Post-something-fun-from-your-research thread?

[n3ur05ur930n]

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well, we won't go into what "brain activation" really means in fMRI 😎

I find it hard to believe that speaking vs. not speaking causes similar levels of signal throughout the cortex. What about M1? Or is there a specific area of cortex you are looking at?

Sorry. I should clarify that I meant activation of the language-related systems.

Clearly, there would be additional motor activity observed with speaking out loud.

 

[n3ur05ur930n]

If someone knocks you with a strong force (such as in an elbowing incident) in the center of your chest, at a specific point in the cardiac cycle, you could fall over and die within seconds. This is not in my research - it's called commotio cordis, and it's creepy!

So how come more soccer players don't die on the field from this? A lot of elbowing happens in soccer.

 

[OrganLibrarian]

So how come more soccer players don't die on the field from this? A lot of elbowing happens in soccer.

I think you don't hear about commotio cordis too often because it's exceedingly rare, but it does occur on occasion. I think that the probability of hitting another in exactly the right location, at a very specific point in the cardiac cycle, with the right amount of force is so unlikely that even in rough sports it's unusual. In addition, certain existing cardiac abnormalities may make commotio cordis deaths more likely in some patients.

 

[McMD]

Smoking and caffeine decrease your risk of Parkinson's disease! Working with pesticides definitely increases your risk!

 

[Wertt]

Sorry. I should clarify that I meant activation of the language-related systems.

Clearly, there would be additional motor activity observed with speaking out loud.

Cool. This is interesting - what areas are you looking at? Inferior frontal language areas?

I did a study on the VWFA is why I'm asking (though that is more word perception than generation I guess).

 

[n3ur05ur930n]

Cool. This is interesting - what areas are you looking at? Inferior frontal language areas?

I did a study on the VWFA is why I'm asking (though that is more word perception than generation I guess).

We look primarily for Broca's and Wernicke's areas since our primary objective is language lateralization/localization for neurosurgical planning. However, we do usually see some accessory language system involvement more superior to those areas, although these are less instructive for establishing language dominant hemisphere.

 

[gaganheim]

I like to put it in the sink and pour water on it. I also like to put little pieces of it in eppendorf tubes and watch them explode. Yes, I am 5.

Even better, if the PI has gone home, you and another person are staying late...Put some dry ice in a snap cap and see how far you can shoot the cap down the hallway. Maybe this belongs on another thread, "Immature things to do while waiting for a reaction/gel in lab."

 

[LT2]

Even better, if the PI has gone home, you and another person are staying late...Put some dry ice in a snap cap and see how far you can shoot the cap down the hallway. Maybe this belongs on another thread, "Immature things to do while waiting for a reaction/gel in lab."

that or have rolling chair races around the building... 😛

 

[humuhumu]

don't know any interesting facts, but I once suggested in jest (and was found to be correct) that one of our clinic's patients was a chimeric twin. We detected way too many alleles for a gene we were studying from the patient's blood. Happened again on a re-draw later on. Then we found the DNA was different in the skin than it was in the blood, and the children of the patient (it was a multigenerational study) had vastly different genotypes from each other.

That is one of the coolest things I've read recently. I had no idea that humans could be chimeric twins. Here's an article I just found (from New Scientist) about this phenomenon, which may be more common than we think:

http://www.katewerk.com/chimera.html

 

[Sondra]

I was to go on a research vessel into the Gulf of Mexico for five days with my professor to help gather data and take pictures. I had never been on a large boat before. And, of course, my mother was worried about me being a boat with 23 strangers and no way to contact any one. I tried to ease my mom's mind and by saying, I will be going with one of the professors from my school that I work closely with.

She replied, "The Gilligan left with a professor, too."

HAHAHAH.

My professor and her husband roared laughing when I told them. They are the type that never even crack a smile.