Wednesday 11 December 2013

Challenging social problems in developed Asian countries

in most developed Asian countries, there are increasing concerns about low birth rate and fast ageing population. however, what is less reported but potentially societal problem is one-child family. this can be due to legal constraint or personal choice. one study published early this year examining the behaviour of "single" child in China received lots of attention in Western countries but relatively unheard of in Asian countries.

In this study, Cameron and colleagues reported that this single child is "less trusting, less trustworthy, more risk-averse, less competitive, more pessimistic, and less conscientious individuals". These are the future electorate and "leaders" of the our society. Should their parents be concerned? should the government be concerned?

Tuesday 10 December 2013

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Gene dosage and manic-behavior

Duplication of a single gene causes mice to have seizures and display manic-like behaviour. But valproate, an anticonvulsant and mood-stabilizing drug commonly used to treat bipolar disorder and epilepsy can reversed the symptoms. This suggests valproate can also help some people with hyperactivity who do not respond to common treatments.

Sunday 20 October 2013

Brain boosting drug - Ritalin

Ritalin is most often prescribed to suffers of ADHD. But a handful of students in Singapore are also using it as a "brain booster" to give them an edge over their competitors.

Read the report in today (21 Oct 2013) Straits Times.


Saturday 19 October 2013

Ketamine lifts Depression.

Is ketamine acting as antidepressant?

My favourite note-taking software

Microsoft OneNote has been around for MANY years (before Evernote). It is free if you have MS Office. It gives you offline access to your note (when you are in the air or without connection) without having to pay subscription for premier privilege. You can use your finger (or stylus) to write and annotate during discussion.

LSM4213 Lecture 10 Sleep

News:

How to gamify the lessons?

The rationale of gamification in education?
Steps to develop educational games.

Strange that Pearson in US is interested in developing games for education but not here. Maybe selling books are more profitable.

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Behavioural insights

Almost all politicians are lawyers and sometime medical doctors. In Singapore, we have engineers as well. Do they understand how people behave? Do the civil services helping the government know how people behave?

Policies made by governments (not just Singapore) affect everyone. These tasks are often undertaken by economists and lawyers. They often do not know how people behave. Should we include behavioural psychologists and maybe behavioural neuroscientists in the process?

Tuesday 24 September 2013

LSM4213 Lecture 4 mutations on ADAM10

ADAM10 - possibly alpha secretase.

Two rare mutations discovered that could encourage disease progression.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130924113454.htm

Monday 16 September 2013

LSM4213 Lecture 4

Before you start, follow this short video,
http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/alzheimers-disease-video

An excellent site containing videos produced by HBO (yes, the movie channel HBO) on Alzheimer's disease.
http://www.hbo.com/alzheimers/

Some background information on Alzheimer's disease
http://www.alz.org/braintour/alzheimers_changes.asp
http://www.brainfacts.org/diseases-disorders/degenerative-disorders/

If you have time, the following are seminar podcasts,
Neuroimaging by Ronald Petersen http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?live=12328
AD and Stem Cells by Frank LeFerla http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?live=8259
Genetics of AD by John Hardy http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?live=10473
Tau by Gerard Schellenberg http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?live=9482
Memory loss in AD by Karen Hsiao Ashe http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?live=7052
AD therapy by Rudolph Tanzi http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?live=10088

Thursday 12 September 2013

LSM4213 Lecture 3 Readings

This brain facts page contain good readings and links to relevant journal articles on the neuroscience of language - focus of lecture 3.

Some YouTube videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5rvmczGANc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDfVsFxJXms

This will complement the slides, note and journal review article posted on IVLE.

Tuesday 10 September 2013

LSM4213 Lecture 2 Readings

The following web page on brain development will provide a detailed understanding of the topics alongside the slides uploaded on IVLE. There is also a video seminar given by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore.

Remember, our Google+ session on  11 Sep 3pm.

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Blood Biomarker for Sucide

almost anything can be found in your blood samples. the latest is to "check" if you are going to "kill" yourself. the protein is called SAT1.

http://www.nature.com/news/predictors-of-suicidal-behaviour-found-in-blood-1.13570

Wednesday 14 August 2013

MRI detects dyslexia kids.

Brain imaging can "see" many things, from whether you like the products, for criminal mind, and diseases. The latest is dyslexia.

News here.

Ethics and Research go hand-in-hand

new neuroscience techniques provide more information on our memory, consciousness, etc. but do we understand the "social" implications of these techniques? the next frontier - the brain projects by US and Europe are set to develop many and more advanced brain techniques. better to understand their implications before they are widely used.

http://www.nature.com/news/us-brain-project-puts-focus-on-ethics-1.13549

Increasing the chance of education

Many MOOC including Coursera has enable youngsters from developing countries to attend lectures from universities in western countries. Previously, you need either a sponsorship or cash-rich to attend these schools. MOOCs provide individuals with strong desire to learn to have the chance to learn. However, the only uncertainty is if those developing countries recognize or appreciate this type of learning.

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Sugar toxic to mice in 'safe' doses, test finds

Too much of everything is bad. So does sugar. But how much is too much? This is what is known in mice. In human?

Sugar toxic to mice in 'safe' doses, test finds

Monday 12 August 2013

Probing the Brain’s Final Moments | Science/AAAS | News

Is this near-death experience? Hormones and neuron activity?

Probing the Brain’s Final Moments | Science/AAAS | News

The Future University?

Education is a big economy around the world. The product-delivery system of higher education has remained largely the same for almost a thousand year, since the founding of Oxford. What is the next model of disruption? Is the Minerva Project the future university model?

Thursday 8 August 2013

prions phenomenon comes to Tau diseases?

it is trending to discover change in protein conformation can cause brain diseases. mutations not needed.

http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=3554

Understanding cognitive ageing

The role of NMDA receptor in the cognitive ageing process. It is NR2b subunit.

News at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130807155352.htm

Blood glucose link to dementia

Even without diabetes, your blood glucose can affect your risk to develop dementia. Another connection between the central and peripheral systems.

News at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130807204835.htm

New protein discovered for organismal ageing

A new protein called HLH-30 is involved in autophagy and in turn modulate ageing in C elegans. Any equivalent in human?

New reporter system for optogenetics

The protein called ArcLight is used for the first time to "view" nerve cell voltage in fruitfly.

News at Science Daily.

Cancer detection - new method using MRI

Using glucose consumption to detect cancer with MRI. How does it compare to FDG-PET?

News at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130707162759.htm

3D mapping of neuronal connectomes

Hundreds of students project hours finally pay off imaging the complicated neuronal connections and activity in mouse and fruit fly retinal system.

News at http://www.nature.com/news/visual-neurons-mapped-in-action-1.13520

Friday 2 August 2013

LSM4213 Google+ Community

I am starting a new Google+ Community for LSM4213. Please join the community for discussion and info on module and lecture. There will be regular hangout session on Wed 3-5pm.

The name of the Google+ community is NeuroWorld LSM4213.