Controlling our Body Clock?

For those of you who have sleep disorders, you're not alone. Sleep disorders occur in some 50-70 million adults in the US. Fortunately for us, scientists have already identified the protein that regulates our body clocks (which is more precisely called a circadian biological clock) - a protein called called REV-ERB. In a recent study published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists used various compounds to test the effect of regulating the protein. The scientists used a drug called SR9011 on mice that had dysfunctional body clocks to activate REV-ERB. This drug was found to not only increase wakefulness but also found to reduce anxiety. This is an incredibly important finding, as past drugs that have attempted to increase wakefulness have actually increased anxiety as well, a problem that scientists have not found a solution to until now. Although this drug is far from perfect, it is clear that a time with virtually no sleep disorders is certainly a plausible future. 

A Step into Solving Alzheimer's

Brain plaques are protein buildups between neurons that are known to occur in Alzheimer's disease. A study in the The Journal of Experimental Medicine shows that a protein called orexin which causes our wakefulness. This orexin, produced in the hypothalamus, results in brain plaques that are correlated with Alzheimer's disease and is caused by sleep loss. Researchers at the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis found that reducing orexin increased sleep in patients  with sleep disorders and possibly even improve the sleep of healthy patients. By testing mice, the researchers not only found that less orexin meant more sleep but also meant less brain plaque (approximately half as much). 

Further studies need to be done with orexin, as it has incredible implications of reducing the risk of Alzheimer's in patients, especially with the upcoming dementia crisis (refer to my earlier blog post). If we can target and focus on orexin levels in the brain, we can potentially reduce the amount brain plaque in patients suspectable to Alzheimer's and thus reduce the risk of the disease. 

I'm glad we are making headway to avoid this potential dementia crisis but research needs to occur at a faster rate. There's quite a bit of attention now for dementia related diseases but it's time to put all that attention to work. We need to fully understand the cause and effects of these diseases to make a significant leap to solve this crisis. 

Potential Cause of Dementia Found

"A major cause of dementia has been potentially discovered, scientists report. In the type of dementia studied, there is damage to the white matter (nerve fibres) of the brain apparent on computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of older individuals." - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141030100521.htm

So what did they find? Scientists from the Krembil Neuroscience Centre examined 5 patients to come to the following conclusion (yes, this is a small sample size, so this study will have to be replicated with a larger sample size maintain its integrity. So we've known all a long that there seems to be an increase in the amount of damaged white matter in dementia patients, suggesting that this increase is the root cause of the patients' cognitive impairment. With this study, however, we have potentially found out why this happens. The scientists found that the damaged white matter is caused by a series of small cerebral infarcts (strokes) that go pretty much unnoticed and without many symptoms. These small strokes cause tiny new spots in the brain that are potentially the reason behind white matter disease and dementia. 

So what implications does this have?

Well there is on major benefit we get from this study. If these findings prove to be accurate, it will be much easier to prevent this cognitive decline in dementia patients. Remember however, that there are different types of dementia, so this will only directly benefit the type of dementia but not degenerative dementia. Anyways, so in this specific type of dementia, the problem results from vascular disease caused by small instances of blood vessels affecting the brain (this is what causes the stroke). These small blood vessels become dysfunctional, causing these tiny strokes and producing the tiny spots in the damaged white matter of dementia patients. Now that we know this, we can potentially stop this process by targeting such blood vessels and preventing them from damaging the brain.

The Neuroscience Behind Religion!!!

In my TED-Ed Talk I did a few months ago, I talked about the neuroscience behind religion (linked below). Have you ever wondered why religion works? After all, there are so many religions in the world, and a lot of them clash in values, how is it possible that there are a wide variety of firm believers in their respective religions. I myself, meditate quite frequently in front of the Hindu gods. To be honest, I don't know how accurate my religion is... but it still works. Whenever I'm stressed or in pain, I can meditate at my temple and I feel rejuvenated. So how does this work? My conjecture: the Placebo effect. In  my following TED-Ed Talk, I discuss this fascinating phenomenon and how this is all possible. Be sure to check it out below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYSQEdquNO8

Another Reason to Exercise - Memory

Why do I do cardio for 15-20mins the morning of my midterms, finals, SAT's, and other important exams? Well, simply put, exercise helps you remember thinks and makes you more sharp! When we engage in intense physical activity, our body releases a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This chemical helps our memories work better by rewiring and strengthening the neural pathways in the brain. So basically, when we learn, our brain is wiring itself to make certian neurons connect, and our memory is (presumably) contained with these connections between neurons. So when I say BDNF aids these connections, it promotes neuroplasticity in that these neural connections become stronger and allow better memory recovery as well as higher cognitive functioning. Thus, if you want to conquer exam, I highly suggest exercising the morning of your exam! BDNF also causes neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons, which keeps the brain healthy and functioning. 

The Dementia Crisis!

One of the most intriguing issue in the field of neurology is the growing dementia crisis. David Cameron, the prime minister of the UK, explains, “Dementia is simply a terrible disease. And it is a scandal that we as a country haven't kept pace with it.” Although Cameron is referring to the UK, this also holds true in the United States. Simply by looking at the age distribution of the United States, it is clear that there is going to be a large increase in the number of people above the age of 70 in the next 30 years. In study conducted by the RAND Corporation, approximately 15% of people in the United States above the age 70 have dementia (that is around 3.8 million people!). This number is only going to grow and the study estimates that 9.1 million people will have dementia-related diseases by 2040. 

I find this incredibly interesting because it is clear that there is not enough awareness for this dementia crisis. According to the National Institute of Health, Alzheimer’s researchers only received a grant of $503 million in 2012 whereas $2 billion was given for HIV research and $5.6 billion was given for cancer. We need to have increased government funding and more research on dementia-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s before it is too late. Cameron also explains, "The level of diagnosis, understanding, and awareness of dementia is shockingly low. It is as though we've been in collective denial." Thus, we must raise awareness for this upcoming crisis before it's too late!

Migraines, what are they?

A few people I know frequently get migraines, and they often take it lightly, as if it is not a serious problem. However, migraines should be taken seriously, they should never be a regular part of lives. During a migraine, our brain engages in what is called cortical spreading depression, At the beginning of the migraine, chemical imbalances in the brain stem causes a cascade of other chemical changes, causing the brain to response atypically to signals it normally receives. Specifically, there are chemical imbalances in the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine the cause an immune response in which cells flow through the vessels of the brain, causing them to dilate and creating a headache. These severs headaches can cause nausea, vomiting, irritability, low blood pressure, sensitivity to light, sound, and motion, and dark circles under eyes, so don't take it lightly! Sometimes the migraine can be accompanied with an 'aura' which entails visual impairment to a certain extent. Be sure to see your physician if your constantly having migraines, as we do have treatments for it (no cure yet)!

What we can do with polymer therapeutics...

So the liver breaks down foreign products, including drugs and medications, while the kidneys filter them out. Now we all know that the immune system identifies these foreign substance such as the drugs we take. So how do we stop drugs from being identified and broken down when we don't want them to?

Well that's where polymers come to the rescue. Polymers are chains of monomers and have numerous medical applications. Specifically, tissue regeneration is a big topic in polymer research, but we will get into that later.

So what can polymers do? They can (1) stabilize drugs so the drugs can survive in the body, (2) tailor a drug's release profile (whether the drug is going to be released slowly and gradually or if it is going to be released abruptly and all at once), (3) help a drug reach its target destination, (4) prevent biofouling, or rejection, of implanted surfaces, and (5) provide scaffolding to aid tissue regeneration.

Polymers are located in a majority of medications and often prevent drugs from criminalizing which slows down the release. Polymers include starch (can be readily broken down by body), cellulose (cannot be broken down easily), and gelatin (releases drug in watery environment).

(1) Stabilizing drugs so they can survive: Types of polymers include the surfactant which coats oily drugs and has positive, hydrophobic end, the adjuvant, which creates the efficiency of the vaccine, and chaperones, which prevent denaturization of the protein and help it survive. The whole idea is to stabilize the drug to prevent it from being identified/broken down by the immune system and thus a camouflage polymer is used to avoid detection of the drug. The camouflage protein prevents the immune system from identifying the drug as foreign.

(2) Tailoring Drug Release: Polymers can cause two types of releases of the drug: long-term release and triggered release. Long-term release involves the passive diffusion of polymer degradation and release. Triggered release involves setting it so an external stimulus causes an instant drug release. The stimulus can be temperature, light, chemicals, etc.

(3) Helping a drug reach its target destination: Strategies for this include using EPR, known as Enhanced Permeation and Retention which is used to target tumors and helps the drug reach it intended area. The idea is to find the single location of the affected area and only release the drug in that area. In cancerous tumors, for instance, they have leaky blood vessels which allow the polymer and drug to enter the tumor. Although this is off-topic, in chemotherapy, they are trying to kill the cancer before they kill you (just something to think about).

(4) Preventing biofouling: This is done through a process called surface passivation which attempts to prevent the formation of biofilms which are responsible for biofouling.

(5) Tissue Regeneration: (Probably my favorite part) Involved in bone replacement in that it encourages bone cells to grow and pack in place where there might be an injury (such as if you get shot and it damages your bone). Furthermore, there is something called the Extracellular Matrix (ECM) that can be completely bioderived that is probably the most promising for tissue regeneration. The ECM allows things to grow that would not naturally grow. For instance, you can take the aorta from a dead person, wash out the cells, create a skeleton of the aorta, seed it with new cells (using adult stem cells) and you will eventually have a new aorta. Crazy, right! This, is where, I think, we have are going to have the most implications in the future. We will be able to get amputated limbs (refer to picture on right) to grow back through the application of the ECM and we will be able to preform countless other, what we now consider, miracles. There are companies, such as Conexa™ that supply the ECM matrix, made out of pig tissue, already (refer to picture below).

Alcohol increasing survival chances?

Have you ever wondered why it is the drunk driver that seems to survive the accident whereas his sober passengers aren't usually as fortunate?

It turns out, according to a study conducted by Lee Friedman at UIC, that alcohol has some sort of a protective effect on its users. He explains, "The more alcohol you have in your system, the more protective the effect." He studied 190,612 patients at trauma centers in Illinois in which he explains, "At the higher levels of blood alcohol concentration, there was a reduction of almost 50 percent in hospital mortality rates." He continues to say, "This protective benefit persists even after taking into account injury severity and other factors known to be strongly associated with mortality following an injury." However, Friedman explains that he is not trying to encourage drinking since there is an increased risk of being injured in the first place by consuming alcohol. He states that alcohol somehow tunes down the neurological "panic buttons" that are pressed when one gets an injury, since these panic buttons are what actually causes death.

Now let's stop and think for a second. Alcohol has some sort of protective effect that increases our chance of survival after injury (with the exception of burns). So, I was thinking that there must be some way we can utilize this protective effect of alcohol in drugs, to a point where ambulances have this drug and administer it to patients immediately, thereby increasing there chance of surviving in the hospital. Of course, before doing this, we must learn more about this mysterious nature of alcohol. Clearly, there is a amazing potential that can be unleashed when we learn about this nature. 

Disappointing News on Stem Cell Research

In reference to my earlier post on a new 'discovery' on stem cells (linked at: http://www.thebeautyofmedicine.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-new-way-of-creating-stem-cells.html), it turns out that scientists were not able to reproduce the work by this Japanese team of biologists at the RIKEN Centre for Developmental Biology. The idea behind the research, if you haven't read my earlier post, was basically to mimic bodily stress during an injury to cause blood cells to revert back to their embryonic stem cell state. The team claimed, in the journal Nature, that placing the white blood cells of adult mice into a weak acid solution (pH of about 5.7), they were able to cause the cell to do just this. Profesor Ryoji Novori, who is the President of the Riken, admits that this must be seriously reevaluated as a result of reports illustrating mistakes made during the scientific procedure.

I find this rather quite disappointing since I had become incredibly excited upon hearing the news of the new research and reading its paper. We'll see how it plays out, but I highly doubt this paper will remain credible, as even a few of the researchers themselves admitted to making mistakes throughout the experiment. I guess we will still have to wait for a better method of creating stem cells :/

My hypothesis regarding the placebo effect - Why optimistic people are happier and more successful

For those who don't know what a placebo is, check out my earlier post: http://thebeautyofmedicine.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-placebo-effect-and-its-possible.html

So after doing some thinking, I hypothesized that optimistic people are releasing dopamine at higher levels than pessimistic people. This then leads to my next part of my hypothesis, which is that people who are optimistic people have a higher chance at success than those who are pessimistic.

So how did I arrive to this? Well first, since dopamine is associated with happiness and pleasure, it causes people to be more optimistic. This is because optimistic people often perceive the glass as half-full and are thus always looking at the positives in life, thereby being happier and resulting in a higher release of dopamine at any given point in time. 

Before and as you are taking a test, when you constantly say that you are going to get and 'A,' your body gradually releases more and more dopamine during the test, which serves as a motivation to do better and closer to achieving your goal. Thus, statistically speaking, optimistic people would theoretically come closer to achieving their goals then pessimistic people. Of course, there is the possible case that an unrealistically optimistic person is completely let down by his/her unrealistic goals (such as test results), and this backfires in that there is a dopmaine decrease since the person does not get the award he/she expected. I noticed the possibility of this 'backfiring' after reading this abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22795698

I wish I had the resources to conduct such experiments to test these kinds of hypotheses... I guess I have to be patient and wait for the time to do so :/

A new way of creating stem cells!!

According to a team of researchers based in Japan at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, stem cells can be created in a new and less controversial way. The basic idea behind their research was attempting to mimic the stresses the body faces when it is injured (this is because when the body is injured, adult cells revert back to their embryonic stem cell state to fix the injured area). So, the researchers experimented with multiple procedures to create the stress on white blood cells of an adult mouse. They went from heating the white blood cells, to starving them, all the way to squeezing them through a thin tube. Finally, however, they found a stress that might just be a revolutionary discovery.

It turns out that the stress that worked the best was placing the white blood cells into an acidic solution of about 5.7 pH. This then resulted in exactly what the team of researchers had hoped for: the white blood cell turned into a state similar to that of an embryonic stem cell. Using this procedure, they were able to create all the necessary tissues for an adult mouse and were in fact able to created a new mouse embryo!

This absolutely stunning procedure has one challenge: applying it to the cells of humans. As another biochemist, Austin Smith, puts it, "The method could have many applications, but it really depends on finding out if and how we can extend this in humans." If scientists are able to discover a way to apply this to human cells, we will be able to do countless scientific miracles that scientists have only dreamed about to this day. We can go anywhere from regrowing severed limbs to curing Parkinson's to curing cardiovascular disease and countless numbers of others diseases and disorders.

I would like to see if this will raise any controversy, as previous methods of stem cell researching have encountered. Since we are not destroying the embryos of humans to obtain the stem cells, this is much less controversial then before. Hopefully, this procedure faces minimal controversial attack and can be adjusted to work on human cells. If this is successful, science will see a whole new epoch of endless opportunities.

My TED-ed Talk on Antibiotic Resistance

Just adding to my earlier post on my TED-ed talk on Antibiotic Resistance, I'm happy to say I have recently been featured on the official TED website (link below) so be sure to check it out (including my earlier post)!

Link to TED blog post: 

http://blog.ted.com/2014/02/05/burlington-high-schools-ted-ed-club-blinds-us-with-science/

Link to earlier post:

http://thebeautyofmedicine.blogspot.com/2013/12/antibiotic-resistance-have-we-reached.html

Reflection: I believe the issue of antibiotic resistance and the increase of superbugs is one of the most interesting problems in the research field of pathology. I find this incredibly interesting because antibiotic resistance has the potential to set us to the post-antibiotic era, an era where antibiotics are useless and ineffective. I also find it pretty frightening, since we rely heavily on antibiotics from strep throat, to gonorrhea, to cancer treatments and organ transplants. Antibiotics have become a part of our daily lives, but it is absolutely terrifying to think about how we would possibly be able to live without them. According to the 2013 Threat Report released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are approximately 2 million cases in the United States dealing with this issue and a total of 23,000 deaths that have directly resulted from antibiotic resistance. Our misuse and overuse of antibiotics, ever since Fleming discovered penicillin, has led us straight into this crisis. What I find amazing, however, is how the bacteria are able to spread their resistance. Many may think the resistance genes spread by Darwin’s theory of natural selection, but that is not the case. The fascinating way bacteria spread their resistance so rapidly is through one of three ways: transformation, transduction, or conjugation. These three means allow the bacteria to transfer their resistance genes extremely quickly, and thus this is a growing international crisis. This gene transfer is, for lack of better words, absolutely mind-boggling! I also find that the way bacteria are resistant to drugs is incredibly enthralling. Bacteria can be resistant by breaking down the antibiotic, changing the binding site of the antibiotic, altering the biochemical pathway of the antibiotic, or by making an efflux pump. I definitely want to be able to learn more about these ways of resistance.

Above all, what is the most captivating concept in antibiotic resistance is the rise of superbugs. These superbugs are resistant to every antibiotic we have on the planet! As CDC director Thomas Frieden said about CRE, a type of superbug, “CRE are nightmare bacteria.  Our strongest antibiotics don’t work and patients are left with potentially untreatable infections.” Clearly, this is a huge problem, since patients cannot be treated for these illnesses involving superbugs and is, indisputably, one of the most compelling concepts in pathology research today. I am eager to see this issue solved, since it is a major international crisis, since disease that we consider mild or treatable, such as strep, will then have the potential to kill us since we can no longer defend ourselves with antibiotics. The rise of superubugs, in effect, would be absolutely chaotic unless we take immediate action since cancer treatments, organ transplants, and most treatable infections will become nightmares and we will be in the terror of the post-antibiotic era. 

High School Daze - Sleep vs. Studying

Many of us may think late-night studying is at least partially beneficial, but as a study posted in the journal Child Development explains, late-night studying may actually do more harm than good. As we sleep, our brain organizes the information we learned from the day before, as well as makes various connections with the large amount of information we learned in school or studied earlier. A better strategy would be to wake up earlier and study than to stay up later in the night. Check out the NPR talk below:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/08/22/159435167/high-school-daze-the-perils-of-sacrificing-sleep-for-late-night-studying?start=1065

Although not explained in the article and as I mentioned in my earlier post on memory, our brain goes over muscle movements during our sleep. This is why it is important for athlete's to get enough rest, aside from physically restoring themselves, their brains repeats the muscle movements they did in practice the day before. 

Pace yourself when studying! By cramming, you are putting information in your brain that will only stay temporarily, and chances are you'll forget a majority of what you studied the night before as you're taking the test. This is because, similar to how brains confuse memories, your brain will have a hard time differentiating between overlapping information, simply because you have not consistently exposed yourself to the information over a longer period of time. By cramming the night before, you're trying to get all the information inside your head in one sitting, and it's quite likely that you won't be able to recall the information during the exam. 

The Blue Brain and Connectome Project

Let me start with this: my mind has been blown. How? Just watch this TED Talk by Henry Markram regarding the Blue Brain project (link below):

But before you click on the link, let me give you a background as to what this project is. This Blue Brain Project is a project involving the mapping of all the neurons and neural synapses within the brain and to create a model brain in which we can do unimaginable things such as holograms with artificial intelligence and will give us the ability to finally understand what is going on in our brains as to how we are perceiving reality. In the beginning of the video, Markram explains the evolution and function of the neo-cortex and how our brain is a product of the universe. He then goes to explain the Blue Brain Project and how they plan on doing it, hopefully within the next ten years. If this is successful, we will finally have a firm grip in understanding the nature of our brain. I want to get involved, and I am sure many of you will too after watching this video.

http://www.ted.com/talks/henry_markram_supercomputing_the_brain_s_secrets.html

Be sure to check out the connectome project, similar to the Blue Brain Project, too! (linked below)

Sebastian Seung proposes the hypothesis that everything we know, all our memories and who we are, are all in our 'connectome,' which is a collection of all of our neural connections.

http://www.ted.com/talks/sebastian_seung.html

Antibiotic Resistance - will we reach the post-antibiotic era?

"Imagine that you are going to your doctor because you have strep throat to get treated for it? The doctor then prescribes you with antibiotics to kill of the bacteria involved in causing it. However, imagine if these antibiotics were useless and had absolutely no effect in treating strep throat. Let me remind you, if strep goes untreated, it most certainly has the potential to be fatal" is how I start my TED-ed talk on Antibiotic Resistance. Watch my talk to learn more about the scare of Superbugs, which are a class of bacteria that are resistant to every antibiotic we have on the entire planet, meaning that we have no way of treating patients with these illnesses and has the potential to set us into an period where antibiotics will no longer work. Frightening right? In my 10-minute talk at Burlington High School, I created a series of 4-steps that each and every person should talk to stop the spread of superbugs. Click on the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-z3HI8amkA

Christmas In the City event for Homeless Children

Over this past Christmas break, I participated in a wonderful program called Christmas in the City (held on 12/22/13), which is 100% volunteer based program that hosts a beautiful Christmas event for children in homeless shelters near and around Boston. There was a total 4,000 homeless children and around 1,000 volunteers. As a volunteer, I was assigned to 6 children from the homeless shelter called Grandparents Silver Lining. Throughout the duration of the event, I bonded closely with each of the six children. They had quite a few unfortunate stories to tell. It made me realize that not every kid is as lucky as I am to have parents that care for me, that they must face countless hardships on a day to day basis, and that the emotions they must go through when they don't have parents to look after them everyday. I dedicated that entire day to make them feel loved and that someone really did care for them. I wanted them to be able to break free from their tough lives, even if it's for just one day. At the event, they had numerous activities/booths to go to (such as a mini zoo, mini aquarium, nail/hair salon, flu shots) and quite a large indoor carnival with a plethora of rides as well as plenty of food.

As a volunteer, I not only served them lunch, but I also took them around to each of the booths and rides to care and look after them. I specifically remember that after dismounting the dragon coaster ride, all the children came up to me and gave me a group hug, probably the most satisfying hug I have ever had. At the end of the event, each kid was given a few presents, and you should have seen just how wide their grins were.  To see them smile, to see them laugh, to see them happy, made my feel absolutely amazing; it made me feel that I can actually make a difference in someone's life, that I can make them feel like they will always be cared for, that they will always be loved. Through this event, I realized that medicine is not always about the science, it is also about caring for others and those in need. I remembered that "in the joy of others, lies our own" - Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Allowing these homeless children to enjoy and be carefree even just for one day certainly made my experience worthwhile and changed my view on medicine entirely.

The Placebo effect and its possible implications

“Despite the problem of bias and hazards of interpretation and the claims about the efficacy of ancient remedies, we propose that the available data support the somewhat startling hypothesis that the history of medical treatment under recently is largely the history of the placebo effect.” - Shapiro and Shapiro (1997) in Anne Harrington, Ed. The Placebo Effect and Interdisciplinary Exploration. 

For those that don't know, a placebo is basically an ineffectual treatment that is passed off as an effective one. So the whole idea behind the placebo effect is that the body is capable of fixing and healing itself and that we don't always need medications to make us better.

To digress a bit, I'm sure you've heard your teachers say, "Your heartbeat is involuntary since it is controlled by involuntary cardiac muscle." Now here's the problem with that, we can actually regulate, to a certain extent, involuntary processes in our body such as our heartbeat. Similarly, if we need to go to the bathroom, but there's no bathroom available, we tell our bladder to hold up for a bit until you find a bathroom, even though our bladder is made of involuntary smooth muscle. So where am I going with this? Well, let's ask ourselves a question... why do we take medications? 

We take medications to help us feel better over things we say we can't consciously control. But what if there is a way to consciously regulate these 'involuntary' processes? Take an experiment conducted by Karen Olness, M.D.: Olness took a group of children and taught them all about antibodies, like IgA, in their saliva. He then taught them self-hypnosis (form of self-regulation) and suggested they increase their IgA levels. The group of children that were taught about IgA had an increase in the number of salivary IgA's compared to the control group (for more info refer to this abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2642622 for more information).Using the same concept, if we show patients their heart monitors, they can regulate their heartbeat to have a better rate. In other words, if we show the monitor to a person who's heartbeat is too fast, they will eventually slow their heartbeat and bring it under control. This concept is called biofeedback. 

So basically, we can control our Autonomic Nervous System through cognitive function. If we can master the art of placebo's, there will be serious implications in the future. For instance, we can use placebo's for Parkinson's disease. In this disease, there is a decreased amount of dopamine, which results in decreased motor-control which is why Perkinson's causes tremors. However, by using hypnosis, similar to the experiment Olness conducted, scientists can increase the amount of dopamine in the dopamine pathway and thereby cause these tremors to go away. What a strange yet wonderful nature of placebos!

What's up with Deja Vu and Photographic Memories?

So I had always wondered, what is the science behind Deja Vu?

After looking into it, I learned that our memory system has two parts: definitive recollection and familiarity level. In Deja Vu, our familiarity level gets triggered, and our brains confuse memories to make it seem as if we already did something we know we haven't done before.

This then lead to another question I had, ever since I heard of Mike Ross (above) on the T.V. Show Suits (amazing show, I highly recommend it), which was why some people had photographic memories. Basically what happens is, as memories get older, they tend to overlap. Therefore, because some memories overlap quite often, our brains get confused and cannot recall specifically what happened over a certain period of time. Now, people with photographic memories are better at separating out overlapping memories, and thus they are able to recall events that happened in the past with incredible detail, as if they had taken a mental snapshot in their head and stored it in their heads.

 I certainly wish I had photographic memory, but I always wondered if people with photographic memories feel more cluttered in their head since they have all that extra, often unnecessary information stored in their head. Is there a limit to the amount of information the brain can store? Scientists have yet to figure out, since there are so many connections between neurons and thus a large capacity for storage. 

More on human memory, Patient H.M.

There are different types of memory. There is declarative memory (can be put into words) and non-declarative memory (cannot be put into words). Under declarative memory, there is semantic memory (deals with facts and common sense) and episodic memory (deals with bringing back sensory experiences from the past). Under non-delcarative memory, there is procedural memory (deals with muscle action skills without thinking about it - i.e. riding a bike) and priming memory (short-term, not conscious thinking). 

Since I was already on the topic of memory, I thought I might tell you a little bit about patient H.M. Patient H.M. developed epilepsy and agreed to undergo an experimental brain surgery. Surgeons took out his hippocampus (refer to picture on above)and his epilepsy went away, but obviously you can't just surgically remove a part of your brain and expect nothing to happen. So the problem H.M. ran into was that he could not form new memory nor could he remember anything that happened in the past year. However, he remember everything from more than 1 year ago (his childhood, 2 years ago, etc.). The loss of the ability to form new memories is called anterograde amnesia. In other words, H.M. could not form new declarative memories, but he could remember old episodic memories and learn new procedural memories and muscle movements.

Because of this experiment, H.M. led scientists to conclude that declarative memories are hippocampus dependent and non-declarative memories are hippocampus non-dependent. So basically, the hippocampus links memories together. But, as memories grow older, they get consolidated into the neuron network and no longer rely on the hippocampus. Therefore, patient H.M. was able to remember all his old memories but could not remember his more recent ones from the past year.  

How to increase you're memory and how the human memory works

So I did a little bit of research and talked to a few medical professionals, and the basic concept is quite simple so this won't be too long of a post. But to start, for all those interested in neuroscience, I'm sure you've heard of Hebb's theory: "Neurons that fire together, wire together," which is the basis of forming long-terms memories.

So once, a famous scientist, Ivan Pavlov, tested this theory on his dogs. He found that every time his 

dogs saw meat, their mouths began to produce excess saliva. He decided to ring a bell right before giving his dogs the meat. So why did he do this? Well, there is neuron that fires when the dogs hear the ring of the bell. Eventually, the ring itself caused the dogs to salivate, because their brains starting associating the ring itself with salvation. The dogs realized that the ring of the bell meant that it was going to get meat. Eventually, the neuron for the ring connects with the neuron involved with the saliva, and we get a weak connection (the red dotted line in my not-so-beautiful diagram to the right). Eventually, Pavlov continued to ring the bell before serving meat, and it reached the point where the dogs' neurons for the ring of the bell established a strong connection for the meat (the solid red line on the diagram). After establishing a strong connection, the dogs salivated just as much when hearing the ring of the bell as they did when the saw the meat!

In a similar way, the strength of our neurons can be strong/weak, and forming the connection gives our memory. To remember something, associate it with something you already know, and chances are you will remember it better (because, according to the theory, the neuron for the thing you already know connects with what you want to remember, and bam, you're a genius! Jk, its obviously not that easy to be a genius, but hey, if it makes our lives easier, why not do it? Also, if you play sports, I highly recommend getting plenty of sleep every night, especially when you have practice/games. This is because, in your sleep, your brain undergoes muscle replay, or in other words, it replays the muscle movements you did during practice in your head. This is another reason why coaches and athletic trainers are always telling you to get a good night's sleep, aside from having enough energy.

As for study tips, you can use the trick I mentioned about associating something you need to memorize with something you already know. Second, do not multitask while you study, since you will remember things better (you're neurons will have a stronger connection) if you're brain isn't focused on multiple things (i.e. do not watch T.V., text, check fb, etc. while studying). Third, have spaced practice of studying; do not cram. Info you see multiple times over a spread period of time will allow stronger connection of neurons and better test results. Review your class notes when you come home. Fourth, set-up situations where you have to recall the info you are trying to learn. In other words, quiz yourself. Reading things over and over is not as effective as forcing yourself to recall info. And lastly, a trick I like to use is chewing the same flavor of gum while studying and taking a test. Not sure if it is based on science or a placebo, but all that matters is it works.

My theory is that by chewing the same flavor of gum, the same neurons fire while I am taking the test as I am studying because they have become associated with the gum. So there you have it, how to increase your memory and the basis of human memory. Feel free to comment if you have any other strategies that help :).

Neuroplasticity - the coolest idea of brain science

Recently, I've been hearing a company called Luminosity making claims in their ads about their use of neuroplasticity to improve one's memory. So what exactly is neuroplasticity and what does it mean?

 Well, neuroplasticity is the simply the ability of the brain rewire itself. In the past, the brain was marginally viewed as hardwired and undadaptable, an idea known as the theory of the unchanging brain. The belief was that the brain could not change after a time in one's life known as the critical period, which occurs during infancy and ends in early childhood. However, scientists realized that the brain has an incredible ability to change and modify itself, especially when it is injured or a part of it becomes dysfunctional.

Neuroplasticity has serious implications for the future and as Norman Doidge, M.D., explains in his book, The Brain That Changes Itself (I highly recommenced reading this if you are interested in neuroscience), it enables "people who had been blind since birth to see again... the deaf to hear... people with strokes that were declared incurable [to] recover... people whose learning disorders [to be] cured and IQs [to be] raised... people [to] rewire their brains with their thoughts, [and] to cure previously incurable obsessions and traumas" (Doidge, Preface XIX). Clearly, neuroplasticity is one the most important scientific discoveries and is, in my opinion, the coolest idea of brain science since it allows us to do things we can barely imagine. 

Aphasia and Speech deterioration

In the left hemisphere of the brain, there are two main areas in our brain that mainly deal with speech processing. The first one, located in the frontal lobe, is called Broca's area. The second one, located in the temporal lobe, is called Wernicke's area. Now, when you hear the term aphasia, it refers to the loss in the ability to speak or to understand speech. There are two types of aphasia, each dealing with the two area's described above. Wernicke's aphasia is a fluent aphasia, or in other words, it causes people to have senseless and non-stop speech. Wernicke's aphasia can be caused by a stroke. On the other hand, Broca's aphasia  deals with the loss of the ability to produce spoken and/or written language. Someone with Broca's aphasia cannot speak or write in any language. Have you ever had the feeling when you are trying to say something but cannot think of the word? Well, that is, more or less, the constant feeling patients with Broca's aphasia have; they cannot think of any word to express what they want to say. Be sure to check out the videos listed below, they are extremely interesting!

Here is a video of patients with wernicke's aphasia and how they talk: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-LD5jzXpLE

Here is video of patients with Broca's aphasia: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjFnDLObzk8

The basics of neuroscience: the neuron

We've all heard of the neuron, but how does it work and what does it do? Let's start by saying, there is nothing more awesome than a neuron.

The neuron, indisputably one of the most interesting cells in our body, is cell that has the ability to get excited which, in effect, can transfer and store information. The neuron contains a nucleus, dendrites, and an axon terminal (plus all the stuff a cell needs to have i.e. mitochondria, ribosomes, cytoplasm, etc.). The dendritic end of the neuron receives the signal, called the action potential, while the the axon terminal sends the signal. Along the axon, there is covering called the myelin sheath which contains cells called schwann cells that are used to support the neuron. In many neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheath is damaged, and the neuron is no longer supported by a sufficient amount of these schwann cells.

So what exactly happens in the action potential?

In the action potential, the signal is received by the dendrite, travels down the neuron, and then causes neurotransmitters such as Acetylcholine (ACh) to be released in the synaptic cleft by the synaptic vesicles, or small space in between the presynaptic axon and the dendrite of a postsynaptic cell  ( refer to picture on right). The neurotransmitter is then received by postsynaptic receptors. There is a lot of involvement between sodium, potassium, and calcium ions, but I am not going to go over all of that in depth because I would prefer to give you the basic concept and spark your interest rather than trying to type out an entire anatomy class on this post.

In a short version, the neuron is in the resting phase when there is no electric signal. However, when the signal comes along, it enters a phase of depolarization in which the sodium ion channels open and sodium ions enter the axon (refer to picture on right) . It then reaches its action potential, and soon enters the phase of repolarization in which potassium ions open and potassium ions flow out of the axon. Eventually, a resting potential is re-established and the process starts all over again.


So there you have it, a basic overview of the neuron. Intriguing stuff right here, huh? If you think so, be sure to check out my post on the blue brain project!

The basics of neuroscience: sensory information + the sensory homunculus

Now that you know the basics of brain anatomy from my last post, lets first take a look into sensory information

But before we get into that, let's look at something called the sensory homunculus (right). This is basically a diagram of the brain that illustrates it's relation to different body parts. It shows how sensitive each body part is in the brain. The bigger the body part, the more sensory receptors it has, thus the more sensitive that area of the body is.

There are may types of sensory receptors including photoreceptors, auditory receptors, nociceptors, thermoreceptors, and mechanoreceptors. Photoreceptors, located in your retina, sense light, auditory receptors in your inner ear sense sound (by receiving vibrations of sound waves), nociceptors are pain receptors, thermoreceptors sense temperature, and mechanoreceptors sense touch.

If you found this interesting, be sure to check out my next post on speech processing!

The basics of neuroscience: brain anatomy

Since I think neuroscience is incredibly interesting and a lot of my reflections will be about neuroscience, I thought I might be able to spark your interest too with a the few basics about the anatomy of the brain

"The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around." - Thomas Edison (one of my favorite quotes)

We all know the brain and the nervous system are incredibly important, but how do they work? You can refer to the picture below to see a breakdown of the nervous system, however, I am not going to go in-depth into it, since I will just be giving you some basic concepts to spark your interest. 

Clearly, that may look a bit overwhelming, but not to worry, I will mainly going into the different parts of the brain, and will post later about the rest of the stuff on that diagram. 

So the brain is basically the origin of our behavior, and is split into the forebrain, the midbrain, and the hindbrain.The forebrain contains the cerebrum, which is responsible for our emotions such as fear, and the hippocampus, which converts our short-term memory to long-term memory (I will later post about how the human memory works for those that are interested). Damage of the hippocampus often causes amnesia, a loss of memory. The forebrain also contains the thalymus, which is the sensory relay station, and the hypothalymus, which is involved in hormonal release, our sleep-wake cycle, and causing hunger. The midbrain, which is the smallest part of our brain, is involved in motor-sensory functions such as coordinating muscle movements. The hindbrain consists of the medulla, which controls autonomic processes such as breathing, digestion, blood pressure, and heart rate, the pons, which controls activity between the two hemispheres, and the cerebellum, which coordinates involuntary movement. 

The brain is also split into hemispheres. The right hemisphere is known for its involvement in creativity whereas the left brain is known for its involvement in logical reasoning and speech. Each hemisphere has four lobes: the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and the temporal lobe. The frontal lobe is responsible for our judgement, while the parietal lobe is responsible for spacial navigation and our sense of touch. The occipital lobe is responsible for our vision while the temporal lobe is known for its involvement in auditory processing. In my next post, I will describe a little bit about the somatosensory cortex and sensory processing so be sure to check it out!

Who am I?

I am Ansh Bhammar, a highly motivated and self-driven student at Burlington High School, committed to learning and passionate about life sciences and medicine. My dream is to do research in neuroscience while treating patients as well (by having the MD/PhD dual degree). Although I am looking for research opportunities, I figured this blog would be a good way to to express my thoughts about medicine and the wonderful science behind it. I am constantly reading medical articles from Medical News Today, Medscape mobile, and the New England Journal of Medicine.

I take every opportunity to learn about medical and life science. For each of the topics I post about, I usually do some extensive online researching and sometimes attend a few extra-curricular classes on them (i.e. MIT Splash Courses) and I then offer my reflection/information I learned about the topic. Not only do I enjoy offering my reflection on certain medical/scientific topics, but I also hope to spark someone else's interest. Feel free to check out my linked in profile (click on the button on the right side of the blog) to learn a bit more about me. Be sure to SUBSCRIBE via email at the top of my page and feel free to contact me through Linkedin.