Neuro Literature Review: “Neurotech” in Portfolio.com May 2008 is Great

Saturday, June 7th, 2008

How could I have missed this? Here’s a brief review of Portfolio.com May 2008 “neurotech” articles and graphics.

Starting with the graphic (click to go to the article) - it’s pretty telling: the two “neurotech” areas most associated with “character flaws” are the lowest revenue business areas — obesity and addition. (Graphic is modified to [...]

White matter days: Tantrums and white matter — tracking down clues

Sunday, January 13th, 2008

 
Tantruming is a behavior found across a variety of conditions — including neurological ones.  Is there a basic biological reason that tantruming is a “default” dysfunction?
Adults who tantrum, my theory is, have something going on in their wiring. Low frustrational tolerance, road rage, intermittant explosive disorder — all have some biochemical aspect or a lack [...]

White matter days: Dyslexia, OCD and Williams’ Syndrome may all involve white matter growth irregularities

Friday, January 11th, 2008

More on white matter month — What happens when one part of the brain is “unplugged”?
Dyslexia, Williams Syndrome, and OCD all involve cognitive processes that seem to go awry. It’s not as though something is necessarily lacking — but rather a particular trait is distorted.
It may be that white matter tracts — the [...]

From Proventia, “Does child abuse affect brain development?”

Monday, December 31st, 2007

In the ovarian lottery, we are born human babies ready to adapt to our surroundings.

Dr. Vitelli at Proventia posted on how child abuse - sexual, physical, emotional, verbal, witnessing the abuse of others — affects brain development. (This was way back in November — I’ve been meaning to post on this.) The post [...]

Hapmap update: Evolution speeding up; schizophrenia DNA very homozygous and looks like recessive selection

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

Which is better, for genes to change or for them to stay the same?
Is it better to evolve or devolve?
According to new hapmap data, evolution is accelerating with increasing human density and migration. We are evolving more quickly since the Pleistocene, according to a recent report in PNAS by Hawkes et al. Most of [...]

Fragile X is possibly fixable!

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

Neuron — Dölen et al.
New report: Potential relief for Fragile X sufferers.
Fragile X can be simulated in a mouse if you knock out a gene (FMR1). If you further block a receptor — called mGlu5 (metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 or MGR5) — the behavioral symptoms can altered. In the mouse model, the could genetically [...]