Readin. Watchin movies. Doin Work.

WARNING MR. WALTMAN- WHITE FONT!!!
Reading: Mirror Neurons. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-mirror-neuron-revolut
This article was really cool. I was extremely interested, and I think it was mostly because I actually understood what the heck was being said. So, what i gathered is this. Mirror neurons are social butterflies. Their job is to interpret social cues within the brain, exchanging neurotransmitters to one another. They work with social tensions, connecting to the social psych unit in terms of attitude, and maybe even in group and out group. If someone has defective mirror neurons; if they cannot transmit the proper signals through their terminal branches, one may be viewed as awkward, hence, the out group. Also the connection to language and emotion shows how closely connected the parts of the brain truly are.

Video: Natural Morphine http://www.learner.org/resources/series150.html
The war imagery that prompted this video definitely spoke to a heightened reality and an endorphin rush. This brief clip began with the background of drug abuse becoming prevalent in the Vietnam war, and it's positive effect on scientific exploration. It was discovered that heroin, the drug of choice, fit in the identical reaction sites as the brain's natural substances! Easily obtained poppy extracts do the trick, too. Hans Kosterlitz, in 1972, found natural opiates in the brain in the form of morphine. It took a basic experiment with just a strip of muscle to make a breakthrough. Honestly, I didn't find this super exciting. It was nothing I didn't know. I watched the Drug Years. I know what's up. It WAS cool though that the government gave scientists the go ahead, even though Nixon had declared a drug war. Huh, the government is a far out thing, man.

Reading: Memories Are Made of This http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/10/memories-are-made-of-this.php
Yay! Review and new material all in one. So, this started by exploring memories. It discussed encoding, not in the sense of failure or bettering memory, but in how we recall what's in our brains in a neurological sense, of what we encoded. This was helpful in connecting encoding and the several types in review to help learn this new material. Moving on. It looked at epilepsy, and this study was pretty sick, and kind of seemed like I had seen in on Grey's Anatomy. But, what they found was that neurons were firing, aka action potential, hundreds of times when exposed to TV clips. The breakthrough part was that they found the same neurons firing when the clip was showed again. Also, through unconscious recollection, the neurons were firing ahead of the clip. I don't think 'resurrection of neuronal activity from the past' is insensitive, maybe just not cool with moms and mushy gushy types.

Video: Hormones and Brain Developmenthttp://www.learner.org/resources/series142.html
This video was repetitive, but interesting none the less. In rat brain studies, it found that there is a definitive link between sex hormones and the shape of both the brain and the body. Females tend to have more symmetrical hemispheres in both rats and humans, and male rats have a thicker right hemisphere. However, when female ovaries are removed, the right cortex is thicker, and when male testes are removed, the left cortex is thicker, unlike typical males. This is an undeniable link. The studies also showed that the cortex can change at any age with certain experiences. The section I found the most insightful was on impoverished environments versus nurtured, enriched environments. The rats in more enriched environment actually had bigger brains! It was a clear link to humans, and the ignorance argument of the poor and downtrodden. There is genuine scientific evidence that it's not a fruitless point. Wowza, science explained social conditions. Isn't that called psychology....