FEMALE AND MALE BRAINS ARE WIRED DIFFERENTLY scans reveal - The idea of personal GENDER CHOICE goes against basic science

©http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/. Unauthorized duplication of this blog's material is prohibited.   Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit and link is given to Otters and Science News Blogspot.  Link to this post:  http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2017/11/female-and-male-brains-are-wired.html - Thank you for visiting my blog.
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• The psychological and physical differences between men and women have always been obvious, celebrated, and unquestioned - until now, when a movement borne out of political correctness and relativism gone mad  has succeeded in legalizing and normalizing the idea that gender is a personal choice.   
• Ideas with no basis in science tend to disappear with time and become fringe and a source of amusement - such as the idea of a flat earth.   
• However, the normalization of what is essentially an aberration is causing a great deal of distress in families, as teachers implement a curriculum that indoctrinates even very young children into questioning their own normal sexuality.
• Worse, the mere public debate on this subject has been stifled in Canada and in institutions all over the United States, and characterized as "hate speech".  

A lecturer at Wilfred Laurier University in Canada is facing an investigation after she showed a clip in class of University of Toronto Professor Jordan Peterson speaking on the issue of transgender politics.  Jordan Peterson is a mild-mannered professor, not a right wing radical, just a fierce defender of free speech.  He refuses to cower to university administrators' demand to address people according to their gender choice.  Read more further down this page.   

• Authorities instil fear on anyone wanting to question the now official line that it is a hate crime to use traditional male or female gender pronouns when addressing a person who has chosen an alternate gender.  In other words, if you address a man wearing a dress as "sir" you are a hate criminal.
• Parallel to this social debate there is another issue that needs to be addressed:  how estrogen pollution (from excreted birth control pills) of drinking water is producing the feminization of men, and how soy products that mimic estrogen are suspected of the same result.
• Men's sperm count has dropped precipitously in the last few decades.  Something nefarious is going on that is decreasing male fertility and increasing homosexuality.  See references further on this page. 
• The idea that men and women are equally suited for all jobs is absurd. 
• If you were hiring someone to look after your babies you would tend to choose a woman rather than a man, even if both are equally qualified, because of women's nurturing instinct. 
• If you had any say in the hiring of firefighters, you would hire a capable man rather than a woman  to be able to pull an injured person out of a burning house if needed. 
• But political correctness wants us to put logic and biology aside and to say that men and women are  just as capable of doing ANY sort of job.
• Evolution built  males and females differently for the sake of our own survival and that of our species.

Maps of neural circuitry show women's brains are suited to social skills and memory, men's perception and co-ordination

By Ian Sample, The Guardian

Scientists have drawn on nearly 1,000 brain scans to confirm what many had surely concluded long ago: that stark differences exist in the wiring of male and female brains.

 

Maps of neural circuitry showed that on average women's brains were highly connected across the left and right hemispheres, in contrast to men's brains, where the connections were typically stronger between the front and back regions.

 

Continue reading this and other related articles and watch VIDEOS

PRIONS THAT CAUSE CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE can pass from wild animals to plants - from plants to cows - from cows to humans - MAD COW DISEASE is also caused by prions and is blamed for ALZHEIMER'S disease among meat eaters

©http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/. Unauthorized duplication of this blog's material is prohibited.   Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit and link is given to Otters and Science News Blogspot.  Link to this post:  http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2015/07/prions-that-cause-chronic-wasting.html - Thank you for visiting my blog.
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KEY POINTS

• Chronic wasting disease is a prion disease of cervids (deer, elk, moose) and humans.
• Animals leave prion-contaminated feces and urine on the grass.
• Plants can take up prions from the soil and transmit them to grazing animals.
• Cows can get contaminated with prions from the grass they eat, and then pass it on to humans.
• Studies show that prions can bind to plants and be taken into the roots, where they may travel to the stem and leaves.
• Neither washing nor cooking plants will eliminate the contamination.
• Just as cooking contaminated beef did not halt the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), another prion-caused disease
• Keeping cervids out of grazing or growing fields could help mitigate the contamination.
• Prions have been held responsible for a number of degenerative brain diseases, including mad cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, fatal familial insomnia, kuru, and an unusual form of hereditary dementia known as Gertsmann-Straeussler-Scheinker disease.

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Virology Blog - Chronic wasting disease is a prion disease of cervids (deer, elk, moose) that is potentially a threat to human health.

A role for environmental prion contamination in transmission is supported by the finding that plants can take up prions from the soil and transmit them to animals.


A concern is that prions of chronic wasting disease could be transmitted to cows grazing in pastures contaminated by cervids.

Consumption of infected cows would then pass the disease on to humans.

When deer are fed prions they excrete them in the feces before developing clinical signs of infection, and prions can also be detected in deer saliva.

In the laboratory, brain homogenates from infected deer can transmit the disease to cows.

To determine whether prions can enter plants, wheat grass roots and leaves were exposed to brain homogenates from hamsters that had died of prion disease.

 

Continue reading

ANESTHESIA PRODUCES BRAIN DAMAGE IN YOUNG AND OLD - General anesthesia affects memory, weakens the immune system, and increases risk of dementia - The risk for brain damage rises with age and number of exposures - Two or more exposures in children may produce ADHD

©http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/. Unauthorized duplication of this blog's material is prohibited.   Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit and link is given to Otters and Science News Blogspot.  Link to this post: 
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/12/anesthesia-produces-brain-damage-in.html  - Thank you for visiting my blog.
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As pediatric specialists become increasingly aware that surgical anesthesia may have lasting effects on the developing brains of young children, new research suggests the threat may also apply to adult brains.

 

Researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report  that testing in laboratory mice shows anesthesia's neurotoxic effects depend on the age of brain neurons -- not the age of the animal undergoing anesthesia, as once thought.

 

Although more research is needed to confirm the study's relevance to humans, the study suggests possible health implications for millions of children and adults who undergo surgical anesthesia annually, according to Andreas Loepke, MD, PhD, a physician and researcher in the Department of Anesthesiology.

VIRUS INFECTION AFFECTS BRAIN FUNCTION - Chlorovirus ATCV-1 usually infects green algae but now it has been found in humans, affecting memory and visual and spacial functions

Found: The viral infection that makes nearly HALF of us more stupid (and it lasts for YEARS)

 

The virus - called chlorovirus ATCV-1 - was only known to appear in algae

Researchers in U.S. have not established how it comes to infect humans 

It hasn't infected just swimmers, which rules out direct link to algae itself 

Instead humans could've been carrying virus but was not known to doctors

Research suggests it alters genes in brain including memory and emotion

Scientists found 44 per cent of patients tested had virus in their throats 

DAYDREAMING CAN BOOST YOUR MENTAL PERFORMANCE

Engaging brain areas linked to so-called 'off-task' mental activities (such as mind-wandering and reminiscing) can actually boost performance on some challenging mental tasks, a new research led by a neuroscientist shows for the first.

 

“The prevailing view is that activating brain regions referred to as the default network impairs performance on attention-demanding tasks because this network is associated with behaviors such as mind-wandering,” said Spreng. “Our study is the first to demonstrate the opposite – that engaging the default network can also improve performance.”

 

To solve a mental puzzle, the brain’s executive control network for externally focused, goal-oriented thinking must activate, while the network for internally directed thinking like daydreaming must be turned down to avoid interference – or so we thought.

 

New research led by Cornell University neuroscientist Nathan Spreng shows for the first time that engaging brain areas linked to so-called “off-task” mental activities (such as mind-wandering and reminiscing) can actually boost performance on some challenging mental tasks. The results advance our understanding of how externally and internally focused neural networks interact to facilitate complex thought, the authors say.

AUTHORITIES SAID THE WATER WAS SAFE - THEN INHABITANTS OF BRITISH VILLAGE STARTED TO GET SICK AND DIE - The link between aluminum and dementia and Alzheimer's

Village of the damned: Mysterious suicides. Agonising illness. And now, 25 years after UK's worst case of mass poisoning, the first evidence that water contaminated with aluminum sulphate has KILLED people.

IMPRISONED BY DOCTORS - ELDERLY CANADIAN COUPLE HIRE LAWYER AFTER BEING HELD AGAINST THEIR WILL WHEN THEY VISIT HOSPITAL TO ENQUIRE ABOUT A DOCTOR - Diagnosed with dementia, they are locked up, deprived of access to their wallet and bank account, and involuntarily medicated and restrained.

A few days ago I posted an article  that exposed how British doctors are being pressured by hospitals to overdiagnose their patients with dementia or Alzheimer's.   This is a very disturbing situation and I suggest you read it because medical protocols tend to expand to other countries, as if by contagion.

UK:  Doctors 'leaned on' to diagnose dementia cases: GPs are told they will lose money if they don't meet their NHS targets
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/04/dementia-and-alzheimers-what-are-vested.html

In Canada a simple visit to a hospital can result in your hospital imprisonment, if doctors think that you are not capable of properly looking after yourself.

 

A Canadian elderly couple have been locked up against their will in a windowless room inside a hospital after they paid a visit to enquire about a general practitioner.  Not only that but they lost control of their bank account and their money. 

 

After days of confinement they managed to hire an attorney to petition the Supreme Court to be released so that they can return to their own home. 

 

Here is their story:

CBC News - An elderly Victoria couple has gone to B.C. Supreme Court to try to take back control of their lives, after they were committed and held in hospital after going there for care.

 

In court documents, the Vancouver Island Health Authority claims Pamela and Douglas Allen were suffering from neglect and poor nutrition because of a range of complex health conditions when they attended Victoria's Royal Jubilee Hospital looking for care in January.

 

According to court documents, several doctors diagnosed both with dementia, and each was committed under the Mental Health Act. They are now residing at Victoria General Hospital.

The doctors found both incapable of caring for themselves or each other at their suite in an independent living home for seniors, which they recently bought.

 

They also had their bank accounts frozen and placed under the control of the Public Guardian.

But the 84-year-olds claim they are capable of looking after themselves with the aid of a nurse, and recorded a video statement from the hospital ward that is now their home and what they describe as their prison.

In the video, Pamela is in a wheelchair and Douglas is confined to a bed by a restraining vest.

"I want to go to my home," says Pamela in the video. "They won't let us go to our own home and we haven't done anything."

Lawyer seeks release

Their lawyer, Jonathan Aiyadurai, said they should be released from the hospital ward where they're being kept.  "They're bored – my clients have not had a breath of fresh air since they went into the General hospital. No windows have been opened for them.  They haven't been allowed outside. The husband has been put in a straitjacket — very draconian and Kafkaesque if I may say, and this is all at the taxpayers' expense."   
     
Aiyadurai said the Allens are willing to pay for a nurse to visit them daily at their independent living unit, which they bought before being committed.  "Perhaps if my clients need some care – why can't they get that out in the community?"  He said his clients want the public to hear their story, and that's why they recorded the video.  "Wouldn't people like to know that that can happen?"

The couple's legal action also claims they were poorly fed and bathed at the James Bay Care Centre, that Pamela is being treated with insulin against her will, that they have not been allowed to attend their church, and that they have no access to their personal belongings, including Douglas's confiscated wallet.  

          

The Vancouver Island Health Authority said both had been evicted from a number of independent living facilities due to their refusal to accept home support and their failure to take care of themselves and their residences.  When asked to comment on the case, authority spokesperson Sarah Plank said, "To protect the privacy and confidentiality of our patients, we cannot comment on specific cases."

"Island Health takes our responsibility to ensure the health and well-being of vulnerable adults very seriously. When a vulnerable person is not able to safely care for themselves, or we receive a report of abuse, neglect or self-neglect, we have a responsibility under the Adult Guardianship Act to respond to protect the person’s safety and well-being," Plank said

Read more and see legal papers here

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/elderly-couple-demand-hospital-end-illegal-detention-1.2596841

 

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More on the story:

 

The Allens - Photo Vancouver Sun

  Vancouver Sun - The Allens used to have a nurse come to their Cook Street suite every second day. On Jan. 5, they walked to Royal Jubilee Hospital to ask about the availability of family doctors. 

 

They were admitted and later transferred to VGH.  "From there, they found themselves on the fourth floor, in the geriatrics ward, and that's where they've been since," Aiyadurai said.

 

The couple phoned Aiyadurai and on Feb. 11, he wrote a letter to Island Health demanding the couple's release from "illegal detention."

 

Having dementia makes the Allens more vulnerable "but there are processes in place for that," Aiyadurai said.

 

Read more and watch video of Douglas and Pamela Allen explaining their situation

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Elderly+Victoria+couple+they+prisoners+hospital/9701120/story.html

 

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 The case of Britain's national health service (NHS)

 

Doctors 'leaned on' to diagnose dementia cases: GPs are told they will lose money if they don't meet their NHS targets

Leading GP Dr Martin Brunet: GPs with few cases will be desperate to escape a low ranking.  He argues 'naming and shaming' could lead doctors to  'up the numbers' .  But this raises concerns the patient-doctor relationship is being undermined, he warned

 

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has prioritised increasing dementia diagnosis rates in those patients who don’t have obvious symptoms. He believes GPs are reluctant to carry out tests because there is no effective cure.  But this has raised fears that unnecessary diagnoses will be made for fear of losing funding.

 

Mr Hunt has endorsed new  targets for diagnosis rates of Alzheimer’s and other forms of the disease. In November, he published a ‘dementia map’ of rates for different clinical commissioning groups (CCG).

 

Dr Brunet, from Binscombe Medical Centre in Godalming, Surrey, is among growing medical opposition to the strategy. He said there was deep concern that the patient-doctor relationship was being undermined.  The setting of target rates for the diagnosis of any condition is unprecedented, says Dr Brunet, in a personal view in the British Medical Journal.  He said: ‘Dementia is big business and there are many vested interests that stand to benefit from a rise in the number of diagnoses.’

 

Read more of this interesting article

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/04/dementia-and-alzheimers-what-are-vested.html

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How the elderly are locked up against their will in the UK
Prisoners of care homes: Devastating report reveals tens of thousands of elderly and vulnerable people locked up against their will.
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/03/how-elderly-are-locked-up-against-their.html

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BLOGGER'S NOTE: 
Double Standard in British Columbia

Authorities in the city of Victoria seem oblivious to the double standard in the treatment of this couple with financial means compared to others suffering from mental illness but who are broke. 

The province of British Columbia allows a large number of poor people with mental illness to roam the streets uncared for, suffering from sicknesses and addictions - completely abandoned except for a small amount of welfare income, if they manage to get it, but not enough for them to live anywhere except for the streets, public parks, or in public shelters. 

Some years ago the province of BC released all patients from Riverview, a large psychiatric hospital.  Those who were unable to adapt to society or find community help became victimized, sometimes freezing to death on city streets.  Or they ended up in prison, although they do not belong there.  

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August 2013:  British Columbia mayors call for reopening of Riverview Mental Hospital
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/mayors-calling-for-re-opening-of-riverview-hospital-1.1428007

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The Tyee reports: 

Research finds a high percentage of long-term homeless suffer from schizophrenia and were abused as children. .... 

Also, because British Columbia requires that an individual have an IQ of less than 70 in order to qualify for long-term support services, those with fetal alcohol syndrome are systematically excluded from care and consigned to homelessness by the province.
Read more - http://thetyee.ca/News/2010/06/22/MentalIllnessHomeless/

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DEMENTIA AND ALZHEIMER'S - WHAT ARE THE VESTED INTERESTS BEHIND THE PUSH FOR OVERDIAGNOSING? - The case of Britain where doctors are pushed to overdiagnose

Just a few weeks ago we heard about a new blood test that is an "almost" sure way to predict Alzheimer's.  It claims a 90% accuracy.

 

Problems:  some of the patients involved were given an inaccurate or false positive result. Even if patients receive an accurate result, the test could present a slew of complications, from not being able to get life insurance to being unfairly dismissed from a job – or the simple worry of knowing that a debilitating disease awaits, years down the road.

 

And in Belgium they have approved euthanasia for patients of all ages with "chronic ailments". 

 

Will Alzheimer's and dementia diagnoses be eventually grounds for euthanasia  - as a cost-saving measure?   

Today's news comes from Britain:

DAILY MAIL -

Doctors 'leaned on' to diagnose dementia cases: GPs are told they will lose money if they don't meet their NHS targets

Leading GP Dr Martin Brunet: GPs with few cases will be desperate to escape a low ranking.  He argues 'naming and shaming' could lead doctors to  'up the numbers' .  But this raises concerns the patient-doctor relationship is being undermined, he warned

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has prioritised increasing dementia diagnosis rates in those patients who don’t have obvious symptoms. He believes GPs are reluctant to carry out tests because there is no effective cure.  But this has raised fears that unnecessary diagnoses will be made for fear of losing funding.

 

Mr Hunt has endorsed new  targets for diagnosis rates of Alzheimer’s and other forms of the disease. In November, he published a ‘dementia map’ of rates for different clinical commissioning groups (CCG).

 

But Dr Brunet said the video accompanying the website features Mr Hunt ‘lambasting the laggards for poor performance’.  As a result CCGs are piling on the pressure on GPs to raise dementia diagnosis rates ‘with financial strings attached’, while ‘leaning on you heavily to make any diagnosis to get the numbers up’, he claimed. At least one CCG has told its GPs the area will lose money if they don’t increase rates, Dr Brunet added.  And he warned that ‘naming and shaming’ makes the worst performers desperate to get off the bottom of the league table and so may unnecessarily ‘upgrade’ the diagnosis to dementia.

 

Dr Brunet, from Binscombe Medical Centre in Godalming, Surrey, is among growing medical opposition to the strategy. He said there was deep concern that the patient-doctor relationship was being undermined.  The setting of target rates for the diagnosis of any condition is unprecedented, says Dr Brunet, in a personal view in the British Medical Journal.  He said: ‘Dementia is big business and there are many vested interests that stand to benefit from a rise in the number of diagnoses.’

 

One in three older people has some form of minor cognitive impairment, which can be picked up in tests but may never lead to full-blown dementia.  Meanwhile, figures used to estimate how many diagnoses each practice should make are often wrong and fail to take into account local circumstances, such as dementia care homes in the area, Dr Brunet added.  And he warned: ‘Working towards targets can lead to perverse behaviours and outcomes, because the needs of patients are secondary to the requirement to fulfil quotas.’

 

The UK National Screening Committee said in June 2010 that screening for Alzheimer’s Disease ‘should not be offered’ because there was insufficient evidence of the benefits.  CCGs, which comprise groups of GPs collectively responsible for commissioning local services, can attract a quality premium payment as a reward for improving a range services.  Hertfordshire CCG has chosen the dementia rate target as one of the qualifying measures. If they miss it they will lose out on extra money for the area.

 

Dr Brunet said: ‘The idea that doctors should be motivated by self interest, such as personal or corporate gain, is abhorrent.’ 

 

The Health Department said in 2011 there were 250,000 dementia patients registered by GPs. It now exceeds 300,000.  A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘A timely diagnosis can make a significant difference to a person’s quality of life.  'We would always expect doctors to act in the best interests of their patients, to assess them appropriately when they show the signs of dementia, and refer them to a specialist for diagnosis.

 

Source

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2594718/Doctors-leaned-diagnose-dementia-cases-GPs-told-lose-money-dont-meet-NHS-targets.html

 

 

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RELATED

 

New blood test for Alzheimer's - 90% accurate?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/blood-test-offers-a-chance-to-predict-alzheimers/article17422109/

 

2014: Pharmaceutical firms accused of falsifying data in major Alzheimer’s study

Japan’s health ministry said Friday it was probing claims falsified data was used in an Alzheimer’s disease study involving major pharmaceutical firms, a day after filing an unrelated criminal complaint against Swiss drugs giant Novartis.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/10/pharmaceutical-firms-accused-of-falsifying-data-in-major-alzheimers-study/

 

Belgium law allows for euthanasia for people of all ages, including children, who suffer from chronic illness (not just terminal illness, but "chronic" diseases)

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/11/euthanasia-for-disabled-children-and.html

 

How the elderly are locked up against their will in the UK

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/03/how-elderly-are-locked-up-against-their.html

 

EUTHANASIA ALREADY EXISTS IN BRITAIN - often without relatives' consent.  They call it the "Pathway". 

The National Health Service of Britain has a policy of removing seriously ill patients from hospitals and placing them in especially designated clinics to be deprived of food and water until they died.  They call it the Liverpool Care Pathway.  But with Pathway or not - patients are still left to starve.

 

Read more:
  

It was murder, says son of woman starved to death under Pathway "care"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2513136/It-murder-says-son-woman-starved-death-Liverpool-Care-Pathway-calls-police-inquiry.html

July 2013 - Pathway to be ditched within a year
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2364029/How-Liverpool-Care-Pathway-used-excuse-appalling-care.html
  

Pathway won't be banned
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2357195/Hospital-care-pathway-wont-banned--new-Inquiry-set-end-life-plan-despite-public-fears.html
  

July 2013 - The killing of patients will continue - under a different name
(Care and Support Minister, Norman) Lamb, struck an ominous note, for example, when he said the LCP’s replacement would not be called a ‘pathway’ — which suggested that these practices might continue under a different name.  He says that end-of-life care will now be tailored for individual patients. But this fails to identify the very confusion at the core of this problem. This arises over the issue of medical staff being able to identify correctly when someone’s life is about to end. For the advice at the core of the LCP is, in fact, nothing other than basic

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2363772/MELANIE-PHILLIPS-Hope-pathway-death--NHS-hole-heart-be.html


March 2013 - At least 1200 cases of starvation in hospitals occurred because of "oversight" - Not the "pathway" but the result is the same
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287332/Nearly-1-200-people-starved-death-NHS-hospitals-nurses-busy-feed-patients.html

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REGULAR ENERGETIC WALKING HELPS DEVELOP THE MEMORY PART OF THE BRAIN AT ANY AGE

 

Taking a walk 'makes your brain grow': Energetic stroll three times a week can increase size of organ's memory hub.

 

We know all about the upsides of fresh air and a bit of scenery – but according to a study, going for a walk could also make your brain grow. 

 

Researchers found that an energetic stroll three times a week increased the size of the hippocampus, the brain’s memory hub, which is one of the first areas to be destroyed by Alzheimer’s disease. 

 

They asked 120 men and women aged between 55 and 80 to go for a brisk 40-minute walk three times a week.

 

Normally, the brain shrinks with age. But scans done after a year showed participants’ key regions – including the hippocampus – had grown by up to 2 per cent, the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual conference heard. 

 

Scientists explained that the growth took up to two years off the brain’s age – a change they said marked an ‘enormous’ improvement.

 

However another group who had been asked to do a series of simple stretching exercises over the year saw the same brain regions shrink by around 1.5 per cent. 

 

Lead researcher Dr Kirk Erickson, from the University of Pittsburgh, said: ‘You don’t need highly vigorous physical activity to see these effects. This may sound like it is a modest amount but it’s like reversing the age clock by a couple of years.’  Dr Erickson explained that while exercise isn’t a magic bullet when it comes to fighting dementia, it seems to be one of the best ways of keeping the mind sharp.

 

Read more -

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2561708/Taking-walk-makes-brain-grow-Energetic-stroll-three-times-week-increase-size-organs-memory-hub.html

 

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FIRST MAP OF YOUR BRAIN'S WHITE MATTER - HELPS UNDERSTAND BRAIN INJURIES

This research helps better address clinical challenges such as traumatic brain injury and to determine what makes certain white matter pathways particularly vulnerable and important.

By Ria Misra for io9 
 

Scientists have created the first map of the ways that the white matter in our brains connects with itself, and with our grey matter. The takeaway? It works like a scaffold, researchers say — and some connections are much more important than others

 

GENE LINKING INTELLIGENCE TO BRAIN STRUCTURE IDENTIFIED

 

Summary - For the first time, scientists have identified a gene linking the thickness of the grey matter in the brain to intelligence. Teenagers carrying a particular gene variant had a thinner cortex in the left cerebral hemisphere, particularly in the frontal and temporal lobes, and performed less well on tests for intellectual ability.

 

For the first time, scientists at King's College London have identified a gene linking the thickness of the grey matter in the brain to intelligence. The study is published today in Molecular Psychiatry and may help scientists understand biological mechanisms behind some forms of intellectual impairment.

 

The researchers looked at the cerebral cortex, the outermost layer of the human brain. It is known as 'grey matter' and plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language and consciousness. Previous studies have shown that the thickness of the cerebral cortex, or 'cortical thickness', closely correlates with intellectual ability, however no genes had yet been identified.

 

An international team of scientists, led by King's, analysed DNA samples and MRI scans from 1,583 healthy 14 year old teenagers, part of the IMAGEN cohort. The teenagers also underwent a series of tests to determine their verbal and non-verbal intelligence.

 

Dr Sylvane Desrivières, from King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry and lead author of the study, said: "We wanted to find out how structural differences in the brain relate to differences in intellectual ability. The genetic variation we identified is linked to synaptic plasticity -- how neurons communicate. This may help us understand what happens at a neuronal level in certain forms of intellectual impairments, where the ability of the neurons to communicate effectively is somehow compromised."

 

She adds: "It's important to point out that intelligence is influenced by many genetic and environmental factors. The gene we identified only explains a tiny proportion of the differences in intellectual ability, so it's by no means a 'gene for intelligence'."

 

The researchers looked at over 54,000 genetic variants possibly involved in brain development. They found that, on average, teenagers carrying a particular gene variant had a thinner cortex in the left cerebral hemisphere, particularly in the frontal and temporal lobes, and performed less well on tests for intellectual ability. The genetic variation affects the expression of the NPTN gene, which encodes a protein acting at neuronal synapses and therefore affects how brain cells communicate.

 

To confirm their findings, the researchers studied the NPTN gene in mouse and human brain cells. The researchers found that the NPTN gene had a different activity in the left and right hemispheres of the brain, which may cause the left hemisphere to be more sensitive to the effects of NPTN mutations. Their findings suggest that some differences in intellectual abilities can result from the decreased function of the NPTN gene in particular regions of the left brain hemisphere.

 

The genetic variation identified in this study only accounts for an estimated 0.5% of the total variation in intelligence. However, the findings may have important implications for the understanding of biological mechanisms underlying several psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, autism, where impaired cognitive ability is a key feature of the disorder.

Source - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140211084051.htm

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MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS MAY BE TRIGGERED BY FOOD BACTERIA

 

Multiple sclerosis may be triggered by FOOD: Toxin produced by common bacteria could cause disease

• Microbiologists from the Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City, built on previous research that suggested epsilon toxin could trigger M.S.
• Epsilon toxin is produced by strains of Clostridium perfringens - a spore-forming bacterium that can cause of foodborne illness
• Development of a neutralising antibody or vaccine directed against the epsilon toxin might stop the progression of the disease

MS is characterised by blood brain permeability and demyelination - a process in which the insulating myelin sheaths of neurons are damaged.

 

Microbiologist Jennifer Linden of Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City, said: ‘We provide evidence that supports epsilon toxin’s ability to cause permeability and show that epsilon toxin kills the brain’s myelin producing cells, oligodendrocytes - the same cells that die in MS lesions.’

Multiple Sclerosis or MS is known as an autoimmune condition.  This is where something goes wrong with the immune system - the body’s defence against infection - and it mistakenly attacks healthy body tissue – in this case, the myelin covering of nerves.  This can cause multiple sections of the brain and spinal column to become damaged and hardened, which can disrupt the nerve signals passing through these areas.  Exactly what causes the immune system to act in this way is unclear, but most experts think a combination of genetic and environmental factors are involved.  This new study finds that epsilon toxin could be one of the triggers.
Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2547543/Multiple-sclerosis-triggered-FOOD.html

 

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NEW HOPE FOR ALZHEIMER'S, DEMENTIA AND BRAIN DAMAGE PATIENTS WITH ISRAELI TREATMENT

 

Israeli researchers have found that high levels of oxygen in a pressurised atmosphere can significantly improve chronic brain damage.

 

The study, carried out by Tel Aviv University and the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Tzrifin, showed how patients who sustained brain injuries from 20 years ago improved their cognitive and physical responses following the treatment, Xinhua reported.

 

Doctors worldwide treat brain injuries with physical rehabilitation, but its effects have been limited partly because the window of opportunity to repair the brain damage after the injury is short.

 

According to the Israeli researchers who worked on the study, the advantage of using hyperbaric oxygen - high levels of oxygen in a pressurised cabin - is that the oxygen reaches deeper into the brain tissues, reviving dormant nerve cells and reactivating blood vessels.

 

Researchers were also positive that the study, published recently in Public Library of Science's journal PLOS One, will help treat other diseases linked to brain injury and aging, such as dementia and Alzheimer's.

 

"Maybe in the future we'll be able to give anti-aging treatment that will strengthen the functioning of the brain and preserve it for the rest of one's life," Eshel Ben Jacob, professor from the Tel Aviv University's School of Physics and Astronomy and the Sagol School for Brain.

Source - http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/israeli-study-finds-new-way-to-treat-brain-damage-113111900363_1.html

MYSTERIOUS BURSTS OF ACTIVITY IN FLATLINED BRAIN - AND BRINGING CLINICALLY DEAD PEOPLE BACK TO LIFE

 Parts of the brain may still be alive after a person's brain activity is said to have flatlined.

 

When someone is in a deep coma, their brain activity can go silent. An electroencephalogram measuring this activity may eventually show a flatline, usually taken as a sign of brain death.

 

However, while monitoring a patient who had been placed in a deep coma to prevent seizures following a cardiac arrest, Bogdan Florea, a physician at the Regina Maria Medical Centre in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, noticed a strange thing – some tiny intermittent bursts of activity were interrupting an otherwise flatline signal, each lasting a few seconds.

 

The findings challenge the notion that an EEG flatline is the ultimate sign of a brain death. Legal criteria vary, but a diagnosis of brain death generally requires two examinations 24 hours apart that show irreversible and complete cessation of brain activity.

 

"We should abandon the idea that a flat EEG proves zero neuronal activity," says Steven Laureys who researches consciousness at the University of Liege in Belgium.The findings do not suggest that a person who has been deemed brain-dead would be likely to wake up.

 

But Amzica speculates that it might be beneficial to place someone with severe brain damage in this unusually deep coma state to keep the brain silent but alive while working on treating the problem.

 

"The results offer us a better understanding of the residual activity of the brain under coma or anaesthetic," says Laureys. "These ripples are known to be important in sleep, but their role in coma is ill-understood, so I think this is something to be investigated further."

Read more - http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24228-mysterious-bursts-of-activity-in-flatlining-brain.html#.UjxgSqFraM8


RELATED

Australian hospital bringing clinically dead people back to life.

 

Doctors at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne have a knack for resurrection. Thanks to a combination of two resuscitation techniques, the Australian team has successfully revived three patients who were officially dead for between 40 and 60 minutes.

 

New technology helps to keep the body "living" while also giving doctors time to diagnose the heart attack's source and treat it. More time and care mean an increased chance of survival and ensure further research can be conducted on cardiac arrests — still the most common cause of death worldwide. 

Read more - http://theweek.com/article/index/244147/how-an-australian-hospital-is-bringing-clinically-dead-people-back-to-life

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MAD SCIENCE - MINIATURE HUMAN BRAIN GROWN IN LAB

Pea-sized brains?  Incapable of thought?  I thought those existed already.  Particularly among those promoting nuclear power energy. 

 

More seriously, the implications on the ethical level are considerable.  But not in our society where values, when they exist at all, are subject to relativistic and utilitarian interpretation.

Miniature "human brains" have been grown in a lab in a feat scientists hope will transform the understanding of neurological disorders.

 

The pea-sized structures reached the same level of development as in a nine-week-old foetus, but are incapable of thought.

 

Scientists at Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have now reproduced some of the earliest stages of the organ's development in the laboratory.

 

They used either embryonic stem cells or adult skin cells to produce the part of an embryo that develops into the brain and spinal cord - the neuroectoderm.

 

The "mini-brains" have survived for nearly a year, but did not grow any larger. There is no blood supply, just brain tissue, so nutrients and oxygen cannot penetrate into the middle of the brain-like structure.

Read more - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23863544

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EXERCISE HELPS COPE WITH STRESS

Exercise reorganizes the brain to be more resilient to stress. 

If it works for mice, it should work for us too. 

 

Research shows that when mice allowed to exercise regularly experienced a stressor — exposure to cold water — their brains exhibited a spike in the activity of neurons that shut off excitement in the ventral hippocampus, a brain region shown to regulate anxiety.

 

From an evolutionary standpoint, the research also shows that the brain can be extremely adaptive and tailor its own processes to an organism's lifestyle or surroundings.

 

A higher likelihood of anxious behavior may have an adaptive advantage for less physically fit creatures. Anxiety often manifests itself in avoidant behavior and avoiding potentially dangerous situations would increase the likelihood of survival, particularly for those less capable of responding with a "fight or flight" reaction.

 

Understanding how the brain regulates anxious behavior gives us potential clues about helping people with anxiety disorders. It also tells us something about how the brain modifies itself to respond optimally to its own environment.

Read more here -  http://www.lifescience.net/news/exercise-reorganizes-the-brain-to-be-more-resilien/

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/exercise-helps-cope-with-stress.html

MIND NEWS -

THEORY - MIND AS A QUANTUM PHENOMENON

 

 

Roger Penrose of the University of Oxford and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff of the University of Arizona propose that the brain acts as a quantum computer — a computational machine that makes use of quantum mechanical phenomena (like the ability of particles to be in two places at once) to perform complex calculations.

In the brain, fibers inside neurons could form the basic units of quantum computation, Penrose and Hameroff explained at the Global Future 2045 International Congress, a futuristic conference held here June 15-16.

The idea is appealing, because neuroscience, so far, has no satisfactory explanation for consciousness — the state of being self-aware and having sensory experiences and thoughts. But many scientists are skeptical, citing a lack of experimental evidence for the idea.

Penrose's work rests on an interpretation of the mathematician Kurt Godel's incompleteness theorem, which states that certain results cannot be proven by a computer algorithm. Penrose argues that human mathematicians are capable of proving so-called "Godel-unprovable" results, and therefore human brains cannot be described as typical computers. Instead, he says, to achieve these higher abilities, brain processes must rely on quantum mechanics.

Hameroff read Penrose's work and suggested small fibrous structures that give cells their structural support — known as microtubules — might be capable of carrying out quantum computations.

Microtubules are made up of units of the protein tubulin, which contains regions where electrons are swirling around very close to each other. Hameroff proposed that these electrons could become "quantum entangled," a state in which two particles retain a connection, and an action performed on one affects the other, even when the two are separated by a distance.

Read more:  http://www.nbcnews.com/science/intriguing-consciousness-theory-skeptics-want-evidence-6C10486211
The above theory in depth, with diagrams: Quantum computation in brain microtubules? The Penrose-Hameroff "Orch OR" model of consciousness
http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/quantumcomputation.html
A skeptic's view:  http://www.askamathematician.com/2012/09/q-is-the-brain-and-consciousness-quantum-mechanical-in-nature/
Brain entanglement could explain memories - http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18371-brain-entanglement-could-explain-memories.html#.Uc-QTGFrbMw
Related:
Articles on the brain on this blog - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Brain
Articles on the mind on this blog -  http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Mind

HEALTH NEWS -

 

IS WHEAT CONSUMPTION BEHIND SOME MENTAL ILLNESS?

 

 

Natural News - Research has shown an intolerance to compounds within wheat can cause major neurological issues, including psychotic breakdowns. Far from a benign food, wheat has been linked with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and even diseases like multiple sclerosis along with Alzheimer's.

Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) a neurotoxic, crosses the blood brain barrier and inhibits nerve growth - a serious consideration for those suffering from degenerative neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's.

 

Wheat lectins also destroy the villi in the intestinal tract, creating an inflamed, leaky gut. Since there is a strong connection between the gut and brain via the vagus nerve, intestinal ill-health strongly affects the mind, mood and behavior.

 

The gut is also considered a 'second brain', pumping out its own source of feel good neurotransmitters like serotonin. If normal functioning of the intestinal tract is hindered, production of serotonin dips along with stable mental states.

Read more:  http://www.naturalnews.com/040601_gluten_intolerance_mental_illness_celiac_disease.html

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201108/wheat-and-serious-mental-illness\

MAD SCIENCE NEWS -

 

Brain cells in a dish control power grid

 

Phys.org reports that "a team of neuroscientists and engineers is using neurons grown in a dish to control simulated power grids.

"The researchers hope that studying how neural networks integrate and respond to complex information will inspire new methods for managing the country's ever-changing power supply and demand.

"Living neuronal networks can be made to control computer-simulated animals and simple robots.

"In the current project, the network is trained to recognize and respond to voltage and speed signals from Venayagamoorthy's power grid simulation."

Read more:  http://phys.org/news/2013-04-brain-cells-power-smart-grid.html