Main -> In the News: Neuroscience

Aftershock: The Blast That Shook Psycho Platoon (ProPublica, 3/22/2011)

"At 8:20 p.m. on Sept. 21, 2010, Iraq veteran Brock Savelkoul decided it was time to die. He lurched from his black Tacoma pickup truck, gripping a 9-mm pistol. In front of him, a half dozen law enforcement officers crouched behind patrol cars with their weapons drawn... More than 2 million troops have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. Tens of thousands have returned with a bedeviling mix of psychological and cognitive problems. For decades, doctors have recognized that soldiers can suffer lasting wounds from the sheer terror of combat, a condition referred to today as post-traumatic stress disorder. They also have come to know that blows to the head from roadside bombs -- the signature weapon in Iraq and Afghanistan -- can result in mild traumatic injuries to the brain, or concussions, that can leave soldiers unable to remember, to follow orders, to think normally."

Discussion question: Summarize the issues faced by veterans with traumatic brain injury and/or PTSD.

Aerobic Exercise May Improve Memory In Seniors (NPR,  2/21/2011, 5 mins)

"'The literature on exercise is just tremendous,' [Peter Snyder, a neuroscientist at Brown University] says. 'What we find is that with exercise — with aerobic exercise, a moderate amount on a regular basis — there are chemical changes that occur in the brain that promote the growth of new neurons in [the hippocampus].'"  A new study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that aerobic exercise in previously sedentary seniors increased the volume of the hippocampus by 2% while the control group who engaged in stretching and toning exercises lost 1.5%.  

Discussion question: How much aerobic exercise do you get each week?  After this news story, are you motivated to get more?  Why or why not?

V.S. Ramachandran's Tales Of The 'Tell-Tale Brain' (NPR, 2/14/2011, 19 mins)

"Dr. V.S. Ramachandran is a neurologist and professor at the University of California, San Diego, who studies the neural mechanisms underlying human behaviors. He has written several books about unlocking the mysteries of the human brain. In his latest, The Tell-Tale Brain, Ramachandran describes several neurological case studies that illustrate how people see, speak, conceive beauty and perceive themselves and their bodies in 3-D space. Take, for example, the clinical phenomenon known as the 'phantom limb.' In the majority of cases where people have lost limbs, they continue to vividly feel the presence of the missing limb. Chronic phantom pain — which strikes roughly two-thirds of patients who have had a limb removed — can become so severe that patients seriously contemplate suicide."

Discussion question: What was the most surprising or compelling thing you learned from this interview and why?

Phys Ed: What Really Causes Runner’s High? (NY Times, 2/16/2011) 

"The endocannabinoid system was first mapped some years before that, when scientists set out to determine just how cannabis, a k a marijuana, acts upon the body. They found that a widespread group of receptors, clustered in the brain but also found elsewhere in the body, allow the active ingredient in marijuana to bind to the nervous system and set off reactions that reduce pain and anxiety and produce a floaty, free-form sense of well-being. Even more intriguing, the researchers found that with the right stimuli, the body creates its own cannabinoids (the endocannabinoids). These cannabinoids are composed of molecules known as lipids, which are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier, so cannabinoids found in the blood after exercise could be affecting the brain."

Discussion question: "What are the implications of this finding? In other words, now that the research is pointing in this direction, what comes next?" 

Spindle Cells (Radiolab, 4/2/2010)

"Is empathy a purely human quality? In this segment, Jad and Robert explore the inner workings of the spindle cell, those long neurons that might connect thoughts to feelings, with the help of Dr. Patrick Hof and Jonah Lehrer."

Discussion question: "Is empathy a purely human quality?"

Hockey Puck Test Helps Detect Concussion (NPR, 2/16/2010)

In this study, researchers found that athletes with concussions experienced an average 15% decrease in reaction time.  Reaction time was measured by how long it took the participant to catch a yard stick weighted down with a hockey puck as it slipped through the participant's fingers.  

Discussion questions: While not a replacement for a medical evaluation, might this test be useful to coaches and athletes?  Why or why not?  What are the pros and cons of using it?

Story of Book-Writing Coma Patient Debunked (NPR, 2/17/2010)

In the fall of 2009, it was reported that Rom Houben who had been in a coma for 23 years had been aware of everything going on around him but unable to communicate. (See for example this Huffington Post article or this Daily Mail article.)  Neither of those news articles reported how he was communicating, except that he was tapping on a computer.  It soon came to light that 'facilitated communication' was being employed. (See for example this Newsweek article.)  Psychologists were immediately skeptical.  Facilitated communication has long been explained as an ideomotor effect, what one thinks causes ones fingers to move to the appropriate spot on a keyboard, which is how Ouija boards work. (See for example this Michael Shermer blog post.)  In the article that is the title of this section, Steven Laureys, Houben's neurologist, explains the simple test he used to determine if Rom or Rom's facilitator weree responding to the questions.

Discussion questions: What test did Houben's neurologist use to determine if the person responding to questions was Houben or his facilitator? If you were Houben's family, how do you think you would respond to this latest development?  Why?

Dementia Risk Seen in Players in NFL Study (NY Times, 9/29/2009)

National Football League (NFL) players are more likely to show symptoms of dementia than the general public.

Discussion questions: What are the criticisms of this study?  If the results of the study hold, what responsibility does the league have to its players to minimize the long-term effects of head injuries?