The Top 10 Neuroscience Articles of 2005

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" The spatial and temporal (time) resolution of brain scanning is also

progressing at an exponential rate, roughly doubling each year, like most

everything else having to do with information. "

-- Ray Kurzweil

 

#1. Your Body Is Younger Than You Think

 

This just blew me away -- the ability for scientists to actually determine how

old cells in your body are -- and which cells are replaced quickly and which are

replaced slowly. Not just speculate, but actually measure! It turns out that

brains cells are replaced slowly, some so slowly that, well, some cells in the

cerebral cortex are never replaced your whole life. Other parts of the brain,

such as the cerebellum, are " younger " because their cells are replaced more

slowly.

 

#2. 'Thoughts read' via brain scans

 

Rather primitive at this point -- we can tell if you're looking at red stripy

lines or blue ones. There were other similar experiments, such as the one where

scientists could determine from your brain scan whether you are watching " The

Good, The Bad, and the Ugly " or not. We are a long, long way from true

full-blown mind-reading, but the first signs that it is indeed possible have

arrived. Not mere " lie detection " but actually being able to tell what you are

thinking, while you are thinking it.

 

#3 Read All About It

 

This surprised me -- people who read in Chinese actually have more brain

structures devoted to reading than people who read in English. This applies to

any " pictographic " rather than " alphabetic " language.

 

#4 New insights into brain cell metabolism from PET and MRI scans

 

This next one is a bit technical. Basically it involves a new method for

measuring metabolism in mitochondria in brain cells. I put it on my list because

I expect it to lead to significant improvement in brain scanning, keeping step

with Kurzweil's statement above that the spatial and temporal (time) resolution

of brain scanning is also progressing at an exponential rate. Most brain

scanning today involves measurement of blood oxygen. In the future, methods that

determine which cells are active based on direct measurements of their

metabolism will lead to new insights into how the brain works. I've often heard

the claim that brain imaging will hit limits set by the limits of the strengths

of magnetic fields that can be used in fMRI scanners. I'm posting this article,

even though it is technical, because it suggests that these limits will in fact

be overcome by new and innovative ways of doing brain imaging.

 

#5 Introverts in an extrovert's world

 

This article mentions brain imaging only briefly, stating that " In using brain

scans to study personality differences, researchers found introverts have more

brain activity, in general, and specifically in their frontal lobes. When these

areas are activated, introverts are energized by retrieving long-term memories,

problem solving, introspection, complex thinking and planning. " It goes on to

describe the brain scans of extroverts. The rest of the article is basically

about society's under-appreciation of introverts, so is basically a political

rant rather than a science article. The reason I'm posting it is because it

might affect the way you interpret the people around you.

 

I find the subject of introvert vs extrovert rather perplexing, because, you

see, I took the Meyers-Briggs test twice, and both times, it said I was an

extrovert (one said I was mildly extroverted and the other said I was strongly

extroverted), yet as far as I can tell, everyone who meets me thinks I am an

introvert.

 

#6 Why this brain flies on rat cunning

 

There are more and more articles coming out lately where brain cells are grown

in a dish, outside the body. This means that scientists have figured out what

chemicals are needed in a brain cell's environment for brain cells to grow, and

is a sign of steady progress in understanding the brain. But these guys went a

bit further, connecting the brain cells to, are you ready for this? a flight

simulator.

 

#7 Scientists Uncover New Clues About Brain Function in Human Behavior

 

I'm using this article as a representative of the whole class of articles

about genetics and behavior. In this article the brains of people with a genetic

disease, Willis Syndrom, are analyzed. I expect to see a lot more studies where

genes are connected to brain structures and behavior in the future.

 

#8 Modelling the mind

 

It seems a little premature to be trying to simulate the brain -- literally --

in a computer, but IBM is trying to do exactly that. It's called the Blue Brain

project.

 

#9 African-Americans and Caucasians have similar emotional brain activity when

seeing African-Americans

 

This article says that the fear that us white people have when we see

African-Americans is also experienced by African-Americans. I was like, whoa!

That's bizarre. But if that's not bizarre enough, when people are told to think

about the words " African American " the effect goes away. This will really get

you thinking about racial stereotypes.

 

#10 Neuromarketing: Smart Marketing Or Jedi Mind Control Trick?

 

There is nothing more important in life than money. And there've been a lot of

articles about money and the brain -- from talk about how if you have too much

oxytocin, you'll trust people with your money -- whether you should or not -- to

the subject of neuromarketing -- the use of brain research techniques for

marketing. There are a lot of clever marketing insights in these articles --

unfortunately for me, I can't even seem to get far enough in the marketing

process to where any of these techniques would be useful. But anyway, here's an

article that summarizes some of the research. I expect we'll see much more

powerful marketing techniques in the future -- and at the same time we'll be

less aware of their existence.

 

#11 The Coming Boom

 

11? Hey, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. But how could I skip

mentioning women having orgasms in brain scanners? Whaa? Orgasms happen in the

brain?

 

If you found these articles interesting, I've got a webpage with all the

neuroscience articles, including a lot I wanted to include in the " Top 10 " but

didn't have room for -- articles on hypnosis, meditiation, sarcasm, even

humor...

 

http://www.waynerad.com/neuroscience

 

 

 

From http://www.futuresalon.org/2005/12/the_top_10_neur.html