Category: Uncategorized

HUMAN-PIG. “First human-pig embryos made, then destroyed.” https://lnkd.in/eyYzKdT View in LinkedIn

DOMINANT HUMAN CELLS. "We could see the human cells taking over the whole space,” says Goldman. “It seemed like the mouse counterparts were fleeing to the margins. Human astrocytes are 10 to 20 times the size of mouse astrocytes and carry 100 times as many tendrils. This means they can coordinate all the neural signals in an area far more adeptly than mouse astrocytes can. “It’s like ramping up the power of your computer." https://lnkd.in/d2TkhaZ View in LinkedIn

HUMAN-RAT CHIMERAS. "Fetal human brain cells implanted into the cerebral ventricles of embryonic rats incorporate individually into all major compartments of the brain, generating widespread CNS chimerism." (1998). https://lnkd.in/eGKyVgW View in LinkedIn

LIFE ENHANCING. “Subjectively, synesthetes report these experiences are largely positive and engender facilitative benefits for creative aspects of their lives. Studies have indeed confirmed the increased incidence of synesthesia among artists and, relative to controls, synesthetes report spending more time engaged in creative activities.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

PHARMACOLOGIC. “Long-standing evidence has also demonstrated that hallucinogenic drugs can cause synesthesia-like experiences, suggesting the neural mechanism is present in all or many individuals but is merely suppressed.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

COMPENSATION. “For example, after early visual deprivation due to retinitis pigmentosa, touch stimuli can produce visual phosphenes, and after loss of tactile sensation from a thalamic lesion, sounds can elicit touch sensations. More remarkably, arm amputees experience touch in the phantom limb merely by watching another person's hand being touched.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

EDGE OF NORMAL CURVE. “Another possible explanation is that synesthesia simply represents the tail end of a normal distribution of cross-modality interactions present in the general population. Partial evidence supporting this idea comes as sensory deprivation and deafferentation (i.e., loss of sensory input through the destruction of sensory nerve fibers) can lead to synesthetic-like experiences.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

THE DREADED SPANDREL. “Before asking why a synesthesia gene might have been preserved through evolution, one first must consider the possibility that synesthesia may likely be merely epiphenomenal, and that the gene(s) involved may have served some totally unrelated purpose. It is also possible that the gene(s) may have been retained simply because they did not incur a great enough cost to be purged by selection, and could be an example of an evolutionary spandrel.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend and concludes this weekend on the topic of synesthesia. In this section, the idea that crossed wires in the brain (i.e., smells becoming sounds) can lead to enhanced functionality (such as memory) is explored. Is the human brain functioning at maximal capacity, or is there an untapped endogenous reserve? What will the natural evolution of the brain lead to in the future? Is exogenous enhancement the only way to increase capacity? View in LinkedIn

BROAD PROOF-OF-CONCEPT. "Transplanted interneurons have been shown to modify disease phenotypes in several rodent models of neurologic and psychiatric disorders, including epilepsy, chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and anxiety." https://lnkd.in/dfXR-Jt View in LinkedIn