Nerdy Science Blog

Neuroscientists from the University of Pennsylvania, University of Glasgow and University of Toronto found that lack of sleep cause people to be forgetful. The neuroscientists study mice and humans and found that sleep deprivation disrupts a specific molecule in the brain’s memory circuitry (hippocampus), which cause the interruption of the storage of episodic memories. Episodic memories are information about who, what, when, and where.

The neuroscientists believes the long-term potentiation (LTP) is the strengthening of connection between neurons that underlies memory. The stimulation of LTP in the brain requires the molecule cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), which is a molecular messenger involving in regulating activity of memory formation genes by passing signals between proteins. Sleep-deprived mice had 50% less cAMP in their brain cells compared to well-rested mice. The scientists also noticed increased amount of PDE4A5, a type of phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzyme that degrades cAMP, in sleep-deprived mice.

The findings provide a possibility to develop drug that knock out PDE4A5 to enhance the memories of sleepyheads. The results were published in Nature on 22th October 2009. The authors are Christopher G. Vecsey, George S. Baillie, Devan Jaganath, Robbert Havekes, Andrew Daniels, Mathieu Wimmer, Ted Huang, Kim M. Brown, Xiang-Yao Li, Giannina Descalzi, Susan S. Kim, Tao Chen, Yu-Ze Shang, Min Zhuo, Miles D. Houslay, and Ted Abel.

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Ever heard pick-up gurus always tell people try to make skin contact?  They claimed skin contact can create a special attachment between the target and you.  Researchers at Sahlgrenska Acamedy, Sweden, proves the pick-up artists are correct.

Researchers discovered that there are specialized nerve fibres in the skin for skin stroking, called CT nerves or C-tactile, which have direct route to the brain. Line Löken, a postgraduate student in neurophysiology at Sahlgrenska Acamedy said that the skin stroking impulses can travel to the brain that plays a role in emergence of feelings directly without any obstacle.  They even found that when pain and skin stroking were introduced at the same place, the stroking impulses actually halted the pain impulses.

According to Associate Professor Håkan Olausson, researchers used a technique call microneurography to detect the signals.  They insert a thin electrode into a nerve in the forearms to detect the impulses.  The researchers then use a robot that brush the same square centimetres area of skin to determine which nerve fibre is responsible for the pleasant or unpleasant feeling.  Researcher Johan Wessberg said that they found CT nerves are the one that responsible for the pleasant touch sensation.

The paper is published in April issue of Nature Neuroscience.  The authors include Line S Löken, Johan Wessberg, India Morrison, Francis McGlone, and Håkan Olausson

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DNA’s function is not fixed as previously thought.  The interaction of environment and DNA will define its function.  In a study involves 36 brains, scientists from McGill University and Douglas Institute found that maternal care affects the function of the genes.  The subjects included 12 suicide victims with abuse history, 12 suicide victims without abuse history, and 12 controls.  Epigenetic markings in the brains of the abused group were different from other group.  Abused group had its DNA altered and influence the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function.  HPA is a stress-response that will increase the risk of suicide.  Same results were shown in rats.

Do you see a connection between child abuse and attempted suicide?  I guess Harry Potter got his genes altered at his uncle’s house.

The study was published in February 22 Nature Neuroscience.  Authors included Patrick O McGowan, Aya Sasaki, Ana C D’Alessio, Sergiy Dymov, Benoit Labonté, Moshe Szyf, Gustavo Turecki, and Michael J Meaney.  The study was supported from by grants from the US National Institutes of Health, Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Human Frontiers Science Program, and a Maternal Adversity.

Reference:

McGowan, P.O., Sasaki, A., D’Alessio, A.C., Dymov, S., Labonté, B., Szyf, M., Turecki, G. and Meaney, M.J. (2009), Epigenetic regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor in human brain associates with childhood abuse, Nature Neuroscience, doi:10.1038/nn.2270.

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Researchers found that a point mutation for the sensory hair cells in the ear will protect the ear from intense sounds.  This ear system alteration gives the ear the ability to turn itself down, hence protecting against permanent hearing loss.  The sound-limiting system has been tested on the mouse and the mutated mice were less able to hear sof sound compared to normal mouse.

This study reminds me of a Chinese tale.  It was about a thief gone to a house to steal things.  He saw a big bell at the garden which is made of green bronze with beautiful pictures and cravings on it.  He was overjoyed and wanted to bring the bell back home.  However the bell was big and heavy, he could not move it.  He tried to figure out how to bring the bell back, and the only solution he came out with was smash the bell into pieces and brought them home separately.

The thief found a huge hammer and hit the bell with it.  This created a loud noise.  He was shocked by the sound and he became nervous.  He thought that the sound would tell others that he was stealing the bell.  He did not know what to do, so he hugged the bell but this could not stop the sound.

This scared him even more.  He took back his hands and covered his ears hardly.  He found that he could not listen to the sound anymore.  The thief was amazed at his discovery and thought that by covering his ears, he could no longer hear the bell sound anymore.  So he found two clothing to plug his ears.  He thought that no one could ever hear the bell again.  Then he used all his energy to smash the bell and the sound was spread far away.  When people heard the sound, they came to house and found the thief.  Then they arrested him.

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Are you getting nervous when you see someone that is attractive to you?  This nerve cells t-shirt won’t solve your problem.

I like the design of this 100% long sleeved T-shirt very much.  There is a patch of yellow and red nerve cell, and a writing of “sensational” at the bottom left on the back.

However the tee is expensive, it costs £19.00 each.  The size is UK size and there are t-shirts for both men and women.

When I just came Australia, I immediately fell in love with Krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme is a doughnut shop. Everytime I know a newcomer come to Australia, I would definitely bring them to Krispy Kreme. My favourite doughnut from Krispy Kreme is Original Glazed.

Now Krispy Kreme does not only sell doughnuts, but they also involve in neurological research.

When the subjects saw pictures of donuts after the eating binge, their brains didn’t register much interest. But after the fast, two areas of the brain leaped into action upon seeing the donuts. First, the limbic brain — an ancestral part of the brain present in all animals from snakes to frogs to humans — lit up like fireworks.

There is a saying that we are what we eat. This research shows that human brain is able to detect things from environment and sort out what is relevant to the needs. This research also proves that if you want to lose weight, don’t stop eating. On diet is one of the worst thing to do in losing weight. The best way to lose weight is exercise and control your diet.

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Scientists from Harvard has successfully map the brain by turning brain tissue into high-resolution neural maps.  The researchers have done this by using the new machine, automatic tape-collecting lathe ultramicrotome (ATLUM) machine.

(Wired)

Do you remember “anatomically correct bone socks“?

I came across another pair of socks which showed all the sites for acupuncture. Acupuncture is traditional Chinese treatment which uses thin needles to insert to specific points on the body to relieve pain, cure diseases, or anesthetize body part for surgery.

I would not recommend you to acupuncture yourself with needles after wearing this pair of socks as the acupoints on the socks may not match the one on your legs (depends how you wear your socks). You may massage the acupoints.

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I confess, I watch TV and online before I sleep.

Nearly half of the respondents associated their lack of sleep with electronic media use before bedtime. Those reporting longer electronic media use were also more likely to report insufficient sleep.

But many lecturers are boring, you can’t deny that. I notice that even though some lecturers present in an attractive way, but their voices are just dull.

Read this news from nature. Scientists from Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovo, Israel had discovered the protein that can erase long-term memories. Yadin Dudai and Reut Shema found that the polypeptide ZIP is useful in “zipping” memories.

They then looked to see what would happen if they injected the rat cortex with ZIP, a small protein Sacktor’s laboratory previously used to block spatial memories held in the hippocampus. ZIP silences an enzyme called PKM-zeta, which Sacktor thinks is key to perpetuating long-term memory.

This is exciting, but there are something else that concern me. Will this discovery be used in military acts or by terrorists? Will it be commercialize just for someone to forget their past becoming the next popular drugs? Maybe it will become the next important thing in the future spy movies like the Bourne series.