Encephalon no. 17 (Pirate-style)

Arrgh. Avast ye dogs. This Encephalon will have a pirate theme -- largely because I am coming off a wicked three day flu extravaganza, and I am still slightly delirious. Be like when the plague took me whole crew. Arrgh.

So enjoy your piracy and brains, say aye.

Ouroboros discusses the validity of a mutant mouse with oxygen radical repair defects as a model for Parkinson's. Once me an' me mates were discussing how to stop the Parkinson's. We decided that none of us would get it if we all walked the plank and were consigned to the Briny Deep. Ain't no oxygen down there. Only Davy Jones and a bunch of Parkinson's-free former pirates.

Taylor Buley at Governomics looks at the paralysis that comes with too many choices. I had that the last time I had too many dubloons. Also, he examines why we prefer our captains to make errors as the direct result of their actions rather than the indirect consequence.

That be the first rule of Captaining, says I. Make bad decisions over no decisions. If they don't know you're the boss, they's liable to mutiny. You'll be keelhauling boys right and left. You gotta stand up and take charge.

Cognitive Daily gives a visual illusion to illustrate an effect called boundary extension, where the brain adds to the borders of an image as it is encoded in a memory. Me eyes be playing tricks on me! I must have the cabin fever!

The Neurophilosopher explains the function of the magnetoreceptor in birds. The noble beasts are just what you need to tell you there's land nearby -- and that you should wait on eating your mates for a couple more days. He also looks at neurogenesis in the adult brain, particularly in respect to the olfactory bulb.

If I could but say to the neurons, "get out of my nose and grow back me peg-leg, ya lazy dogs." Ain't no point in smellin' if I be tripping over everything.

OmniBrain takes a Time magazine to task about an article challenging our current views of object permanence -- object permanence in infants that is. I saw me an infant once. Actually, I thought it was an infant. Then I realized it was a giant man-eating squid. Unfortunately, I could not question it about object permanence before it devoured me crew.

Developing Intelligence gives an excellent review of dopamine -- including receptors and different pathways. He also looks at theories of prospective memory. Prospective memory is how I remember to stop by that island where we killed poor Smitty and pick up our buried treasure...because buried gold ain't no good for buying whiskey -- and I likes me whiskey.

The Mouse Trap looks at the possibility that bipolar and schizophrenia are really different sides of a single type of pirate crazy.

I could see what type of men he were by the color o' his eyes. Or at least I could if you believe Mind Hacks. They look a research comparing personality type to traits of the iris because they are governed by a common gene.

That be all the neuroscience for today, Maties. Arrgh.