I encountered this sign in the library yesterday/today: “Insomnia? Don’t stare at the moon, come here to study!”
My readers should know what’s irritating about this “urban legend” by now. Not that I’m practicing what I preach, either. It’s now time for “Stage 1″ poetry in honor of all-night 24 hour microdialysis sampling (for history of stage 1 poetry slam see this blog entry).
Stilletos, pumps, in the club, yeah
OOOOps, I think I’m done (J/k!).
(5 seconds to write).
A few months ago, I reported about the role of glia on the mediation of the homeostatic drive for sleep/wake. Glia additionally mediate the neurochemical environment and the immune response after it’s primary purpose: structural support. According to a recent Journal of Neuroscience article, radial glia in the tectal visual areas mediate the visual experience; radial glia interact with synaptic activity during the activation of nitric oxide and other downstream N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors of the visual circuit. It’s no surprise that that activation of NMDA and NO are also critically important to shift behavioral sleep/wake rhythms through light.
Below is a psychedic photomicrograph capturing the activation of radial glia at three different time points, demarcated by color.Totally awesome, dude.
In our bi-weekly Journal Club, soon-to-be Master Phillip Long presented an article on seasonal variation in ER alpha dimorphism in green anole. Estradiol (E2) binds to ER-alpha or estrogen receptor-alpha to mediate male reproductive behaviors and female receptive (i.e. give it to me, baby) sexual behaviors. E2 is also responsible for brain masculination. Imagine how this information could change current and past male-female societal expectations! Anyways, back to science. In the paper discussed, male and female anoles were captured during their breeding and non-breeding seasons (May and October, respectively) and brought into the lab to assess ER-alpha expression in various brain regions. Regions of high ER-alpha expression include the ventromedial hypothalamus, medial preoptic area, and the ventromedial amygdala. This is no surprise give that these brain areas mediate sexual dimorphism of the brain and behavior. Other areas with marked ER-alpha expression include the septum which mediates aggression (is this the neurobiological etiology of S&M?!), the suprachiasmatic nucleus which I imagine regulates seasonal breeding, and the nucleus accumbens which mediates reward (again, again!).
Though there were many questionable methodologies within the paper, which led me to believe it was an undergraduate research project (no offense), it certainly is interesting to find differential expression of ER-alpha in a reptilian model that is comparable to ER-alpha expression in mammalian and avian models. Neuroscience rocks.
Below is a video of a male green anole courting a female. When anoles court, they distended their dulap (vibrant bright orange pouch below their jaw) and bob their head. I had the opportunity to see this while wandering around the Costa Rican cloud forests. It’s awesome.
Sleep wins.
Taurine is a protective mechanism, however, against ethanol intoxication and ethanol-induced apoptosis.
It’s fitting for Youngstown, a post-steel apocalyptic city, to have an exhibit at the Butler Institute of American Art with steel as a choice of medium…..and light. Larry Kagan is the artist, and Larry Kagan is a genius. He has crafted several hundred steel pieces that appear to be the work of a juvenile welder, until light becomes an additional medium. And voila! Airplanes, chairs, footballs, Lucky Strike cartons, bicycles, insects, and even three-dimensional planes emanate from the convoluted cluster of steel.
I apologize for the delay of Neury Thursday, but last night, I went to a Kent State Freethinkers meeting on the secrets/tricks/talent of mind reading. You can watch the six part series featuring Derren Brown, an English illusionist, and Richard Dawkins. The “artistic” camera shots are quite irritating, but it’s worth the content.
Back to neuroscience, in this week’s Journal of Neuroscience, scientists used functional magnetic resonance imaging to decode and reconstruct the perception of color within the visual cortex, specifically area V4. I’m not sure of the functional significance of the front cover illustration, but perhaps someone more versed in the visual system will tell. It reminds me of the color wheel posted on the blackboard in art class, illustrating that various perceived colors such as maroon, aquamarine, and even macaroni n’ cheese are simply synthesized from primary (blue, red, yellow) and secondary (green, purple, orange) colors.
Last week, I posted a blog entry about a recent PLOS publication discovering that fruit bat fellatio extends copulation time. Well here is the video as promised.
“Drowsiness is red alert!”- Dr. William C. Dement (he even gave me a squirt gun engraved with this public service announcement)
This is the 3rd annual Drowsy Driving Week, advocating to reduce/prevent drowsy driving at all costs. Routine 20 min naps help combat driving sleepiness. If this driving sleepiness is caused from total or partial sleep deprivation (i.e. an all nighter) then find a DD!
Over 1.9 million crashes are reported annually from drivers falling asleep at the wheel. Many have been fatal.
Newsweek has a fascinating slide show recapitulating the history of birth control. From chastity belts to Lysol douches to female condoms, human history waxes and wanes from societal endorsement of abstinence and safe sex. Advocating for the practice of safe sex has been a crucial platform of the Obama administration. This certainly was an effective tactic in The Girl Next Door when Matt and his nerdy “tripod” of friends created an educational sex video featuring porn stars. And it worked!
On a related note, boys in the 18th and 19th century were fitted with penile clamps, preventing them from masturbating or having erections at night. It essentially was a “one size fits all” cock ring with jutting barbed spikes (imagery is enough, not visual media necessary). Before the development of polysomnography and the subsequent discovery of nightly erections (nine a night!) coinciding with REM sleep, it was assumed that these nightly erections were associated with “wet dreams” and not a physiological phenonmenon called nocturnal penile tumenscence. Nocturnal penile tumenscence enables doctors to determine if erectile dysfunction is psychologically and/or physiocally mediated. It’s a more invasive measure than the “postage stamp” test. Perhaps Charlotte would had benefitted from this information…..
Last week, I mentioned that the promotional logo of the neo-A Nightmare on Elm Street was “Don’t Fall Asleep.” Last night, www.montegraphia.com and I watched The Haunting in Connecticut and Paranormal Activity, and again, the underlying message was : 1) Don’t Fall Asleep and/or 2) if sleep pressure is too much, Don’t Sleep Walk. Even if all three movies support America’s number one medical problem, sleep deprivation, at least Paranormal Activity showed that sleep walking coincides with deep sleep and not REM sleep, as most commonly thought; Katie’s sleep walking commenced roughly two hours after bedtime when she was most likely to be in slow, deep sleep, which dominates the first third of a 7-8 hour sleeping episode. I highly doubt that sleep consultants were hired though, given the movie’s poor, undergraduate grainy quality.
