Men and Women Visually Focus on Different Things

A recent study published in PLoS One has found that men and women view images in different ways. University of Bristol researchers asked 26 male and 26 female participants, ranging from ages 19-47, to study various images. From this, researchers found that gender differences emerged in terms of where the subjects tended to focus on in the images. These images included scenes from movies such as The Sound of Music, Inside Man, and The Blue Planet, and artwork including "People in the Sun" by Edward Hopper and "Three Graces" by David Bowers.

Image from National Geographic

Researchers found that women tended to view more of the overall image than men did. They also found that women also often focused on non-facial areas as well as areas slightly below where men tended to focus. Lead author Felix Mercer Moss, a vision researcher and doctoral student at the University of Bristol in the UK believes that risk aversion may be the cause of these differences. He says that, "Women may be attaching more risk to looking people in the eye."This may be the reason as to why women tend to focus their attention to a lower part of the body than men do. Previous studies have shown that there are clear gender differences when viewing an image that is emotional or sexually suggestive. However, this study differed in that Mercer Moss wanted to see if these gender differences would persist through more general and basic stimuli, and it turns out that they would.

Red regions are what women tend to look at. Blue regions
are what men tend to look at. See above image.
Image from National Geographic

I found this article interesting because I when I looked at the photo showing the regions where women viewed the photograph most often, I found that I viewed those same spots as well. The regions that the men were shown to have looked at I did not view as closely as they did. I would like to know why this occurs and I find it fascinating that it even occurs in the first place. I don't think I have any problems staring into the eyes of someone in a photograph since they aren't even there, so I'm not sure if I back up the whole "risk aversion" theory. That being said, perhaps I am just unaware that I am averting their eyes on a subconscious level.


Article: Battle of the Sexes: How Women and Men See Things Differently
Written By: Jane J. Lee
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/121130-gender-differences-eyes-science/

Image from Nature News

NASA's orbiting MESSENGER probe has recently confirmed that, in face, ice exists on Mercury, the planet closest to the sun. This ice is found at the poles of Mercury, thought to perhaps a hold a trillion tons of water ice trapped in craters. To put that in perspective, that is enough to fill 20 billion Olympic skating rinks. In addition, this ice seems to be much purer than water found on the Earth's moon.

So how can the planet closest to the sun contain ice craters when 400 degrees celsius temperatures dominate its atmosphere? For starters, Mercury's rotational axis is perpendicular to its orbital plane, meaning they are constantly shadowed and are never exposed to the sun. It has also been suggested that Mercury could be a better trap for comets and asteroids containing icy materials.

Google Images

Three different sources of evidence back this assertion up. Firstly, infrared laser pulses aimed by MESSENGER's Mercury Laser Altimeter have shown a bright regions within nine separate darkened craters near the northern pole and these bright regions are believed to be ice water. Secondly, the bright regions thermally line up with Mercury's coldest locations (-170 degrees celsius), so it would make sense for those areas to have ice water. Lastly, using MESSENGER's Neutron Spectrometer, a team has spotted the giveaway signs for the presence of hydrogen in those bright regions. They believe that the hydrogen in locked up within the ice water. David Lawrence, a planetary scientist from the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland and leader of the team stated, "Not only is water the best explanation, we do not see any other explanation that can tie all the data together."

Google Images

I found this article very interesting because it seems so unlikely that ice could possibly exist on the planet closest to the sun. But if the poles are never exposed to the sun, then I suppose it would make sense. Now knowing that there is water, I'm sure that scientists will soon begin studies to see if there may be some sort of life. It would be intriguing to discover a new life form on another planet, especially one that can survive in such extreme environmental conditions. We will have to wait and see!

Article: Stores of ice confirmed on Sun-scorched Mercury
Written by: Maggie McKee
http://www.nature.com/news/stores-of-ice-confirmed-on-sun-scorched-mercury-1.11922

The "Benjamin Button" jellyfish is finally receiving some recognition outside of the academic world. In 1988, German marine biology student Christian Sommer was conducting research on hydrozoans in Rapallo, a small city on the Italian Riviera. Hydrozoans are small invertebrates that resemble either a jellyfish or a soft coral depending on what stage of life its in. While he was collecting the hydrozoans, he inadvertently picked up a tiny, relatively unknown species of jellyfish named Turritopsis dohrnii.

Turritopsis dohrnii
Image from The New York Times

He kept the hydrozoans and Turritopsis dohrnii in petri dishes for observation and noticed that the jellyfish acted very oddly. Incredibly, this species of jellyfish simply did not die. He couldn't come up with any explanation as to why this happened, but it appeared to age in reverse. The jellyfish grew younger and younger until it reached the very first stage of its development, and then its life cycle would begin again. It took nearly a decade for the word "immortal" to describe the species, because what was going on was simply not understood.

Intrigued with Sommer's finding, biologists in Genoa continued to study the species and in 1996, they published a paper entitled "Reversing the Life Cycle" which described that how, at any stage of development, the jellyfish could transform itself back into a polyp (its earliest stage of development) "thus escaping death and achieving potential immortality." Recently, studies have found that the reason that these jellyfish start to age in reverse is caused by some sort of environmental stress or physical assault. However, the most incredible thing about this whole story is that "Reversing the Life Cycle" barely got any recognition outside of the academic world.

Image from The New York Times

I found this article fascinating because I cannot believe such a creature exists yet hardly anybody knows about it. How have we not funded more research into finding out how this creature never dies?? You would think that humans, who are always looking for a way to extend our lives, would be totally invested in discovering this species' secrets of immortality. I would be very interested to see where this leads and if this jellyfish can help humans unlock the secrets of immortality.

Article: Can a Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality?
Written by: Nathaniel Rich
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/magazine/can-a-jellyfish-unlock-the-secret-of-immortality.html?ref=science

Potential Blood Test to Detect Cancer

Researchers have recently made great progress in developing a blood test that could potentially detect cancer in humans. They have discovered that by sequencing the abnormal DNA that a tumor releases into the bloodstream, they can detect cancer. The way that they do this is by using either cells shed into the bloodstream by tumors or free-floating tumor DNA in the bloodstream to track the growth and spread of said tumors. Researchers then look for known alterations in cancer genes to distinguish the cancerous DNA from normal DNA.

Google Images

Postdoctoral researcher Rebecca Leary and others, also from the John Hopkins University School of Medicine, have recently made an important observation: No matter what type of cancer is infecting an individual, tumor cells almost always have noticeably altered chromosomes such as swapped pieces or extra copies of genes. This discovery means that a test that could detect DNA abnormalities in the bloodstream has a promising possibility of becoming a general test used to detect cancer.

Different colors on the same chromosomes note abnormalities detectable
by the blood test
Image from ScienceNOW

Although this is so far only applicable to advanced stages of cancer, they are hoping that once sequencing costs decrease they will be able to detect early stages of cancer in the bloodstream as well. The test is by no means cheap, with each test costing several thousand dollars just for the sequencing, and the analytic results would take at least a month to be returned. Researcher Victor Velculescu from the John Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland notes that, "As sequencing costs continue to drop in the very near future, this could end up being extremely cheap." Daniel Haber of Massachusetts General Hospital works on using circulating tumor cells to detect and monitor cancer said that, "The approach has tremendous promise and, should the sequencing strategy become economical, it could have important implications in early cancer detection."

Google Images

I found this article extremely interesting because it is amazing how far along we have come with cancer research in the past few decades-yet it is incredible how much we still have yet to learn. This is a huge step in the right direction and should give generations to come great hope that cancer may become very easily detected and treatable in early stages. The implications of a simple blood test to treat cancer would make this readily available even to people of lower economic status, and this has the potential to save countless numbers of lives in the future.



Article: A Step Towards a Universal Cancer Blood Test
Written by: Jocelyn Kaiser
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/11/a-step-toward-a-universal-cancer.html?ref=hp

New Photographs of Einstein's Brain Lead to Further Discoveries

Google Images

A study of 14 newly discovered photographs of Albert Einstein's brain that had been preserved after his death have confirmed that his brain was highly unusual in that it had many more folds and convolutions than that of an average human's brain. When Einstein died in 1955, his son Hans Albert and executor Otto Nathan gave the examining pathologist, Thomas Harvey, permission to use the brain for scientific study. Harvey proceeded to photograph the brain and cut it into 240 sections, some of which were thinly sliced into as many as 2,000 slivers for microscopic study. He distributed some of these photographs and microscopic slides to as many as 18 different researchers around the world, and many of these specimens have been lost over time.

Only six peer-reviewed publications resulted from this distribution of scientific material, but these studies found many interesting pieces of information about Einstein's brain. For example, his brain contained a greater density of neurons in some parts of it and a much higher than usual ratio of gila (cells that help neurons transmit nerve impulses) to neurons. Also, his parietal lobes had very unusual grooves and ridges.

Two of the Fourteen Photographs
ScienceNOW

For the new study, anthropologist Dean Falk of Florida State University, alongside neurologist Frederick Lepore of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, and Adrianne Noe, director of the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM) analyzed the 14 new photographs never made public before. They found that, although Einstein's brain was average in size, it contained several regions with extra convolutions and folds that were rarely seen in other subjects. For example, the regions on the left side of the brain which are associated with motor control of the face and tongue are much larger than normal. Also, the prefrontal cortex associated with planning, focused attention, and perseverance in the face of great challenges is also much larger than normal.

Google Images

Falk commented, "In each lobe, there are regions that are exceptionally complicated in their convolutions...It may be that he used his motor cortex in extraordinary ways." Falk believes that both Einstein's upbringing and environment played a big role in the complex development of his brain. His parents were very nurturing and encouraged him to be creative and independent in not only science, but music as well. Falk adds that, "Einstein programmed his own brain...he had the right brain in the right place at the right time."

I found this article extremely interesting because I find it fascinating that geniuses can simply have an anatomical advantage over normal humans. Obviously Einstein was a brilliant man, but I wonder if he would have been able to make so many breakthrough discoveries if his brain wasn't developed the way it had been. It makes me wonder if my brain was developed differently if I could've been a genius! Or perhaps it was external factors that helped Einstein's brain develop into the complex organ it eventually became. It's hard to say, but either way it would be nice to know the secret to his smarts.

Article: Why Einstein Was a Genius
Written by: Michael Balter
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/11/why-einstein-was-a-genius.html?ref=hp

Personality and The Placebo Effect

This week, a study in Neuropsychopharmacology reported that people that show personality traits of altruism, resiliency, and straightforwardness are more likely to have a positive result from a placebo. This means that these kinds of people show greater brain activity in the regions associated with reward and are more likely to enjoy pain relief from a placebo. From this study, personality tests could provide a new to improve the accuracy of clinical trials by identifying these kinds of people whom are likely to skew results with high placebo responses.

Google Images

In 2007, neuroscientist Jon-Kar Zubieta from the University of Michigan showed that a strong inability to feel pain due to the consumption of a placebo was associated with brain activity in the nucleus accumbens, which is the region of the brain involved with reward and pleasure. This finding suggested that the inability to feel pain due to a placebo may occur because positive expectations of pain relief (or reward) cause a spike in dopamine levels in the brain as well as the release of painkillers called mu-opiods. By conducting experiments through PET scans, Zubieta found that positive expectations alone are not enough for a placebo-induced pain relief response. He also found similiar results, in that people with certain personality traits including altruism, resiliency, and straightforwardness that also have low measures of angry hostility were more likely to experience a placebo-induced pain relief response.

Colored areas show regions of greater mu-opioid
release during placebo administration.
Image from The Scientist

Zubieta noted that, "One big difficulty is trying to control for people with very high placebo response. Many trials fail not because the compound doesn't work, but because placebos are also effective, which creates noise." The continuation of these kinds of studies is important because they will hopefully make clinical trials more accurate and successful by being able to identify which kinds of people will likely show a positive response to a placebo. This way, researchers will be able to more effectively identify a drug's true effect.

I found this article interesting because I had never thought about how a person's personality could determine the effects that a drug has on you. I wonder if personality tests could be given to patients that, for example, are recovering from surgery and are given strong medication such as oxycotin and hydrocone. I know someone that was a fantastic athlete but tore her ACL playing soccer, ended up getting addicted to the pain medication she was taking while recovering from surgery and tragically ended up committing suicide because of it. Perhaps having a personality test given whenever giving out medication is a smart thing for doctors to do because knowing certain personality types could alter the types of medication given out to certain people, which would most likely be way more effective and safer for the patient.

Google Images

Article: Personality Predicts Placebo Effects
Written by: Dan Cossins
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/33300/title/Personality-Predicts-Placebo-Effect/

Rap Artists' Brain Scans Show Creative Flow

Google Images

Researchers at the National Institute of Health have conducted an experiment that tracked the brain activity in rappers while they are gave freestyle performances as opposed to rehearsed performances.  To do so, these researchers selected 12 volunteer rap artists and used functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) to scan their brains while they were freestyled. These images track the flow of blood through the brain which indicate which areas are active during certain times. Neuroscientists hope that this might give them some insight into understanding the process of creativity.

The resulting brain images showed that the medial prefrontal cortex (middle of the frontal lobe) which corresponds to initiation and self-motivation, along with the emotional and motor regions of the brain were all much more active during freestyle rap as opposed to rehearsed rap. They generally found that the left side of the brain was more active during the beginning of creative flow; however, when the rap artists began nearing the end of a phrase or musical measure, researchers found that the right side of the brain become more active.

Fig. 1 Activity Related to Improvisation
Image from Scientific Reports

Activations Associated with Innovative Performance
Image from Scientific Reports

Lead researcher Siyuan Liu noted, "We think this freestyle improvisation could be linked to a big network, linking self motivation, initiation, language, motor and emotion together." In regards to the change of activity from the left to the right hemisphere of the brain, Liu speculates that, "Why this is changing we have no clear answer, but we think that it has something to do with how much their attention is changed at the end of the performance."By trying to link together correlational signals from the brain to the action of the rap artists, researchers hope that this experiment will help guide the way in hopes of discovering the mysteries of the creative flow through the brain.

I chose this article because I found it very interesting that rap artists were the selected test subjects for this experiment. I think that rap artists get a bad reputation due to the content of their songs and the crude messages that some rappers often portray to their listeners. However, it actually does make a lot of sense for neuroscientists to conduct this experiment on freestyle rappers because, despite the content of what their raps are about, these artists really are lyrical geniuses. I know personally, it would be impossible for me to freestyle because there is no way I'd be able to think on my feet that quickly. Think about it - they give no prior thought as to the subject they'll be rapping about, yet they somehow make everything they say make sense, make it all rhyme, and do it without any awkward pauses for thought. That is really hard! These artists clearly have a creative flow unlike many of us, and I thought it was neat that the scientific world recognized how special the talent of a rap artist is enough to want to conduct an experiment on their brains in hopes to further the knowledge of the creative channels within humans.


Article: Freestyle fMRI
Written by: Beth Marie Mole
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/33363/title/Freestyle-fMRI/