Main -> In the News: Sensation

Even Beginners Can Curb Pain With Meditation (NPR Health Blog, 4/6/2011)

"Meditation has long been touted as a holistic approach to pain relief. And studies show that long-time meditators can tolerate quite a bit of pain. Now researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have found you don't have to be a lifelong Buddhist monk to pull it off. Novices  were able to tame pain after just a few training sessions."

Discussion question: What evidence is provided that suggests that meditation is having primary influence on pain? Propose a hypothesis that would further test or expand on these results.

Color Vision: How Our Eyes Reflect Primate Evolution (Scientific American, 4/2009)

In humans, the gene that allows cones to detect blue is located on chromosome 4.  The genes that allow cones to detect red and green are located on the X chromosome, right next to each other.  Interestingly, this pattern holds for Old World primates, including humans.  In New World primates, trichromatic vision is absent in males; about 2/3 of females have trichromatic vision. 

Discussion questions: Explain why only some New World primates have trichromatic vision. Is it possible that humans, in time, may develop 4-color vision?  If so, what might that vision be like?