Clipmarks | Brains Clips

What Queen Rania wants for the world

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:29:13 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Beauty and brains ..."in the West, people look at the veil as a sign of oppression or weakness. This is not true as long as a woman is wearing it because of her belief."

Clip Source: edition.cnn.com

What Queen Rania wants for the world

Queen Rania says cultural dialogue, education and increased opportunities are ways to combat terrorism.

(Oprah.com) -- A businesswoman, a mother of four, an international fashion icon, a woman committed to making the world a better place for women and children -- Queen Rania of Jordan is truly changing the world.

Rania Al-Yassin was born in Kuwait. Shortly after Saddam Hussein invaded that country in 1990, her family fled and settled in Jordan.

When she was just 22, she went to a dinner party where she met Jordan's Prince Abdullah -- considered one of the world's most eligible bachelors.

In 1999, while on his deathbed, King Hussein of Jordan stunned his country by announcing that his son Abdullah -- not his brother -- would succeed him as king. That made 29-year-old Rania the world's youngest living queen.

in the West, people look at the veil as a sign of oppression or weakness. This is not true as long as a woman is wearing it because of her belief.

Tags: queen rania, jordan, islam, women, liberation, arabs, middle east, royal family, lineage, oprah winfrey

Five Myths About Sleep and Insomnia

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:03:48 GMT

clipped by: A53GG4

Clip Source: www.newsweek.com

Five Myths About Sleep and Insomnia

Our culture is obsessed with sleep, and the lack of it, yet many of us don't know some basic facts.

By Jesse Ellison | Newsweek Web Exclusive

We spend a third of our lives asleep, and it's clear that without it our brains don't function as well, yet little is known about exactly why we do it.

1. Humans Need Eight Hours Sleep a Night:

2. Sleep Isn't Just a Bodily Function:

3. Animals Don't Have Sleep Problems:

4. Falling Asleep Is a Gradual Process.

5. Sleeping Less Burns More Calories.

Tags: health

American Hardcore (2006)

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:22:09 GMT

clipped by: WIDEEYECINEMA

Clip Source: underdogcinema.com

American Hardcore (2006)

Inspired by Steven Blush’s book “American Hardcore: A tribal history” Paul Rachman’s feature documentary debut is a chronicle of the underground hardcore punk years from 1979 to 1986. Interviews and rare live footage from artists such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, SS Decontrol and the Dead Kennedys.

Tags: music, culture, video, documentary

brain maps

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:51:29 GMT

clipped by: zadoz

Clip Source: www.sharpbrains.com

When we exercise our brains, we put our Neurons in action. "Cells that fire together wire together", meaning that synapses, or unions between neurons, get solidified the more often the respective neurons "talk" to each other. (Credit: Peter Furstenberg)

A) The Neocortex is composed of

-Frontal Lobes: or the CEO of the Mind, for sophisticated brain functions such as planning and conceptualizing.

-Parietal: deals with movement, the senses, and some forms of recognition

-Temporal: auditory processes and language

-Occipital: visual processing center (credit: Morphonix)

Limbic system

Neocortex, or Human Brain

B) Limbic System, or Mammalian Brain, critical for emotions and for memory,

C) Cerebellum and Stem, or Reptilian Brain, that regulates basic vital variables such as breathing, heartbeat and motor coordination (Credit for pic: Arnold Keyserling and R.C.L.)

Tags: brain

Cat parasite in humans makes them like cat urine

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:29:32 GMT

clipped by: LoPhatt
clipper's remarks: Parasite "Brainwashes" Rats Into Craving Cat Urine, Study FindsBen Harder
for National Geographic News

April 3, 2007
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii uses a remarkable trick to spread from rodents to cats: It alters the brains of infected rats and mice so that they become attracted to—rather than repelled by—the scent of their predators.

A new study reveals that rodents infected with the parasitic protozoa are drawn to the smell of cat urine, apparently having lost their otherwise natural aversion to the scent.

The parasite can only sexually reproduce in the feline gut, so it's advantageous for it to get from a rodent into a cat—if necessary, by helping the latter eat the former.

In rodents, "brain circuits for many behaviors overlap with the brain circuits responsible for fear," said Ajai Vyas of Stanford University, who led the new study.

"One would thus assume that if something messes up fear of cat pee, it will also mess up a variety of related behaviors."

Bu

Clip Source: ap.google.com

117 cats, raccoon, and rabbit found at Omaha home

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Humane society workers have found 117 cats, a raccoon and a rabbit in a north Omaha house. The discovery came Wednesday after Council Bluffs, Iowa, police caught the 54-year-old woman who lives at the house reportedly stealing cat food. Officials say she smelled like cat urine.

It isn't the first time the woman has been in trouble for having too many cats. At one time the humane society pulled more than 200 cats from her house.

Many of the cats taken Wednesday were sick and the floor was covered in feces. Some of the cats were dead.

The woman faces possible citations for cruelty to animals and other charges.

Tags: cat, urine, parasite

How to Study

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:20:52 GMT

clipped by: rowboat
clipper's remarks: Check the full article for the further explanation of each tip.

Clip Source: www.lifehack.org

The brain is a tangled web of information. We don’t remember single facts, but instead we interlink everything by association. Anytime we experience a new event, our brains tie the sights, smells, sounds and our own impressions together into a new relationship.

Our brain remembers things by repetition, association, visual imagery, and all five senses. By knowing a bit about how the brain works, we can become better learners, absorbing new information faster than ever.

Here are some study tips to help get you started…

Flashcards

Create the Right Environment

Use Acronyms to Remember Information

Listen to music.

Rewrite your notes.

Engage Your Emotions.

Make Associations.

Tags: learning

Breasts and Sex

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:32:31 GMT

clipped by: johaygood
clipper's remarks: Yeah, what's the big deal? it's just one beautiful body part of a woman.

Clip Source: www.007b.com

So are breasts sexual?

Breasts are just a part of the "whole package" that makes a woman. Obviously they are beautiful, feminine body parts, yes, but the mere looking at them in some everyday context shouldn't make men instantly think about sex.

We are not saying that men can't appreciate woman's breasts as feminine and beautiful body parts, or that man and woman can't enjoy touching each other's bodies during the intimate relationship. We are saying breasts are NOT supposed to be an immediate "turn-on", a special obsession point for men.

We're saying let breasts be like legs and hips and neck and face etc. and all the other body parts - not some almost like inanimate objects that automatically 'click men's brains' to the "turn on" mode.

The advertisements and media images play to the idea that men are supposed to be "all ready" the instant they get a flash of a breast. It's not men's fault though, if they think so, because they have been culturally conditioned to see it that way.

Tags: breasts, sex

Male and Female brains are built from different genetic blueprints

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:41:20 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.mcgill.ca

Brains apart: the real difference between the sexes

Research is revealing that male and female brains are built from markedly different genetic blueprints, which create numerous anatomical differences. There are also differences in the circuitry that wires them up and the chemicals that transmit messages between neurons. All this is pointing towards the conclusion that there is not just one kind of human brain, but two. The research contradicts the long-held theory that the differences in the way the sexes think are caused by social pressure and upbringing, or the action of sex hormones. The gender gap has only just come to light because neuroscientists have traditionally carried out their studies on male brains, be they animal or human. Pain researcher, Jeff Mogil, of McGill University said: 'It's scandalous. 'Women are the most common pain sufferers, and yet our model for basic pain research is the male rat.

Tags: research, brain, male, female, science

Human-frog hybrids reveal autism's secrets

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:07:44 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: To see if abnormalities in neurotransmitter signalling also underlie autism, Miledi's team collected brain samples from six deceased autistic patients, aged eight to 39. They fused brain-cell membranes, which house neurotransmitter receptors, together with Xenopus egg membranes. As a control, they did the same thing with brain cells from patients with no history of mental disorder.
Miledi's team then doused the frog eggs in neurotransmitter chemicals, and measured the voltage generated within each egg. The neurotransmitter chemicals tell brain cells to pump charged molecules in and out the membrane, creating a voltage across the membrane. Since Xenopus eggs do not respond to the neurotransmitters, the human proteins are completely responsible for any electric current generated.

Four of six autistic brains responded to neurotransmitters chemicals less vigorously than the controls.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Human-frog hybrids might reveal the neurological secrets of autism. By fusing cells from the preserved brains of deceased autistic patients with the eggs of a carnivorous African frog called Xenopus, scientists have started investigating the way the brain cells of people with autism behave.

The frog eggs work a little like human neurons and the hybrid cells act as a surrogate of a living brain with the condition.

"It's almost as if you were studying a neuron in the human brain," says Ricardo Miledi, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Irvine, who developed the approach and has previously used Xenopus eggs to study epilepsy.

Miledi's earlier work has suggested that some brain cells of epilepsy patients have trouble sensing a molecule that helps damp down neuron activity. The proteins in question, called neurotransmitter receptors, sense the chemicals that neurons use to communicate, and Miledi thinks that problems with these proteins underlie epilepsy and other disorders

Tags: brain, autism, health

you're not as smart as you think

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:28:51 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: mmm-hmmm...

Clip Source: www.edge.org

What is the big idea of Richard Thaler, the economist quoted by David Cameron and Barack Obama? It comes down to this: you're not as smart as you think. Humans, he believes, are less rational and more influenced by peer pressure and suggestion than governments and economists reckon.

"Economists assume people have brains like supercomputers that can solve anything," says Thaler. "But human minds are more like really old Apple Macs with slow processing speeds and prone to frequent crashes."

According to this view, voters are less Mr Spock than Homer Simpson and they could do with a bit of help - what Thaler terms a "nudge" - to save more, eat more healthily and do all the other things that they know they should.

summed up their argument: "One of the most important influences on people's behaviour is what other people do ... with the right prompting we'll change our behaviour to fit in with what we see around us."

Vivekananda quote

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:30:46 GMT

clipped by: fivment

Clip Source: srinig.com

Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into your brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralysing ones. — Swami Vivekananda

Tags: vivekananda, quote, school, life, liawowa

Vivekananda quote

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:04:46 GMT

clipped by: fivment

Clip Source: srinig.com

Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into your brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralysing ones. — Swami Vivekananda

Tags: vivekananada, school, life, quote

Human-frog hybrids aid autism investigations

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:41:30 GMT

clipped by: soccertoad

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

The frog eggs work a little like human neurons and the hybrid cells act as a surrogate of a living brain with the condition.

Xenopus eggs do not

underlie epilepsy and other disorders.

Tags: xenopus

science vs anecdote

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:08:36 GMT

clipped by: pascual
clipper's remarks: sciam

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

The reason for this cognitive disconnect is that we have evolved brains that pay attention to anecdotes because false positives (believing there is a connection between A and B when there is not) are usually harmless, whereas false negatives (believing there is no connection between A and B when there is) may take you out of the gene pool. Our brains are belief engines that employ association learning to seek and find patterns. Superstition and belief in magic are millions of years old, whereas science, with its methods of controlling for intervening variables to circumvent false positives, is only a few hundred years old.

Tags: science

Breastfeeding promotes the maternal bond

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:12:05 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Breastfeeding trust hormone clue

Scientists have for the first time shown how a "trust" hormone is released in the brains of breastfeeding mothers.

It is further proof that breastfeeding promotes the maternal bond through a biochemical process.

The team at Warwick University said the hormone oxytocin was known to be released during breastfeeding but the mechanism in the brain was unclear.

Oxytocin also produces contractions during labour and causes milk to be "let down" from the mammary glands.

The hormone is produced in the hypothalamus - the part of the brain that controls body temperature, thirst, hunger, anger and tiredness.

It has been shown to promote feelings of trust and confidence and to reduce fear.

The study, published in the journal PLoS Computational Biology, found that in response to a baby suckling, specialised neurons in the mothers' brain start to release the hormone from the nerve endings.