(Source: thehumancircus)
The Nervous System. Diagram of the brain, from De Homine by Rene Descartes, 1662.
(Source: bitchezandblow)
rtnt:
Pills That Can Make You Smarter
Margaret Talbot writes for the New Yorker about the underground world of “neuroenhancing” drugs :
For the moment, people looking for that particular quick fix have a limited choice of meds. But, given the amount of money and research hours being spent on developing drugs to treat cognitive decline, Provigil and Adderall are likely to be joined by a bigger pharmacopoeia. Among the drugs in the pipeline are ampakines, which target a type of glutamate receptor in the brain; it is hoped that they may stem the memory loss associated with diseases like Alzheimer’s. But ampakines may also give healthy people a palpable cognitive boost. A 2007 study of sixteen healthy elderly volunteers found that five hundred milligrams of one particular ampakine “unequivocally” improved short-term memory, though it appeared to detract from episodic memory—the recall of past events. Another class of drugs, cholinesterase inhibitors, which are already being used with some success to treat Alzheimer’s patients, have also shown promise as neuroenhancers. In one study, the drug donepezil strengthened the performance of pilots on flight simulators; in another, of thirty healthy young male volunteers, it improved verbal and visual episodic memory. Several pharmaceutical companies are working on drugs that target nicotine receptors in the brain, in the hope that they can replicate the cognitive uptick that smokers get from cigarettes.
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The neural processes underlying empathy are a subject of intense interest within the social neurosciences1-3. However, very little is known about how brain empathic responses are modulated by the affective link between individuals. We show here that empathic responses are modulated by learned preferences, a result consistent with economic models of social preferences4-7. We engaged male and female volunteers in an economic game, in which two confederates played fairly or unfairly, and then measured brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging while these same volunteers observed the confederates receiving pain. Both sexes exhibited empathy-related activation in pain-related brain areas (fronto-insular and anterior cingulate cortices) towards fair players. However, these empathy-related responses were significantly reduced in males when observing an unfair person receiving pain. This effect was accompanied by increased activation in reward-related areas, correlated with an expressed desire for revenge. We conclude that in men (at least) empathic responses are shaped by valuation of other people’s social behaviour, such that they empathize with fair opponents while favouring the physical punishment of unfair opponents, a finding that echoes recent evidence for altruistic punishment.
I wonder how much of this is innate and how much of this is the result of cultural effects, though?
The paper does not include any description of the volunteers other than “men” and “women” - no data on age, national origin, etc. Plus it is a VERY small sample size - 32 individuals, 16 male and 16 female. Quite possibly just a bunch of university students, as these things usually are, in which case it’s probably mostly middle class white 20-somethings.
This is one example of why I find psychology/psychiatry as a scientific field to be so problematic, their methods are not always precisely rigorous. And yet so many people love to beat these dead horses in their defense of gender essentialism and sexism…
(And if the young male population are indeed disproportionately bloody-minded and sadistic, it’s probably due to being told from the time they are knee-high to a duck that life is all about competition and “fighting bad guys” and that any emotional reaction, especially toward a rival, is “gay” and “girly” - two of the worst possible things for a boy to be, of course.)
Self Portraits of a Declining Brain
William Utermohlen is latest artist to be honored at the GV Art Gallery in London, with an event that has an emotional purpose that is near and dear to the hearts of many. Utermohlen spent the last twelve years of his life battling Alzheimer’s, a degenerative neurological disease that slowly took away his ability to do what he was most passionate about: his art.
At the event, his widow spoke to the many supporters, saying “He died in 2007, but really he was dead long before that. Bill died in 2000, when the disease meant he was no longer able to draw.”
This exhibit is known as William Utermohlen: Artistic decline through Alzheimer’s, as it explores the relationship between Utermohlen’s artwork and the progression and struggle with the disease.
Looking at his pieces as his disease progressed, a clear change is visible. As he slowly lost control over his movements, his composition and techniques changed as he was forced to abandon oils for easier-to-use watercolours and pencils. One thing that did not change throughout time, however, was the sheer mastery and vision displayed by has passion for the content of his pieces.
His paintings display a rarely seen insight into a mind effected by Alzheimer’s, as his struggle and frustration are imminent. Also changed by the progression of time and the disease were his subjects. He began to focus on self portraits and looming dark doorways in the backgrounds
His widow commented that, “it was as if he knew he was going to a very dark place and he knew he couldn’t do anything about it. By the end he couldn’t even recognise his own paintings… that was the saddest thing”.
Rarely does one get the opportunity to chronicle their own experience with mental decline. Even more rarely do we get to share and observe that troubled journey.
This art is that tale.
(Source: psychologytreasure)
