Archive for March, 2007
Get onboard The Tech Link Train
Mar 27th
I was tagged on the Tech Link Train by Alvaro at the SharpBrains blog- many thanks! This is a “link train” of science and technology blogs, so lets get straight down to business.
If you are “tagged”:
1. Write a short paragraph at the beginning of your post and link back to the blog that put you on the list in the paragraph. This isn’t a suggestion. You need to break up the duplicate content string. Someone took the time to add you so the least you can do is give them an extra linkback.
2. Copy the list of originals below completely and add it to your blog. If you would like a different keyword for your blog then change it when you do your post and it should pass to most blogs with that keyword.
3. Take the additions from the blog that added you and place them in the “Originals” list.
4. Add no more than 5 new technology, science, or consumer electronics blogs to the list in the “My Additions” section.
My additions:
The originals:
Intelligence Theories and Tests
The Mouse Trap
Brain-based Business
Future-making Serious Games
The Thinking Blog
SharpBrains Brain Fitness
Developing Intelligence
Brain Hammer
SCLin’s Neuroscience blog
Pure Pedantry
The Corpus Callosum
Madam Fathom
Memoirs of a Postgrad
Peripersonal Space
The Phineas Gage Fan Club
Neurophilosophy
Healthoma
Neural Gourmet
bio::blogs
Dr.Katte’s Blog
Brain Blogger
DigitalPhocus
Alpesh Nakar
OneTipADay
The How To Geek
The TechZone
Mega TechNews
Tech Buzz
Techzi
Connected Internet
John Chow dot Com
Ted Leung on the Air
Geek is a chic
you’ve been HACKED
IDIOT TOYS
JMH Techtronics
Web Services
UtterlyGeek
Tech It Like A Man!
Ugh!!’s Greymatter Honeypot
techboyardee
The Tech Inspector
Smart Machines
Kuiper Cliff
businessbytesgenesmolecules
MindBlog
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Encephalon #19 is online now!
Mar 27th
Encephalon #19 is now online at the Peripersonal Space. This time it is themed around the misperceived dichotomy between reason and emotion and is served with a handsome and generous dressing of quotes. Rush over and fulfill your appetite.
Brave Heart: does will power reside in heart?
Mar 22nd
I have written earlier regarding the Heart Rate Variability, that is primarily caused by the Autonomous Nervous System (the opposite effects of PNS and SNS), and how a flexible HRV is related to better response to stress and reduced anxiety in face of external stressors. While looking at the evidence and linkages between HRV and emotional regulation, I had also speculated in it that a lower baseline or resting HRV may be reflective of depression and low regulation/motivation; while a high resting or baseline HRV reflective of Mania and high regulation/ motivation.
A recent study has looked into the issue of whether cognitive self -regulation (will power / motivation) is also associated with HRV. The study reported that higher baseline HRV was associated with more will-power and ability to resist temptation. Also, as they had surmised that will-power is a limited resource and hence the ability to resist temptation must exhaust the will- power ability, hence if the subjects showed higher HRV during the resisting temptation phase, then they would have exhausted their will-power reserves and would not persist in subsequent demanding tasks and this is exactly what they found.
The study consisted of measuring HRV, while the subjects were given a choice of eating cookies/candies or carrots. those who chose carrots over candies (thus exhibiting more will-power to resist the temptation of candies) also showed higher HRV.
In the second experiment, after the subjects chose candy or carrot , and hence supposedly exhausted their limited will-power cognitive reserves, they were asked to do a tough anagram exercise. Those who had chosen carrots were more likely to give up the task earlier. Yet those with higher baseline HRV showed high motivation and will -power regardless of whether they chose candies or not.
This I believe is a good corroborator of Higher resting HRV to be related to better self-regulation and mania , while lower baseline HRV to be related with depression and poor self-regulation. So maybe our hearts do tell us a lot about ourselves, our abilities to resist temptations and our will -powers.
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Welcome Boing Boing readers!
Mar 21st
It seems I have been Boing Boinged! Thanks to Mark for linking to one of the posts, there has been a dramatic increase in viewership. Welcome abroad the Boing Boing readers and I hope that while you are here you would like to check the other popular articles on the left sidebar to get a falavor of The Mouse Trap. Dont forget to subscribe or visit later if you find some artciles to your taste!
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Tick, Tick, Tock: The Mouse without the Clock
Mar 21st
In a study that could have potentially far-reaching effects for the Bipolar research and treatment, Dr Colleen and her group have reported on a mouse model of bipolar disorder.
The association between circadian rhythms and bipolarity is well established and a bipolar episode is characterized with disruptions in daily sleeping, eating rhythms etc. Till now the biological basis of this was not clear.
In this study, mice with Clock gene knocked out were tested on a number of measures of bipolairty and it was found that these mice lacking the Clock gene, which is essential for proper circadian rhythms, suffered from human manic like symptoms. Moreover treating these bipolar mice with lithium resulted in the subsiding of symptoms.
The study included putting the mutant mice through a series of tests, during which they displayed hyperactivity, decreased sleep, decreased anxiety levels, a greater willingness to engage in “risky” activities, lower levels of depression-like behavior and increased sensitivity to the rewarding effects of substances such as cocaine and sugar.
“These behaviors correlate with the sense of euphoria and mania that bipolar patients experience,” said Dr. McClung. “In addition, there is a very high co-morbidity between drug usage and bipolar disorder, especially when patients are in the manic state.”
During the study, lithium was given to the mutant mice. Lithium, a mood-stabilizing medication, is most commonly used in humans to treat bipolar patients. Once treated with the drug on a regular basis, the majority of the study’s mice reverted back to normal behavioral patterns, as do humans.
The clock gene is expressed widely in the human brain, but the focus till now was only on the area called suprachiasmatic nucleus. In this study the area of brain associated with reward learning, VTA/ Striatum etc was studied and expressing the clock gene there in KO mice resulted in subsiding of symptoms.
The researchers also injected a functional Clock gene protein – basically giving the mice their Clock gene back – into a specific region of the brain that controls reward functions and where dopamine cells are located. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with the “pleasure system” of the brain and is released by naturally rewarding experiences such as food, sex and the use of certain drugs. This also resulted in the mice going back to normal behaviors.
This is an exciting news as it makes a mice model for Bipolairty readily available and would help in clinical testing of new anti psychotics and mood stabilizers.
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