Before You See It . . .

According to new research done at Duke University, neurons in the brain predict and edit what you see before you see it. And the brain's visual circuits perform "error correction" on the fly. The fMRI study results have led to a new picture of human vision (labeled predictive coding) and challenge the currently held model of sight. The study could change the way in which neuroscientists study the brain. It seems that vision is more complex than scientists previously believed. Apparently, the current picture of human vision (called feature detection) is incomplete. The new data show the brain predicts what it will see and edits those predictions in a top-down mechanism.

http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2010/12/egner_vision.html

And Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia (sometimes known as face blindness) is a condition that involves an impairment in the ability to recognize faces (e.g., severe difficulty recognizing faces). The ability to recognize other objects may be relatively intact. The term originally referred to a condition following acute damage to the brain. Recently, however, a congenital form of the disorder has been proposed, which may be inherited by about 2.5% of the population. The specific brain area usually associated with prosopagnosia is the gusiform gyrus. (Grüter T, Grüter M, Carbon CC (2008). "Neural and genetic foundations of face recognition and prosopagnosia". J Neuropsychol 2 (1): 79–97. doi:10.1348/174866407X231001. PMID 19334306.)

Brain, Memory, and Rest

A new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience by researchers at the University of York and Harvard Medical School: Rest is vitally important for memory and cognitive functions. Your brain is working for you when you're resting during sleep as well as resting while awake. New memories are only really useful if you can connect them to information you already know. This study identified brain activity called Sleep Spindles: brief but intense bursts of brain activity that reflect information transfer between different memory stores in the brain (the hippocampus deep in the brain and the neocortex on the surface of the brain) that apparently help to organize new memories and makes those vital connections with existing knowledge. In another related study, researchers at New York University confirmed that your memories are strengthened during periods of rest even while you are awake. Is your brain getting enough rest?

http://www.physorg.com/news183819123.html
http://www.kurzweilai.net/learning-in-your-sleep?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Weekly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f3249d039a-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email

Tarantula and Brain-Based Fear

A recent article published in "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" reports on a study by Dean Mobbs of the Medical Research Council-Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, United Kingdom. A study participant in a brain scanner (fMRI) watched a Brazilian salmon pink tarantula that appeared to be getting close to the participant's foot (the participant was only viewing pictures of the spider and there was, in fact, no spider anywhere near). Pre-frontal brain regions were activated when the participant thought the spider was further away; limbic emotional layer brain regions were activated when the participant thought the spider was getting closer. (Incidentally, this goes along with my perception of the process of "downshifting.") Researchers also concluded that when human beings have an expectation that something's going to be scary, they tend to prepare themselves for it. Eventually, these types of studies may provide information about how to deal more effectively with phobias (that appear to be associated with the limbic-emotional brain layer).

http://news.discovery.com/human/tarantulas-brain-fear.html

Viruses and Your Immune System Antibodies

Landmark research from Medical Research Council Lab of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge UK: Viruses are the number one killer of human beings, responsible for twice as many deaths each year as cancer. Viruses are, however, among the hardest of all diseases to treat. Until now it was thought that antibodies could only reduce infection by attacking viruses outside living b ody cells or by blocking the entry of viruses into the cells. Studies by Dr. Leo James has shown that antibodies are able to fight viruses from wtihin infected cells.

(Editor. A Cure for the Common Cold? http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-cure-for-the-common-cold?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Weekly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f3249d039a-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email)

The Brain that Changed Everything

When Dr. William Beecher Scoville cut into Henry Molaison's skull to treat him for epilepsy, he inadvertently created the most important brain-research subject of our time — a man who could no longer remember, who taught us everything we know about memory. Six decades later, another daring researcher (Dr. Jacopo Annese - a neuroanatomist)is cutting into Henry's brain. Another revolution in brain science is about to begin. You may find this article by Scoville's grandson (Luke Dittrich) fascinating.

http://www.esquire.com/features/henry-molaison-brain-1110#ixzz144ql8Ot8

Use it or Lose it!

Anecdotal reports for the past several years have strongly suggested that brain aerobic exercises could help to retard the onset of some mental symptoms of aging. Researched confirmation of this has been slow in coming, but bit by bit evidence is mounting. A recent study by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is one of the first to measure both mental performance and changes in neural activity caused by a cognitive training program. In the study, healthy older participants trained on a computer game designed to boost visual perception. After ten hours of training, they not only improved their perceptual abilities significantly, but also increased the accuracy of their visual working memory by about ten percent – bringing them up to the level of younger adults. Working memory is the ability to hold information in mind for brief periods. It is essential to accomplish immediate tasks, such as engaging in conversation with several people.

http://www.kurzweilai.net/brain-fitness-program-study-reveals-visual-memory-improvement-in-older-adults