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All things brain...

Started by Claireliontamer, July 12, 2017, 08:18:49 PM

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Arturo

Cannabis has some link to schizophrenia. However there was some place in Europe I believe where cannabis use was very common but the rate of schizophrenia did not increase. Some people took that as an all out conclusion (a problem I think too many people have with more than just smoking weed) that cannabis doesn't cause mental illness, and that whoever gets ill after smoking weed was actually fucked up before they ever smoked any weed.
It's Okay To Say You're Welcome
     Just let people be themselves.
     Arturo The1  リ壱

Recusant

Instead of adding this to the "Homo sapiens and Their Cousins" thread, I decided to put it here.

"Meet NOTCH2NL, the human-specific genes that may have given us our big brains" | ScienceDaily

QuoteThe evolution of larger brains in the last 3 million years played an important role in our ability as a species to think, problem-solve, and develop culture. But the genetic changes behind the expansion that made us human have been elusive. In a pair of papers publishing May 31 in Cell, two teams of researchers identify a gene family, NOTCH2NL, that appears to play an important role in human-specific cortex development and may have been a driving force in the evolution of our large brains. NOTCH2NL genes delay the differentiation of cortical stem cells into neurons, resulting in the production of more neurons across the course of development. The genes are found exclusively in humans, are heavily expressed in neural stem cells of the human cerebral cortex, and are located on a part of the genome implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders.

"Our brains got three times as big primarily through the expansion of certain functional areas of the cerebral cortex, and that has to be a fundamental substrate for us becoming human. There's really no more exciting scientific question that I can think of than discovering and decoding the mysterious genetic changes that made us who we are," says David Haussler, co-senior author of one of the papers and a bioinformatician at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

[Continues . . .]

The excellent science writer Ed Yong also has a write-up on this finding. I noticed that this team used the same technique as the one that is attempting to study Neanderthal brains:

"A New Genetic Clue to How Humans Got Such Big Brains" | The Atlantic

QuoteIt started with some blobs of brain-like tissue, growing in a dish.

Frank Jacobs, then at the University of California at Santa Cruz, had taken stem cells from humans and monkeys, and coaxed them into forming small balls of neurons. These "organoids" mirror the early stages of brain development. By studying them, Jacobs could look for genes that are switched on more strongly in the growing brains of humans than in those of monkeys. And when he presented his data to his colleagues at a lab meeting, one gene grabbed everyone's attention.

"There was a gene called NOTCH2NL that was screaming in humans and off in [the monkeys]," says Sofie Salama, who co-directs the Santa Cruz team with David Haussler. "What the hell is NOTCH2NL? None of us had ever heard of it."

The team ultimately learned that NOTCH2NL appears to be inactive in monkeys because it doesn't exist in monkeys. It's unique to humans, and it likely controls the number of neurons we make as embryos. It's one of a growing list of human-only genes that could help explain why our brains are so much bigger than those of other apes.

[Continues . . .]
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


Arturo

This seems familiar...did Dave post this somewhere already?
It's Okay To Say You're Welcome
     Just let people be themselves.
     Arturo The1  リ壱

Dave

Quote from: Arturo on June 03, 2018, 04:56:40 PM
This seems familiar...did Dave post this somewhere already?

Not to my memory!

Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Arturo

It's Okay To Say You're Welcome
     Just let people be themselves.
     Arturo The1  リ壱

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Recusant on June 03, 2018, 11:35:34 AM
Instead of adding this to the "Homo sapiens and Their Cousins" thread, I decided to put it here.

"Meet NOTCH2NL, the human-specific genes that may have given us our big brains" | ScienceDaily

QuoteThe evolution of larger brains in the last 3 million years played an important role in our ability as a species to think, problem-solve, and develop culture. But the genetic changes behind the expansion that made us human have been elusive. In a pair of papers publishing May 31 in Cell, two teams of researchers identify a gene family, NOTCH2NL, that appears to play an important role in human-specific cortex development and may have been a driving force in the evolution of our large brains. NOTCH2NL genes delay the differentiation of cortical stem cells into neurons, resulting in the production of more neurons across the course of development. The genes are found exclusively in humans, are heavily expressed in neural stem cells of the human cerebral cortex, and are located on a part of the genome implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders.

"Our brains got three times as big primarily through the expansion of certain functional areas of the cerebral cortex, and that has to be a fundamental substrate for us becoming human. There's really no more exciting scientific question that I can think of than discovering and decoding the mysterious genetic changes that made us who we are," says David Haussler, co-senior author of one of the papers and a bioinformatician at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

[Continues . . .]

The excellent science writer Ed Yong also has a write-up on this finding. I noticed that this team used the same technique as the one that is attempting to study Neanderthal brains:

"A New Genetic Clue to How Humans Got Such Big Brains" | The Atlantic

QuoteIt started with some blobs of brain-like tissue, growing in a dish.

Frank Jacobs, then at the University of California at Santa Cruz, had taken stem cells from humans and monkeys, and coaxed them into forming small balls of neurons. These "organoids" mirror the early stages of brain development. By studying them, Jacobs could look for genes that are switched on more strongly in the growing brains of humans than in those of monkeys. And when he presented his data to his colleagues at a lab meeting, one gene grabbed everyone's attention.

"There was a gene called NOTCH2NL that was screaming in humans and off in [the monkeys]," says Sofie Salama, who co-directs the Santa Cruz team with David Haussler. "What the hell is NOTCH2NL? None of us had ever heard of it."

The team ultimately learned that NOTCH2NL appears to be inactive in monkeys because it doesn't exist in monkeys. It's unique to humans, and it likely controls the number of neurons we make as embryos. It's one of a growing list of human-only genes that could help explain why our brains are so much bigger than those of other apes.

[Continues . . .]

Very interesting! Thanks, Recusant!
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Dave

Summat funny going on 'ere (again) with Youtube.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Dave

#112
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Dave

#113
This is more psychology/philosophy but, what the heck! Still brain stuff.

Do you accept advice easily? Need a nudge? What makes a scout bee different from a worker? Are you curious about these things?

This edition of "Crowd Science" explores these things.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswvww

Quote
Why does history repeat itself?

Teenagers are known for ignoring their parents' advice, but is this reputation for rebellion well-founded? If so, is rejecting the advice of previous generations and treading our own path an important part of what it means to be human? Are we successful as a species precisely because of our questioning natures?

Listener Hans started pondering these questions after his own adolescent children repeatedly ignored his nagging. Many animals simply follow in their parents' footsteps – so what makes human children different?

Marnie Chesterton and a panel of experts look at the science of taking advice and making decisions, finding out how human curiosity and exploration compare to other animals, learning the best ways to give and take advice, and seeing whether we're more likely to trust artificial intelligence than the wisdom of our elders. Finally, we give listener Hans some expert advice on whether or not to keep nagging his kids.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

xSilverPhinx

^ I would very much like to listen to that, but the link you posted takes me to BBC Sports and an unrelated podcast.   :-\
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Dave

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on July 28, 2018, 09:23:35 PM
^ I would very much like to listen to that, but the link you posted takes me to BBC Sports and an unrelated podcast.   :-\

It did that to me at first, thought that I had got the right link. This one works (well, it did when I tried it!)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswvww
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Dave on July 28, 2018, 09:27:53 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on July 28, 2018, 09:23:35 PM
^ I would very much like to listen to that, but the link you posted takes me to BBC Sports and an unrelated podcast.   :-\

It did that to me at first, thought that I had got the right link. This one works (well, it did when I tried it!)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswvww

Perfect! Thanks, Dave!  ;D
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Icarus

August edition of National Geographic has a lengthy article about how sleep, or lack of it, influences some of our essential brain functions. It deals with circadian rhythms as well.  :count sheep:

xSilverPhinx

I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Dave

#119
PET scans for dopamine  reactions in the brain may help to predict whether or not antipsychotics will be efficacious in treating schizophrenia. Since antipsychotics can have debilitating side effecrs, and more than one msy be prescribed on a "suck-it-and-see" basis over a long period, this sounds like good news!

[...]
PET and SPECT imaging has been used to investigate dopaminergic parameters in schizophrenia, beginning with studies of D2/3 receptors14, 15 and later covering presynaptic function, including dopamine synthesis capacity and dopamine release, and transporters.
[...]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3730746/

Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74