Aspects of Metaphysics. Blake Walker's Photos. Brain-based learning, ideas, and materials. Brains-on-social-media.jpg (700×5454) Carbon Atom 1. Computer that can decode your thoughts and put them into words. Technology could offer lifeline for stroke victims and people hit by degenerative diseasesIn the study, a computer analyzed brain activity and reproduced words that people were hearing By Tamara Cohen Updated: 05:49 GMT, 1 February 2012 It sounds like the stuff of science fiction dreams - or nightmares.
Scientists believe they have found a way to read our minds, using a computer program that can decode brain activity in our brains and put it into words. They say it could offer a lifeline to those whose speech has been affected by stroke or degenerative disease, but many will be concerned about the implications of a technique that can eavesdrop on thoughts and reproduce them. Scroll down for video. Jacking into brains and extracting video. New topic, new project line here: the repair and maintenance practices of electronic objects.
Nothing fancy so far, I'm just writing a research grant. But, as usual, it's hard not to start the project before getting the grant. Maybe the grant writing is already the beginning of the project, which is a common situation these days when you're on foot in academia and one foot out. Anyway. Low dose psychedelics increase neurogenesis, help mice unlearn fear. A new study of mice published in Experimental Brain Research shows that low doses (but not high doses) of psychedelics increase the rate of neuron creation in the hippocampus, and help the mice to rapidly unlearn conditioned fear responses.
From the abstract (paragraph breaks added for readability): Drugs that modulate serotonin (5-HT) synaptic concentrations impact neurogenesis and hippocampal (HPC)-dependent learning. The primary objective is to determine the extent to which psilocybin (PSOP) modulates neurogenesis and thereby affects acquisition and extinction of HPC-dependent trace fear conditioning.PSOP, the 5-HT2A agonist 25I-NBMeO and the 5-HT2A/Cantagonist ketanserin were administered via an acute intraperitoneal injection to mice. Trace fear conditioning was measured as the amount of time spent immobile in the presence of the conditioned stimulus (CS, auditory tone), trace (silent interval) and post-trace interval over 10 trials. As head researcher Dr. MIT discovers memory gene, breeds fearless mammals. Neuroscientists at MIT have discovered what appears to be the master gene that controls the forming of new memories in your brain.
Called Npas4, the gene triggers a complex reaction that results in memories (events) being encoded into your brain’s neurons — and by knocking out Npas4 from test subjects, the neuroscientists were able to stop new memories from forming. Before you scrunch up your face in disgust, MIT carried out this research on mice, not humans. In specific, the neuroscientists discovered Npas4’s effect by testing for contextual fear conditioning. Basically, in the control test, a healthy mouse receives a mild electric shock whenever it enters a specific chamber — and within a few minutes, it freezes in fear when it next comes across the same chamber. Now, I don’t want to get you too excited, but Npas4 is also present in humans, and it almost certainly has the same effect as mice.
Read more at MIT. Neuroscience and Free Will. Neuroscience of free will. Neuroscience of free will is the part of neurophilosophy that studies the interconnections between free will and neuroscience.
As it has become possible to study the living brain, researchers have begun to watch decision making processes at work. Findings could carry implications for our sense of agency and for moral responsibility and the role of consciousness in general.[1][2][3] Relevant findings include the pioneering study by Benjamin Libet and its subsequent redesigns; these studies were able to detect activity related to a decision to move, and the activity appears to begin briefly before people become conscious of it.[4] Other studies try to predict activity before overt action occurs.[5] Taken together, these various findings show that at least some actions - like moving a finger - are initiated unconsciously at first, and enter consciousness afterward.[6] A monk meditates.
Overview[edit] -Patrick Haggard[6] discussing an in-depth experiment by Itzhak Fried[13] Criticisms[edit] Neuroscience of free will. Spiritual Secrets of the Carbon Atom. Symptoms Of Dopamine Deficiency. The chemical dopamine is produced naturally in the body and functions as a neurotransmitter, playing a role in the pleasure and reward pathway of the brain as well as in memory and motor control.
When dopamine levels fall low due to drug use, poor nutrition, stress, lack of sleep and the habitual use of antidepressants, symptoms such as depression, mood swings, poor attention and food cravings can occur. One of the principal symptoms of dopamine deficiency is depression, chronic boredom, a loss of satisfaction, apathy, chronic fatigue and low physical energy with no desire to exercise the body. The body is chilled and feet and hands become cold. Because dopamine deficiency lowers the experiencing of pleasure, moods can swing rapidly from positive to negative.
To compensate for the depressed moods and lack of energy, people suffering from low dopamine levels experience cravings for stimulants and often become addicted to caffeine. Top 10 Cannabis Studies the Government Wished it Had Never Funded.