January 2011
40 posts
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That’s the emoticon I’m going to use now that my face is all numb and I can’t smile symmetrically.
Happy Neuroscience New Years, you crazy kids.
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WatchThe muscle of your lips is called the orbicularis oris; it’s actually several bands of muscles that connect in a circle around the mouth. Since my top lip has been numbed the muscle can’t contract properly. In order to puff out my cheeks, I need to create a strong seal at my lips with the orbicularis oris. A lot of air pressure builds up in the mouth behind the lips. However, since...
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WatchDDK (short for “diadochokinetic” rate) is a measure of how quickly and accurately someone can produce a repetitive movement. Doctors might have you flip your hand palm up/palm down multiple times. Speech-language pathologists will have you say sounds over and over. (I’ve always thought it was a particularly nasty kind of linguistic irony that if you are unable to repeat a...
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WatchThe cranial nerve that control tongue movement is the hypoglossal nerve. Taste is actually controlled by two separate nerves, one for the front of the tongue (the facial nerve, cranial nerve 7) and one for the back of the tongue (glossopharyngeal, cranial nerve 9).
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WatchNumbing of the manibular and maxillary branches of the trigeminal results in flaccid dysarthric symptoms like muscle weakness, which is why I can’t purse my lips together.
December 2010
53 posts
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Neuroscience New Years!
The trigeminal nerve (cranial nerve 5) innervates the face, especially the mouth. Two of its three branches are responsible for sensation in the maxilla (upper jaw bone), top lip/teeth/gums and the mandible (lower jaw), bottom lip/teeth/gums. The nerve also allows for movement of the muscles that insert at the mandible that are needed for chewing.
The mandible is more difficult to numb...
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Off to the dentist
To have my two cavities filled. Thanks for playing along kids, but no one picked the winning number of cavities (see previously).
Parallelbotany came close with three. Petitichou gets points for creativity with .72. And Mills gets some love for optimistically guessing “None”. Ben Lansky thought that he had guessed two, but upon inspection of the notes on the post it was evident...
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HaikuLeaks →
Some smarty-pants wrote a code that searches for haiku patterns in Wikileaks cables. Several of the accidental poems are quite lovely. Here are some that I enjoyed:
As is typical, the Pope stayed above the fray and did not comment.
Instead, he gulped three cans of Coca-Cola while inhaling his food.
Parts of the country are often cut off by snow and avalanches.
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korybelle asked: Between D and E, you will likely go through a town called Rockford. Or perhaps even closer through a town called Freeport, depending on the route. Let me know, as both are very close and I will come to you for a free coffee or meal as well as conversation. Like seriously, that line almost goes over my house, I'm an hour dead south of Madison on the stateline. Lemme know...
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Anonymous asked: Sadface! Happy holidays nonetheless…and enjoy the road trip! -Eush
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Tumblr Road Trip
Starting in early January I’m driving across this here beautiful country from New York to California, with a lengthy lay-over in Boulder. On the way, I’m going to hang out with as many of you lovely folks as I can. Forget tumblr meet-ups, this is a tumblr road trip. Here is how the first half of my trip is shaping up.
A: Chateau Scheiner, Long Island. Depart New York with a...
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At the dentist
I haven’t had my teeth cleaned in years. If you can guess how many cavities I have, you win a prize!
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Astronomers Find First Evidence Of Multiverse: Our... →
My question, “Multiverse” or “Multiverses”? Is there more than one Multiverse? Are there more than one Multiverses? How does the plurality work here? Is Multiverse a mass or a count noun? I don’t know whether to ask a linguist or astrophysicist.
In other news, I’m adding my favorite astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson to the list my possible spirit...
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HIV & AIDS Information :: Stem cell transplant has... →
Is there a good reason this hasn’t gotten more press? I know similar things have happened, where a man (possibly even the same man) had had a transplant and seemed to be developing resistance, but I think it’s huge to state that someone has been “cured” of HIV.
I care a lot about this issue on a personal level: I took part in an HIV vaccine trial at New York City’s...
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The Art of Dancing by Lewis & Luke →
First, I take any suggestion by Melissa seriously; she has impeccable taste. Second, this is like the best Advent Calendar of all time.
melissacullens:
This is so unbelievably worth your time. I can feel your future regret if you ignore this link.
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I just drank an entire stick of butter
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Hot Buttered Rum
This just in: hot buttered rum is delicious.
1 large pat butter (~1.5 tbs.)
1 tbs. brown sugar
Spices: vanilla extract, apple pie spices
1 c. water
1 healthy shot spiced rum
In a pot on low heat, melt butter and sugar together. Add spices and water. Bring to simmer. Pour into a mug and add rum.
… Repeat.
eush asked: It wasn't quite seal training, but I spent a summer helping with dolphin and sea lion training back home. The best part was I got to watch a sea lion give birth. It was gross.
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Lolo's recipe for seething rage
21% benzene
33% gasoline
46% polystyrene
Ignite and cook at a napalm-bomb-balmy 5000 degrees.
**Special high-altitude cooking directions: The mountainous sides of a valley are ideal for reflecting and retaining heat that is otherwise lost in the thin, vapid atmosphere of mountain towns.
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Call your Senators; Support Bernie Sanders →
kelsium:kdek:
Call your senators and ask them why Senator Sanders is speaking for you and they are not. Then threaten to make all future campaign donations to Badass Bernie unless they speak out about why tax cuts for the rich is a bad idea (SUPPORTED BY THEIR VOTE).
Don’t know how to call your Senators? Click through for the website to find their phone numbers.
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Is Bernie Sanders Still Talking? →
thekeri:
Spoiler: YES.
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After a solid day of neuroscience, I’d like...
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After Brain Surgery, H.M. Solved Crossword Puzzles... →
As if on cue, the NYTimes Science Times published an article about HM!
HM suffered debilitating seizures as a young man. In 1953 he had surgery to remove brain areas that were causing the seizures. While the surgery was a raging success in terms of eliminating his seizures, it also left HM with one of the most severe cases of amnesia ever reported. Surgeons removed HM’s hippocampuses,...
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Neuroscience Tuesday: PKMzeta and long-term memory
Memory and learning are intricately connected. What I’m really interested in (and this can eventually be my dissertation) is what’s going on at a neurological level when people learn. I heard some great talks at the ASHA conference in Philly a few weeks ago that touched on the subject of neuroplasticity (the ability of the change in response to new experience) and learning.
I’m fascinated by...
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Neuroscience Tuesday: Memories, generally
Broadly, there are two different types of memory: working memory and long-term memory. We know that there are different types of memory because people can have very specific brain damage that affects one type of memory and spares others (think amnesia, Alzheimer’s, primary progressive aphasia or the amazing case of HM).
Working memory is like your cognitive deskspace: it’s the mental place where...
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Neuroscience Tuesday: PKMζ
My client rescheduled for Thursday. Under other circumstances I might be annoyed, but today a free block in the afternoon means I get to go to a sweet neuroscience lecture. The lecture will focus on PKMζ (say: PKM zeta or PKMz), an enzyme that is necessary and sufficient for the formation and maintenance of long-term memories. Isn’t that neat? I’m so excited that I’m going to...
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$100k sandwich
coerciveutopian:
Recently, the parent of a prospective Reed student asked me what was the thing I learned at school that I use most often. I told her something about how I learned to think and that is really useful and how it affects everything I do in life. I suppose that is technically true, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it wasn’t quite true. What did I learn that I...
youroldarchenemycatwoman asked: he sent me a picture of his paycheck!!!
buh bye Mr. Six Figures. nice-ish knowin' ya.
buh bye Mr. Six Figures. nice-ish knowin' ya.
youroldarchenemycatwoman asked: good idea!
okay, so...it went well. he's funny, smart, and handsome and probably more than a little crazy. he's an Aries like me, and i like his fire. we have chemistry, which is good, but there are certain things that were a little off-putting. i think he's very concerned with appearances, which drives me nuts, and he mentioned his 6 figure salary more than once. puhlease....
okay, so...it went well. he's funny, smart, and handsome and probably more than a little crazy. he's an Aries like me, and i like his fire. we have chemistry, which is good, but there are certain things that were a little off-putting. i think he's very concerned with appearances, which drives me nuts, and he mentioned his 6 figure salary more than once. puhlease....
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chanel-number-six:
Roses are red;
Violets are blue(ish);
I don’t know;
We’re all sort of Jewish
Amen and happy Hanukkah.