House of Mind

"Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into a mind" - Jeffrey Eugenides

  • 31st August
    2012
  • 31
Upcoming Events at the New York Academy of Sciences

Being a graduate student at NYU has many perks. One of the best ones, in my opinion, is that we get a paid student membership to the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) for the entire duration of your Ph.D. study. Amazing, I know! Sometimes I actually feel a little guilty about not taking the maximum advantage of this opportunity. Thus, this year I have decided to be more proactive about going to the NYAS neuroscience events and actually get myself over there. 
While searching for the closest upcoming events, I discovered that the majority of these events are open to everybody for a small registration fee of $10 if you are a student/postdoc/fellow or $15 if you are a nonmember. 
Below is a list of the 3 upcoming NYAS Neuroscience events, but I will be posting about the other events throughout the year. Also, the NYAS events span a wide variety of topics like: 
  • Life Sciences and Biomedical Research
  • Physical Sciences and Engineering
  • Environmental Studies and Sustainability
  • Social Sciences
  • Science, Society and Culture
  • Science Education
  • Career Development
Click on the link for the full menu of upcoming events. Also, they have a Science and the Seven Deadly Sins series that seems fantastic, check it out! 
 Wednesday, October 10, 2012 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

The Thinking Ape: The Enigma of Consciousness

Panelists: David Chalmers (Australian National University), Daniel Kahneman (Princeton University, Prof. Em.), Laurie Santos (Yale University), Nicholas D. Schiff (Weill Cornell Medical College)
Moderator: Steve Paulson (To the Best of Our Knowledge — WPR)

Nobel laureate psychologist Daniel Kahneman, philosopher David Chalmers, expert in primate cognition Laurie Santos, and physician-scientist Nicholas Schiff discuss the origin and nature of consciousness, with a special emphasis on what makes humans unique with respect to our cognitive, aesthetic, and ethical behaviors.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 | 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM

Sixth Annual Parkinson’s Disease Therapeutics Conference

Chair: Kalpana Merchant (Eli Lilly and Company)

Michael J. Fox Foundation-funded investigators will discuss novel therapeutic targets for Parkinson’s disease, biomarkers for early detection and assessment of disease progression, and strategies to alleviate symptoms or to slow disease progression.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

The Mystery of Memory: In Search of the Past

Panelists: André Aciman (City University of New York Graduate Center), Joseph LeDoux (New York University), Daniel Schacter (Harvard University), Alison Winter (University of Chicago)
Moderator: Steve Paulson (To the Best of Our Knowledge — WPR)

Psychologist Daniel Schacter, neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux, science historian Alison Winter, and novelist and comparative literature professor André Aciman discuss how memory impacts our perception, our personality, and our experience of the world.

  • 27th November
    2011
  • 27
In order to understand what is meant by the word ‘brain’ as it is used by neuroscientists, we must bear in mind the evidence that this organ contains in some recorded form the basis of one’s whole conscious life. It contains the record of all our aims and ambitions and is essential for the experience of all pleasures and pains, all loves and hates.
J.Z. Young (from Philosophy and the Brain, 1987)
  • 22nd July
    2011
  • 22
  • 11th July
    2011
  • 11
The Science of Sleep: A Focus on REM Sleep and Dreaming (Click on the image for a better view) As anybody who was gone without sleep for a couple of days would know, sleep is essential for mental health and adequate cognitive function. Regulation of the sleep cycle (and consciousness states) is influenced by monoamines (i.e. serotonin, noradrenaline, histamine, dopamine) and their interaction with cholinergic neurons in the brainstem. There are 3 types of transitions in consciousness identifiable in the human brain: waking, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Sleep, particularly REM sleep, has been suggested to be important for brain development by contributing to plasticity processes in the brain and is thought to have a role in memory processing (particularly state dependent memory consolidation).  REM sleep is sleep that results in brain activation, as indexed by electroencephalographic evidence, but with inhibition of muscle tone and (involuntary) saccadic eye movements. REM sleep is regulated by two distinct neuronal populations: REM-off cells: Active during waking and inactive during REM sleep. Located in the locus coeruleus and the dorsal raphe nucleus and usually serotonergic/noradrenergic neurons. REM-on cells: Inactive during waking and active during REM sleep. Located primarily in the mesopontine tegmentum and usually cholinergic neurons.  As indicated above, REM sleep is controlled by the brainstem pontine nuclei and is potentiated by cholinergic mechanisms (REM-on)  while being suppressed by aminergic mechanisms (REM-off). Thus, transitions in states of consciousness (i.e. wakefulness, NREM, REM) are the result of these neuromodulatory neurotransmitter interactions in the “sleep centers” of the brain. REM sleep is also characterized by the minimal levels of inhibition present in the brain during this stage.REM sleep activates phasic signals (PGO waves) in the pontine brainstem (P), the lateral geniculate body of the thalamus (G), and the occipital cortex (O), which are also prominent in the visual system and in sensorimotor systems in the forebrain. PGO waves are thought to help maintenance of sleep by occluding external sensory input in addition to fostering sensorimotor integration that may be important for perception and motor control.  Evidence from neuroimaging studies have found increased activation (as indexed by blood flow increases) in several brain areas during REM sleep. These include: the pons, the midbrain, the thalamus and hypothalamus, the amygdala and the basal ganglia. It is important to also keep in mind that REM sleep (along with dreaming occuring during REM) induces activation in the forebrain through ascending arousal systems and that this activation is aminergically deficient and cholinergically driven, as depicted in the image above. For a long period of time, REM sleep was thought of as the “sleep substrate” of dreaming, which may have been due to the higher reports of dreaming sequences during REM sleep compared to NREM sleep. A popular model that dominated the field was Hobson’s Activation-Hypothesis Model, which stated that dreams are actively generated by the brainstem and passively synthesized by the forebrain. However, there is growing evidence supporting the notion that REM sleep and dreaming are dissociable states controlled by different neural mechanisms: REM sleep by cholinergic mechanisms in the brain stem and dreaming sequences via dopaminergic mechanisms in the forebrain. In his 2000 review, Solms lists several of the arguments in favor of this REM sleep-dream association. Some of these are: REM sleep is not controlled by forebrain mechanisms: Classical studies (Jouvet, 1962) have shown that the forebrain is both incapable of and unnecessary for generating REM sleep.  Not all dreaming is correlated with REM sleep: REM can occur in the absence of dreaming and dreaming can occur in the absence of REM sleep (NREM).  Dreaming is preserved in subjects with large pontine brain stem lesions: Manifestations of REM sleep, however, are eliminated. Dreaming is only eliminated when components of both REM and NREM sleep are ablated.  Dreaming is eliminated by forebrain lesions that completely spare the brainstem: These lesions were typically in the parieto-temporo-occipital (PTO) junction, a region that supports several cognitive processes vital for the construction of mental imagery. However, the REM sleep cycle is preserved.  Dreams are actively generated by forebrain mechanisms unrelated to REM sleep. The dopaminergic innervation in these forebrain networks originates from the VTA, the source of mesocortical/mesolimbic dopamine. Descending components of these loops come from latter brain areas that are heavily influenced by cholinergic circuit activity. Chemical activation of this dopamine circuit through L-dopa has been shown to promote psychotic symptoms and increase dreaming, which suggests a causal relationship between mesolimbic/mesocortical DA and dreaming. Dreams are generated by a specific network of forebrain structures: It has been postulated that dreaming involves concerted activity in highly specific group of forebrain structures which include: anterior and lateral hypothalamic areas, the amygdaloid complex, septal-ventral striatal areas, as well as infralimbic, prelimbic, orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate, entorhinal, insular and occipitotemporal cortical areas. Considering all the implicated areas, the construction of imagery during dreaming is a complex cognitive process.  To sum up, dreaming seems to require: 1) brain activation (not necessarily REM sleep) along with the 2) engagement of specific dopamine circuits in the forebrain that initiate dreaming. Sources:  Hobson, J.A. 2009. REM sleep and dreaming: Towards a theory of protoconsciousness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 10: 803-813. doi:10.1038/nrn271 Hobson, J.A. & Pace-Schott, EF. 2002. The cognitive neuroscience of sleep: neuronal systems, consciousness and learning. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 3 (9): 679-693. doi:10.1038/nrn915 Solms, Mark. 2000. Dreaming and REM sleep are controlled by 2 different brain mechanisms. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 23: 843-850. 

The Science of Sleep: A Focus on REM Sleep and Dreaming

(Click on the image for a better view)

As anybody who was gone without sleep for a couple of days would know, sleep is essential for mental health and adequate cognitive function. Regulation of the sleep cycle (and consciousness states) is influenced by monoamines (i.e. serotonin, noradrenaline, histamine, dopamine) and their interaction with cholinergic neurons in the brainstem. There are 3 types of transitions in consciousness identifiable in the human brain: waking, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Sleep, particularly REM sleep, has been suggested to be important for brain development by contributing to plasticity processes in the brain and is thought to have a role in memory processing (particularly state dependent memory consolidation). 

REM sleep is sleep that results in brain activation, as indexed by electroencephalographic evidence, but with inhibition of muscle tone and (involuntary) saccadic eye movements. REM sleep is regulated by two distinct neuronal populations:

  • REM-off cells: Active during waking and inactive during REM sleep. Located in the locus coeruleus and the dorsal raphe nucleus and usually serotonergic/noradrenergic neurons.
  • REM-on cells: Inactive during waking and active during REM sleep. Located primarily in the mesopontine tegmentum and usually cholinergic neurons. 

As indicated above, REM sleep is controlled by the brainstem pontine nuclei and is potentiated by cholinergic mechanisms (REM-on)  while being suppressed by aminergic mechanisms (REM-off). Thus, transitions in states of consciousness (i.e. wakefulness, NREM, REM) are the result of these neuromodulatory neurotransmitter interactions in the “sleep centers” of the brain.

REM sleep is also characterized by the minimal levels of inhibition present in the brain during this stage.REM sleep activates phasic signals (PGO waves) in the pontine brainstem (P), the lateral geniculate body of the thalamus (G), and the occipital cortex (O), which are also prominent in the visual system and in sensorimotor systems in the forebrain. PGO waves are thought to help maintenance of sleep by occluding external sensory input in addition to fostering sensorimotor integration that may be important for perception and motor control. 

Evidence from neuroimaging studies have found increased activation (as indexed by blood flow increases) in several brain areas during REM sleep. These include: the pons, the midbrain, the thalamus and hypothalamus, the amygdala and the basal ganglia. It is important to also keep in mind that REM sleep (along with dreaming occuring during REM) induces activation in the forebrain through ascending arousal systems and that this activation is aminergically deficient and cholinergically driven, as depicted in the image above.

For a long period of time, REM sleep was thought of as the “sleep substrate” of dreaming, which may have been due to the higher reports of dreaming sequences during REM sleep compared to NREM sleep. A popular model that dominated the field was Hobson’s Activation-Hypothesis Model, which stated that dreams are actively generated by the brainstem and passively synthesized by the forebrain. However, there is growing evidence supporting the notion that REM sleep and dreaming are dissociable states controlled by different neural mechanisms: REM sleep by cholinergic mechanisms in the brain stem and dreaming sequences via dopaminergic mechanisms in the forebrain. In his 2000 review, Solms lists several of the arguments in favor of this REM sleep-dream association. Some of these are:

  1. REM sleep is not controlled by forebrain mechanisms: Classical studies (Jouvet, 1962) have shown that the forebrain is both incapable of and unnecessary for generating REM sleep. 
  2. Not all dreaming is correlated with REM sleep: REM can occur in the absence of dreaming and dreaming can occur in the absence of REM sleep (NREM). 
  3. Dreaming is preserved in subjects with large pontine brain stem lesions: Manifestations of REM sleep, however, are eliminated. Dreaming is only eliminated when components of both REM and NREM sleep are ablated. 
  4. Dreaming is eliminated by forebrain lesions that completely spare the brainstem: These lesions were typically in the parieto-temporo-occipital (PTO) junction, a region that supports several cognitive processes vital for the construction of mental imagery. However, the REM sleep cycle is preserved. 
  5. Dreams are actively generated by forebrain mechanisms unrelated to REM sleep. The dopaminergic innervation in these forebrain networks originates from the VTA, the source of mesocortical/mesolimbic dopamine. Descending components of these loops come from latter brain areas that are heavily influenced by cholinergic circuit activity. Chemical activation of this dopamine circuit through L-dopa has been shown to promote psychotic symptoms and increase dreaming, which suggests a causal relationship between mesolimbic/mesocortical DA and dreaming.
  6. Dreams are generated by a specific network of forebrain structures: It has been postulated that dreaming involves concerted activity in highly specific group of forebrain structures which include: anterior and lateral hypothalamic areas, the amygdaloid complex, septal-ventral striatal areas, as well as infralimbic, prelimbic, orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate, entorhinal, insular and occipitotemporal cortical areas. Considering all the implicated areas, the construction of imagery during dreaming is a complex cognitive process. 

To sum up, dreaming seems to require: 1) brain activation (not necessarily REM sleep) along with the 2) engagement of specific dopamine circuits in the forebrain that initiate dreaming.

Sources: 

Hobson, J.A. 2009. REM sleep and dreaming: Towards a theory of protoconsciousness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 10: 803-813. doi:10.1038/nrn271

Hobson, J.A. & Pace-Schott, EF. 2002. The cognitive neuroscience of sleep: neuronal systems, consciousness and learning. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 3 (9): 679-693. doi:10.1038/nrn915

Solms, Mark. 2000. Dreaming and REM sleep are controlled by 2 different brain mechanisms. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 23: 843-850. 

  • 6th November
    2010
  • 06
Inside the Minds of Animals Humans are the only animals that use tools, we used to say. But what about the birds and apes that we now know do as well? Humans are the only ones who are empathic and generous, then. But what about the monkeys that practice charity and the elephants that mourn their dead? Humans are the only ones who experience joy and a knowledge of the future. But what about the U.K. study just last month showing that pigs raised in comfortable environments exhibit optimism, moving expectantly toward a new sound instead of retreating warily from it? And as for humans as the only beasts with language? Kanzi himself could tell you that’s not true.Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2008759-2,00.html#ixzz14WJLvMoU Necessary arguments about our perception on animal consciousness. Whether it changes our perspective on treatment of animals or not, we already know that some animals can reason. Reason doesn’t necessarily mean consciousness. Recent researchers are delving  into just that. What type of animal behaviors can represent a hint of self-awareness for example, or subtler things like theory of mind. Will our acknowledgement, upon finding support for such a claim, of animal consciousness change our treatment towards them? Click on the link to read more on the article from Time by Jeffrey Kluger. Let us know what you think.

Inside the Minds of Animals

Humans are the only animals that use tools, we used to say. But what about the birds and apes that we now know do as well? Humans are the only ones who are empathic and generous, then. But what about the monkeys that practice charity and the elephants that mourn their dead? Humans are the only ones who experience joy and a knowledge of the future. But what about the U.K. study just last month showing that pigs raised in comfortable environments exhibit optimism, moving expectantly toward a new sound instead of retreating warily from it? And as for humans as the only beasts with language? Kanzi himself could tell you that’s not true.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2008759-2,00.html#ixzz14WJLvMoU

Necessary arguments about our perception on animal consciousness. Whether it changes our perspective on treatment of animals or not, we already know that some animals can reason. Reason doesn’t necessarily mean consciousness. Recent researchers are delving  into just that. What type of animal behaviors can represent a hint of self-awareness for example, or subtler things like theory of mind. Will our acknowledgement, upon finding support for such a claim, of animal consciousness change our treatment towards them? Click on the link to read more on the article from Time by Jeffrey Kluger. Let us know what you think.