psique

biogerontology carnival and a birthday

2008-07-10T14:48:00.004+02:00

the ouroboros blog turned two recently (belated happy birthday!!) and chris just started a new blog carnival, called hourglass, with topics ranging from caloric restriction over tissue engineering up to brain health. obviously urging you to go check it out!
hourglass will presumably become a monthly installment, and hopefully i'll manage to submit a post to it next time around.

song of the summer

2008-07-03T21:55:00.001+02:00

friendbot

2008-07-02T12:01:00.000+02:00

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

the giant's shoulders

2008-06-30T12:41:00.004+02:00

a new blog carnival is coming up, about classic papers, scientists who did some really important, and big concepts in science, called the giant's shoulders. the first edition is scheduled for july 15th, and i'm already looking forward to it.

thanks to gg and coturnix for coming up with the idea.

news from the loser lounge...

2008-06-29T04:40:00.003+02:00

this is exactly why i put lindabeth's blog in my reader:

entertainment and 'choice'

although the post about women and men and society and me written recently has moved towards one extreme side of things (which i don't mind in the very least), i find it worthwhile to point to this very different kind of aspect of society/entertainment, which i was trying to point to in my post as well (albeit probably unsuccessfully).

so yea, ditto 100%.

(almost) weekend links XI

2008-06-27T08:12:00.010+02:00

when i went outside this morning the air smelled like it used to in hove, good thing the time has come to escape to the hamptons (no, we're not rich, just lucky) today. blogging may be sparse in the next 5 weeks due to frequent visits to the beach, getting huge tips (i hope!) from rich new yorkers, parties with my cousins and shopping sprees facilitated by the great US economy. but before i run away, here's a few links...

reality check: drugmonkey informs us that academic science is "not a care bears fucking tea party". and there i was, thinking that in research i'd be protected from evil elbows and could spend my life eating cream puffs. damn.

the grass is always greener... well, maybe not judging from em's short account (i hope there'll be more to come) of living in thailand.

anti-aging research: dominick has set up a new blog, where he continues to write very informative posts about, well you guessed it - anti-aging research (eg the role of telomers in cell senescence).

TED: loved this talk at TED by robert full, in which he describes how nature can inspire an artificial foot/leg capable of walking on almost any surface and up walls. high up on my to-watch: nicholas negroponte talking about OLPC. what's more, TED compiled a list of their top 10 videos.

the end of theory? wired's editor-in-chief chris anderson claims that thanks to ever-increasing computing and storage powers, the scientific method will need serious revision, and that setting up hypotheses, making models etc will become obsolete as it'll be enough to just observe huge datasets. i was sceptical, but didn't really feel educated enough to justify my opinion - so it's great to see i'm not the only one thinking that anderson is a bit off on this one.

phone sex: phillip toledano took photos of phone sex operators of all shapes and sizes, colour and gender, supplemented by short narratives. very very intriguing even if it makes you feel a bit like a voyeur into someone else's personality (ht: neuroanthropology).

fMRI: deric bownds summarises a nature article about the up- and down-sides of brain imaging here. personally, i'm getting tired of fMRI studies these days, especially when they 'prove' boring common sense stuff, or provide new fodder for straight homophobic sexist men (crappy headlines, anyone?)

primates: spain, usually not that high up on the innovative law-making scale, is granting certain human-like rights to apes. obviously i think that primates are needed in research (sad as it may be), but keeping monkeys in circuses etc is really unneccessary. so yea, way to go!

plants: flowers have feelings too! well, maybe not. but realising that they do communicate with one another (and animals) is still really cool. more at bayblab.

drugs: marc writes about changes in gene expression and drug addiction, prompted by a new study to be published in nature. in a nutshell: exposure to a number of drugs causes DARPP32 to be localised to the nucleus, obviously via dopamine, and leads to histone phosphorylation, thus expression changes - very cool stuff!

meeeeh

2008-06-26T00:44:00.002+02:00

was gonna change the design of my blog (including fancy tabs!) but it all went pearshaped. trying to learn code for 3h without actually consulting anyone can be very frustrating.

so yea. back to the old layout, except the temporary switch ate my widgets (including the sites and blogroll - which means manually putting in around 150 links again... yay!). also, it all looks like shit and i'm too tired to fix things now.

however, if anyone does know how i could add horizontal tabs to the blog without resorting to gecko&fly-like stuff (ie uploading a whole new template, which clearly didn't go too well...) nor the rather primitive looking tabs by hoctro (no offense, i just don't have the knowledge to change the design, hence picky), well... let me know and i shall virtually kiss your feet (if it actually works).

ps: yea, i'm aware of wordpress - but i wouldn't switch just because of some silly urge to have tabs.. (or would i..?)

Isabel Allende at TED

2008-06-25T18:42:00.003+02:00

a great short (18min) talk by the wonderful author isabel allende. it's amusing and it's sad, telling stories of allende's own life, and stories of some of the passionate, strong women she encountered; as well as about the suffering that especially women in poor countries are continueing to experience. she ends on a hopeful note.

digging in archives

2008-06-24T23:12:00.001+02:00

..Beauty in Neuroscience

"The hippocampus and the dentate fascia are adorned by many features with the pure beauty of the cerebellar cortex. The cells, like the plants in a garden – as it were a series of hyacinths – are lined up in hedges which describe graceful curves."

– Santiago Ramon y Cajal

contra physical control of the mind...

2008-06-23T21:52:00.006+02:00

these days i increasingly find myself reading feminist/progressive blogs, i'm not sure why. i guess i'm at a point in life where i'm looking for some (re-)definition of what it means to be a woman, now that i'll soon be turning 25, on the brinck of permamently moving away from home, without a significant other for the first time in nearly 9 years, consequently thinking a lot about relationships past and relationships future, starting to feel like i actually am a grown woman, and no longer a girl. maybe i'm looking for some guidance.

my interest first took off maybe a bit less than a year maybe when i started reading thus spake zuska, a blog that deals a lot with inequality between men and women in academia. now i haven't experienced any maltreatment myself thus far, possibly because the biological sciences are quite populated with females (why? because it is a 'soft' branch of natural science..?). but i've heard ancedotes from my mum, who is a quite high-up anesthesiologst in a quite high-up hospital as well as a very strong woman. it's also not easy to ignore the pay gap and other such things that are well documented. neither is it easy to ignore dipshits like summers, or my own 16y old brother sighing "ah, women and technology.." as soon as i fail to work out some car radio function in less than a split-second.

well, that interest of mine came and went - temporarilly went into hiding maybe. recently, as i've mentioned, i've found myself reading more again. this time it's a lot about women in the media (eg in ads like these), it's also about hillary clinton and the misogynistic tendencies of many that surfaced during her campain. and then it's also about sex, about misogyny in the bedroom, about porn and about rape. the trouble is that while i may get angry about eg unfair situations at work, or sexist ads and the like, and then sort of forget about it again - i can't do the same with shit like this, or this, or this. instead i end up in tears of rage and frustration over the violation of women and their bodies, which is not and cannot be excused by men being the physically 'stronger' sex and hence allowed to forage 'weaker' females like a predator in these seemingly intellectual and enlightened times.. and i am unable to put it aside like the other issues.

the reason for writing this (which may irritate some readers who've come to expect sciencey/geeky content) is this inability to simply start thinking about something else right now, and the lack of someone irl who i could talk to about it. it's all too easy to start resenting and hating all men, all porn - all sexuality even (and it's consequently difficult to inhibit this impulse), but i'm not sure that's the answer. specifically, i don't think that changes anything. and that is what's leaving me feeling very sad instead of angry now, not knowing what to do. what can a single individual with little experience and practically no influence on anything do? yea, guess i'm looking for guidance...

weekend links X

2008-06-21T22:22:00.002+02:00

the birth of the computer: george dyson gave an entertaining TED talk about the first computers (and the first geeks) in 2003.

word play: wordle lets you create and customise cool word clouds (like tag clouds) from any paste-able text. the longer, the better, i think. there's also a gallery of other people's clouds. ht: the great beyond.

parenting 2.0: is it possible to equally share parental and household responsibilities? in the NY times, lisa belkin writes about positive examples from hetero couples, what we can learn from homo couples, and about obstacles faced by parents who want to go 50/50 as well as sickening stats (even if both partners work full time, women still do twice as much housework as men - i mean WTF people?) ht: neuroanthropology (weekly roundup #16 is full of other good articles btw).

post-it notes 2.0: watch the short clip at the filter and be amazed. i'm not even sure this can be for real but me wants!

slide shows galore: at slideshare you can watch, upload and share presentations. there's everything from business over pregnant men to cultural stuff and science. remember when you had to do presentations with projectors and hand written foil slides? ht: wired how-to wiki.

diet, health, and weight: as per usual, there's a great list of articles over at neuroanthropology, this time about all things food & weight related. especially recommended: natural neuroprotection (DANA foundation) and unusual measures to curb obesity in japan (NY times).

california I: yay for homosexual marriage finally being legal. the photo series at dorothy surrenders (sorry for stealing the pic) is really touching. ht: shakesville.

california II: boo for 23andMe et al getting angry letters from up above - really? of course everyone is entitled to get their DNA sequenced. of course most doctors know as little about genetics as their patients, and hence are in no position to decide whether one may get tested or not. what makes me less eager to condemn the health department's action though, is that most people don't know what to make out of the info either, and without proper regulation it's all too easy for sequencing companies to sell approximations and predictions as real 'facts' with a tiny asterisk attached. maybe one could set up guidelines similar to those for pharmaceutical advertising (but better..)? also, the whole idea of sharing your SNPs with other people or 'finding other people like you' that 23andMe (ht: scienceroll) propagates is just silly.

new frontiers: how to go from pharma to venture capital? allan marchington and steven ryser talk about their transition in this nature reviews drug disovery article.

mind uploading, anyone? not anytime soon :p... mike at brainstimulant brought my attention to PetaVision, an attempt to model the human visual system. although this is really cool, just look at how much computing power (not in flops but in real space) they use while our oh-so-errorprone-and-imperfect brain manages to give us a pretty good approximation of how the world looks like with only what? max 150ml volume (wild guess) of visual cortex?

;)

2008-06-21T13:44:00.002+02:00

source: the filter.

the reader

2008-06-18T23:45:00.004+02:00

nicholas carr asks: is google making us stupid?

- this is not about outsourcing our knowledge, as carr merely uses google as a pin up for the internet as a whole, and makes a few very thought provoking observations along the way. so the question is really: is the internet making us all go ADHD?

personally, i don't find that reading long texts, books even, has become more difficult. what i have noticed though, is that jet skying on the surface instead of scuba diving in the sea of words, as carr puts it, has become considerable easier and more natural and seemingly more fulfulling. the trouble (?) is, that while information in print form is fairly linear, information on the internet is embedded in a freaking massive web. you get links in the text, recommendations for other articles/posts and the like, and you end up jumping from link to site, and yes - sometimes you never go back to the original piece because you find something seemingly more interesting on your way. on one hand, it's very useful to be able to look into the background of a given topic with a few clicks, as compared to say tediously searching out relevant articles referenced in a printed review paper. on the other hand, it's all too easy to get sidetracked and end up 'investigating' one small detail while forgetting the bigger picture.

the other problem is that the internet is overflowing with information and interesting things, and although one can try, i bet my eye balls it's impossible to ever read every article one either has to or would like to read, watch every video worth watching and listen to every podcast there is - at least not unless one has limited attention to begin with and a small, fixated area of interest. for anyone interested in a lot of different things, the internet is a both a blessing and a curse. on one hand, now you finally have access to all the info you could ever want (given the right subcriptions/memberships etc). on the other, the internet may create the feeling that you aren't reading enough and don't know enough - just because what you've read and what you know is but a tear drop in the ocean of information. i'm not sure this applies to everyone, since i suppose that reading the whole encyclopedia from A to Z might not have been everyone's childhood dream, and consequently not everyone feels bummed because they never managed to (likewise there may be some people who actually did read the whole damned thing and by virtue of their reading speed/intellect/lack of friends/free time have less of a problem in keeping up to date with all the info the internet provides), but i suspect that there are some people out there who know exactly what i'm on about. i for my part tend to skim tons of stuff, in the (false?) belief that if something should ever require in depth reading, i should be able to retrieve it with the help of a few keywords.

anyway, i only meant to raise awareness of carr's essay instead of ranting (damn you, read/write web!) because he obviously mentions a whole bunch of other important points and is generally much more worth your time. also, i've got a bunch of stuff left unread and it's getting late. thank google for reader :p

from psychology to viruses

2008-06-15T23:19:00.002+02:00

just a few interesting articles/reviews that i want to share but which don't fit neatly into any of my usual categories..

johnson et al: the strong, sensitive type - effects of gender stereotypes and leadership prototypes on the evaluation of male and female leaders. +++

gannon et al: rape - psychopathology, theory and treatment. (review) ++

kozima et al: children-robot interaction - a pilot study in autism therapy. +++

kuniyoshi et al: emergence & development of embodied cognition - a constructivist approach using robots. (i admit to understanding fuckall but this sounds v interesting) +++

natale et al: sensorimotor coordination in a 'baby' robot - learning about objects through grasping. ++

dombeck et al: imaging large-scale neural activity with cellular resolution in awake, mobile mice. +++

saunders et al: barriers in the brain - a rennaissance? (review) +++

feuerstein: presynaptic receptors for dopamine, histamine, and serotonin. (review) +++

salinas et al: molecular landmarks along the axonal route - axonal transport in health and disease. (review) ++

liu & shuai: regulation of the sumoylation system in gene expression. ++

cho: the genetics and immunopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (review, free full access). +

de vries & berkhout: RNAi suppressors encoded by pathogenic human viruses. ++

screw sex & the city...

2008-06-14T21:06:00.005+02:00

..which is invading germany at the moment, as the female panem et circenses counterpart to the UEFO Euro.

Instead: Science & the City podcasts. Lots of them. I listened to about half of the ones currently available and these are the ones I liked best... hope you'll find some you'll like too... (the 'mp3' links prompt automatic downloads)

The rapidly changing climate system: Michael Oppenheimer, "a lead author with the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gives a global warming overview". mp3 (34min).

The neuroscience of fair play: Donald Pfaff, "the head of the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior at Rockefeller University describes how ethics may be a hardwired function of the human brain". mp3 (42min)

A slippery slope: Facts, ethics, and policy guiding neuroscience today: "Neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga & lawyer Hank Greely debated the implications of neuroimaging, cognitive enhancers, stem cell research, improved medical diagnostic methods, and more in an animated conversation with journalist William Safire". mp3 (51min)

Ethics in the age of neuroscience: Michael Gazzaniga & bestselling author Tom Wolfe "discussed how knowledge of the brain can shed light on controversial issues and, perhaps surprisingly, bolster moral responsibility. mp3 (58min)

Resolving evolution's greatest paradox (Marc Kirschner): "Darvin's theory of natural selection has never been very good at explaining novelty or complexity in living organisms. The new theory of "facilitated variation", however, promises to fill in the gaps". mp3 (44min)

Is sustainable development feasible? "Director of the Earth Institute Jeffrey Sachs explained in his 2005 bestseller, "The end of poverty," how sustainable development could be feasible. But, he tells S&C, it will only be possible if key actors commit to some significant changes". mp3 (25min)

Sex, Drugs & DNA - Science's taboos confronted: "S&C speaks with scientist-turned-policy wonk Michael Stebbins about his new book, which takes the Bush administration to task for policies that Stebbins says mislead the public and are bad for science and scientists." mp3 (22min)

How to be happy - a geneticist-turned-monk takes a scientific approach to a spritual life: "Matthieu Ricard was a geneticist at Institut Pasteur before becoming a Buddhist monk. He spoke at the New York State Psychiatric Institute about his new book, "Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill", and about research published in PNAS in 2004 suggesting that meditation can induce long-term neural changes". mp3 (59min)

Mind vs Soul - a Philoctetes centre roundtable: "Six scholars of psychology, neuroscience, and religion discuss the relationship between the brain, the mind, emotional consciousness, and the possibility of a higher functioning that might be called soul." mp3 (1:31h)

Genomics & minorities: "While many biologists view genomics as an unmitigated boon, social scientists remain wary of its potential for misuse. NYU sociologist Troy Duster discusses how some old concepts of race are quietly creeping back into genetics, with disturbing implications for medicine and forensics." mp3 (19min)

Coming to life: How genes drive development: "S&C speaks with Nobel Laureate Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard about her book "Coming to life", in which she chronicles the astonishing progress scientists have made in understanding how genes drive the development of cells", as well as about some of the problems faced by women in science and how these could be solved. In the end I was just dissappointed to hear that she doesn't have kids of her own, which seems to be part of the women in science problematic. mp3 (21min)

Making of the fittest: "Geneticist Sean Carroll elucidates how DNA can provide a record of evolution by so-called "fossilized genes." In a lecture at the American Museum of Natural History, he explains how DNA can reveal expressed traits that have been lost, gained, and modified throughout time." mp3 (43min)

Paths to recovery in major depression: insights from functional neuroimaging: "Helen Mayberg presents her conceptualization of the functional brain networks underlying depression and discusses how a variety of therapeutic modalities, including meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy, may play a role in treatment and maintaining remission from depression". m4b (54min, enhanced podcast (viewing instructions))

Moral minds: "Harvard professor Marc Hauser says a radical rethinking about our ideas on morality is long overdue. He argues that the human brain evolved an inherent ethical instinct that forms the basis of our moral systems". mp3 (55min)

Shaping the future: "Commemorating the 50th anniversary of New Scientist magazine, E.O. Wilson, Sherry Turkle, and Paul Davies considered our changing relationships with science and technology that will shape the" world of tomorrow. I found Turkle's talk about our (present & future) relationships with technology, especially the internet and increasingly also robots, and how these could change our relationships with people since they provide "the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship" particularly thoughtprovoking. mp3 (1:15h)

Mystery of the mind - what is consciousness? "Renowned NYU neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux joins a psychologist, a philosopher, an author, and a psychotherapist to debate and define the meaning of consciousness". mp3 (1:27h)

Neanderthal brains: "Bruce Lahn, whose lab in the Human Genetics Department at the Uni of Chicago researches human brain evolution, explains the genetic link he has discovered between homo sapiens and neanderthals". mp3 (20min)

Urban sustainability: Albert Appleton, a senior fellow at the CUNY Institute for Urban Systems and former Director of the NYC Water & Sewer System discusses some principles of sustainability and presents a regional perspective on biodiversity. mp3 (33min)

Medical Apartheid: Harriet Washington, "a NY science journalist, who has written the first full history of the shocking mistreatment that black Americans have suffered as unwilling and unwitting experimental subjects", discusses her research. Very disturbing. mp3 (30min)

I, WOZ: "Steve Wozniak, cofounder and inventor of Apple computers, describes his childhood, his sources of inspiration, and the offbeat thinking that led to the Apple II computer". mp3 (56min)

From animal to person: "Daniel Dennett, philosopher and codirector of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts Uni, describes the evolution of human culture, which he says is a "second information highway," swifter and more reliable than genetic transmission". mp3 (34min)

The science of happiness: The popular spanish science journalist and television host Eduardo Punset offers insights and a formula from his book, "The happiness trip: a scientific journey," a bestseller in Spain and newly released in the USA". mp3 (37min)

The stuff of thought: "Hear what Harvard University psychologist Steven Pinker has to say about language and cognition, what swearing reveals about emotion, and what innuendo says about relationships". mp3 (1:03h)

The mind and music: "Physician, neurologist, and author Oliver Sacks speaks about his book, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Mind". mp3 (43min)

Daydreaming and night-dreaming: John Antrobus, Eric Klinger, Malia Mason, Ethel Person, and Jerome Singer discuss "stimulus-independent thought, including review of data from neuroscience imaging and clinical applications of research on human fantasy". mp3 (39min)

Climate change - Coral reefs, glacial lakes, and forest canopies: Oceanographer Richard Feely, geochemist W. Berry Lyons, and biologist Margaret Lowman discuss factors that govern the process of climate change based on their field research. mp3 (55min)

The origin of brain degenerative disorders: Patrick Hof, "a Mt. Sinai School of Medicine neuroscientist explains the morpho-molecular features that render certain neuronal populations of the brain vulnerable to degeneration". mp3 (1:05h)

This collection is far from extensive and subjective to boot, so I suggest you check out the other podcasts for yourself.

(yes, obviously sex & the city has nothing to do with these podcasts - i just wanted an excuse to put up a pic of the four women that propagate stupid female stereotypes and are even proclaimed heroes by their sheepish followers in return, but make me absolutely sick...)

some news on depression

2008-06-14T00:42:00.000+02:00

I tried to make sense of the depression-related abstracts I've accumulated over the past few months by briefly summarising them in little packets according to sub-topic. So here the's result, little tidbits from psychology, neuroimaging and systems neurobiology over biochemical signalling and serotonin transporter polymorphisms up to the immune system and inflammation... Might try to do the same with anti-depressant papers in the near future if time permits.

Risk factors for depression apparently include being female, non-white American, smoking, drinking or doing other drugs, being of lower socioeconomic status, and engaging in delinquent behaviour, while protective factors include 2-parent family structures and a good connection to parents, peers and school as well as high self-esteem. No shit, Sherlock.. (Costello et al, 2008. J Consult & Clin Psych). A family atmosphere characterized by expressed emotion (shouting?) and perceived criticism might be a risk factor in developing depression in later life, however, these factors do not seem to contribute significantly to relapse (Kronmüller et al, 2008. Psychiat Res).

Neuroimaging of depression points to hyperactivity of limbic structures that are involved in experiencing and expressing emotion, which weakens the ability of dorsal cortical structures that normally regulate affect to influence said limbic areas (Gotlib & Hamilton, 2008, Curr Dir Psychol Sci, free full access). Depressed individuals might give biased attention to negative emotional stimuli, and in addition, someone who is depressed might be more likely to perceive neutral stimuli (such as facial expressions) as negative, when compared to healthy invidiuals (Gollan et al, 2008. Psychiat Res).

Amygdala volumes in unmedicated depressed subjects tend to be smaller than controls, while antidepressant medication appears to result in increased amygdala volumes (Hamilton et al, 2008. Mol Psychiat, metastudy). The association of hippocampal volume and different depression subtypes (eg atypical, melancholic) remains uncertain (Greenberg et al, 2008. Psychiat Res).

Different calcium-sensitive adenylyl cyclase isoforms expressed in limbic areas differentially influence pro/anti-depressive behaviour and neurotrophic signalling but not hippocampal cell proliferation in KO mice (Krishnan et al, 2008. Biol Psychiat). In depression (or at least in the brains of clinically depressed individuals who successfully committed suicide), Gs may be localised to lipid rafts where it is less likely to coupleto adenylyl cyclase. Antidepressants may upregulateGs signaling to adenylyl cyclase via changes in membrane composition (Donati et al, 2008. J Neurosci).

Increased plasma levels of vasopressin, a nonapeptide involved in the neural and endocrine response to stress and expressed in the hypothalamus, pituitary and in limbic regions, are linked to affective disorders such as anxiety and depression. In addition, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the vasopressin 1b receptor is associated with a decreased risk of depression (Surget & Belzung, 2008. Eur J Pharm, review).

Serotonin transporter gene haplotypes may be associated with the effect of threatening life events on development of a depressive phenotype after all (Lazary et al, 2008. Biol Psychiat). Likewise, SNPs in the serotonin transporter gene may be associated with suicide attempts, which argueable could constitute a symptom of depression (though not all suicide attempters need be clinically depressed) (Bah et al, 2008. Psychiat Res). Transgenic mice, with reduced or lacking serotonin transporter functionality, display a wide variety of phenotypic changes - from an increase in anxious behaviours (and probably also signs of depression) to changes in gut mobility. Although findings in human genetic-association studies and the likes are not as robust, many phenotypic changes observed are similar to those found in rodents (Murphy & Lesch, 2008. Nat Rev Neurosci, review). Serotonin transporter inhibition has differential effects, depending on whether it went missing early in development via knock-out, or inhibited pharmacologically later on in life. While the former increases the risk of depression in adulthood, the latter inhibits it. 30 genes appear to be expressed differentially when comparing KOs to pharmacologically treated animals, and several transcription factors involved in survival, proliferation and migration of serotonergic neurons during development seem to be involved (Ichikawa et al, 2008. Biochem & Biophys Res Comm). Similarly, neonatal exposure of female mice to escitalopram results in those mice showing signsof depression in the form of sleep anomalies, anhedonia, increasedhelplessness etc, while escitalopram did not have these effects in adult mice (Popa et al, 2008. J Neurosci).

The RNA expression of CamKIIa, tyrosine hydroxylase, CART, Homer1, glutamate decarboxylase and a number of other genes is downregulated in the frontal cortex following the exposure of rats to chronic mild stress (which may reflect the (pre-)depressed state in humans). Some of the genes have already been implicated in affective disorders and anhedonia in other studies (Orsetti et al, 2008. Eur J Neurosci).

Depressed female outpatients who suffered physical neglect during childhood display decreased plasma BDNF levels and worse performance in verbal recall tests than depressed and non-depressed individuals (Grassi-Oliveira et al, 2008. Biol Psychiat). 13 variants in the neurotrophin receptor kinase 3 gene may be somewhat associated with early-onset major depressive disorder (Verma et al, 2008. Biol Psychiat).

As if depression, loneliness, stress and grief weren't bad enough on their own, these factors can also increase ones risk of having a heart attack (substracting for smoking, poor sleep and other such things). Proinflammatory cytokines seem to be to blame. Au contraire, laughter, happiness and self-esteem lower the expression of some cytokines (Coombs, 2008. Nat Med, news article). Vice versa, increased immune activity due to (chronic) illness could lead to the development of depression in vulnerable individuals (Dantzer et al, 2008. Nat Rev Neurosci, review). SNPs in several genes critical for T-cell function are significantly associated with major depressive disorder in Mexican Americans, further underscoring the putative interplay of the immune system and depression (Wong et al, 2008. Mol Psychiat). Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) beta and soluble TNF receptor plasma levels are elevated in acutely depressed Bavarians (Himmerich et al, 2008. Eur Psychiat).

free fall

2008-06-12T14:45:00.002+02:00

these days i like to sit next to my friend, the fig tree. it's gotten so big, who would've thought? but i saw the fig leaves grow every day from the point where they were as small as a cent coin up to now when every leaf could easily cover the mightiest of adams. is the fig tree looking at the stars? i'm not. i guess i'm a bit planetist in that respect; besides, my eyes have always been weak, so i can never see all the stars anyway, only the 'bright' ones. no, i sit and look at our house, the lights, the other plants around me. i sit and i smoke. it's one of those rare moments, in which the constant stream of thoughts goes silent. sometimes the wind tries to talk to me, using the fig tree as an interface. but i don't understand the wind anymore, instead i can find meaning in techno tracks. my parents don't understand my affinity for the internet. maybe i won't understand my children's affinity for humanoid robots? maybe they will come to me one day and ask: 'mum, i've been thinking about getting an implant...' i guess if i'll have done things right as a mother they might actually do so. i'm using my siblings as guinea pigs. i try to be open with them in an attempt to get some trust in return... so, do they tell me everything? hell no. will they tell me the important things? i hope so. i'm not big on asking questions. the fig tree isn't big on talking at all, which is fine. we just sit. my friend would have never grown so big in north-west germany if it wasn't for global warming. i'm getting scared of climate change, maybe it's too late for that - well, there's always bill hicks to fall back on. maybe there's someone out there by the stars doing a better job than us down here.

parkinson's disease papers

2008-06-11T23:19:00.001+02:00

crazyness: the guys at neuroinformation.org have compiled lists of reviews from 2004 - 2008 for PD, alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis as well as reviews from 2000 - 2008 on essential acids eg omega-3.

here's a collection of PD papers that i came across lately (most are from 2008), and i tried to cover a broad range of topics. there's so much out there, but i think it could be useful to keep up to date with what's happening around one's subfield of interest, even if it's just by getting a glimpse of the research that's being done...

dopamine (DA)

merims & giladi: DA dysregulation syndrome, addiction and behavioural changes in PD. +++
cropley et al: pre- and post-synaptic DA imaging and its relation to with frontostriatal cognitive function in PD: PET studies with [¹¹C]NNC 112 and [¹⁸F]FDOPA. +
panzacchi et al: a voxel-based PET study of DA transporters in PD - relevance of age at onset. +++
caudle et al: altered vesicular DA storage in PD - a premature demise. (review) +++
mallet et al: disrupted DA transmission and the emergence of exaggaterated beta oscillations in subthalamic nucleus and cerebral cortex. +
mastroeni et al: microglial responses to DA in a cell culture model of PD. ++

non-motor symptoms

kummer et al: frequency of psychiatric disorders in young-onset PD does not differ from typical late-onset PD. ++
bouchard et al: age- and dementia-associated atrophy predominates in the hippocampal head and amygdala in PD. +
parnetti et al: cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in PD with dementia and dementia with lewy bodies. ++
cheon et al: nonmotor symptoms in PD - prevalence and awareness of patients and families. ++

non-genetic factors contributing to PD

hatcher et al: PD and pesticides - a toxicological perspective. (review) +++
smith et al: stress accelerated neural degeneration and exaggerates motor symptoms in a rat model of PD. +++

treatments: L-dopa etc

fraraccio et al: absence of cognitive deficits following deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus for the treatment of PD. ++
samadi et al: mGluR5 metabotropic glutamate receptors and dyskinesias in MPTP monkeys. ++
lee et al: kynurenic acid attenuated MPP+-induced DAergic neuronal cell death via a Bax-mediated mitochondrial pathway. ++
hirano et al: dissociation of metabolic and neurovascular responses to L-dopa in the treatment of PD. +
sebastianelli et al: the L-amino acid carrier inhibitor BCH reduces L-dopa-elicited responses in DAergic neurons of the SNc. ++
locke et al: acetaminophen (paracetamol) attenuates DA neuron degeneration in animal models of PD. ++
wright et al: microglial activation is not prevented by tacrolimus but DA neuron damage is reduced in a rat model of PD progression. ++
armentero et al: dietary restriction does not prevent nigrostriatal degeneration 6-hydroxydopamine model of PD. +

(stem) cell transplants

kordower et al: lewy body-like pathology in long-term embryonic nigral transplants in PD. +++
li et al: lewy-bodies in grafted neurons in subjects with PD suggest host-to-graft disease propagation. +++
mendez et al: DA neurons implanted into people with PD survive without pathology for 14 years. ++
loturco & kriegstein: manipulating midbrain stem cell self-renewal. (preview) ++
svendsden: stem cells and PD - towards a treatment, not a cure. (preview) +

genetics and PD

bergmann et al: PITX3 polymorphism is associated with early-onset PD. ++
tan & skipper: pathogenic mutations in PD. (review) +++
dodson & guo: pink1, parkin, DJ1 and mitochondrial dysfunction in PD. (review) +++
kroemer & blomgren: mitochondrial cell death control in familial PD. (free access primer) +++
sironi et al: parkin analysis in early onset PD. +
bardien et al: molecular analysis of the parkin gene in south african patients diagnosed with PD. ++

alpha-synuclein

gallardo et al: a molecular pathway of neurodegeneration linking alpha-synuclein to ApoE and beta-amyloid peptides. ++
crews et al: alpha-synuclein alters notch-1 expression and neurogenesis in mouse embryonic stem cells and in the hippocampus of transgenic mice. +++
shavali et al: mitochondrial localization of alpha-synuclein overexpressing cells. +++
sandal et al: conformational equilibria in monomeric alpha-synuclein at the single-molecule level. (free access) ++
hoepken et al: parkinson patient fibroblasts show increased alpha-synuclein expression. +++
thirunavukkuarasu et al: multiparametric fluorescence detection of early stages in the amyloid protein aggregation of pyrene-labeled alpha-synuclein. ++

cell bio & electrophysiology

alvira et al: activation of the calpain/cdk5/p25 pathway in the girus cinguli in PD. ++
greffard et al: a stable proportion of lewy body bearing neurons in the substantia nigra suggests a model in which the lewy body causes neuronal death. +
strauss et al: increasing extracellular potassium results in subthalamic neuron activity resembling that seen in a 6-hydroxydopamine lesion. +++

to answer your question...

2008-06-10T23:54:00.005+02:00

on how the floating about of molecules and attachment seen in the clip (ht: scienceroll) works:

- Shulman-Peleg et al (2008) Prediction of Interacting Single-Stranded RNA Bases by Protein-Binding Patterns. J Mol Bio 379: 299-316.

...well, okay - so this actually doesn't answer the question at all. but at least it's not improbable that we do know how the amino acid finds its right spot on the ribosome, if we can predict which proteins will bind to a given RNA fragment, no?

;)

ada byron (1815-1852)

2008-06-05T13:56:00.006+02:00

wired published an article about ada - the countess of lovelace - byron, who 'wrote the first computer program' after having come in contact with charles babbage, who thought up the first computer:

"1833: Ada Byron meets Charles Babbage. He designed an early computer, and she would write the first computer program.

Ada's father was the poet Lord Byron, but her parents separated when she was a month old. Her famous -- and poetically wild -- father went to Greece, and she never knew him.

Ada was 15 when she met the Cambridge mathematics professor Babbage 175 years ago today. Babbage had already received funding from Parliament to build a "difference engine" that could do mathematical calculations. While that project was still unfinished, he conceived in 1834 a new and broader idea: an "analytical engine" that "could not only foresee but could act on that foresight."

In 1835, Ada married William King, who inherited the title Earl of Lovelace in 1838, making her Countess of Lovelace. They had three children, but Ada's family and social responsibilities did not keep her from continuing her study of advanced mathematics.

Babbage, meanwhile, gave a seminar on the analytic engine in Turin, Italy, in 1841. Countess Ada translated the article about the presentation and showed it to Babbage. He was apparently better at conceiving things than explaining them (unheard of in a mathematician, eh?) and suggested that Ada expand the article with her own notes.

When published in 1843, those notes ran three times as long as the original article. Ada predicted that a computing machine could compose music, draw graphics and find application, so to speak, in business and science.

She also wrote a plan for the analytical engine to calculate Bernoulli numbers. It's now considered the first computer program. The countess originated the idea of a loop in a program, which she likened to a "snake biting its tail."

Ada was also a friend to novelist Charles Dickens, scientist Michael Faraday, inventor Charles Wheatstone and David Brewster, creator of the kaleidoscope. She was an opium addict who had numerous affairs and gambled away a lot of her family fortune. She died of cancer in 1852, two weeks shy of her 37th birthday.

The countess of Lovelace has attained recent fame through Betty Toole's 1992 edition of her correspondence, Ada, The Enchantress of Numbers and Lynn Hershman-Leeson's 1997 film Conceiving Ada, starring Tilda Swinton.

The U.S. Department of Defense named a computer language "Ada" in her honor."

very interesting, especially the links - and a great excuse to advertise my recent post about annemarie schwarzenbach.

yay for cool women!