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Newsletter News Briefs Empathic Brain According to researchers at UCLA, the source of empathy has been found. According to neuroscientist Christian Keysers of the University of Groningen, Netherlands, multi-tasking neurons known as mirror neurons “fire each time you prepare to make a move.” Those same neurons activate to sound and sight. It is the mirror neurons that “transform what you see or hear people do into what you would do yourself,” Keysers says according to Ingfei Chen, author of the report appearing in Discover Magazine. Keysers continues, “You start to really feel what it feel like to do a similar action.” (Chen 2007) Fairness a Right Brain Matter Daria Knoch of the University of Zurich and team have presented evidence that it is an area of the right brain that give rise to the “ability to control impulses in order to reject and unfair deal.” When the right frontal-brain region is disabled, this fairness factor is diminished. “Only volunteers in the disabled right brain group spent little time deliberating over unfair offers. They recognized bad deals but found it hard to resist the temptation.” (Bower 2006) Epigenetics Rewrites the Rules The new science known as epigenetics is rewriting the rules of identity, heredity and disease. DNA is no longer destiny. Indeed, scientists have recently discovered that “the epigenome can change in response to the environment throughout an individuals lifetime. McGill Universities Medical School defines epigenome this way, “While genomic information is uniform in the different cells of complex organisms, the epigenome controls the differential expression of genes in specific cells. The programming of gene expression profiles is therefore dependent on the epigenome.” Until very recently, the idea that genes responded to thought or might change in response to the environment was scientific heresy. It appears that our inherited DNA is only perhaps 50% of the situation and this impacts many fields of enquiry beyond the obvious. As Michael Meaney, a biologist at McGill University, puts it, “Epigenetics will have a dramatic impact on how we understand history, sociology, and political science.” Meaney evaluates it all with this additional comment regarding the research thus far, “These experiments emphasize the importance of context on the development of a creature. They challenge the overriding theories in biology and psychology. Rudimentary adaptive responses are not innate or passively emerging from the genome but are molded by the environment.” (Watters 2006) Ultra Sound and Bad Vibrations According to a report appearing in Science News, “prolonged and frequent use of fetal ultra sound might lead to abnormal brain development.” Neuroscientist Pasko Rakic of Yale University and his team studied the effect of prolonged and frequent exposure to ultra sound in mice and their conclusions are reported in an upcoming Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Verne Caviness of Massachusetts General Hospital is reported as commenting, “Baby pictures aren’t a justifiable use for this technology.” (Brownlee 2006) Want to be Happier? Researchers at the University of Southampton in the UK have found that reflecting on happy memories for just 20 minutes a day are more cheerful. Writing about happy memories also improves self esteem, according to studies by psychologist Tim Wildschut. (Krakovsky 2006) Think happy, be happy—just another reason to remain positive and optimistic. Chicken Language Chris and Linda Evans of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia recently announced their findings regarding certain chicken vocalizations. Relating vocalizations to the environment they are certain that “chicken clucks are representational signals” and as such constitute a language. (Milius 2006) Elephant Self-image J. M. Plotnik of Emory University in Atlanta announced in the November 7 Proceedings of the national Academy of Sciences that elephants “are mirror savvy.” That is, they learn to recognize their own image in just the same way human might. Chickens talk, elephants walk (perhaps to the mirror to groom themselves)—what’s next, insect thought? (Milius 2006) According to neuroscientist Nicolas Strausfeld of the University of Arizona at Tucson, insects have the most sophisticated brains on the planet. They are tiny, miniature models of larger brains and include similar functional divisions as those of the human brain. Indeed, according to fellow neuroscientist Bruno van Swinderen, a researcher at the Neurosciences Institute (NSI) in San Diego, higher cognitive functions in insects are likely. Although still somewhat controversial, these researchers and others, using the most sophisticated of technology, are convinced enough that in the words of Christof Koch, a Caltech neuroscientist, “I don’t kill bugs needlessly anymore.” All right, chickens’ talk, elephants walk and insects use tiny brains to generate thought. Perhaps that old notion of man’s dominion over the world should be re-examined and the meaning of dominion treated as Webster does, “Sovereignty—self-governing as with a common wealth of nation.” (Fox 2007) Humans may well be or represent the superior species but their governance is certainly something that in this day and age can be called into question. To that end, we have a new free InnerTalk CD for you. It is titled Ecology Awareness and is all about doing our part to care for our planet. The program is brand new on CD and is up on our website so you can order there or phone 1-800-964-3551. (Shipping charges do apply). Bower, B. (2006). Right brain area linked to fairness. Science News. 170: 253 Brownlee, C. (2006). Bad Vibrations. Science News. 170: 99. Chen, I. (2007). Source of Empathy Found. Discover. January 2007: 56. Fox, D. (2007). Consciousness in a Cockroach. Discover. January 2007: 67-70. Krakovsky, M. (2006). Sweet Remembrance. Psychology Today. June 2006: 50-51. Milius, S. (2006). Chickens Speak. Science News. 170: 325-26. Milius, S. (2006). Hey, that's me! Science News. 170: 334. Watters, E. (2006). DNA Is Not Destiny. Discover. Nov 2006: 33-75. |
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