/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.4324914]

Neuroscience. Grill me. I want to know everything.

[Anonymous No.4324916]

"To grill" implies to be asking questions, not wanting to be given answers, no?

[Anonymouse !70ikdWM2E6 No.4324915]

Reported.

[Anonymous No.4324919]

>>4324916
Yeah, ask me anything. If I can't already answer it then I'll research it and learn about it.

[Anonymous No.4324921]

>>4324919
Is there some real relation between billions of action potentials being fired off, bio-electric impulses, and quantum fluctuation? And does that have any implications with regards to the existence of Free Will?

[Anonymous No.4324922]

what kinds of voltages/currents exist in a neuro system? are they measured in a similar way we measure currents on an inorganic, macroscopic scale?

[Anonymous No.4324926]

>>4324919
After an action potential fires what is the voltage inside of the cell and what is it during a resting state?

What are the uses of a metabotropic receptor?

What are the effects of cannabis on the hippocampus and amygdala?

What is the importance of VTA?

What gas is a neurotransmitter?

What are the stages of development?

What does the brain prune neurons after early development instead of not creating those neurons in the first place?

[Anonymous No.4324927]

Causes of restless leg syndrome

[Anonymous No.4324928]

>>4324919
Memory: We know that the hippocampus is important for memory, but so are other areas of the brain, such as the sensory systems, so are any parts of the brain not involved in memory?

[Anonymous No.4324929]

>>4324921
Nah quantum fluctuations never enter the picture. All of those theories are from physicists and philosophers without real biology training. The brain/mind/consciousness can be explained 100% with epi-atomic phenomena. Of course we don't fully understand everything, but we do understand the SCOPE of the problem. And this quantum drivel is outside of it.

[Anonymous No.4324931]

>>4324926
>What does...
should be:
>Why does..

[Anonymous No.4324932]

>>4324922
The voltage and current system of a neuron is known pretty well, it's 101 level stuff. I could write a 1,000 words explaining it but you're better off just getting a beginning neuroscience text. Sorry for the lack of answer, but it's just a lot of information that isn't particularly difficult.

[Anonymous No.4324934]

>>4324932
ah thats quite alright. I know practically nothing about neuroscience, so I thought it might have been a B level question. wikipedia!

[Anonymous No.4324950]

>>4324929
So i guess all brain function can eventually be explained through the complex timings and sequence of action potentials between neurons?
None of it is ever "electric" beyond charge-activated proteins and ion concentrations, huh?


Maybe that implies that a thousands of years from now we'll have some kind of quantum computing electric brain that might surpass even our analog brains.

[Anonymous No.4324957]

>>4324926
There are no absolutes for membrane potentials and such. They differ quite a bit between animals, especially ones that live in the sea vs. on land. But generally the resting membrane potential of a mammal is -60 mV or so. Threshold is around -45 mV. Those are just approximations though.

Metabotropic receptors have many uses. Usually they are used to give a longer time course to something with the second messengers. For instance, in late-LTP, the second messengers actually set off a chain of events that can initiate genetic changes, and start the synthesis of new proteins. These proteins help maintain the LTP. Ionotropic receptors give instant results that are transient, metabotropic receptors give results that are slower, but usually bigger and longer lasting.

Hmm, not sure I'll research it. I know the endocannabinoid system was thought to have to do with post->pre messenging. Like, to send signals from the post synaptic neuron to the pre synaptic neuron that increase vescile release sites or something.

VTA has dopimanergic neurons that project to a few places, notably the nucleus accumbens. Implicated in pleasure and reward. One of my professors is actually researching this and has found that this connection is also implicated in avoidance and fear.

[Anonymous No.4324964]

>>4324957
NO, but CO might also be a transmitter.

Not sure what you mean exactly... like blastula, gastrula, etc...? Or like stages of neurons growth like migration from marginal zone? Or synaptic development like formation and death of synapses?

Good question. I believe it is a mechanism so that the animal can adapt to a range of environments. How everything is going to end up being connected is not feasibly done with neural growth, but neuronal death can create great and novel specificity. For instance, how can a neuron reasonably project an axon collateral many milimeters away from to find a target? A better system is to have those connections exist already, and then prune some away to keep the good ones.

[Anonymous No.4324969]

>>4324927
I've always suspected it was a malfunction in the basal ganglia, similar to tourettes. The BG modulates and filters behavior. When it is malfunctioning, it fails to inhibit unwanted behaviors. These could be saying things, or moving your legs.

[Anonymous No.4324972]

>>4324957
>>4324964

[Anonymous No.4324978]

What is your education OP? Undergrad? Grad? Neurosci major?

[Anonymous No.4324981]

>>4324928
Hmm. It all depends on what you mean by memory. Some memory is from experience. Some memory is genetic in the form of synapses that develop in the womb. Most is a combination of the two. You could reasonable say that the entire nervous system is memory.

If you mean the type of high level experience memory, then the question is still very complicated. The whole brain works together and every memory depends on many, many systems.

[Anonymous No.4324987]

>>4324978
Applying to grad school.

[Anonymous No.4324989]

>>4324987
Eh? Did you get a BS in neurosci then?

[Anonymous No.4324998]

>>4324989
Double major in neurobiology and cognitive psychology.

[Anonymous No.4324999]

>>4324957
>>4324964
Ok, you passed the first gate. I grant you the title of "Definitely At Least a Neuroscience Undergrad"

The ones you didn't get were:

Cannabis:
Shrinks hippocampal and amygdala volumes significantly, moreso for the hippocampus.

Stages of Development:
Neurogenesis – mitosis produces neurons
Cell migration – cells move to establish distinct populations
Differentiation – cells become distinctive neurons or glial cells
Synaptogenesis – establishment of synaptic connections
Neuronal cell death – selective death of some nerve cells
Synapse rearrangement – loss or growth of synapses, fine-tuning

[Anonymous No.4325008]

>>4324998
MAH NIGGA, best majors of all time. OF ALL TIME.

OF. ALL. TIME.

[Anonymous No.4325021]

>>4324999
Wheres the second gate?

[Anonymous No.4325022]

>>4325021
IN HELL

[Anonymous No.4325028]

Not really "gotcha" questions, but:

What's your favorite concept you've learned?

What do you hope to do with you knowledge, any big goals? (Like how some become geneticist to feed millions, or doctors to save lives, etc.)

[Anonymous No.4325035]

>>4325028
My favorite concept is an understanding of cortical dynamics. It's like a tidal wave of understanding that stretches out to absolutely everything you know and experience. I hope to refine and specify this understanding enough to help create machines that work the same way.

Of course I have fantasies of a world where humans are saved from poverty and isolation and misery. Maybe that'll happen someday when we don't need people to do menial tasks.

[Anonymous No.4325038]

Here's a question for OP:

If you inject a color-blind monkey with a virus that implants the opsin that it lacks, will the monkey develop behavior indicative of color vision?

And as a second experiment, what behavior would you expect in response to UV light if you gave the monkey an opsin found in bees that detects UV light?

[Anonymous No.4325040]

>>4325035
So AI?

[Anonymous No.4325044]

>>4325038
I think only experiments would tell for sure, but here is my best guess.

Fixing the retina would not give color vision, much at least. If you look at the sensitive period for development of V1, after awhile it is virtually impossible to modify it. Like, if you cover one eye of a developing animal, after the sensitive period they just wont be able to see out of that eye. I suspect that because of the way color information is represented in V1 (and V2), the sensitive period would also apply.

But if you could induce plasticity in the cortex again it's possible.

As for UV, if you could get it in before the sensitive period, then they would be able to see UV light. I think there is a case where a girl in russia was able to see UV light. Not sure if it was bullshit or not.

[Anonymous No.4325046]

>>4325040
Pretty much, yep. But AI kind of implies beings that would be like us, which isn't necessarily the case. We are a product of a fuck ton of neural structures acting and interacting. What I'm proposing is just a cortical machine.

[Anonymous No.4325051]

>>4324998
>that feel when my university has only one neuroscience class in the natural sciences department

[Anonymous No.4325052]

>>4324987
What schools? Heard back from any yet? I'm in the same boat.

[Anonymous No.4325055]

>>4325051
Take heart, I learned the vast majority of what I know on my own. Take the initiative. Buy Fundamental Neuroscience and comb through the literature.

[Anonymous No.4325056]

>>4325044
That's what I thought too OP, but apparently the brain is far more plastic than you or I think. As for the second question, it's just speculation, but I'm curious as to how it would work.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v461/n7265/full/nature08401.html

Basically, the monkeys displayed color vision behavior after being injected w/ the virus. I would be interested in your opinions on post-critical phase plasticity.

[Anonymous No.4325062]

Oh and here's a link for a video of the test; can't verify the veracity of it, but it is very cool if true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEeU8CV_3Mo&feature=player_embedded

[Anonymous No.4325074]

>>4325062
>>4325056
Wow, very cool. Thanks for teaching me something.

I think the sensitive period is not a rigid thing. I suspect it operates under the same principles that a mature system does. I mean, our cortex is constantly changing and learning. I think maybe ocular dominance experiment is an extreme case, where complete lack of input makes it impossible for that structure to compete. But maybe if the eye otherwise is active, then a new modality can fight for representation.

[Anonymous No.4325076]

>>4325051
Ain't that some shit. Neuroscience is master race. We let physicists think they run the place, but they're really just our autism magnet. Gotta keep those autists out of our glorious neuroscience master race.

[Anonymous No.4325091]

does this make sense?

[Anonymous No.4325095]

>>4325091
Of course it fucking makes sense, it was made by the god of /sci/.

Don't you question his ways, faggot!

[Anonymous No.4325101]

>>4325095
calm down bro, was just wondering
>it was made by the god of /sci/.
Who would that be? I though this board was atheist.

[Anonymouse !70ikdWM2E6 No.4325103]

>>4325101
Richard Dawkins is the Atheist God, but I think they're talking about someone else.

[Anonymous No.4325105]

>>4325101
>>4325103
>mfw infidels don't know about our holy father CNS

[Anonymous No.4325107]

>>4325105
>CNS
>Compact Nuon Solenoid

[Anonymous No.4325115]

>>4325107
>nuon
>implying

[Anonymous No.4325119]

>>4325115

>Incoherent
>You are

[Anonymous No.4325122]

>>4325119
>no such thing
>as a nuon

[Anonymous No.4325125]

>>4325122

>Back your statement up
>With evidence
>Fag
>Got

[Anonymouse !70ikdWM2E6 No.4325130]

>>4325125
>>4325122
>>4325119
>>4325115
>>4325107
>>4325105
>>4325095

Reported.

[Anonymous No.4325131]

>>4325125
>proof by
>contradiction
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Muon_Solenoid
>eat a dick
>faggot

[Anonymous No.4325136]

>>4325131

>Doesnt understand what contradiction means

Really faggot?

[Anonymous No.4325137]

>>4325136
>oh
>wow
>you're
>serious
>how's
>that
>au
>tism?

[Anonymous No.4325138]

God hit me in the face at 9 years old with a lightning bolt, developed the ability to hear frequencies FAR above normal for a human. I can hear dog whistles, TVs being turned on from across the house (no, not due to volume), and I have to take extreme measures to sleep like soundproofing my walls to some degree and unplugging all electronics in the room. Dat squeal, yo. Dat squeal.

So OP, what causes this? It some neurological disorder or someshit? I don't pretend to know a single thing about the subject.

[Anonymous No.4325139]

>>4325137

You are being incoherent again.

[Anonymouse !70ikdWM2E6 No.4325141]

>>4325138
>God
Reported.

[Anonymous No.4325143]

>>4325141
Satirically used, I assure you.

[Anonymous No.4325144]

>>4325138
>FAR above normal for a human
What you mean is, far above what you could hear before.

[Anonymous No.4325148]

>>4325144
No, he got tested
>>>/g/22671230

[Anonymous No.4325149]

>>4325144
Well yes but I have had hearing tests when I was in my early teens and that was the result, that my hearing was above the normal range by a good degree. I'm four thousand miles away from the documentation though (figures, right) and I'm not waking my parents up at 11PM just to dig up old medical papers.

[Anonymous No.4325171]

>>4325138
super cool story bro
can you hear peoples pacemakers and shit?
next time you're in a hospital ask a nurse to charge up a defibrillator just to see if your head explodes

[Anonymous No.4325175]

>>4325171
I don't think I have ever been around a pace maker to tell, besides if I heard it I probably wouldn't have a clue what was making the sound. It isn't like some superhero shit where I can pinpoint the noise and tell what it is.

Also, I'd rather not have my head asplode kthx.

[Anonymous No.4325176]

>>4325138
Probably the area of your cortex that represents those high-frequency sounds is over-represented. Do you have any difficulty hearing or understanding sounds at other frequencies?

Think of it like this. Have you ever tried to read from the periphery of your eye? It's really hard, not only because the concentration of cones is less dense, but because the corresponding area of cortex is under-represented. Essentially, you can understand more specific information when it is presented at your fovea then elsewhere. Usually the area of cochlea that represents the frequencies of the human voice is over-represented in cortex. For you, I'm guessing that for whatever reason higher frequency areas have a larger amount of cortical space.

[Anonymous No.4325178]

>>4325176
My hearing range is normal otherwise.

[Anonymous No.4325215]

Hey OP, what is the reason why stress hormones can influence the immune response of the body? I don't get why such a relationship between the two evolved.

[Anonymous No.4325226]

>>4325215
The stress response is designed to marshal all an organisms resources to overcome an obstacle. The immune system is a long term investment. When in a stressful situation arises, such long term things are suppressed.

I don't think people were meant to be chronically stressed.

[Anonymous No.4325233]

>>4325226
>I don't think people were meant to be chronically stressed.
So that wasn't the case in the ancestral environment?

[Anonymous No.4325240]

>>4325233
stress is one of the leading causes of death now
just imagine the impact it had then.

[Anonymous No.4325241]

>>4325233
I can't say for sure (it's not really my domain) but I'm pretty sure people usually lived in pretty normal communities with occasional episodes of turmoil.

If you look at Gorilla troupes now, I think early humans lived similar to this. With regards to the type and duration of stressors, at least.

[Anonymous No.4325243]

>>4325226
>>4325241
Okay, now I get it. Thanks.

[Anonymous No.4325248]

>>4324914
since orgasms activate so many areas of the brain, is it possible that they can be used to help you do things more efficiently?

For example, orgasm directly after studying to help retain the knowledge;
maybe continue studying after having an orgasm to learn better/faster?

at the very least, does it sound like something that would be worth doing an experiment and paper on?

[Anonymous No.4325251]

How would you go about finding the ideal model, human or not, to study?

[Anonymous No.4325255]

>>4325248
Hmmm, nah. Repetitively activating things does help you remember them, but it's not correct to say an orgasm activates "everything". There is widespread activation, but the specificity matters. It's not just that an area needs to be active, a specific cellular assembly within that structure needs to be active to increase the memory of it. And the only way to do that would be to think of it.

When you're orgasming, you're probably not thinking of it. And because of the competitive nature of the cortex, I actually suspect it would make you remember the information WORSE.

If you want a true mechanism that "activates everything" and thus helps you remember, get a good nights sleep. During sleep the thalamus literally activates everything with pulses of activity, cementing memories.

[Anonymous No.4325258]

>>4325255
Does how soon you go to sleep after learning something matter a lot?

[Anonymous No.4325263]

>>4325251
There is no "ideal model". Different animals and individuals have different aspects that are good, and can be used to generalize information. In its time, the squid giant axon was the ideal model. For some things, the rat is the ideal model. For others, monkies are the ideal model. It all depends what you are trying to find, and the context within which you are working.

There are social, economical, moral, and practical considerations that determine what type of model animal you are going to use.

[Anonymous No.4325265]

>>4325258
Yes. Right after you learn something, the concept is all lubed up and ready to be built into long term memory. As you go about your day (especially if you don't think of what you've learned) it deteriorates.

I read papers for at least an hour every night before I go to bed.

[Anonymous No.4325266]

Dilettante here.

What's some good stuff I can do for my brain?

[Anonymous No.4325269]

Do you believe the pineal gland has any connection to the 'metaphysical world'? Is the calcification process caused by environmental factors?

[Anonymous No.4325295]

>>4325266
What do you mean by "good"? I could give you the boilerplate brainhacks, but those are boring. I'll give you something more interesting.

Do not try and dominate yourself. The idea that we can, or should, eliminate all procrastination and become some hyper-disciplined being is trash. I see so many people futilely trying to do this, and scolding themselves every time they fail. See, the problem is that what these people are actually doing is retarding themselves. The actual struggle is between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. They are two different entities.

Think about it. Procrastination doesn't even make sense. It's like we want to do X, but also want to do Y. The procrastination is actually a conflict between the top-level behavioral goal of the left and right hemispheres. People who routinely overcome their procrastination will complete the task, but also sacrifice something in the process. They suppress the right hemisphere and essentially retard its growth. Not only that, but in suppressing it like that they are fighting a constant battle with it. That prevents true progress, because everything is a battle.

Now, when you listen to both halves of your brain, you are allowing them both to develop. We are driven to do things for a purpose. Not that every pleasurable thing is beneficial, of course. But our minds crave challenge, and challenge creates growth. If you can achieve harmony between your two minds, then you can actually move forward instead of thrashing in place like most people.

I could go on.

[Anonymous No.4325299]

>>4325269
Descartes was clearly wrong, in a technical sense. He only thought that because the pineal gland is singular, everything else is doubled. It could be argued that his larger point was more or less correct, if framed in a different way than we now see it.

[Anonymous No.4325323]

Best study methods?

[Anonymous No.4325341]

>>4325323
Hmm it kind of depends on the material. I cycle between analysis and synthesis. Read some amount of information, and then stop and process it and relate it to what else I know. Repeat. Then after a while I cycle back through it all, and integrate it even more. When I'm walking or waiting for something, I try and explain the idea to someone else in my head. Having to break it down into an explanation is a great way to parse and remember information.

[None !Luca88.JJM No.4325344]

test

[Anonymous No.4325410]

More questions, preferably about neuroscience.

[Anonymous No.4325477]

>>4325410
Not exactly neuroscience, but can you guess what's wrong with the author of this comic: http://jenffersshow.thecomicseries.com? Supposedly he/she suffers from some sort of learning disability.

[Anonymous No.4325490]

>>4324914
what are kappa receptors for?

[Anonymous No.4325497]

>>4325477
Reeks of a hoax. It is stupid in the details like spelling, but there is a cleverness to it that was made by a normal person. It is trying to project a deep dysfunction but has none of the hallmarks.

[Anonymous No.4325504]

>>4325497
It is supposedly real, though. I hate to reference /v/ on anything but per >>>/v/127890024,
>Author drew this webcomic since the 80's, there's about 1000 odd pictures in his site's archive.
>So basically the author is one of those "woman trapped in a man's body" cases, except he claims to only like women, so he is a lesbian trapped in a man's body apparently.
>Fun fact: he actually challenges Chris-chan to a cross over at one stage on his youtube account. Here's the video;
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEWXTcQMpJE
>As you can see, he's clearly not all there.
The video make it harder for me to dismiss this as a hoax.

[Anonymous No.4325527]

>>4325490
Hey, great question. I haven't really heard about them, but after doing a little research I am very, very curious. They are definitely complicated, so I'm going to have to look into this and opiate receptors in general before I can really say. Thanks for turning me onto something interesting.

[Anonymous No.4325636]

>>4325527
wheres my anwser goddamnit!

[Anonymous No.4325649]

>>4325527
If it's any use, fucking around with them fucks around with your perception of spatial dimensions and gives you feelings of gravity pulling from unusual directions (although never upward), i also got weird number-related hallucinations, so the part of the brain we use when dealing with numbers may be involved. Tetris-like hallucinations are common (see spatial dimensions) although i did not play tetris much growing up so i did not get any.