DailyDirt: Slowly Piecing Together How The Brain Works

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Thu, Oct 13th 2011 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Scientists are learning more and more about the human brain all the time. We've learned a lot about the brain by studying disorders and instances of the brain not working the way it normally does. But there are also new medical imaging devices that allow researchers to take a peek at how normal brains work, too. Here are just a few links about some fascinating brain studies.

Scientists at UC Berkeley have started to develop a method that could reconstruct mental images using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the brain activity of volunteers. Reconstructed videos aren't exactly high definition reproductions, but they vaguely match up to the videos that the volunteers are shown. [url]
The placebo effect (for pain) has been shown to involve cannabinoid receptors in the brain. The study suggests that people are capable of creating their own natural opiate-like chemicals with some training. [url]
After a professor of neuroscience developed synesthesia and started to actually feel sounds, there's a bit more interest in discovering how the sense of touch is related to hearing. Come on, feel the noise. Girls, rock your boys. [url]
To discover more interesting articles on the human mind, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Filed Under: brain, fmri, placebo effect, senses, synesthesia

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Anonymous Coward, 13 Oct 2011 @ 5:40pm

Aside from the Minority Report development there I liked the image of the week.

2 Dinosaurs playing puppy.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/image-of-the-week/2011/10/10/dinosaur-just-like-a-kangar oo/
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- Michael Ho (profile), 13 Oct 2011 @ 7:45pm
  
  Re: Dinosaurs playing kangaroo...
  Well, we'll have to clone some dinosaurs to see if that's how they really behaved...
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- Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 13 Oct 2011 @ 9:10pm
  
  Where Is The Body Language?
  If you see dogs (adult or puppy) playing, or if you play with one, you will see that they express themselves differently from when they are facing a real fighting threat. I see nothing like that in the picture�those dinosaurs are baring their teeth exactly the same as if they are about to pounce to kill and eat prey.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Oct 2011 @ 1:06am

Two raptors trying to kill each other :)
http://www.clearcreeklabs.com/sitebuilder/images/puppies_playing-474x371.png
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