Brain Patterns Mapped

Recent brain studies have resulted in a simpler way to look at the brain. This new brain scanning provides scientists with new clues to how the human brain is built and even how it evolved. The technique used by scientists from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School is called diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. The mapping of these brain patterns in mammals may eventually lead to the ability for doctors to be able to diagnose brain disorders due to alterations in the patterns. An additional reason as to why this finding is so important is that studies can be performed to compare the evolutionary root of the brain to similar mammals to the human.

I found this article very intriguing because the brain is such a complex and unique organ. The unknown "mess" of structure the brain entails is actually a very organized system of patterns that can be related to other organisms to provide us with mind blowing information about our evolutionary heritage. It is very interesting to me that these sorts of discoveries are being made day after day. It makes me wonder how much we will be able to find out about the brain in the upcoming years.

Physiological adaptations

The Giant Squids the unknown phantom of the sea.  It's a very elusive animal that has been scarcely seen throughout history.  Recently, new dissections and computer models have offered a lead in the mystery as to why the squid's eyeballs are soccer ball-sized and are three times wider than any other animals.  Scientists believe that the squid's eyeballs size is a evolutionary trait that stemmed from their need to avoid capture by the Sperm Whale.  The Sperm Whale is the Giant Squid's greatest predator.  It's believed that the eyes evolved to see bioluminescent trails of light left by sperm whales. Additionally, the colossal squid would be able to recognize a sperm whale from 120 meters away.

The study of a squid's physiology can offer insight into other adaptive sight measures taken by other animals.  Maybe our eyes evolved to help us protect against predators.  It's also interesting to note that the energy need to run the neurons for their eyes was a significant amount.  More research will have to be done in order to fully understand the physiological structures of the giant squid.

Napping Neurons

What happens in your brain as you get tired? This is the question researchers wanted the answer too.  The study preformed showed that when the rats began to get tired some of their neurons began to nap. To keep the rats awake for a long period of time, researchers constantly gave the rat new interesting toys to play with.  Some of the neurons began to nap and as time went on these naps occurred more frequently.  To study the brain functions a electroencephalography was used which is the reading of electrical current along the scalp. The whole time the rat seemed awake, but his whole brain was not awake like he was.

I found this interesting because when you begin to get tired sometimes you do not pay attention to what you are doing, which can lead to mistakes or forgetting to do something.  The neurons napping can be an explanation of why this happens.  It is also interesting that the overall behavior of the mice did not change as time when on.  The brain is not affected as a whole when these neurons are napping.  Maybe this can lead to further knowledge on how the brain develops and why sleep is needed.