Thursday, June 30, 2011

Gray Matters | Big City, High Anxiety

People born and raised in cities have a higher lifetime risk of anxiety and mood disorders

[Much of the focus of 13.7 Billion Years has been to highlight the bad decisions that humans make that have detrimental effects such as species extinction, loss of biodiversity, animal abuse and the degradation of public health and the environment. For the month of June, the weekday series "Gray Matters" will take a look at research that has shed light on the inner workings of the mysterious and frustratingly complex marvel that is the human brain. The future health of the planet depends largely on the actions that mankind collectively makes -- actions that are ultimately the result of billions of individual choices made every day, at every moment. But in order to start making better choices, it's important to figure out how and why choices are made in the first place.]

The writer Christopher Morley (who co-founded the Saturday Review of Literature in 1920 and lived for most of his life on Long Island) once called New York City "the nation's thyroid gland." Considering that the thyroid is responsible for making proteins, hormones and regulating metabolism, it was a pretty fair analogy.

But according to a new international study, cities are more connected to another part of the body: the brain. In particular, city life seems to affect two specific brain regions -- the amygdala, which regulates emotion and mood, and the cingulate cortex, which regulates stress.

Published in Nature, the fMRI-based study, "Stress in the city: Brain activity and biology behind mood disorders of urbanites," is the first to show that these two brain regions are affected by urban living and describes the biology behind the fact that people who were born and raised in major urban areas have a higher lifetime risk of anxiety and mood disorders that their rural counterparts.

"Previous findings have shown that the risk for anxiety disorders is 21 percent higher for people from the city, who also have a 39 percent increase for mood disorders," said co-author Jens Pruessner from the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal, in a press release.

"In addition, the incidence for schizophrenia is almost doubled for individuals who are born and brought up in cities. These values are a cause for concern and determining the biology behind this is the first step to remedy the trend."

Plato famously said of Athens, "This City is what it is because our citizens are what they are." Now it's clear that the reverse is also true.

GET INVOLVED
"GRAY MATTERS" SERIES
CALENDAR
PAST SERIES
  • Flower Power: Stopping to smell the angiosperms (May 2011)
  • Animal Cruelty: Looking at the devil within (April 2011)
  • Chemical Month: Exploring the vast laboratory of our daily lives (March 2011)
  • Africa Month: Visiting the world's second-largest continent (February 2011)
  • Reports from 2050: Imagining the future (January 2011)
  • Victory Month: Looking at the victories of 2010, made possible by you (December 2010)
  • Tree Month: Climbing the perennial woody plants that appeared 375 million years ago (November 2010)
  • Food Month: Considering what we put in our mouths (October 2010)
image: Nighthawks (1942), by Edward Hopper (Wikimedia Commons)
0 comments Links to this post
Labels:

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Gray Matters | For Ovulating Women, Racial Bias May Be an Evolutionary Tactic

A new study has linked racial prejudice to women's menstrual cycle

[Much of the focus of 13.7 Billion Years has been to highlight the bad decisions that humans make that have detrimental effects such as species extinction, loss of biodiversity, animal abuse and the degradation of public health and the environment. For the month of June, the weekday series "Gray Matters" will take a look at research that has shed light on the inner workings of the mysterious and frustratingly complex marvel that is the human brain. The future health of the planet depends largely on the actions that mankind collectively makes -- actions that are ultimately the result of billions of individual choices made every day, at every moment. But in order to start making better choices, it's important to figure out how and why choices are made in the first place.]

According to legend (and recounted by Livy and Plutarch), the first generation of Roman men abducted women from a neighboring tribe known as the Sabines to take as their wives. The story, known as the Rape of the Sabine Women, was a popular subject for several Renaissance artists, such as Giambologna, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacques-Louis David and Nicolas Poussin (shown here). Pablo Picasso depicted the story in a 1962 painting.

Rape has been one of the three pillars of military aggression throughout human history (along with pillage and plunder), and it seems that women have developed evolutionary responses both psychologically and physically to help combat it.

Past studies have shown that during the fertile phase of a menstrual cycle, women have an increased suspicion of unfamiliar men, greater risk aversion and increased physical strength when threatened.

Now a new study by researchers at Michigan State University has found that that fertile women are more biased against men of different races and social groups. Importantly, the increased bias occurred only if the women perceived such men as physically threatening. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the study appears online in Psychological Science.

"Our findings suggest that women’s prejudice, at least in part, may be a byproduct of their biology," said the study's lead author Melissa McDonald in a press release. She noted that sexual aggression by male "invaders" has been a pervasive problem for women since ancient times.

McDonald and Carlos David Navarrete, assistant professor of psychology and research team leader, said their findings are consistent with the concept that prejudice among women may reflect a psychological, evolutionary tactic meant to protect against sexual coercion by men, particularly during times when rape might lead to unwanted pregnancy, i.e., fertile periods.

"This may be deeply ingrained at psychological levels," Navarrete said, "and may manifest itself particularly if women believe men from different racial and nonracial groups to be physically imposing and when women are most fertile."

GET INVOLVED
  • Tell Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams: Raping a woman is not a natural instinct (Change.org)
  • Tell President Obama: Demand immediate consequences for Sudan’s attack on border town Abyei, where more than 100,000 people have been displaced amid continued reports of rape (Save Darfur)
  • Due 7/15: Tell President Obama to stop wasting millions of tax dollars stop wild horse roundup at High Rock Complex in California (American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign)
  • Due 7/18: Tell Secretary Salazar to stop the upcoming Calico Complex Winter Roundup of wild horses (Madeleine Pickens)
  • Tell Fish & Wildlife Service: Protect for eastern wolves until there is scientific evidence of recovery (Endangered Species Coalition)
  • Tell grocery giants like Costco: Stop selling pork from farmers who use cruel pig gestation crates (Mercy for Animals)
  • Tell Senate: Protect funding crucial to restoring wetland habitat for Pennsylvania's bog turtles (National Wildlife Federation Action Fund)
  • Say NO to risky genetically engineered trees (Ecological Internet)
  • Tell President Obama: Increase MPG standards for better fuel efficiency (Pew Environment Group)
  • Tell the Fisheries Service: Protect dolphins and whales from harmful oil exploration (Center for Biological Diversity)
  • Tell the EPA, the White House & the Army Corps of Engineers: Close Clean Water Act loopholes (Earthworks)
  • Tell President Obama: Stop plans to sterilize wild horse herds and uphold federal law (American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign)
  • Tell your Senators: Co-Sponsor the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign)
  • Follow 13.7 Billion Years on Twitter
"GRAY MATTERS" SERIES
CALENDAR
PAST SERIES
  • Flower Power: Stopping to smell the angiosperms (May 2011)
  • Animal Cruelty: Looking at the devil within (April 2011)
  • Chemical Month: Exploring the vast laboratory of our daily lives (March 2011)
  • Africa Month: Visiting the world's second-largest continent (February 2011)
  • Reports from 2050: Imagining the future (January 2011)
  • Victory Month: Looking at the victories of 2010, made possible by you (December 2010)
  • Tree Month: Climbing the perennial woody plants that appeared 375 million years ago (November 2010)
  • Food Month: Considering what we put in our mouths (October 2010)
image: The Rape of the Sabine Women, 1637-38, Nicolas Poussin (Wikimedia Commons)
0 comments Links to this post
Labels:

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Gray Matters | War, Sex and the "Helen of Troy" Effect

Can the sight of a beautiful woman make men desire war?

[Much of the focus of 13.7 Billion Years has been to highlight the bad decisions that humans make that have detrimental effects such as species extinction, loss of biodiversity, animal abuse and the degradation of public health and the environment. For the month of June, the weekday series "Gray Matters" will take a look at research that has shed light on the inner workings of the mysterious and frustratingly complex marvel that is the human brain. The future health of the planet depends largely on the actions that mankind collectively makes -- actions that are ultimately the result of billions of individual choices made every day, at every moment. But in order to start making better choices, it's important to figure out how and why choices are made in the first place.]

When Paris kidnapped Helen of Troy, the daughter of Zeus and Leda, he started the Trojan War. Since then, her beautiful visage has been known as "the face that launched a thousand ships."

There may be a neurological reason for this. According to recent study led by Lei Chang of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, China, heterosexual men make riskier decisions that correlate to concepts to war if they've got pretty women on their brains.

In one experiment, young heterosexual male study participants who had first viewed photos of women they found attractive "showed more militant attitudes" in their responses to questions about war than in their responses to questions about trade.

In another, one group of men were shown images of national flags and another were shown images of female legs. Then both groups were asked to perform a computer test that recorded how quickly they responded to two groups of words -- one group of war-related words, and another group of farming-related words. The men who were first "primed" by images of female legs responded quicker to war-related words. But the response times to farm-related words did not vary between the men who saw the legs and the men who saw the flags.

They also found that "male, but not female, participants exposed to attractive, as compared to unattractive, opposite-sex photographs were significantly more likely to endorse war-supporting statements on a questionnaire."

Chang and his fellow researchers contend that deep in the male brain, there is a "mating-warring association," noting the fact that historically, victorious warriors have enjoyed greater access to females.

The researchers concluded that their results "underscore the link between mating and war, supporting the view that sexual selection provides an ultimate explanation for the origins of human warfare."

Perhaps the slogan "Make love, not war" misses the point. It seems that the more accurate statement is "make love and war."

GET INVOLVED
VICTORY ALERTS
"GRAY MATTERS" SERIES
CALENDAR
PAST SERIES
  • Flower Power: Stopping to smell the angiosperms (May 2011)
  • Animal Cruelty: Looking at the devil within (April 2011)
  • Chemical Month: Exploring the vast laboratory of our daily lives (March 2011)
  • Africa Month: Visiting the world's second-largest continent (February 2011)
  • Reports from 2050: Imagining the future (January 2011)
  • Victory Month: Looking at the victories of 2010, made possible by you (December 2010)
  • Tree Month: Climbing the perennial woody plants that appeared 375 million years ago (November 2010)
  • Food Month: Considering what we put in our mouths (October 2010)
image: Helen of Troy by Evelyn de Morgan (1898, London); Helen admiringly displays a lock of her hair, as she gazes into a mirror decorated with the nude Aphrodite. (Wikimedia Commons)

0 comments Links to this post
Labels:

Monday, June 27, 2011

Gray Matters | The Fear Fascination

What would life be like without fear?

[Much of the focus of 13.7 Billion Years has been to highlight the bad decisions that humans make that have detrimental effects such as species extinction, loss of biodiversity, animal abuse and the degradation of public health and the environment. For the month of June, the weekday series "Gray Matters" will take a look at research that has shed light on the inner workings of the mysterious and frustratingly complex marvel that is the human brain. The future health of the planet depends largely on the actions that mankind collectively makes -- actions that are ultimately the result of billions of individual choices made every day, at every moment. But in order to start making better choices, it's important to figure out how and why choices are made in the first place.]

To researchers, she is known as "SM." She is a woman with no fear.

SM used to have fear. But because she suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Urbach-Wiethe disease, a part of her brain, the amygdala -- two almond-shaped groups of nuclei nestled deep in the medial temporal lobes -- are totally destroyed.

Things that generally give normal people a sense of fright -- horror movies, haunted houses, snakes and spiders -- don't scare her one bit. In fact, they fascinate her.

For more than a decade, Ralph Adolphs, Antonio Damasio and Daniel Tranel at the University of Iowa have been working with SM, trying to figure out that nature of her injury and how it is attached to the feeling of fear. Their study was published online December 16 in Current Biology.

When we are faced with potentially threatening situations, "the amygdala helps us navigate the fine boun­dary between approach and avoidance," said study contributor Justin Feinstein in Scientific American. A functional amygdala assists the brain in figuring out real danger and also allows us to enjoy a scary movie. But a damaged one doesn't tell the brain to avoid something truly dangerous -- and even make us attracted to such things.

The researchers concluded that with a damaged amygdala, "the evolutionary value of fear is lost."

"Everyone I know is scared," wrote neuroeconomist Gregory Burns in a 2008 article in the New York Times about workers' response to the economic downturn. "Workers' fear has generalized to their workplace and everything associated with work and money. We are caught in a spiral in which we are so scared of losing our jobs, or our savings, that fear overtakes our brains. And while fear is a deep-seated and adaptive evolutionary drive for self-preservation, it makes it impossible to concentrate on anything but saving our skin."

"Ultimately, no good can come from this type of decision-making. Fear prompts retreat. It is the antipode to progress. Just when we need new ideas most, everyone is seized up in fear, trying to prevent losing what we have left."

It's good to be afraid of certain things. Indeed, if humans were fearless, many of us wouldn't be around right now. But sometimes, fear can paralyze our decision-making -- or force us to make bad decisions. The trick is figuring out the difference between an opportunity and a snake in the grass.

Perhaps President Franklin D. Roosevelt was right when he said at his inaugural address, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

GET INVOLVED
VICTORY ALERTS
  • After a hundred sled dogs were brutally massacred in British Columbia, Lost actor Ian Somerhalder created a campaign on Change.org to get the province to change its policies governing the treatment of animals. More than 67,000 people signed, and British Columbia just adopted the strongest anti-cruelty laws in all of Canada. (Change.org)
  • Peru revokes license of Canadian mining firm Bear Creek (Globe and Mail)
  • With a uranium-mining ban about to expire in the area surrounding the famous U.S. landmark, Arizona resident Suzanne Sparling led the charge to extend it. She collected 50,000 public comments from Change.org members, and last Monday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced his support for another 20-year ban on the dangerous practice. (Change.org)
"GRAY MATTERS" SERIES
CALENDAR
PAST SERIES
  • Flower Power: Stopping to smell the angiosperms (May 2011)
  • Animal Cruelty: Looking at the devil within (April 2011)
  • Chemical Month: Exploring the vast laboratory of our daily lives (March 2011)
  • Africa Month: Visiting the world's second-largest continent (February 2011)
  • Reports from 2050: Imagining the future (January 2011)
  • Victory Month: Looking at the victories of 2010, made possible by you (December 2010)
  • Tree Month: Climbing the perennial woody plants that appeared 375 million years ago (November 2010)
  • Food Month: Considering what we put in our mouths (October 2010)
image: Location of the amygdala in the human brain. The figure shows the underside (ventral view) of a semi-transparent human brain, with the front of the brain at the top. The red blobs show the approximate location of the en:amygdala in the en:temporal lobes of the human brain. Note: the amygdala is covered by the ventral temporal cortex (i.e., it is inside the transparent brain). The figure was generated using en:MATLAB and Blender. It is based on MRI imaging data from the Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, UCL and on amygdalar coordinates from the Talairach brain atlas. (Wikimedia Commons)

0 comments Links to this post
Labels:

Friday, June 24, 2011

Gray Matters | Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder (And Makes for Good Negotiations)

Let's make a deal, but get at least 15 miles away from me first

[Much of the focus of 13.7 Billion Years has been to highlight the bad decisions that humans make that have detrimental effects such as species extinction, loss of biodiversity, animal abuse and the degradation of public health and the environment. For the month of June, the weekday series "Gray Matters" will take a look at research that has shed light on the inner workings of the mysterious and frustratingly complex marvel that is the human brain. The future health of the planet depends largely on the actions that mankind collectively makes -- actions that are ultimately the result of billions of individual choices made every day, at every moment. But in order to start making better choices, it's important to figure out how and why choices are made in the first place.]

It's a familiar image: An Israeli leader and a Palestinian leader shaking hands, usually with an American president (or secretary of state) smiling in the middle. Getting together to discuss negotiations might make a good press photo op, but according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, physical distance between parties makes negotiations go better.

Published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, the three-part study, "Mere physical distance and integrative agreements: When more space improves negotiation outcomes," analyzed the negotiations of between 52 and 114 people, which were conducted on Instant Messenger, a realtime online text messaging application.

Those who believed that they were negotiating with someone at least 15 miles away compromised more often and had smoother dealings than those who believed they were just a few feet away. The researchers believe that people consider the facts more abstractly and don't get bogged down in less important details when they believe they are separated by a considerable distance.

"We demonstrated that negotiators who experienced a large amount of distance between each other achieved more integrative agreements," the researchers said. In addition, "Our findings imply that negotiators might benefit from waiting until circumstances create a large amount of distance between them before they start negotiating."

Perhaps Messrs. Netanyahu and Abbas should stop shaking hands and start IMing each other.

GET INVOLVED
VICTORY ALERTS
  • MPs voted to ban wild animals in circuses last night after David Cameron's attempts to bully Conservative backbenchers into voting against the measure backfired and ended in a humiliating public defeat. In a decision hailed by campaigners as an "historic victory for animal welfare and protection", MPs of all parties unanimously backed a ban and the Government signalled that it would introduce one, ending forever the days of lions, tigers, elephants and other wild animals in the big top. (Independent UK)
"GRAY MATTERS" SERIES
CALENDAR
PAST SERIES
  • Flower Power: Stopping to smell the angiosperms (May 2011)
  • Animal Cruelty: Looking at the devil within (April 2011)
  • Chemical Month: Exploring the vast laboratory of our daily lives (March 2011)
  • Africa Month: Visiting the world's second-largest continent (February 2011)
  • Reports from 2050: Imagining the future (January 2011)
  • Victory Month: Looking at the victories of 2010, made possible by you (December 2010)
  • Tree Month: Climbing the perennial woody plants that appeared 375 million years ago (November 2010)
  • Food Month: Considering what we put in our mouths (October 2010)
0 comments Links to this post
Labels:

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Gray Matters | The Big Sleep

Getting too little sleep is bad, but so is getting too much

[Much of the focus of 13.7 Billion Years has been to highlight the bad decisions that humans make that have detrimental effects such as species extinction, loss of biodiversity, animal abuse and the degradation of public health and the environment. For the month of June, the weekday series "Gray Matters" will take a look at research that has shed light on the inner workings of the mysterious and frustratingly complex marvel that is the human brain. The future health of the planet depends largely on the actions that mankind collectively makes -- actions that are ultimately the result of billions of individual choices made every day, at every moment. But in order to start making better choices, it's important to figure out how and why choices are made in the first place.]

Earlier this month, sleep experts from around the globe gathered in Minneapolis for the SLEEP 2011 25th Anniversary Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Over 1,000 abstracts were presented. Most likely, coffee was served. But what about donuts?

Dr. William Kilgore, assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, presented fMRI research that found that "greater daytime sleepiness was associated with decreased activation in the prefrontal cortex during visual presentations of enticing, high-calorie food images," according to ScienceDaily.com.

"Self-reported daytime sleepiness among healthy, normally rested individuals correlated with reduced responsiveness of inhibitory brain regions when confronted with images of highly appetizing foods," said Dr. Killgore.

"It suggests that even normal fluctuations in sleepiness may be capable of altering brain responses that are important for regulating dietary intake, potentially affecting the types of choices that individuals make when selecting whether and what to eat." He added, "Given the chronic level of sleep restriction in our society, such relationships could have epidemiologic implications regarding the current increase in obesity in westernized countries."

Another study presented by Dr. Charles Bae, a neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center in Ohio, found that people who got six to nine hours of sleep per night reported higher scores for quality of life and lower scores for depression compared to those who slept shorter or longer durations. His study analyzed data from over 10,000 patient records.

"These results are important because they provide more information about the importance of getting enough sleep, which is usually six to nine hours per night," said Dr. Bae, according to ScienceDaily.com. "People may already expect that their quality of life could be decreased when they do not get enough sleep, but they may not realize that sleeping too much can also have a negative impact."

A study last year found that sleep helps to consolidate memories, allowing for better retrieval later, and also helps produce creative ideas. A study earlier this year found that sleeping problems among wives, but not husbands, had a negative impact on marital interactions. And another study last year found that better sleep is associated with female longevity.

It's obvious that getting the right amount of sleep is critical, but it's something that is so often neglected. If you feel like you're off, try regimenting your sleep schedule.

The Mayo Clinic suggests going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day -- even on weekends. They also suggest to "do the same things each night to tell your body it's time to wind down. This may include taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book, or listening to soothing music. Relaxing activities done with lowered lights can help ease the transition between wakefulness and sleepiness." The use of sleeping pills should be a last resort.

It might take some practice, some trial and error, as it's really not that easy to sleep well. As Friedrich Nietzsche said, "Sleeping is no mean art. For its sake one must stay awake all day." And even then, a good night's sleep may still be a dream.

GET INVOLVED
VICTORY ALERTS
  • Plans for the Serengeti Highway, which would have disrupted the Earth's last great overland migration, has been cancelled (Mongabay)
  • HSI Recognizes Dr. S. Chinny Krishna, Blue Cross of India, with a Lifetime Achievement Award (Humane Society International)
  • Cage-Free Trend Takes Root in São Paulo (Humane Society International)
"GRAY MATTERS" SERIES
CALENDAR
PAST SERIES
  • Flower Power: Stopping to smell the angiosperms (May 2011)
  • Animal Cruelty: Looking at the devil within (April 2011)
  • Chemical Month: Exploring the vast laboratory of our daily lives (March 2011)
  • Africa Month: Visiting the world's second-largest continent (February 2011)
  • Reports from 2050: Imagining the future (January 2011)
  • Victory Month: Looking at the victories of 2010, made possible by you (December 2010)
  • Tree Month: Climbing the perennial woody plants that appeared 375 million years ago (November 2010)
  • Food Month: Considering what we put in our mouths (October 2010)
image: Flaming June, Frederic Leighton, 1895 (Wikimedia Commons)
0 comments Links to this post
Labels: ,

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Gray Matters | Oxytocin: Kumbaya Effect Perhaps, But Only Within Tribes

Could the brain's "cuddle chemical" also be the source of racism?

[Much of the focus of 13.7 Billion Years has been to highlight the bad decisions that humans make that have detrimental effects such as species extinction, loss of biodiversity, animal abuse and the degradation of public health and the environment. For the month of June, the weekday series "Gray Matters" will take a look at research that has shed light on the inner workings of the mysterious and frustratingly complex marvel that is the human brain. The future health of the planet depends largely on the actions that mankind collectively makes -- actions that are ultimately the result of billions of individual choices made every day, at every moment. But in order to start making better choices, it's important to figure out how and why choices are made in the first place.]

The neurotransmitter of love. The cuddle chemical. The hug hormone. Oxytocin has been called many things, all of them quite warm and fuzzy. Known to encourage emotional bonding, this quintessential mammalian neuromodulator is key to life-affirming feelings of togetherness.

A 2007 study found that the "prosocial" drug MDMA (a.k.a. Ecstasy) -- known for making total strangers suddenly go gaga for each other -- may increase one's level of empathy and love towards others by stimulating oxytocin activity. Increased maternal behavior has been connected to higher oxytocin levels. A 2003 study showed that oxytocin levels increased in both humans and dogs after just five minutes of petting. (Canine caretakers -- take note!)

It has even been shown to alleviate the effects of autism by helping sufferers identify social cues. The bottom line: Oxytocin's got the "Kumbaya" effect. It makes us want to get close to the ones we love, but perhaps that also means it makes us love the ones who are close a little more.

A recent study published in January in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that this feel-good hormone may indeed have a dark side: ethnic discrimination.

For the study, "Oxytocin promotes human ethnocentrism," researchers at the University of Amsterdam asked Dutch male volunteers in a double-blind test to self-administer an inhaler which contained either oxytocin or a placebo and perform computer tasks to "gauge different manifestations of ethnocentric in-group favoritism as well as out-group derogation."

In one task, the volunteers were presented with a classic moral dilemma: Would they hit a switch that would divert a runaway train from a track where it would have killed five people to a track where it would kill only one person? The subjects under the influence of oxytocin were less likely to sacrifice a Dutch male than a German or an Arab, suggesting that in at least some extreme situations and particular conditions, this "love drug" can also increase bigotry.

The researchers also found that the subjects who inhaled oxytocin were more likely to associate positive words and emotions with fellow Dutch people than with other ethnic groups, giving credence to a recent Canadian study that found that "the quality of preschoolers' social interactions is influenced by the ethnicity of the playmate."

They concluded that "oxytocin creates intergroup bias because oxytocin motivates in-group favoritism and, to a lesser extent, out-group derogation. These findings call into question the view of oxytocin as an indiscriminate 'love drug' or 'cuddle chemical' and suggest that oxytocin has a role in the emergence of intergroup conflict and violence."

Though science is making inroads into how oxytocin functions in the brain, the relationship between love and hate remains one of mankind's great and everlasting mysteries. Are they polar opposites? Can one exist without the other? Are they different forms of a single and perhaps more fundamental emotion?

Maybe the Indian spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy was onto something when he said, "You hate someone whom you really wish to love, but whom you cannot love. Perhaps he himself prevents you. That is a disguised form of love."

GET INVOLVED
VICTORY ALERTS
  • Thanks to those who signed PETA's petition, the UK's East Riding Council has denied the application of B&K Universal (a subsidiary of US-based Marshall Farms) to build an industrial facility for breeding dogs for laboratories (PETA UK)
"GRAY MATTERS" SERIES
CALENDAR
PAST SERIES
  • Flower Power: Stopping to smell the angiosperms (May 2011)
  • Animal Cruelty: Looking at the devil within (April 2011)
  • Chemical Month: Exploring the vast laboratory of our daily lives (March 2011)
  • Africa Month: Visiting the world's second-largest continent (February 2011)
  • Reports from 2050: Imagining the future (January 2011)
  • Victory Month: Looking at the victories of 2010, made possible by you (December 2010)
  • Tree Month: Climbing the perennial woody plants that appeared 375 million years ago (November 2010)
  • Food Month: Considering what we put in our mouths (October 2010)
image: Space-filling model of oxytocin (Fvasconcellos, Wikimedia Commons)
0 comments Links to this post
Labels: ,

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Gray Matters | Speak, Memory

Could daydreaming help the brain's capacity to remember?

[Much of the focus of 13.7 Billion Years has been to highlight the bad decisions that humans make that have had detrimental effects such as species extinction, loss of biodiversity, animal abuse and the degradation of public health and the environment. For the month of June, the weekday series "Gray Matters" will take a look at research that has shed light on the inner workings of the mysterious and frustratingly complex marvel that is the human brain. The future health of the planet depends largely on the actions that mankind collectively makes -- actions that are ultimately the result of billions of individual choices made every day, at every moment. But in order to start making better choices, it's important to figure out how and why choices are made in the first place.]

The strategy of trying string to one's finger in order to remember something is an ancient belief and was meant to symbolize the tying of a memory to oneself. It's a external reminder.

Indeed, science has long assumed that the process our brain's go through when trying to recall a memory is sparked by some external stimulus. But a new study has found that this is not the case. Sometimes, your brain may better at recalling a memory than at other times. And brain waves hold the key.

Published in the June 13 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study, "Prestimulus theta activity predicts correct source memory retrieval," was conducted by researchers at the Center for Mind and Brain and the Center for Neuroscience, both at University of California Davis.

As volunteers took a memory test, researchers measured their theta waves, the function of which is not clearly understood. The second slowest brain wave (after delta waves), theta waves are most active when we daydream or are lulled into a state that is common when driving on a long, monotonous freeway after a significant amount of time. Most neuroscientists agree that theta waves are connected to memory and learning.

For the memory test, participants had to recall words that they were previously asked to memorize, along with the context in which the word was originally observed. The researchers found that better performance was associated with higher theta waves immediately before being asked to remember a word, according to a UC Davis press release.

Charan Ranganath, professor at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience, said this finding goes against the popular belief that the brain is waiting for external stimuli in order to react.

It has been said that the ideation possible during the theta state is often free flowing, guiltless and without self-censorship or guilt. It is considered to be a positive mental state.

Want to remember something? Nix the string-on-your-finger technique. Try more daydreaming instead.

BE PART OF THE SOLUTION
  • Say NO to an Israeli judge's decision to stone a dog to death (Care2)
  • Say NO to the torture of moon bears to get their bile in China (Care2)
  • Follow 13.7 Billion Years on Twitter
"GRAY MATTERS" SERIES
CALENDAR
PAST SERIES
  • Flower Power: Stopping to smell the angiosperms (May 2011)
  • Animal Cruelty: Looking at the devil within (April 2011)
  • Chemical Month: Exploring the vast laboratory of our daily lives (March 2011)
  • Africa Month: Visiting the world's second-largest continent (February 2011)
  • Reports from 2050: Imagining the future (January 2011)
  • Victory Month: Looking at the victories of 2010, made possible by you (December 2010)
  • Tree Month: Climbing the perennial woody plants that appeared 375 million years ago (November 2010)
  • Food Month: Considering what we put in our mouths (October 2010)
image: mwoodard, Flickr Creative Commons
0 comments Links to this post
Labels: , ,

Monday, June 20, 2011

Gray Matters | Internet Addiction Changes Brain Structure

Too much time online causes changes in the brain that could lead to chronic dysfunction

[Much of the focus of 13.7 Billion Years has been to highlight the bad decisions that humans make that have had detrimental effects such as species extinction, loss of biodiversity, animal abuse and the degradation of public health and the environment. For the month of June, the weekday series "Gray Matters" will take a look at research that has shed light on the inner workings of the mysterious and frustratingly complex marvel that is the human brain. The future health of the planet depends largely on the actions that mankind collectively makes -- actions that are ultimately the result of billions of individual choices made every day, at every moment. But in order to start making better choices, it's important to figure out how and why choices are made in the first place.]

A new study has found that Internet addiction leads to structural changes in the brain. Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is characterized by pathological computer use that interferes with daily life.

Published on June 3 in PLoS ONE, the study, "Microstructure Abnormalities in Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder," was conducted by an international group of researchers from the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida and several Chinese universities and institutions, including Xidian University, the National Institute on Drug Dependence at Peking University, the Center for Medical Imaging at Huaxi MR Research Center and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The deep involvement of Chinese researchers is important: A 2010 survey by the China Youth Association for Network Development found that 24 million young Chinese were addicted to the Internet. In 2009, China's state news channel China Central Television (CCTV) blamed popular online games for drug addiction, teen pregnancy and murder.

With 338 million people online, China more Internet users than any other nation. Over 210 million of them play online games.

"Recent studies suggest that Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is associated with structural abnormalities in brain gray matter," note the study authors. "However, few studies have investigated the effects of Internet addiction on the microstructural integrity of major neuronal fiber pathways, and almost no studies have assessed the microstructural changes with the duration of internet addiction."

Using a brain anatomy neuroimaging technique called voxel-based morphometry, the researchers analyzed the brains of adolescents diagnosed with IAD. They found "multiple structural changes of the brain" and "decreased gray matter volume in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the supplementary motor area (SMA), the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the cerebellum and the left rostral ACC (rACC)."

They concluded that "long-term internet addiction would result in brain structural alterations, which probably contributed to chronic dysfunction in subjects with IAD."

It's nearly impossible to be a part of modern society and not be connected to the information superhighway. But like any highway, dangers only increase for those drivers who spend too much time behind the wheel. At some point, there will be signs: "Dysfunction Junction Ahead."

BE PART OF THE SOLUTION
  • Get off the computer and visit a national park (using the National Parks Finder)
  • Help yourself and your kids avoid Internet addiction disorder (Wikihow)
  • Due today: Tell BLM you are against wild horse roundup and non-reproducing herd put back on range (The Cloud Foundation)
  • Tell Congress: Vote NO on H.R. 2021 which would allow pollution loopholes for oil industry (National Resources Defense Council)
  • Say YES to maintaining current protections and for developing a national wolf recovery plan (Center for Biological Diversity)
  • Say NO to HR.872 & S.718 that would prevent EPA from reducing pesticide levels in America's waters (Defenders of Wildlife)
  • Tell EPA: Restore lost Clean Water Act Protections (National Wildlife Federation Action Fund)
  • NY activists: Tell Assembly to vote YES on A.4407-A/S. 3237-A -- Increased Penalty for Attending an Animal Fight (ASPCA)
  • Follow 13.7 Billion Years on Twitter
"GRAY MATTERS" SERIES
CALENDAR
PAST SERIES
  • Flower Power: Stopping to smell the angiosperms (May 2011)
  • Animal Cruelty: Looking at the devil within (April 2011)
  • Chemical Month: Exploring the vast laboratory of our daily lives (March 2011)
  • Africa Month: Visiting the world's second-largest continent (February 2011)
  • Reports from 2050: Imagining the future (January 2011)
  • Victory Month: Looking at the victories of 2010, made possible by you (December 2010)
  • Tree Month: Climbing the perennial woody plants that appeared 375 million years ago (November 2010)
  • Food Month: Considering what we put in our mouths (October 2010)
image: Binguyen, Wikimedia Commons
0 comments Links to this post
Labels: ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)