Tummy to Brain

Is there really a relationship between a fat tummy and a shriveled brain? Studies at New York University School of Medicine suggest just that! Antonio Convit used MRI technology to compare the brains of 44 obese individuals with those of 19 lean people of similar age and background. He found significant brain changes in the obese individuals. And Eric Stice at Oregon Research Institute found that when you overeat, neural changes occur that increase your risk for future overeating. Earlier studies have linked obesity to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, which is known to be associated with brain impairment.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20927943.000-a-fat-tummy-shrivels-your-brain.html

Mother's Day and "Eye" or "Camera"

Some people on this planet will spend at least part of today with their own mother. For others, this will be impossible for any number of reasons and they may think about her by pulling up a picture in the mind's eye or actually looking at a photograph. Recent studies have shown how the human "eye" can outperform a "camera" in some aspects (although the mechanism of research is so complex it is a challenge for my brain to understand the process). Basically, as the author puts it, visual images are projected by the lens of the eye onto a sheet of photoreceptor cells (known as rods and cones) in the retina. Much like pixels in a digital camera, each photoreceptor generates an electrical response proportional to the local light intensity.

http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001057

Happy Mother's Day and the "Eye"

The Brain's GPS

University of California, San Diego, Studies: Researchers report they have discovered precisely timed electrical oscillations in neuronal “grid cells.” Located in the brain near the hippocampus, these grid cells allow you to navigate through your physical environment by maintaining an internal hexagonal representation. Much like a CPS, the brain’s navigation system for the external world requires precisely timed pulses. Oscillatory patterns act as an internal clock that keeps tabs on where you are and when.

http://findingthemind.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/hippocampus/

http://www.kurzweilai.net/like-gps-the-brains-navigation-system-for-the-external-world-requires-precisely-timed-pulses

Music and Cognition

Studies at the University of Kansas Medical Center of amateur musicians and cognition: studying a musical instrument, which requires years of practice and learning, may create alternate connections in the brain that could compensate for cognitive decline as people age. According to the researchers, results suggest a “strong predictive effect of high musical activity throughout the lifespan on preserved cognitive functioning in advanced age." If you don't already play a musical instrument, you may be well advised to select an instrument, take lessons, and practice!

http://www.kurzweilai.net/music-training-may-provide-lifelong-boost-in-brain-functioning?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Weekly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=54cc81525e-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email

Brain Map Released

Brain map? It appears so! The Allen Institute for Brain Science has released the world’s first anatomically and genomically comprehensive human brain map, a previously unthinkable feat made possible through leading-edge technology and more than four years of rigorous studies and documentation(according to their press release).

The Allen Human Brain Atlas is free and available to scientists, physicians and the education community as an online public resource at www.brain-map.org

http://www.alleninstitute.org/Media/documents/press_releases/2011_0412_PressRelease_AllenHumanBrainAtlas.pdf

Sugar Ray and Dancing With the Stars

I'm laughing aloud as I write this. Last night I received an e-mail that read, "From a brain function perspective, what do you think of Sugar Ray getting voted off Dancing with the Stars? He didn't win!" Immediately I thought "that would depend upon the person's perspective of what it meana to win." Think about it. For decades Sugar Ray's neuronal circuits were honed to keep his head down, hunch his shoulders, and jab from arms kept close to his body. Suddenly his brain is being asked to keep his head up, straighten his shoulders, and throw his arms open wide. That in a matter of weeks, Sugar Ray's neuronal circuits were able to embrace this reversal sufficiently well enough to last for several weeks on Dancing with the Stars is nothing short of phenomenal (in my brain's opinion). It has to do with practice, persistence, and "myelin." If your understanding of the importance of myelin could stand an update, read Daniel Coyle's book entitled "The Talent Code." I'm going to recommend it to my e-mail correspondent and also suggest it might be helpful for the questioner to expand his/her perception of what it means to "win." Do I like boxing? Heavens NO. I think all pugilistic sports can damage brain function. Do I commend Sugar Ray for his recent gallant efforts in a venue that basically required skills opposite from those of boxing? You bet!