VORB assignment 11/3/08

India's Novel Use of Brain Scans in courts is Debated
In India, people are being tested with magnetic resonance imaging also known as MRI's. These machines are used to regulate brain activity to determine whether someone is lying or not. People in India are being accused of crimes from evidence from these MRI's. Officials are trying to expand the knowledge of these so they can use these with terrorists or suspected ones. In June there was a murder case in Pune, Maharashtra State where a judge cited the MRI as proof that the suspect’s brain held “experiential knowledge” about the crime that was committed, that only the killer could possess. Because of this the judge sentenced the woman to prison for life. Is it really reasonable to make a decision about someones life just from a brain scan that may not even be accurate? OR on the other hand, could these MRI's help change the world by being able to identify if someone is involved in terrorism or crime? Henry T. Greely stated, “We keep looking for a magic, technological solution to lie detection. Maybe we’ll have it someday, but we need to demand the highest standards of proof before we ruin people’s lives based on its application.” I think this quote explain the use of MRI's perfectly. Personally, I feel that it is wrong to use these not fully developed MRI's especially when people's lives are on the line



The Unspeakable Odyssey of the Motionless Boy
Erik was sixteen when he was in an accident and a piece of metal was stuck in his brain. From this, a blood clot had formed in the brain stem in the pons;which relay sensory information between the cerebellum and cerebrum, causing a stroke right at the juncture where his body met his mind. He then suffered from a rare and permanent condition called locked-in syndrome. This can develop gradually or in an instance like it did to Erik. Erik was fortunate because doctors noticed quickly that he was locked in, while other patients can be locked in with no one knowing for years. How frustrating do you think that is for the patient? This means he has no control over his muscles, so he will never move or speak again in his life. Erik's voluntary muscles still functioned. He could control up and down movements in his eyes. Once doctors and his parents found this out, they had him move his eyes up and down so he could answer yes and no questions. This was really good to learn because it gave hope to the family and now the family realized that Erik can still understand mostly everything. If I were his family, it would be extremely hard obviously, but I think I would want to know if my loved one wanted to be living or if they were going through too much pain and frustration where they feel its not even worth living. Although it would be harsh, I would still ask because the patient can't say anything at all so the only way of knowing is asking.



Learning From Mistakes Only Works After Age 12, Study Says
It's very interesting to know that eight-year-old children and twelve-year-olds and adults have a totally different way of learning. Eight-year-olds learn mostly from positive feedback, and twelve-year-olds are learn easier from negative feedback so they can go back and fix mistakes. Adults also use negative feedback but are better at this than twelve-year-olds. This shows that age has a huge impact on learning and brain development. This information has been shown by experiments, and by MRI's. From the MRI there was a three-way age division made between these three ages, which has never happened before. It's good that psychologists are finding this information because it is a huge help to teachers so they can learn strategies to teach their children. I would like to know that is it age or brain development that causes these outcomes?


Mouse Party
I spent all my time on this interactive video becasue it was really cool and interesting to learn what drugs actually do to the brain.

Ecstasy: Serotonin neurotransmitters, Serotonin transporters, and Serotonin receptors are involved when using the drug ecstasy. Serotonin transporters effects anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, sleep, sexuality, appetite and metabolism. When ecstasy enters the body it makes the transporter transport in reverse, so it transports the Serotonin out of the cell. When this happens the Serotonin gets trapped in the synaptic cleft, which makes the cell overstimulate. Also, ecstasy has addictive properties because dopamine is also released. The visual that this gave was very interesting because it actually showed exactly how ecstasy reacts in the body.

Heroin: In this simulation inhibitory neurotransmitters are released before heroin is. An inhibitory neurotransmitters is a neurotransmitter that decreases the electrochemical activity of neurons. Dopamine does not enter the brain because of the inhibitory neurotransmitter that is released. Natural opiates enter the system and activate the opiate receptors so inhibitory neurotransmitters are no longer released. Now because of this dopamine is released. Dopamine reaches the synapse, which makes the user feel a sense of "well-being." Body opiates are pain killers so it helps the body recover when it undergoes a lot of pain. This connects with the drug morphine because it is used as a pain killer, and it's similar to heroin.

Marijuana: Just like heroin, inhibitory neurotransmitters are already released into the synapse before marijuana is. Although, unlike heroin a different transmitter is present, it is called anandamide, which mainly involves functions of the immune system. It makes people feel relaxed and calm and slows down the body's functions. These receptors stop the release of inhibitory neurotransmitters, just like the other drugs, therefore dopamine is released. THC, also known as tetrahydrocannabinol is a chemical in marijuana and it acts the same way that anandamide does and dopamine is then released into the synapse.

Meth: Meth also has the same functions as dopamine, so when meth enters the body it acts the same way dopamine would. Dopamine leaves the cell because meth forces the dopamine out. Just like ecstasy, the dopamine is transported to the synapse and pushes the dopamine out of the cell because the transporters work in reverse. The cell is then overstimulated because the dopamine is stuck in the synaptic cleft. It is also very addictive because it makes the user feel great excitement.I found that meth and ecstasy are very similar in the way they enter the brain by watching these simulations.