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Why are some sounds so displeasing to hear?

New study ranks nails run along a chalkboard as one of the most unpleasant sounds to the human ear.

The Amygdala- Active in processing negative emotions

Why is it that certain sounds are so displeasing to the human ear?  For example, the sound of nails running along a chalkboard is synonymous with shivers down the spine.  A new paper published in The Journal of Neuroscience examines the interaction between the emotional and auditory parts of your brain while hearing a variety of sounds.  Scientists at Newcastle University have found that while hearing some sounds, a heightened activity and interaction occurs between the Amygdala part of the brain, which is active in processing negative emotions, and the auditory parts of the brain.  Researchers believe this interaction could explain why some sounds are perceived as unpleasant.

Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging and Newcastle University used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how the brains of sixteen volunteers responded to a variety of sounds.  The sixteen participants (seven females) ranged in age from 22-35 years old and had no prior history of neurological or psychiatric disorders.  The participants were asked to listen to 74 different sounds while in the scanner.  The participants then ranked each sound they heard on a scale from 1 (least unpleasant) to 5 (highly unpleasant).  Here is an example of how some sounds stacked up.

Most Unpleasant Sounds

  • Knife on bottle
  • Fork on glass
  • Chalk on blackboard
  • Ruler on bottle
  • Nails on chalkboard

Least Unpleasant Sounds

  • Applause
  • Baby laughing
  • Thunder
  • Water flowing

Spectrotemporal Representations

Researchers then studied the relationship between the rankings of unpleasantness and the spectrotemporal features obtained from imaging from the fMRI.  Analysis of both the rankings of unpleasantness and the acoustic features of the sounds themselves, found that any sounds within the frequency range of 2,000 to 5,000 Hz were found to be perceived as unpleasant.  The figure to the left shows examples of the spectrotemporal representations for six sounds (the mean unpleasantness is featured in the top right corner of each plot).  These images suggest that sounds with high spectral frequencies and low temporal modulation frequencies are correlated to sounds ranked with high unpleasantness.  It was found that activity in both the auditory complex and the Amygdala were directly proportional to the ratings of perceived unpleasantness.  From this study, it was concluded that the Amygdala is in charge and regulates the activity of the auditory part of the brain, therefore provoking a negative response to some sounds.

Want to see if you agree that the sound of nails running along a chalkboard is highly unpleasant? Take a listen.

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To read the full journal article click here

 

This blog was written by Layla Vera


 

Breast cancer screening breakthrough

Couresty of yourobserver.com

The winner of the 2012 Google science fair was announced this summer, topping very stiff competition from around the world. Brittany Wenger, of Lakewood Ranch, USA was awarded first prize for her submission, which is expected to make a big impact in breast cancer screening.

Ever since a project in elementary school which introduced her to the world of computer programming, Brittany has chosen to preoccupy herself with textbooks on the how-to’s of programming neural networks. As a result, she has developed a program which is not only able to assess a tissue sample for malignancies, but is also able to learn from previous trials and improve its efficiency at doing so. A type of artificial intelligence if you will.

Picture courtesy of www.beliefnet.com

Despite the fact that there are many accurate ways to detect cancer in a patient, the importance of this development lays in the fact that it can be used to analyze tissue samples from a process called fine-needle aspiration, which is one of the least invasive procedures for detecting breast cancer. Previously, the questionable accuracy of fine-needle aspiration prevented it from being a truly reliable means of screening, but now with this neural network available, it should become a confident alternative to more invasive procedures.

The slideshow presentation for her submission can be viewed here.
I recommend watching this video to hear her own explanation of the project:
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She was awarded $50,000 in scholarship money, an internship with a fair sponsor and a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands for her submission, which can only be described as an amazing accomplishment for a 17-year-old girl. Her plans to expand this program to work with other forms of cancer and diagnoses, reducing the requirement for invasive procedures, is just one more thing we can all be thankful for as we slowly move toward old age.

Cameron Tough

17-year-old girl builds artificial ‘brain’ to detect breast cancer – FutureTech on NBCNews.com Retrieved 10/13/2012, 2012, from http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/17-year-old-girl-builds-artificial-brain-detect-breast-cancer-908308

Don’t Let the Turkey “Gobble” Up Your Energy!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

http://blogs.wyomingnews.com/blogs/everyonegives/files/
2008/11/turkey_dinner.jpg

This weekend is a for family gatherings, giving thanks, and of course, enormous meals.  The tradition is the same every year; everyone is having a great time talking and eating, but somewhere between giving thanks and getting a second helping of pumpkin pie, it suddenly hits- the food coma.  This is not an uncommon event, but if food is supposed to give energy, why do we feel more tired after eating?

In medical terms, food coma is known as postprandial somnolence and it is a phenomenon where people feel a lack of mental energy after a large meal.   This is caused by several factors. For starters, holiday meals are usually filled with high-calorie and high-fat content foods.  As the helpings pile up, so does our blood flow to the digestive system to help with dilation and expansion of our intestines.  As a result, less blood is being sent to the rest of the body’s system, making the rest of the system feel a slowdown.

At the same time that blood is flowing to the digestive system, the small intestine is signalling activity in the parasympathetic nervous system, which tells the body to slow down and digest.  Thus, the more food we eat, the harder the small intestine is working, resulting in a large concentration of the body’s activities around the digestive region.

http://i-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/kitchen/2009-11-11-Desserts.jpg

Finally, the food itself can make us sleepy as well. The main culprit is sugar because as sugar breaks down into glucose, our body secretes the hormone insulin.  Insulin helps maintain and counter the increase of glucose level by mopping up the excess glucose in the blood.  As the level of insulin increases, it also produces serotonin and melatonin- two chemicals that can leave us feel drowsy and sleepy.

With this much activity going on in our bodies, no wonder we feel like taking a nap after our turkey dinner! Just make sure you complete all of your assignments and finish all of your studying before the big feast, because once that coma hits, you won’t be hitting the books for at least another hour!

http://www.createwritenow.com/Portals/1520/images/
Thanksgiving%20Journal%20Prompts-resized-600.jpg

Post published by: Deborah Lo

 

References:

Greatist: “What Am I Tired After Eating a Big Meal?” – http://greatist.com/health/why-am-i-tired-after-eating-a-big-meal/ (accessed October 6, 2012)

Indiana Public Media: “The Science of the Siesta” – http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/the-science-of-the-siesta-2/  (accessed October 6, 2012)

Scientific American: “Why do I get a slump in mental energy after eating a meal?” –  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-do-i-get-a-slump-in-mental-energy (accessed October 6, 2012)

 

 

 

On thin ice.

Climate change has been occurring at a global level, and as the temperatures rise, so does the threat on the survival of baby seal pups in the Arctic. The Arctic, which is home to Harp seals (scientifically known as Pagophilus groenlandicus), has lost half of its ice volume in the past 8 years. As these polar ice caps are shrinking, the baby seals dependant on this ice are put at risk.

Baby Seals in the Arctic :

A seal on a patch of ice
from:http://www.public-domain-image.com/fauna-animals-public-domain-images-pictures/seals-and-sea-lions-public-domain-images-pictures/harbor-seal-pictures/harbor-seal-on-patch-of-ice-floating-in-water-phoca-vitulina.jpg.html

Female seals search for specific ice conditions on which they birth their pups from February-March. Thick ice conditions are necessary for nursing and raising these pups.  The mothers must find regions of thick, solid ice ranging from 15 cm – 120 cm thick. The ice must be stable because after 12 days of nursing, the mother leaves the pup by itself for 1 month on this region of ice. The pup practises hunting in nearby waters and continuously returns to the ice to rest. This growth period on the ice is crucial to the survival of the seal because as April approaches, the waters warm and the ice begins to break. Once the ice breaks apart, the pup must have become strong enough to swim and be independent of the ice. If it hasn’t achieved this at this point, it can drown from exhaustion or be crushed by moving ice.

Climate Change in Polar Regions:

Satelite composites of sea ice extent at the Summer Minimum, in September 1979 and 2007.
from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/climatesafety/3268623163/

Greenhouses gases, mostly produced through various activities of the human population, has lead to an increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere. The effects of this have greatly impacted the Arctic regions of our planet.The ice of the Arctic is drastically disintegrating, and over the past few decades the ice used by seals has noticeably reduced. Global warming can be thought of as a vicious cycle, because since the Arctic ocean is unable to ventilate nearby oceans properly, it’s causing more warming. Furthermore, the melting of the ice causes there to be less reflection of the suns heat. This means that the heat is being absorbed by the earth, ultimately leading to more warming.

Baby Seals feeling the heat:

The premature warming of the waters and drastic melting of the ice at the polar caps is directly affecting the ice on which pups develop and grow. Harp seals prefer the thickest ice to birth and nurse their pups. However, these pups are being put at risk during their most vulnerable state due to the climate change that’s occurring. As a result, baby seals are being crushed or drowning. A study has shown that seal deaths have risen in response to the loss of sea ice. Without a doubt, the pup mortality rate is being affected by the amount of declining ice at the Arctic regions.

Since seals are unable to control this situation, let alone raise awareness to this topic, it’s our responsibility to come together to form a solution for the problem we have created. Otherwise, soon we will all be on thin ice.

By: Nadia A. Kari

 

Peanut butter diamonds

Image from http://fashionbride.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/love-is-in-the-diamonds/

Wish that you had some magic ingredients that would enable you to create a diamond that you could afford? Well, you probably already do! Diamonds have been created using only peanut butter as an ingredient. But don’t go running to your pantry too fast- it’s not as simple as that. Although, the majority of us can easily afford our favourite jar of peanut butter, turning this spread into diamond requires a process that is very costly.

 

Diamond formation in mantle
Image from http://geology.com/articles/diamonds-from-coal/

Diamond is an allotrope of carbon, meaning that it is one form in which pure carbon can be found; it is the hardest naturally occurring material found on Earth. Naturally, diamonds are formed under specific conditions. According to Dr. Hobart King, most commercial diamonds are formed in specific areas of the Earth’s mantle. Located just below the Earth’s crust, the mantle is a high-density section of the earth’s interior upon which tectonic plates of the crust flow. The mantle is a very thick layer of the earth (spanning from about 30km to 2900km below the surface); thus, it has a large temperature range of about 870°C to 2200°C. Under these high temperature and pressure conditions, diamonds are formed from carbon sources in the mantle. However, diamond will only form at very specific conditions within the mantle: at temperatures over 1050°C and at depths of approximately 150km below the Earth’s surface. At these depths, humans are unable to obtain the diamond. But, when rare deep-source volcanic eruptions occur, material from the mantle is brought up the surface of the Earth where it can be obtained by us humans. From this, we get diamonds.

 

Discoloured diamond
Image from http://multichrome.blogspot.ca/2012/06/diamonds-from-peanut-butter.html

Professor Malcolm McMahon, of Edinburgh University, has been able to create conditions that mimic the high temperature and pressure conditions of the Earth’s mantle.  McMahon explains that he created these conditions with the ‘stiletto heel effect,’ where in this case, peanut butter was squeezed in between the tips of two diamonds. Using this method, pressures of approximately 45 to 60 kilobars with temperatures of 900 to 1300°C were generated. Peanut butter, being made from primarily roasted peanuts, is a good source of carbon. So under these conditions, McMahon was able to transform peanut butter into diamonds. These diamonds are not perfect, however, as many impurities from the peanut butter cause the diamond to be discoloured. Nevertheless, the diamonds created have previously been on display as they could be a step in the direction of creating cheaper, synthetic diamonds from easily-accessible materials.

 

So, we have been able to create synthetic diamonds in the laboratory; but, currently it would not be economical to create diamonds from peanut butter as creating the conditions required to do this is very expensive. Who knows, maybe one day a cheaper alternative will enable us to do this for less. So appreciate your peanut butter, like the dog in the video below, knowing that it alone can be used to create diamonds!

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Posted by: Angela Johnston

 

MIT researchers announce a possible solution to oil spills

Picture courtesy of wikipedia

In 2010, a massive oil spill devastated the Gulf of Mexico, leaving much of its coast in a seemingly hopeless environmental disaster. As a result, some important questions were raised, such as what the most effective method of removing oil from the water would be. The world really demonstrated its lack of preparedness in light of this incident, as the solutions involved extremely inefficient measures, such as setting fire to the oil on the surface of the ocean. However, this incident sparked a significant interest in researching new methods which separate oil and water as a precaution against future spills.

Recently, one of the most intriguing ideas driving research has been the use of magnetic nanoparticles with an affinity for oil. As a result, researchers at MIT have recently announced their progress on a ferrous nanoparticle which first binds to oil in water and can then be drawn out of the water by way of a magnet, taking the oil out with it. Furthermore, this technique is expected to be a vast improvement on the efficiency of previous techniques used to recover oil, because once the oil has been separated from the water, the nanoparticles can be recovered, which leaves the uncontaminated oil behind for sale or usage. Listen to MIT researchers Shahriar Khushrushahi and Markus Zahn explain their project here: YouTube Preview Image

The concept is there, but the question of how practical such a method will be when dealing with vast bodies of water is still uncertain. Also, the nanoparticles themselves could be seen as an environmental contaminant, so recovery of the oil and then recollection of the particles should probably be done in a controlled manner. Hopefully some resolutions to all the issues surrounding this idea come to fruition soon, because even British Columbia could stand to benefit from the security this method of cleanup might offer, in light of the recently proposed pipeline.

Cameron Tough

 

Pain Relieving Naked Mole-rats

Who cares about naked mole-rats? Just like the name, the appearance of these creatures are neither charming nor appealing. Most people have known this type of rodent as hideous creatures thats not really special.

Naked mole-rats Image from Science Daily

Who cares about these rats and why would they be? Well, Thomas Park of University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) does and maybe a lot more people should start giving more attention and interest in these rats. A new study explores a way to use a characteristics of these rodents to help pain relief in humans or other mammals.

 

The naked mole-rats carry a very unique set of characteristics. They are the only mammals that are cold-blooded and they have very slow metabolism. What’s really interesting is that they can easily tolerate and roam in places with toxic levels of carbon dioxide or other mammals. Their natural habitats are underground tunnels and burrows where a lot of these rats are tightly packed together and as a result, the carbon dioxide levels quickly builds up, reaching a point where no other mammals, especially humans can tolerate. These creatures, however, could care less, since they are resistant to hypoxia, meaning that they can survive a condition with very little oxygen reaching brain and tissue cells. They can even stay in a condition where there is no oxygen for more than 30 minutes. This is an intriguing fact, considering that they are mammals just like humans.

The research is being done to discover a way to use this characteristics to relieve pain in human. Basically in humans and other most types of mammals, pain is  derived from acidification of the injured tissues and since these mole-rats do not feel pain from acidic conditions produced by high carbon dioxide levels, they can be the source of alleviating pain for humans as well. In the experiment Park conducted, where the naked mole-rats were put in cages where some parts of the cages were highly acidic, the rats showed no sign of discomfort in the parts where rats, mice and other species of mole-rats quickly ran off from. No activity of the nerve fibres stimulating the physical and behavioural activity to protect the organism from brain or tissue damage was found.

Not only do these mole-rats potentially hold the key to pain relief, they might also hold clues to preventing brain damage in humans while very little oxygen is carried to the brain, such as during stroke or heart attack.  Although there has not been a great way to finding such methods from these naked mole-rats, innovative medicinal improvements would be created to alleviate the pain of the injured and preventing major brain damage during heart attack.

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Mokhan Kim