Ode to the Brain: Encephalon 51st edition now out!

Welcome to the 51st edition of the brain carnival, Encephalon.

25 little gems,
on the mind and the brain-
aren't they one and the same!

SharpBrains sets the tone for this edition of the Encephalon with a collection of 25 haikus contributed by its readers- all with either the brain or the mind as their guiding theme. While each haiku present there is unique and worth a read, the allusion above to 'aren't they one and the same' has more to do with the 'mind and the brain' part --- is the age-old dichotomy still relevant; do we still need a mind when we are increasingly comfortable talking in terms of the brain?

Daniel from Neuranthropology examines this age-old dichotomy from a Critical Neurosciences perspective and argues that instead of trying to resolve this dichotomy, one should focus instead, on the new paradigms, methods and approaches that become available when one tries to explain mental phenomenon in neural terms. The other two aspects of Critical Neuroscience he highlights are how ideology may influence the (neuro) science and how the new neuroscience should be a science for change- actively taking responsibility for the impact that new findings bring about.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet
Shakespeare

Continuing with the mind-brain theme, is it plausible that the reason we focus so much on the dichotomy is just because we have a separate name for the mind from the brain? Dennett seems to think so for consciousness- he believes that just because we have invented a unitary name for that inner-subjective-feel phenomena that may be a result of diverse neural phenomena, we are tricked into believing that we have a unitary consciousness. This trickery or illusion is accomplished by a Magical sleight of hand- that of giving a name to an un-existing phenomenon. Vaughan, over at The Mind Hacks, illustrates this beautifully using a card trick called 'The Tuned Deck' in which just attributing a magical tuning property to 'the' deck leads to even seasoned magicians getting dumb-founded as they try to discover a single concept behind the many diverse tricks that are used to create that trickery. So it seems that naming something a rose endows it with an essence that was not earlier present!

Oh sweet memory,
my heart breaks deep inside.
Oh sweet memory,
it's you I'm trying to hide.
Mahfooz Ali

While a rose may or may not smell sweet, depending on whether it is given a name or not, we all know too well the association between sweet and memories. But I bet you didn't knew that there was another angle to this association between sweet and memories. Latest research indicates that moderate increases in blood sugar levels can lead to better short-term memory. Jeniifer Gibson, from The BrainBlogger, highlights this recent research and cautions that those who have better blood sugar regulation, do better cognitively and that high levels of baseline blood sugar are associated with reduced hippocampal volume and reduced cognitive functioning. So do control your intake of sugar-and don't use this as a pretext to indulge your sweet cravings- after all research such as this keeps indicating that Alzheimer's may just be a type-III diabetes!!.

"Where is our Safe Haven?"
"Where do we hide?"
"Up ahead is a church still standing!
I'd better hurry, and get inside."
WrittenBylucky90250

While it may be difficult to hide one's memories, it is very easy for us to spot a hiding place- a safe haven, a nest. Is the same true of mice- do they have 'concepts' and 'categories' - like the 'nest'- built-up / learned in their brains? Doctor Spurt at Effortless Incitement revisits a PNAS paper, that had been widely discussed at its time of publication, regarding whether mice encode concepts like nests using its hippocampal neurons. He finds evidence for three such type of neurons and comes out convinced ready to take on all Heideggereans!

No man is an island, entire of itself..
..any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind
John Donne

You may prefer to be confined to your safe haven or your own private island, but research shows that humans, in general, are extremely social and empathetic- determined to get inside each others' mind- and sometimes on each others nerves! but what about those, who have a diminished 'theory of mind'? Doc at the Mind, Soul and Body blog describes people with Asperger's syndrome and how they may lack some of the core prerequisites for discerning other peoples minds- deficits in recognizing faces, interpreting non-verbal cues and figurative languages and reduced empathy. He also takes stock of leading theories of why this difference may be - from inability to ignore sensory stimulus to the ever ubiquitous mirror neurons!

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?

Fair or not, Mirror Neurons have been around for quite some time and have been credited with everything from Global Warming to US economic woes. Marc Dingman, at the Neuroscientifically Challenged, challenges this hegemony of Mirror Neurons, and though does not outright dismisses them, is sure that they would be replaced soon by neuronal groups called convergence-divergence zones (CDZs).Have we already come full circle? Would a mirror by any other name still keep us trapped? Before we jump to conclusions, we ought to read that well written piece about the latest Antonia Damasio paper in Nature, and appreciate that non-local CDZs with which the mirror neurons are to be replaced, are a neuronal circuit- and that too not specific to or linked to imitation. Rather, it is a higher-order association area are where many local CDZs inputs converge and which may subsequently reactivate those local CDZs when one aspect of the older experience is re experienced.

Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war,
How to divide the conquest of thy sight;
Mine eye my heart thy picture's sight would bar,
My heart mine eye the freedom of that right.
Shakespeare

Talking of debunking something-anything-one should not forget the Neurocritic. After all, it is his prerogative to criticize and thrash the Junk science. I'm sure Neurocritic would agree with Marc in debunking the Autism-is-due-to-mirror-neurons theory, but this time he is busy analyzing the gazes of people with Autism (hypo social), Williams syndrome (hyper social) and normal children especially how much time and which portions of a social scene do these different populations focus on. He finds that indeed the eye may have a will of its own and tracking it may reveal some of our inner dynamics. He reviews recent research that found that children with Williams syndrome spend more time looking at faces (and in that too on eyes); while the opposite pattern was observed for those with Autism. This Area of Interest had a statistically significant interaction with the group type (Autism, Williams, normal). However the most important takeaway from the study (which one of the commentators pointed and Neurocritc too concurred) was that 'normal' children spent a significant time staring at the breasts of the lady in the picture!!

"The brain is my second favorite organ"
Woody Allen

While many psychologist do not hesitate in advising on how to keep your first favorite organ in shape; other saner folks are more concerned about how to exercise your second favorite organ's muscles and what the emerging trends are. Alvaro at the SharpBrains blog lists the top 10 emerging trends in the brain fitness market and asks for other predictions - offering a free The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2008, for the best prediction/ comment. The trends he documents range from low tech computer software to involvement of doctors and pharmacists, insurance agencies and corporate wellness and leadership groups.

Man is the flying eagle, Woman, the singing nightingale.
To fly is to conquer space. To sing is to conquer the Soul.
Man is a temple, Woman a shrine.
Before the temple we discover ourselves, before the shrine we kneel.
In short, man is found where earth finishes, woman where heaven begins.
Victor Hugo

That brings us to the all important question of whether all those who would be spearheading this brain fitness revolution would have our best interests in mind. When big money like Insurance companies, pharmacists (drug companies) and corporates get involved, there is potential for dishing out the Neurotosh, Neurodosh and Nuerodash i.e. tosh or junk science, dosh or big money and dash or corruption all dressed up with a Neuro salad. While brain fitness movement may still be nascent and free of all such corrupting influences, Daniel at the Neuroanthropolgy blog found that this was the current state of affairs with respect to some practitioners of Neuroscience like Louann Brizendine the author of The Female Brain. Reporting from Montreal Critical Neurosciences conference he unearthed evidence of drug company linkages of Louann and how she twisted and over exaggerated the sexual differences in the brain to advocate her own interests.

I shall not sing a May song.
A May song should be gay.
I'll wait until November
And sing a song of gray.

I'll wait until November
That is the time for me.
I'll go out in the frosty dark
And sing most terribly.

And all the little people
Will stare at me and say,
"That is the Crazy Woman
Who would not sing in May."
Gwendolyn Brooks

Greg over at the Neuroanthropology blog takes this line of argument one step further and looks at how psychiatrists like Prof. Joseph Biederman, who may also have dubious drug company linkages, nevertheless end up being an institution in themselves, and end up having a profound influence on how we conceive and label normalcy or difference. Specifically, Prof Biederman, was responsible for pushing the diagnosis of bipolairty in children and as a result has resulted in for-better-or-for-worse an overwhelming number of children who are now diagnosed with the illness. Does labeling them as bipolar introduce new dynamics in their interaction with parents and peers? What about the lasting effects the anti-psychotics would have during the critical developmental periods? Would this grip of psychiatry in this case, or the just-so evolutionary psychology stories that one readily accepts to rationalize ones prejudices in other cases, over our discourse really good or is it leading to a harmful effect? He leaves us with many more questions than answers! While we normally tend to turn a deaf ear to such songs of gloom, it is important that we heed the warning and at least not label the doomsayer a 'crazy woman'!

Lastly if you are wondering how you got that headache - it has nothing to do with this ode to the brain. It is because you just ate freezing ice-cream - it has lead to a freezing sensation and to a condition called sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. Now, if reading the name of the condition itself leads to a headache don't blame me. Jokes apart, Waynekid Kam, from the BrainBlogger, describes this condition and explains how eating ice-cream could lead to headaches. Now, if you find the prospect of eating ice-cream a little too unpalatable, you are welcome to send all your ice-cream money to my way- I don't mind the headaches - or the ice-creams!

That's all for this edition folks! Do keep sending in your submissions to encephalon.host@gmail.com and it will be featured in the next edition due 19 August at Ouroboros.

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Encephalon: call for submissions

The next edition of the fortnightly brain carnival Encephalon, will be published right here at The Mouse Trap. So all you brainy folks out there, do send in your submissions before Monday, the 4th of August to encephalon.host@gmail.com and I would love to include your submissions in the next issue.

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Encephalon 50th edition now up: next one to be hosted here!

The 50th edition of the blog carnival Encephalon has been ably hosted by the SharpBrains blog.

It contains many gems and my favorites include a study of fearful and disgustful facial expressions that surmises how they may have evolved to enhance and reduce sensory stimulation respectively. Another article reports on the cutting edge of using deep TMS , in a matter akin to DBS, but without the associated invasive complexities and proceduers, to treat a variety of diseases from schizophrenia to obesity.

Another article that caught my fancy commented on how a latest paper wrongly attributed categorization processess in a monkey experiment where none might have been involved. There are many more such articles, so go ahead and indulge yourself.

The next edition of Encephalon, will be hosted by yours truly, right here at The Mouse Trap blog. It would be hosted on August 4th, so do send in your entries to encephalon.host@gmail.com in time for the same.

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Suicide Prevention: steps to keep the impulse in check!

New York Times has a very interesting and well-written piece on the 'how' or mechanisms of suicide consummation and how simple steps like reducing access to guns, or erecting barriers on bridges which are at a height, or even simple things like not packing tablets in bottles , but in pouches, so that it takes time to remove the pills form their containers before an overdose can be taken; can lead to big reduction in suicide rates as the few extra efforts or time needed to commit the act, is often enough to dissuade people from acting on their impulse.

It is a very nice post and is a must reading for everyone, especially mental-health workers and those involved in making public policies as it dispels the myth that those hell-bent on taking their lives will go to any length to do so and will find alternative mechanisms if one mechanism is made costly.

Thanks to Mind Hacks for bringing this to my attention!

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A new Paranoia quiz

As regular readers of this blog would have noted, I had promised to use the left hand menu quite frequently and post some quiz questions there. for quite some time, the left hand menu contained a Schizophrenia quiz. I have replaced it with a paranoia quiz. In case you are reading from a feed reader , do go to The Mouse Trap blog and take the quiz.

Supporting material can be obtained from this Freeman and Garety article on how to use CBT in paranoia.

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CNVs and Autism/ Schizophrenia

I had been meaning to comment on a recent paper that found that rare and de novo Copy Number Variants (CNVs) were more common in schizophrenics as compared to controls.

Copy number Variants is a type of variation in the genome of two individuals. Whole genes or big chunks of DNA may get deleted or duplicated in individuals leading to CNVs. It is important to stress that each individual has two copies of a gene. Now it might happen that the whole gene from one of the parents gets deleted leaving the individual with only one functional gene. It may also happen that one of the DNA strands, instead of having a single gene sequence, has multiple such sequences leading to duplication. These sort of duplications and deletions can also have deleterious effects. this type of variation between genomes of individuals is as opposed to the Single Nucleotide Polyphormism (SNPs) in which normally only a single base changes and this may or may not lead to change in amino acid being transcribed. The two variants of genes that differ by such a single base change are referred to alleles and we have dominant or recessive genetic disorders based on whether both genes have to be of the same deviant mutation to confer susceptibility to disease.

CNVs on the other hand present a different model of disease. One can have one or more types of CNVs (deletions, duplications, multiple duplications etc) associated with the same genetic code sequence and this in my view would lead to spectrum like diseases where one may find variations along a continuum on a particular trait- based on how many copies of the genetic sequence one has. One would remember that I adhere to a spectrum based view of schizophrenia/psychosis and also a spectrum based view of Autism. Moreover I believe that Schizophrenia and Autism are the opposite ends of the spectrum, whose middle is normalcy and that the appropriate traits may have to do with social brain, creativity etc.

now as it happen previous research has also found that CNVs are also found to a higher extent in autistics. Moreover, research has indicated that the same chromosomal regions have CNVs in both Autism and Schizophrenia. To me this is exciting news. Probably the chromosomal region (neurexin related is one such region) commonly involved in both schizophrenia and autism is related to cognitive style, creativity and social thinking. Qualitatively (deletions as opposed to duplications) and quantitatively (more duplications) different type of CNVs may lead to differential eruption of either Schizophrenia or Autism as the same underlying neural circuit gets affected due to CNVs, though in a different qualitative and quantitative way.

One of the readers of this blog, 'concerned heart', in a comment on an earlier post ,though has taken the new finding to imply that autism and Schizophrenia (especially childhood onset schizophrenia) is one and the same. Nothing could be farther from the truth. They are the same spectrum conditions and both are due to deficits in the same brain circuit/ mind module. Yet the deficits in one are the reverse of that found in the other and they are opposite ends of the spectrum. The mere fact that both involve CNVs and that too near the same chromosomal region, is not sufficient to warrant that they are the same. It would be akin to saying that because both sickle cell anemia and Huntington disease are due to SNPs , they are the same disorder. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I'm stretching the analogy too far, but this is just to stress that the role of CNVs in both the diseases do not imply that both diseases are same. However, some overlap , or even the same gene, could be involved in both Autism and Schizophrenia as they indeed are opposite ends of a spectrum. It may be like a gene for height (although life is not so simple that there is only one gene for height) ---one sort of disruption of the gene may lead to dwarfism ; while the other may lead to an unusually high height.

However, I do not claim to fully understand the significance of CNVs or how they can have deleterious effects; but it is heartening to note that CNV mechanism may be a viable alternative to multiple genes coming together additively to bring about complex effects. If I understand correctly rare de novo CNV is equivalent to shearing of a single gene and could lead to deleterious effects on the scale of complex symptomatology like that of autism or schizophrenia. I'll be watching this CNV business quite keenly, but meanwhile I stand by my position that this in no way proves that Autism and schizophrenia are the same condition.If at all it juts bolsters the argument that they are opposite disorders of the same gene/ loci/ trait/ brain system.

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Autism and Schizophrenia: Chris Frith on my side

I was reading the excellent new book by Chris Frith titled " Making up the mind: how the brain creates our mental world" and was delighted to discover that Chris Frith, a leading world authority on Schizophrenia (and whose wife Uta Firth is a world authority on Autism) also contrasts Autism and Schizophrenia along the social, mind-reading dimension.

To quote from his book:

We understand that people’s behavior is controlled by beliefs even if these beliefs are false. And we soon learn that we can control people’s behavior by giving them false beliefs. This is the dark side of communication.

Without this awareness that behavior can be controlled by beliefs, even when these are false, deliberate deception and lying are impossible. In autism this awareness seems to be lacking, and people with autism can be incapable of deception. At first thought the inability of the autistic person to lie seems to be a charming and desirable trait. But this trait is part of a wider failure to communicate, which also makes people with autism seem rude and difficult. It can often make them lonely and friendless. In practice, friendly interactions are maintained by frequent little deceptions and circumlocutions that sometimes hide our true feelings.

At the other extreme from autism lies the person with paranoid schizophrenia who is aware of intentions that are invisible to rest of us. For the person with paranoia every statement can be a deception or a hidden message that has to be interpreted. Hostile statements can be interpreted as friendly. Friendly statements can be interpreted as hostile.

One person heard voices saying “Kill yourself ” and “He’s a fool.” He described these voices as two benevolent spirits who wanted him to go to a better world. Another person heard voices saying “Be careful” and “Try harder.” These were “powerful witches who used to be my neighbours . . . punishing me.”

This hyperawareness of the intentions and feelings of other people can be so intense as to be overwhelming.

The walk of a stranger in the street could be a “sign” to me that I must interpret. Every face in the windows of a passing street car would be engraved on my mind, all of them concentrating on me and trying to pass me some kind of message. . . . The significance of the real or imagined feelings of people was very painful. To feel that a stranger passing on the street knows your innermost soul is disconcerting. I was sure that the girl in the office on my right was jealous of me. I felt that the girl in the office on my left wanted to be my friend but I made her feel depressed. . . . The intensity with which I felt [these impressions] made the air fairly crackle when the typists in question came into my office. Work in a situation like that is too difficult to be endured at all. I withdrew farther and farther.

In such a state the possibility of meeting other minds has been temporarily lost. This vivid experience of the minds of others no longer corresponds to reality. Like the person with autism, the person with paranoia is alone.

It is important to pause here and note that there are two issue involved in the concept of the social brain. In words of Frith himself:

Perhaps the most important attribute of the social brain is that it allows us to make predictions about people’s actions on the basis of their mental states. This assumption that behaviour is caused by mental states has been called taking an ‘intentional stance’ (Dennett 1987) or ‘having a theory of mind’ (Premack & Woodruff 1978). The largely automatic process by which we ‘read’ the mental states of others is called mentalizing.

Thus, the deficits (and the excesses) in Autism (and schizophrenia) with relation to the social mind may arise from deficits in both of the processes involved. I have argued earlier that Schizophrenics/ Psychotics have too much of an intentional stance and have an animistic bias, while the reverse is true of Autistics. Similarly others , based on Mirror Neuron deficits have argued that the capacity to mentalize or infer mental states of other is impaired in Autism. The capacity to infer mental state sof others may be enhanced in schizophrenics/ psychotics (thus making them better artists/ writers).

To me having the Friths on my side is very important. Chris Frith is a very engaging author and I highly recommend his book Making up the Mind to all the readers of this blog. He doesn't tackle the question of consciousness; but on the other hand shows brilliantly - how, effortlessly and unconsciously, our brain helps us navigate the physical as well as the social world.

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'A' is for a RED apple and 'V' is for a PURPLE van!

New research has unearthed that the grapheme-color synesthesia is not idiosyncratic , but follows some typical patterns. Grapheme - color synesthesia is one of the common types of synesthesia wherein one sees color associated with visualizing an alphabet / letter. Thus, whenever one see the alphabet 'A' one may also have a perception of color 'red'. Till now, it was believed that this association of colors with alphabets was random and idiosyncratic; but new research has now revealed that it follows a pattern with most synesthetes more likely to associate typical colors with alphabets and for example report 'A' as red and V as 'purple'.

Jamie Ward's team that found this phenomenon speculates that the hue could be associated with the frequency of the word. Thus, as 'A' is a frequently used word it is associated with a common color 'red'. 'V' which is infrequently used in the lexicon is associated with a similar infrequently encountered color purple. I am not sure how their new study is different from their earlier study that also found thus association and I believe that there would be some truth to their theory. however, the science daily article also talks about saturation. So I though I would jump in.

Colors can be conceptualized as per the HSV/ HSL or HSB system and understood in terms of hue , saturation and value/ brightness. I would personally be inclined to interpret the 'A' is red and 'V' is purple mapping as the outcome of a mapping of the alphabet order (a, b, c, ....x, y, z) to the color order in the rainbow / hue dimension (VIBGYOR). 'A' is one end ofthe spec trim and thus red in color, while 'V' is on another end of spectrum and thus more likely to be 'violet' in color. The frequency of usage of the alphabet should ideally map to brightness/ value of the synesthete color as in color space value is mapped to the amount of light reflected. saturation or 'purity' of color is a bit difficult to map onto the alphabet; but one could venture forth and suggest it has to do with how 'pure' the alphabet is ....is it always pronounced in one way....or are their multiple pronunciations associated with the same alphabet.

Mapping a linear progression of hues along VIBGYOR axis to alphabet order or numeral oredr is not that hard to envisage or visualize. If neurons of adjacent colorotopic and lexicotopic maps (assuming there are such maps for color and lexicon in the brain) in the brain overlap/ cross-over we would have the phenomenon of grapheme-color synestehesia that accounted for the commonalities in hues and alphabet association. However, we just know of retinotopic sort of maps in brains and these fit in with our existing knowledge. How the brain stores information about saturation/ value and correspondingly frequency and purity of alphabets and maps between the too, can lead to novel insights as to how information is stored in the brain.

I am excited and believe that we are on verge of breaking new ground ( I haven't read the new Jamie ward paper though yet) and I have my own theories on why color is so important and may provide us many more clues (color and music are two most interesting phenomenon I believe). Are you excited? Do you have any theories?

PS: I just found that Jamie Ward is writing a book called "The Frog who Croaked Blue: Synaesthesia and the Mixing of the Senses” in which he recounts the experience of a synesthete who heard frog croaks as blue and chirping of cricket as red. To me this immediately conjures up the colortopic map with red at one end (high, feminine, shrill noises) and blue at the other (more manly, bass noise). This mapping of sound with colors may again follow the hue, saturation and value (three dimensions) with loudness of sound being proportional to the value of color being perceived and the hue and pitch mapped. Also , this may be an idiosyncratic experience, or this may be true of the species as a whole that we map more shrill noises to red and soothing and duller sounds to blue/ violet.

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