Showing posts with label neuroscience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neuroscience. Show all posts
Monday, November 22, 2021
Bessel van der Kolk MD has spent his professional life studying how children and adults adapt to traumatic experiences.
“A traumatic memory is fundamentally a breakdown of the ordinary memory system. An ordinary memory system can integrate things with everything else that you already know in the context of your existing reality. But trauma doesn’t fit in. Trauma cannot be integrated, and so it lives on as an isolated piece of the past that keeps coming back.”
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert abused 4 boys, prosecutors say, Scientists find evidence of 'anti-memories'
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert abused 4 boys, prosecutors say
By Faith Karimi, CNN Sun Apr 10, 2016
The revelation comes days before his April 27 sentencing in a financial violation case. He pleaded guilty last year to structuring money transactions to evade reporting where he took massive amounts of funds he was withdrawing.
Investigators said the transactions involved $3.5 million he paid in hush money to one of his accusers.
Prosecutors listed four boys Hastert allegedly abused at a high school in Yorkville, Illinois.
An additional one -- a fifth student -- died years later, according to the document.
Accuser allegedly paid off
The accusations came to light after investigators found out he was paying an ex-student to stay quiet about sexual abuse allegations, prosecutors allege.
The student was among four others who told investigators he abused them, including one who was 14 at the time, the documents allege.
The allegations date to the 1960s and 1970s, according to the prosecutors' court filing.
Hastert will not face sexual abuse charges because the statutes of limitation have expired....
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/09/politics/dennis-hastert-sexual-abuse-allegations/index.html
Scientists find evidence of 'anti-memories', and it could change our understanding of neuroscience
Unmasking the process that silences dormant memories. PETER DOCKRILL 6 APR 2016
At one point or another, we've all experienced something that we'd rather forget, so it's a good thing our brains aren't designed to hold onto every single memory forever. If they did, we might never be able to store new, more important information, such as the names of new people you meet or where you parked your car.
But at the level of the neuron, what regulates our ability to store and recall information? New research suggests one of the processes involved is 'anti-memories' – connections between neurons that generate the exact opposite pattern of electrical activity to that of the original memory.
The 'anti-memories' hypothesis comes back to the idea that healthy brain function results from the interaction between two types of brain cells: excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Like the names suggest, the excitatory neurons excite electrical activity in our brains, while inhibitory neurons suppress it....
To examine this, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other techniques to take a detailed look at the brain activity of volunteers. The participants were introduced to pairs of shapes, which helped them to form associative memories of the pairs.
"Over 24 hours, the shape associations in the brain became silent. That could have been because the brain was rebalanced or it could simply be that the associations were forgotten," said neuroscientist Helen Barron from the University of Oxford.
"So the following day, some of the volunteers undertook additional tests to confirm that the silencing was a consequence of rebalancing. If the memories were present but silenced by inhibitory replicas, we thought that it should be possible to re-express the memories by suppressing inhibitory activity."
Using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to apply a low current of electricity to the participants' brains, the team was able to suppress the concentration of certain neurochemicals in the brain, including GABA, which is linked to inhibition. By doing this, they reduced the activity of the anti-memory inhibitory neurons, which meant the memories of the shape associations were re-expressed and came back to the volunteers.
"'We have shown that reducing cortical inhibition can unmask silent memories," said Barron. "This result is consistent with a balancing mechanism – the increase in excitation seen in learning and memory formation, when excitatory connections are strengthened, appears to be balanced out by a strengthening of inhibitory connections. From this we can infer that memories are stored in balanced E/I cortical ensembles."....
http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-just-found-evidence-of-anti-memories-and-it-could-change-our-understanding-of-neuroscience
Neuron
Volume 90, Issue 1, p191–203, 6 April 2016
Unmasking Latent Inhibitory Connections in Human Cortex to Reveal Dormant Cortical Memories
H.C. Barron, T.P. Vogels, U.E. Emir, T.R. Makin, J. O’Shea, S. Clare, S. Jbabdi, R.J. Dolan, T.E.J. Behrens DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.02.031
....We show that associated stimuli exhibit fMRI repetition suppression in cortex immediately after learning. The magnitude of this cross-stimulus suppression correlates with memory performance measured behaviorally, suggesting that it reflects expression of cortical memory. This cortical memory expression reduces over time and is absent the following day. Cortical memory can however be re-exposed by reduction in local GABA concentrations, induced using tDCS. The extent to which the memory is re-expressed occurs in proportion to the induced GABA reduction. By embedding memories in a spiking network model of memory formation (Vogels and Abbott, 2009, Vogels et al., 2011) and replicating each experimental step in silico, we show that these data are consistent with the balancing of memories via inhibitory synaptic plasticity in cortex.
http://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273%2816%2900168-9
Unmasking latent inhibitory connections in the human cortex to reveal dormant memories
University of Oxford
Dr Helen Barron explains her research into how the brain balances excitation and inhibitionThe increase in excitation seen in learning and memory formation, when excitatory connections are strengthened, appears to be balanced out by a strengthening of inhibitory connections. From this we can infer that memories are stored in balanced E/I cortical ensembles.
https://youtu.be/spAhT_4yhZE
By Faith Karimi, CNN Sun Apr 10, 2016
The revelation comes days before his April 27 sentencing in a financial violation case. He pleaded guilty last year to structuring money transactions to evade reporting where he took massive amounts of funds he was withdrawing.
Investigators said the transactions involved $3.5 million he paid in hush money to one of his accusers.
Prosecutors listed four boys Hastert allegedly abused at a high school in Yorkville, Illinois.
An additional one -- a fifth student -- died years later, according to the document.
Accuser allegedly paid off
The accusations came to light after investigators found out he was paying an ex-student to stay quiet about sexual abuse allegations, prosecutors allege.
The student was among four others who told investigators he abused them, including one who was 14 at the time, the documents allege.
The allegations date to the 1960s and 1970s, according to the prosecutors' court filing.
Hastert will not face sexual abuse charges because the statutes of limitation have expired....
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/09/politics/dennis-hastert-sexual-abuse-allegations/index.html
Scientists find evidence of 'anti-memories', and it could change our understanding of neuroscience
Unmasking the process that silences dormant memories. PETER DOCKRILL 6 APR 2016
At one point or another, we've all experienced something that we'd rather forget, so it's a good thing our brains aren't designed to hold onto every single memory forever. If they did, we might never be able to store new, more important information, such as the names of new people you meet or where you parked your car.
But at the level of the neuron, what regulates our ability to store and recall information? New research suggests one of the processes involved is 'anti-memories' – connections between neurons that generate the exact opposite pattern of electrical activity to that of the original memory.
The 'anti-memories' hypothesis comes back to the idea that healthy brain function results from the interaction between two types of brain cells: excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Like the names suggest, the excitatory neurons excite electrical activity in our brains, while inhibitory neurons suppress it....
To examine this, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other techniques to take a detailed look at the brain activity of volunteers. The participants were introduced to pairs of shapes, which helped them to form associative memories of the pairs.
"Over 24 hours, the shape associations in the brain became silent. That could have been because the brain was rebalanced or it could simply be that the associations were forgotten," said neuroscientist Helen Barron from the University of Oxford.
"So the following day, some of the volunteers undertook additional tests to confirm that the silencing was a consequence of rebalancing. If the memories were present but silenced by inhibitory replicas, we thought that it should be possible to re-express the memories by suppressing inhibitory activity."
Using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to apply a low current of electricity to the participants' brains, the team was able to suppress the concentration of certain neurochemicals in the brain, including GABA, which is linked to inhibition. By doing this, they reduced the activity of the anti-memory inhibitory neurons, which meant the memories of the shape associations were re-expressed and came back to the volunteers.
"'We have shown that reducing cortical inhibition can unmask silent memories," said Barron. "This result is consistent with a balancing mechanism – the increase in excitation seen in learning and memory formation, when excitatory connections are strengthened, appears to be balanced out by a strengthening of inhibitory connections. From this we can infer that memories are stored in balanced E/I cortical ensembles."....
http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-just-found-evidence-of-anti-memories-and-it-could-change-our-understanding-of-neuroscience
Neuron
Volume 90, Issue 1, p191–203, 6 April 2016
Unmasking Latent Inhibitory Connections in Human Cortex to Reveal Dormant Cortical Memories
H.C. Barron, T.P. Vogels, U.E. Emir, T.R. Makin, J. O’Shea, S. Clare, S. Jbabdi, R.J. Dolan, T.E.J. Behrens DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.02.031
....We show that associated stimuli exhibit fMRI repetition suppression in cortex immediately after learning. The magnitude of this cross-stimulus suppression correlates with memory performance measured behaviorally, suggesting that it reflects expression of cortical memory. This cortical memory expression reduces over time and is absent the following day. Cortical memory can however be re-exposed by reduction in local GABA concentrations, induced using tDCS. The extent to which the memory is re-expressed occurs in proportion to the induced GABA reduction. By embedding memories in a spiking network model of memory formation (Vogels and Abbott, 2009, Vogels et al., 2011) and replicating each experimental step in silico, we show that these data are consistent with the balancing of memories via inhibitory synaptic plasticity in cortex.
http://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273%2816%2900168-9
Unmasking latent inhibitory connections in the human cortex to reveal dormant memories
University of Oxford
Dr Helen Barron explains her research into how the brain balances excitation and inhibitionThe increase in excitation seen in learning and memory formation, when excitatory connections are strengthened, appears to be balanced out by a strengthening of inhibitory connections. From this we can infer that memories are stored in balanced E/I cortical ensembles.
https://youtu.be/spAhT_4yhZE
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Effects Of Child Abuse And Neglect On The Brain, Man Charged With Child Abuse in Kenya
Effects Of Child Abuse And Neglect On The Brain Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Hundreds of thousands of children suffer from neglect, abuse and trauma during their early years. Many of the psychological consequences are well known, but it’s becoming increasingly clear just how damaging they are to the developing brain.
Today in the final part of our series from WBUR called “Brain Matters: Reporting from the Frontlines of Neuroscience,” Iris Adler looks at a key issue in brain development: the biological consequences of early childhood neglect and trauma.
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/07/23/child-abuse-brain-effects
Man Charged in Oklahoma With Child Abuse in Kenya
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jul 22, 2014
By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press
An Oklahoma man has been charged with sexually abusing boys and girls while volunteering at an organization in Kenya that assists neglected children.
Matthew Lane Durham, of Edmond, is accused of engaging in sex acts with as many as ten children aged from 4 to 10 years while volunteering at Upendo Children's Home in Nairobi from April to June 2014.
The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Western Oklahoma last week says the 19-year-old Durham has volunteered with Upendo since June 2012.
Durham wrote and signed a confession that an Upendo official provided to the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, according to an affidavit filed by FBI agent Scott Lobb.
In it, he admitted to sexually abusing boys and girls in a bathroom at the children's home. At least one of the victims is HIV positive, according to the affidavit....
Durham's attorney Stephen Jones said Tuesday the affidavit is riddled with inaccuracies and that his client is innocent....
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/man-charged-oklahoma-child-abuse-kenya-24662622
Hundreds of thousands of children suffer from neglect, abuse and trauma during their early years. Many of the psychological consequences are well known, but it’s becoming increasingly clear just how damaging they are to the developing brain.
Today in the final part of our series from WBUR called “Brain Matters: Reporting from the Frontlines of Neuroscience,” Iris Adler looks at a key issue in brain development: the biological consequences of early childhood neglect and trauma.
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/07/23/child-abuse-brain-effects
Man Charged in Oklahoma With Child Abuse in Kenya
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jul 22, 2014
By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press
An Oklahoma man has been charged with sexually abusing boys and girls while volunteering at an organization in Kenya that assists neglected children.
Matthew Lane Durham, of Edmond, is accused of engaging in sex acts with as many as ten children aged from 4 to 10 years while volunteering at Upendo Children's Home in Nairobi from April to June 2014.
The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Western Oklahoma last week says the 19-year-old Durham has volunteered with Upendo since June 2012.
Durham wrote and signed a confession that an Upendo official provided to the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, according to an affidavit filed by FBI agent Scott Lobb.
In it, he admitted to sexually abusing boys and girls in a bathroom at the children's home. At least one of the victims is HIV positive, according to the affidavit....
Durham's attorney Stephen Jones said Tuesday the affidavit is riddled with inaccuracies and that his client is innocent....
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/man-charged-oklahoma-child-abuse-kenya-24662622
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
neuroscience - brain of a serial killer; Rare Memo, Vatican Rebukes Cardinal
A Neuroscientist Uncovers A Dark Secret by Barbara Bradley Hagerty June 29, 2010
....Fallon set out to see whether anyone in his family possesses the brain of a serial killer. Because he has studied the brains of dozens of psychopaths, he knew precisely what to look for. To demonstrate, he opened his laptop and called up an image of a brain on his computer screen. "Here is a brain that's not normal," he says. There are patches of yellow and red. Then he points to another section of the brain, in the front part of the brain, just behind the eyes. "Look at that — there's almost nothing here," Fallon says. This is the orbital cortex, the area that Fallon and other scientists believe is involved with ethical behavior, moral decision-making and impulse control. "People with low activity [in the orbital cortex] are either free-wheeling types or sociopaths," he says.
Fallon's Scans
He's clearly oversimplifying, but Fallon says the orbital cortex puts a brake on another part of the brain called the amygdala, which is involved with aggression and appetites. But in some people, there's an imbalance — the orbital cortex isn't doing its job — perhaps because the person had a brain injury or was born that way. "What's left? What takes over?" he asks. "The area of the brain that drives your id-type behaviors, which is rage, violence, eating, sex, drinking."
....Along with brain scans, Fallon also tested each family member's DNA for genes that are associated with violence. He looked at 12 genes related to aggression and violence and zeroed in on the MAO-A gene (monoamine oxidase A). This gene, which has been the target of considerable research, is also known as the "warrior gene" because it regulates serotonin in the brain. Serotonin affects your mood — think Prozac — and many scientists believe that if you have a certain version of the warrior gene, your brain won't respond to the calming effects of serotonin.
....according to scientists who study this area. They believe that brain patterns and genetic makeup are not enough to make anyone a psychopath. You need a third ingredient: abuse or violence in one's childhood. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127888976
In Rare Memo, Vatican Rebukes Cardinal By RACHEL DONADIO June 28, 2010
ROME — The Vatican drew aside, for a brief and puzzling moment, the thick veil that covers its internal business. It issued an extraordinary communiqué on Monday chastising a powerful cardinal who had criticized another powerful cardinal — proof of a battle inside the Vatican walls that mirrors the anger over sexual abuse raging outside them....On its face, the communiqué is a public rebuke to Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna. In April, he had implicitly criticized Cardinal Angelo Sodano, 82, the current dean of the College of Cardinals and Pope John Paul II’s last secretary of state, for blocking an investigation into an Austrian archbishop accused in the mid-1990s of abusing minors. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/world/europe/29pope.html
....Fallon set out to see whether anyone in his family possesses the brain of a serial killer. Because he has studied the brains of dozens of psychopaths, he knew precisely what to look for. To demonstrate, he opened his laptop and called up an image of a brain on his computer screen. "Here is a brain that's not normal," he says. There are patches of yellow and red. Then he points to another section of the brain, in the front part of the brain, just behind the eyes. "Look at that — there's almost nothing here," Fallon says. This is the orbital cortex, the area that Fallon and other scientists believe is involved with ethical behavior, moral decision-making and impulse control. "People with low activity [in the orbital cortex] are either free-wheeling types or sociopaths," he says.
Fallon's Scans
He's clearly oversimplifying, but Fallon says the orbital cortex puts a brake on another part of the brain called the amygdala, which is involved with aggression and appetites. But in some people, there's an imbalance — the orbital cortex isn't doing its job — perhaps because the person had a brain injury or was born that way. "What's left? What takes over?" he asks. "The area of the brain that drives your id-type behaviors, which is rage, violence, eating, sex, drinking."
....Along with brain scans, Fallon also tested each family member's DNA for genes that are associated with violence. He looked at 12 genes related to aggression and violence and zeroed in on the MAO-A gene (monoamine oxidase A). This gene, which has been the target of considerable research, is also known as the "warrior gene" because it regulates serotonin in the brain. Serotonin affects your mood — think Prozac — and many scientists believe that if you have a certain version of the warrior gene, your brain won't respond to the calming effects of serotonin.
....according to scientists who study this area. They believe that brain patterns and genetic makeup are not enough to make anyone a psychopath. You need a third ingredient: abuse or violence in one's childhood. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127888976
In Rare Memo, Vatican Rebukes Cardinal By RACHEL DONADIO June 28, 2010
ROME — The Vatican drew aside, for a brief and puzzling moment, the thick veil that covers its internal business. It issued an extraordinary communiqué on Monday chastising a powerful cardinal who had criticized another powerful cardinal — proof of a battle inside the Vatican walls that mirrors the anger over sexual abuse raging outside them....On its face, the communiqué is a public rebuke to Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna. In April, he had implicitly criticized Cardinal Angelo Sodano, 82, the current dean of the College of Cardinals and Pope John Paul II’s last secretary of state, for blocking an investigation into an Austrian archbishop accused in the mid-1990s of abusing minors. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/world/europe/29pope.html
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