien hybrid bodies called “avatars” that functioned through a mental connection established with their genetically-matched human counterparts.
While this kind of technology seems as science fictionally fantastic as only the movies can portray it, recent work in the neuro-scientific community may lead the world to think otherwise. Neurologist Olaf Blanke, with the Brain Mind Institute at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, led a Virtual-Reality (VR) experiment utilizing computerized “virtual humans” to gain a deeper understanding of the neurobiological basis for the knowledge of one’s location in space. Interestingly, his team seems to have discovered that the sensation of possessing a body arises as part of our own conscious experience.
Blanke and his team had volunteers wear VR stereoscopic visors, or view projections on a large screen, while the researchers challenged them about fundamental aspects of self perception. The scientists physically touched the subjects either in sync or out of sync with their digital human “avatars” as they wandered through 3D environments, and even ‘immersed’ them into an avatar of the opposite sex. They also changed the subject’s perspective from the first to the third-person point of view. While such methods may seem a bit odd and even unorthodox, the response of the subjects to such testing was both highly positive and truly fascinating. Indeed, as Blanke commented regarding his own observations: “They start thinking that the avatar is their own body; we created a partial out-of-body experience. We were able to disassociate touch and vision and make people think that their body was two metres in front of them”.
Throughout the experiement, subjects were fitted with electrode-containing skullcaps to record the electrical activity produced by their brains. The data collected by the electrodes and brain imaging scans (via fMRI) during the study demonstrated a heightened response in the temporo-parietal and frontal regions of the volunteer’s brains, areas classically considered responsible for integrating touch and vision. These findings suggest that the subjects’ brains were successfully being tricked as they experienced their own “bodies” in virtual space.
Progression in the knowledge of self-awareness and virtual reality could lead to major advances in the fields of robotics, neuro-rehabilitation and even severe-pain treatment. Imagine being able to temporarily “leave” the body as it heals after a serious injury! Though we may never get to explore Pandora, the implications of such out of body “avatar” experiences could be enormous.
Scientists project humans into avatars – Financial Times
Scientists explore the meaning of self-consciousness – Irish Times
The real avatar – EurekAlert
A Different Kind of "TREK"kie.
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California Berkeley have delineated an alternative pathway for antidepressant function. Fluoxetine, the active compound in the widely-prescribed antidepressant drug Prozac, primarily acts as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Many pharmaceutical agents, however, are known to exhibit multiple functions, and fluoxetine is now thought to act by a second mechanism. TREK1, a potassium channel expressed in reward-related basal ganglia, has been associated with symptoms of depression and implicated in mood regulation. Notably, it is inhibited by fluoxetine. Earlier studies have shown that TREK1 “knock out” mice display a depression-resistant
phenotype, their behavior being similar to mice treated with fluoxetine. This newfound beneficial role of fluoxetine may open up a new vessel for antidepressant treatments.
Ehud Isacoff, a neurobiophysicist in UC Berkeley’s Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, and Guillaume Sandoz, a TREK1 specialist, looked at the molecular mechanisms underlying the TREK1 channel’s function. When its C-terminal domain is bound to the plasma membrane, the TREK1 channel remains open, but when the tail is unbound, the channel closes. Isacoff and his research team separated the C-terminal domain from the rest of the protein, and tagged it with green fluorescent protein. They then used voltage clamps to measure electrical currents, and fluorescence to observe the status of the channel, finding that the addition of fluoxetine causes the isolated C-terminal domain to dissociate from the membrane. This prevents current from flowing through the channel, and effectively inhibits TREK1 function. Although the effects of the C-terminal domain’s position still need to be observed with a completely intact protein, Isacoff and his team foresee promising results.
To read Science Daily's review, click here. For the full article, click here!
Caffeine: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Fatigue comes in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes it can appear in the case of the college student. Menacingly staring at the computer, eyes fixated on making sure the final paper meets the suggested word count, the college student desperately tries to block out the urge and addiction of distractions. Yet as the night sky soon turns bright with the rising sun, the college student's attention shifts more and more from the task at hand, to the preparation of the pick-me-up beverage of choice, caffeine. With only minutes before the first morning class, the college student is faced with the harsh reality of selecting his weapon of choice. Will he run across the street, bracing the brutal winds to grab a caffe mocha with a double shot of espresso, or play it conservative, and go for it with the 5 hour energy shot or name brand energy drink?
Soda, coffee, and energy drinks are the three main drinks that come to mind when thinking about caffeine. But besides these drinks, caffeine has shown to be increasingly prevalent in different foods covering multiple food groups. While most people concede to the negative attention these beverages receive, caffeine is a three - headed monster that yields both positive and negative effects. Thus the real question should be, do you want the good or the bad news first?
Starting with the good: caffeine can increase your short-term memory and alertness while also altering your overall mood. The caffeine in one cup of coffee can stimulate the central system as it simultaneously lowers blood sugar, thus creating a temporary lift. Further research conducted by the Journal of Sports Medicine showed how "caffeine taken two hours before exercise enhanced the performance of athletes in marathon running." Yet another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Associated indicated that "people who drink coffee on a regular basis have up to 80% lower risks of developing Parkinson's disease."
On the contrary, caffeine does have a dark side. Caffeinated foods can contribute to a person's struggle with either weight gain or hunger. The stimulant itself is known to increase appetite, to increase cortisol levels, and to increase levels of insulin. Any of these factors may combine with a caffeine-induced stress that often affects the results of dieters, being that caffeine is a natural diuretic which can lead to water retention. Caffeinism, as it is often referred to, can come in waves of migraine headaches and sickness, which in turn can cause nervousness and a rapid heartbeat. So does this mean that you shouldn't have a cup of coffee in the morning? My response is no.
Ahhh coffee, such a misunderstood luxury. Caffeine, within coffee beans, has shown to be a leading source of both brain and body health benefits, specifically playing the role of your average American's number one source of antioxidants. In fact, regular coffee consumption has shown to dramatically reduce the chance of mental heath risks including Alzheimer's and Dementia. However, coffee is one of those things that is always looked down upon as if it induces the same affects as alcohol. The real problem lies not with the coffee, but with all the other unhealthy ingredients that it can be mixed with. For example, which sounds healthier, a strait shot of Espresso or a Cinnamon-Dulce-White-Mocha-Frappucino, cream based. Now when you compare the carb, chemical, and fat information of the two with the purity of the first, the controversy over coffee is plain and simple.
In essence, caffeine is one of those things that must be taken in moderation. While caffeine contains both positive and negative extremes, a balanced consumption of caffeine through artificial drinks or coffee in its purest form, seems to be just fine, especially with the college students.
Caffeine - K. Cossaboon
Foods Containing Caffeine - Ella Rain
Brain Healthy Foods - Brain Ready
Are you and your significant other meant to be?
Well, no one truly knows the answer to that question until they're looking back on their life and reminiscing about the time they spent with their partner. However, a new theory suggests that certain subtleties in language style can determine compatibility between two people. This includes speaking as well as personal writing styles, from Facebook chat to an essay sample.
Researchers have postulated that the use of common words called "function words", including 'me', 'a', 'and', 'but', as well as a number of other prepositions, pronouns, adverbs, etc. can at least estimate the compatibility of a couple. These researchers have devised an equation using the basic-level function words to determine "language style matching" (LSM). A higher LSM means more compatible writing styles, and ergo, a more compatible couple.
A study that analyzed the writing styles of online chats of various couples over the course of ten days revealed much about this theory. According to an article about this study in The Daily Telegraph, "almost 80 percent of the couples whose writing style matched were still dating three months later, compared with approximately 54 percent of the couples who did not match as well."
An online LSM generator has been created by this team of researchers. You can go to this site and insert various writing samples from IM chats to poetry. But this is not solely to determine compatibility in a relationship; you are able to compare writing styles of strangers, friends, and even two of your own pieces. I've tried it and find it to be intriguing at least. In no way would I assert that this is a completely accurate way to determine personality similarity, but it seems to me that it has some logic to it and is not as absurd as I had originally expected.
Language Style Matching Predicts Relationship Initiation and Stability- Association for Psychological Science
Scientists find true language of love - The Telegraph
A Real Life Terminator?
In the 1984 film The Terminator, an artificial intelligence machine is sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to exterminate a woman named Sarah Connor. The Terminator had not only a metal skeleton, but also an external layer of living tissue as well, and was thus deemed a cyborg, a being with both biological and artificial parts. In 1984, no such cyborgs existed in the real world. However, fourteen years later, that would change.
Kevin Warwick is a Professor of Cyberkinetics at the University of Reading in England, and in 1998, he became the world’s first cyborg. Using only local anesthetic, a small silicon chip transponder was implanted into his forearm. The chip had a unique frequency that was able to track him throughout his workplace, and with a clench of his fist, he was able to turn lights on and off, as well as operate doors, heaters, and computers.
To take the experiment to the next level, in 2002 Warwick received another implant. A one hundred electrode array was implanted into the median nerve fibers of Warwick’s left forearm. With this implant, he was able to control electric wheelchairs and a mechanical arm. The neural signals being used to control the arm were detailed enough that the mechanical arm was able to mimic Warwick’s arm perfectly. While traveling to Columbia University in New York, Warwick was even able to control the mechanical arm from overseas and get sensory feedback transmitted from the arm’s fingertips (the electrode array could also be used for stimulation).
Although Warwick’s work could profoundly affect the world of medicine through its potential to aid those who have nervous system damage, his work has been considered quite controversial. After his first implant, Warwick announced that his enhancement made him a cyborg. However, questions are being asked, "when does a cyborg become a robot?" If these types of implants become more common in the future, how would the population feel about these “enhanced” individuals? In the future, it is possible that these implants could be used for anything from carrying a travel Visa to storing our medical records, blood type, and allergies in case of medical emergencies. Warwick is proud of his work because he is pioneering how humans can be integrated with computerized systems, but he has his own concerns as well. In one interview, he claims that it is a realistic possibility that one day, humans will create such intelligent artificial beings that it is possible we won’t be able to turn them off. Will cyberkinetic research ever take us that far? We will just have to wait and see.
For more information of the work of Kevin Warwick, visit his website.
Music to my Ears?… Just Kidding
It was an average Wednesday night at 8, and I was channel surfing. As I changed the channels I heard singing; I knew instantly that the show was American Idol. Most of you watch or have watched the show in the past and time and time again it befuddles me to think how these individuals think that they can sing. Most of the singers not only have piercing voices, but they are off key and sound terrible. After most auditions, the contestants - although I know it was horrible - still believe their rendition of a Whitney Houston song was outstanding. If you are like me then you want to know why.
Tone-deaf individuals do not have brain damage or trouble hearing, and they are definitely not suffering from a lack of exposure to music. So what actually makes people unable to understand their inability to sing? Researchers conducted an experiment that tested the connectivity of the arcuate fasciculus (AF), which connects the temporoparietal junction (the place where the temporal and parietal lobes meet), with the frontal cortex in the brain. This junction allows neural substrates of sound perception and production to be connected. The researchers hypothesized that there are structural and functional abnormalities that contribute to tone deafness.
To test their hypothesis, structural MRIs with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were performed on the patients. DTI is a type of MRI that allows researchers to map internal structures with the diffusion of water. After processing the information, the maps identified that the right superior AF was diminished compared to control, signifying that the AF is disrupted in tone-deaf individuals. Also, resultant fibers in tone-deaf individuals projected dorsally toward the parietal lobe and/or translocally to the left hemisphere and not toward the ipsilateral inferior frontal gyrus where normal individuals have projections.The imaging and testing of the AF led researchers to conclude that the superior branch is responsible for fine-grained discrimination, and the inferior branch is responsible for automatic matching of sound output to its target. They also tested the volume of the fibers connecting each part of the brain and discovered that tone-deaf individuals have a lower volume of fibers than the control, which is important for conscious pitch determination and the degree of action-perception mismatch. According to the experiment, both the superior and inferior branches of the AF are needed for accurate perception and production.
Figure 1: A comparison between the regions of interest of the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and the posterior inferior frontal gyrus (pIFG) of the right side of the brain
Tone-deafness is a new disconnection syndrome that deals with impaired pitch perception and vocal sound projection. There are no known genes that are associated with this condition that affects the AF fibers and their connection between the superior and inferior areas of the brain. So for all of you non-tone-deaf American Idol viewers, you will just have to sit through the next episode and know that most of singers cannot help but obliviously sing off-key.
Other Reading of Interest:
Tone Deafness - Scientific American
The amusic brain - BRAIN: A Journal of Neurology
Lasers: The Key to Mind Control?
The ColBeRT DMD (digital micromirror device)
As a neuroscientist, one typically becomes accustomed to thinking outside of the “box.” After all, the brain is incredibly complex and cryptic, and some creative thought is required to develop methods to uncover its secrets.
Francis Crick advised that the greatest hurdle standing in the way of neuroscience is the inability to specifically stimulate a single neuron without altering any of its surrounding cells. This daunting task appears to be a thing of fantasy when considering the innumerable intricate connections the brain is composed of. However, Harvard University’s Samuel Lab has made a reality out of a dream with their groundbreaking research involving transgenic C. elegans. Recently published in Nature, the research of Dr. Andrew M Leifer and his team utilizes a manipulatory optogentics technique called ColBeRT to control the nervous system of a worm with the light from a laser.
Optogenetics is the methodology of employing genetics and visible light to manipulate the activity of living cells. In order for optogenetics to be applicable in the laboratory, the insertion of opsin genes, which encode for light sensitive proteins, into an organism’s genome is necessary. The activity of the resulting opsin-containing cells can be regulated by exposure to visible light. Relative to the work of Leifer et al., optogenetics provides a platform by which the genetically altered motor and sensory neurons of C. elegans can be controlled with the use of a precise laser. Why use C. elegans? According to Leifer et al., “the nematode C. elegans is particularly amenable to optogenetics owing to its optical transparency, compact nervous system and ease of genetic manipulation.”
A schematic of the ColBeRT technique
The ColBeRT (Controlling Locomotion and Behavior in Real-Time) technique, which was designed for the optogenetics research being done at The Samuel Lab, provides a way to specifically track a worm’s movement. A video camera with real-time feedback follows an illuminated and moving C. elegans under a dark field. The worm is placed on a motorized stage, which keeps the image of the organism centered in the camera’s view. Once the worm’s movement is recognized and registered by a specialized graphical user interface (GUI) software called MindControl, the image of the C. elegans is processed and the worm’s image is divided into 100 evenly spaced segments. From these segmented portions, specific target cells can be chosen, the locations of which are transferred to a DMD (digital micromirror device). This pattern is then projected onto the worm by the DMD, allowing for the illumination of the targeted points with a laser. This laser can precisely pinpoint the location of a specific target cell by a simple algorithm specifically designed for the movement analysis of C. elegans.
The impressive spatial and temporal resolution (~50 frames per second) of the ColBeRT technique makes the system scientifically applicable and valid. The ColBeRT’s spatial resolution of ~30ms allowed Leifer et al. to utilize the technique for a number of manipulatory actions on their transgenic nematodes. When cholinergic motor neurons of transgenic C. elegans were exposed to laser light, forward motor movement was suppressed and either paralysis or backward movement of the worm was propagated. Similarily, single touch receptors of the worms were also genetically modified to be sensitive to light. In a normal worm, a gentle touch will stimulate these receptors, causing the worm to repel in the opposite direction of movement. In transgenic C. elegans, illuminating these specific receptors with the light from a laser was able to affect the direction of the worm’s movement, just as a physical stimulus would have. Even more astounding, HSNs (hermaphrodite specific neurons), which innervate the vulval region of C. elegans, were also able to be genetically modified and stimulated with light exposure. When a thin laser strip was shone on the HSN region of the worms, involuntary egg-laying was evoked.
Although still in its beginning stages, the ColBeRT technique seems to be a promising solution to overcoming one of the primary difficulties standing in the way of neuroscience. ColBeRT not only highlights cell-to-cell interactions, but also identifies the precise actions of specific neurons, something that had never been thought possible in the past. As technology develops further, perhaps we will soon be able to manipulate the cells of more complex organisms and eventually, even mammals. Optogenetics and techniques like ColBeRT may be the key to discovering the subtleties of different neurons and could even potentially help map out the human brain.
Single Worm Neurons Remotely Controlled with Lasers - Scientific American
Optogenetic manipulation of neural activity in freely moving Caenorhabditis elegans - Nature Methods
The Samuel Lab videos - Vimeo
F—— Magnets, How Do They Work?
It has been said “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'” (Isaac Asimov), and a recent observation by a Harvard Medical School lab studying the brain chemistry of Bipolar Disorder has researchers uttering that precise phrase...as well as the one alluded to in the title of this post.
The initial study prompting such observations recruited patients suffering specifically from Bipolar Disorder, also known as Manic-Depression, for 20-minute brain scans in an MRI. MRI scans subject patients to a harmless magnetic field and pulses of radio waves to create detailed structural images of various body parts, in this case, the brain. While the procedure is painless and relatively short, it can be unpleasant for reasons wholly unrelated to the magnets and radio signals; patients frequently report unrelated bodily discomfort or claustrophobia. For this reason it was all the more surprising, according to one researcher, that patients participating in the study started to report mood elevations (that for some lasted days or even a week) following the scan. One patient even subtly suggested that the researchers had slipped her something without her permission.
Patient undergoing TMS treatment for depression
The use of magnets to improve the effects of depression is not uncharted territory in neuroscience and it might even sound familiar to some. Transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, is another technique that has recently been adapted to depression therapy, yet it is more akin to electroconvulsive, or “electroshock”, therapy (ECT) than MRI.
TMS uses a magnetic field to induce a relatively small electric current, without causing seizure or loss of consciousness, to stimulate the left prefrontal cortex, the area thought to be under-active in depression. Whereas ECT treatments are utilized only in the most extreme depression cases because of the risk of seizure and necessity of sedation, TMS carries much fewer risks and can be used for more mild depression. While the exact mechanisms are still not known, particularly the roll of seizure for the antidepressant effects, both ECT and TMS have been cleared by the FDA.
But the magnet employed in MRI does not excite specific brain regions (if it did the entire imaging method of functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI, would be ineffective) and it is certainly not strong enough to induce seizures. After observing the curious side-effects of their initial study, the aforementioned researchers set up a small preliminary study with both bipolar and normal controls who confirmed respectively that the effects were not placebo, and that even those without depression can experience the mood-boosting effects of MRI.
So could a new depression treatment soon be joining the ranks of such accidental scientific breakthroughs as penicillin and Post-It notes? At this point it really is unclear. The actual mechanism of the mood-boosting effects of MRI on depressed patients is not yet understood, nor have the effects been generalized to unipolar depression. However, the safety of exposure to MRI has been confirmed by the FDA and a lack of total understanding regarding what causes the “miraculous” effects of that other magnet-based depression treatment, TMS, as well as a host of other medical treatments (including lithium for Bipolar Disorder) certainly has not prevented their use.
Picture Unrelated
Jazz in an fMRI? An Innovative Look at Creativity and the Brain
We’ve all been exposed to jazz at one time or another—whether it be the musings of an accomplished jazz pianist or the improvisational skills of a saxophone player, jazz is something that’s familiar to us. But, when enjoying such a piece of music, we may not have considered the effect it has on the musician’s brain.
Charles Limb, musician and researcher at Johns Hopkins University, is specifically interested in the workings of the brain during musical improvisation. In order to better understand these mechanisms, he studied the brains of accomplished jazz musicians playing music in an fMRI machine.
The two pillars of his study—playing music which has been memorized and over-learned, and playing music which has been entirely improvised—were designed to pinpoint which brain regions were most active in each situation, as well as to see how differing amounts of creativity play a role in brain activity. Limb asked participants to first play a memorized piece of music on a specially designed keyboard, and then to improvise based on the scale progression of the previous piece.
What he found was quite interesting.
In the studies, Limb observed that, compared to the fMRI of brains playing memorized music, those playing improvised music typically had a higher amount of activation in the medial prefrontal cortex, an area attributed to self-expression, and a lower amount of activation in the lateral prefrontal cortex, an area attributed to self-monitoring. He postulates that in order for an individual to be creative, they must exhibit a sort of dissociation in the frontal lobe by which the large part of the brain controlling self-monitoring is not inhibiting self-expression of new, free-flowing ideas.
More recently, Limb has been studying another form of improvisational music, which he believes serves a similar social function to that of jazz—hip-hop. To do this, he has recruited the talents of accomplished hip-hop artists from the Baltimore hip-hop scene and studied their brain activity while they rap. The structure of the study is similar to that of the jazz pianists in that it was separated into two parts—one to study brain activity while performing a memorized piece and one to study brain activity while improvising. The participants were asked first to rap a piece written by Limb (which they had not seen before), and then to improvise based on a guideline of periodically prompted words. Though the study is not yet complete and no conclusive results are available, what Limb has seen so far has been quite promising.
Outside of Limb's unique research, no extensive work has been done yet to study these phenomena. However, these results prove to be very promising in that they can offer new ways to think about creativity and the brain. Perhaps sometime in the future, with more sophisticated methods of brain imaging, it will be possible to understand the workings of the brain in other creative realms, such as dance. These and many other questions are coming closer to having answers.
Charles Limb: Your Brain on Improv - Video on TED.com
TED Blog - Hip-hop, creativity and the brain: Q&A with Dr. Charles Limb
