Scientists Hijack Mouse Neurons to Take Control

Scientists Hijack Mouse Neurons to Take Control

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-03/scientists-hijack-mouse-neurons-control-and-manipulate-memories

          In a recent study, scientists were involved in a quite interesting experience with the brains of typical mice. The article linked above goes in depth about the thinking of scientists and their implications about working with the brains of mice.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-03/scientists-hijack-mouse-neurons-control-and-manipulate-memories This is the source for the first picture below.

To start off with, this story is about scientists who had hijacked the memories of lab mice. Specifically, these are neuroscientists who were attached to the aspect of mental health. Also a part of this study was a group of researchers from Scripps Research Institute, which was responsible for engineering mice in order to benefit the purpose of the labs. You may be pondering why this information is of such significance and the truth is there is a lot of useful data which can be analyzed for a cause. This unique study was made a news story because a lot was learned through the experience. Basically, by "hijacking" the memories of lab mice, scientists were able to control mice and force them to react to their surroundings at abnormal times. In this process, memories were taken away, but in return, confusing and altered memories were formed inside the minds of mice. Originally, mice were given a special memory receptor which was programmed inside their neurons. The purpose of this mini mechanism was for it to be activated when the mouse was in a state of fear. In this manner, mice were given particular drugs which triggered the activation of the receptor. Therefore, when the mouse was not in an area where it was fearful, its neurons were fired up, causing the mouse to change into a fearful state. For example, a mouse was tested inside a special cage for any sign of fear. As a result, the mouse was shocked and the receptor was signaled. Next, the mouse was given the drug and was put inside an ordinary cage. The neurons in the mouse triggered for the mouse to appear shocked. In other words, scientists were able to recreate confusing memories of fear when a mouse was not scared in reality. All of the labs correlated to this study took place at the

 

                                                       http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-07/some-
mice-have-become-immune-poison-through-natural-highly unusual-evolution



Scripps Research Institute in California. This study was officially published on Friday, March 24, but effort was put into establishing this study weeks earlier. This study took place to benefit human health, which is of course a great cause. Basically, many people on the planet are diagnosed with Schrizophrenia or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

  Mouse Trap (used in lab procedure)

http://img.ecplaza.com/my/haier/14.jpg    These diseases have to do with the breakdown of thought processes, anxiety, and poor emotional responses. Schrizophrenia, in particular, makes it hard for people to tell between real and unreal experiences. By performing these labs with mice, scientists are looking to eventually pave a way for false memory or real memory manipulation within those people who are currently suffering. By hijacking the memories of lab mice and creating altered memories in their minds, scientists concluded that the reactions of mice could be similar to those of humans. Therefore, the only reason why this study occurred was because scientists wanted to find a related drug that could potentially shut down responses of false fears within the corresponding neurons in patients. If this drug was to work, patients could live healthier lives.

          After reading this article, my opinion is that the study is unique and beneficial to humans. The concept developed through the labs can really change how Schrizophrenia is treated and can make people's lives easier. Also, the process is not affecting any humans in a negative way so mankind should be thankful. First of all, the study of creating the memory of fear in an area of no shock is totally unbelievable. Not only is it unbelievable, but it is also unique because humans are not being used for trials in labs. Instead, scientists found a different way to create and conduct fear in an animal, such as a mouse. The fact that mice are being used for the purpose of labs brings research to a whole new level. On the other hand, this study is beneficial to humans because diseases like Schrizophrenia and Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder can be possibly cured or aided. After the labs are done, it is possible that companies will manafacture a new drug that will shut down fear in some neurons of humans . I am glad that some of those people out there in the world who are currently suffering from these diseases have a chance for a more healthy life. In addition, I believe that this study is "for our own good" because honestly, humans are not being affected in any way. The idea of humans being involved in labs is totally out of the picture in this study. Humans will neither get physically harmed, nor will they get mentally harmed. If anything is gained from the study, it would be a cure for the diseases involving fear. Also, if anyone is to get hurt in labs, it would be a tested mouse and I believe that scientists are well-prepared to prevent events like this. Not to be inconsiderate of mice, but I care about the health of humans way more. All in all, this study is being analyzed in an interesting way, it influences no harm towards humans, and I have complete faith in it as it trys to prove cures for disorders related to fear.

  This represents the view of someone who has Schizophrenia.

 http://www.metrolic.com/new-treatment-for-schizophrenic-teenagers-167051/

Other Sources: meaning of Schizophrenia-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001925/

definition of  Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001923/

Moves Like Atoms

A Matter of Change!

     Physical and chemical changes happen all the time in the world. The labs which were done last week revolved around similar concepts. Basically, the ideas of physical  changes and chemical changes were experienced and fully understood through the exposure to these labs. Since the class was learning about states of matter and the correlations between them, these concepts really helped us understand how matter is altered through specific changes.

To start off with, a physical change is a change of the appearance of a substance, where the identity of the substance does not change. On the other hand, a chemical change is the result of a substance being changed into one or more new substances.

     Initially, we did a lab with an unlit candle to make a chemical change occur. The unlit candle was met with the presence of fire to then become a lighted candle. The chemical change was observed when the wick of the candle started to burn and smoke formed in the atmosphere. At the same time, a physical change was identified. Due to the temperature increase of the fire, the wax of the candle started to melt. The firm candle started to melt into a liquid. This remained a physical change because no new substance was formed. Melting is known as the physical change from solid to liquid. 
      In a similar lab, a lighted candle was met with carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide was composed of the mixture of baking soda and vinegar. Carbon dioxide is a gas. Gas is a phase of matter that does not have a definite shape or volume. The flame of the candle blew out because the presence of the carbon dioxide caused the fire to have no oxygen. This was evident as a chemical change because the fire substance was altered and in fact, it vanished. The knowledge of carbon dioxide can be used in daily life situtations. In the future, if you have problems with fires, you can always put them out by exposing them to carbon dioxide.
       In the third lab, we roasted marshmallows for our amusement. In the process of roasting marshmallows, the class discovered a chemical change. Marshmallows were held above a bunsen burner and soon the marshmallow started to burn. The white and solid substance of the marshmallow turned into a burnt and gooey substance. The marshmallow was gooey because it was near a hot fire and its composition melted in some ways. Most importantly, the marshmallow was burnt and the process of combustion is known to be a chemical change. In this lab, the chemical makeup of the marshmallow changed drastically. For another part of this lab, a physical change was identified. The original marshmallow was split into half but no chemical makeup was changed. As a matter of fact, only the appearance of the marshmallow changed. By the way, the marshmallow was known to be a solid only because it had a definite shape and definite volume. The particles inside the marshmallow were closely packed together which made it a solid.
     In another lab, the purpose was to burn sugar and identify changes. When the sugar substance was heated on the bunsen burner, the white of the sugar became a burnt and black color. Combustion was evident and I immediately knew that it was a chemical change. The original composition of the sugar was changed into a burnt mixture. The burnt mixture had a bit of yellow in it too. Also, since water was combined with sugar when the substance was heated, the water evaporated. Basically, a liquid turned into a gas. In other words, the water changed into water vapor. A liquid is a state of matter which is known to have a definite volume, but no definite shape. Knowledge of evaporation can help people understand how water vapor forms in the future.

           

      Therefore, in all four labs, physical changes and chemical changes were experienced. Some changes included melting, combustion, and evaporation. Also, the key points of these labs can be helpful in understanding situations in the future. For instance, the melting of a substance is a major physical change. When you are cutting a birthday cake in the future, you should make sure to blow out your candle soon enough so it doesn't melt into your cake. Also, combustion definitely changes the chemical make up of an object. Burning has to do with fire and when fire encounters an object it is likely to burn the object. The fire will also create a chemical build up, changing the object's composition. In daily life, you should be aware that fire could change the internal and external make up of anything it catches onto. For example, when you are making a campfire, fire burns the wood. The chemical change is that the wood could turn to ash. A final example of a change in matter is with an ice cube. In the future, an ice cube could physically change to water through the process of melting.

Some citations:
http://scienceprojectideasforkids.com/2009/states-of-matterenthalpy/

http://boomeria.org/chemtextbook/cch15.html
    

http://www.clker.com/clipart-10942.html  

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7GFRE_enUS323&biw=1280&bih=589&tbm=isch&tbnid=gijMmM3dS_DJnM:&imgrefurl=http://www.ehow.com/how_6387744_select-size-fire-extinguisher.html&docid=RgP_qtoJknXw1M&imgurl=http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-page-main/ehow/images/a06/2u/10/select-size-fire-extinguisher-800x800.jpg&w=225&h=220&ei=StAxT4LjM4W30AGalIXZBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1047&vpy=111&dur=281&hovh=176&hovw=180&tx=129&ty=99&sig=110484513554308946296&page=1&tbnh=109&tbnw=110&start=0&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:17,s:0

Science Lab Procedure

Science Lab Procedure

1. Carefully, pick out the transparent stone from the cup with your fingers and place it on the given tray. This stone is the solid object with the biggest mass compared to the other smaller solid objects, so it will be easy to identify. Also, this is a heterogeneous mixture so you can easily see this material.

2. Simply, pull out the three toothpicks (one red toothpick, two yellow toothpicks) from the cup and separate from the other materials in the lab. All the toothpicks fall under one category.

3. Using the given spoon, scoop out the pebbles from the mixture in the cup and put them aside from the rest of the substances.

4. Poor everything from the cup into the beaker. This includes every part in the remaining mixture.

5.  Using the magnet, attract the iron filings which look like black powder. The iron particles will stick to the magnet and you can put the substance away from the other substances. You can  gather the iron filings by slowly hovering the magnet against the glass of the beaker.

6. With the homogeneous mixture in the beaker, separate sand with the salt/water mixture. In order to do this, first place the given funnel over the beaker and a paper filter on top of the funnel.

7. To complete the goal of separating sand from the salt/water mixture, gently poor the solution from the beaker onto the paper filter. Since the water and salt are mixed together as one, the mixture can pass through the paper filter. The purpose of the paper filter is to just allow the water mixture to pass through. The water/salt mixture will then flow through the funnel and back into the beaker. On the other hand, the sand doesn't have the ability to pass through the filter paper so it will stay on the top surface of the paper.

8. Place the filter paper with the sand aside on the tray.

9. Now that the only remaining duty for separation is to separate the water from the salt, place the beaker of the salt/water mixture on top of the hot plate.

10. Turn on the hot plate by plugging the hot plate wire into the closest outlet. The hot plate will take time to heat up so be patient.

11. Observe as the heating mechanism forces the water to be evaporated from the mixture. The result of this is the water will disappear from the mixture. Therefore, the salt is left alone and the water is in the air, separate from the other substances.

12. Identify that you have discovered and separated seven substances successfully. Congratulations!

13. Clean up all the materials given in the lab. This includes disposing the correct materials based on the teacher's directions, washing the beaker, plugging out the hot plate, and placing all the assigned materials on the tray neatly.

Extra Credit! - Due Jan 7th

Respond to the following quote:
"Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom."

By educating one, he/she is free to reach closer towards a goal. For example, a goal could be executing a high-profile job. A person should be qualified with a certain level of education to earn them a good job. Basically, education is the process of learning new things and developing skills. These skills enable a wider and more open range of opportunities. In my opinion, the more educated you are, the freer you can be in life. With a good education, you can open doors to a variety of venues and you can think in all directions. If one solution doesn't work, you are free to move to other ideas and this will give you a good lifestyle. Also, this enables for you to earn enough for a living and to make a difference in other people's lives too. By thinking big and helping others, you are earning a good placement in life. On the other hand, many people with a high level of education are well-respected by others. This gives you freedom to associate with more people around the world. Therefore, education definitely plays a big role in the journey to every aspect of freedom.

A Fascinating Dissection of A Frog

     WOW!!!!! The dissection process which was experienced in Science class on the days of Tuesday, December 13 and Wednesday, December 14 can be described in two ways:

1. Fascinating Connections
2. A Learning Experience

     During this two day lab, students were given an oppurtunity to dissect the dead body of a frog. These frogs which were dissected in the class were one of the many species of frogs and they maintained a green color. For diversity, both male frogs and female frogs were dissected. Now, the purpose of this lab was not to open the body parts of the frog for the sake of it, but to understand how organisms share similar connections throughout the body. They did indeed share similar body parts with the body of the human.

                                                                                           

Source to Picture #1(above)(right): http://www.scientificillustrator.com/illustration/amphibians/leopard_frog.html

 The picture above is to represent a typical frog. NOTICE: The page cited shows information about a certain frog species which does not serve any purpose to the main idea of the frog dissection.

Tuesday, December 13,2011:

     Day 1 - THE DISSECTION - Students gathered in multiple groups to examine and dissect an individual frog designated to each group.To start off with, each frog was placed on a dissecting pan to prepare for the dissection. The beginning portion of the dissection involved cutting through the skin of the frog in order to get a clear view of important body parts of the organism.Once skin was pinned down to the pan, muscle appeared, but to many groups, it just looked like more skin. Once the first few incisions were made, body parts of the frog's digestive system were visible. This included the stomach, three-part liver, small intestine, large intestine, pancreas, and gallbladder. When the groups saw those gallbladders, they observed that they looked like "deflated peas." This added lots of humor to the lab.

Source: http://www.biologyjunction.com/frog_dissection.htm

This page talks about the digestion system of a frog.




(continued....)As the students cut through the skin of the upper portion of the body, the heart, the lungs, and the esophagus became visible. If the students looked closely, they could see the arteries and the spleen. On the other hand, most of the frogs were females so students were able to identify the ovaries filled with eggs. The eggs were represented with black spheres. Basically, Day 1 of the frog dissection was represented by this:(below)

(Left)Male Frog(dissected)

Source:
http://www.biologyjunction.com/frog_dissection.htm

-------------------------------------------------

(and)

(Right)-Female Frog(dissected)- The eggs are the black spheres....

Source:http://www.altoona.psu.edu/academics/www/mns/bioal/Frog/femaleanat.htmThe cited page above talks about the interior anatomy of a dissected female frog.

Student Reactions to DAY 1:

Based on the observations of Group #1: To start off with, the smell of the frog was really strong. This affected how the people of the group were going to dissect.

EXTERIOR: It was discovered that the dorsal side of the frog was smooth and was full of spots. The feel of both the ventral and dorsal sides of the frog were both solid. When pinning down the arms of the frog, the students could feel the strong hands of the frog.

INTERIOR: On the inside, the digestion system was discovered. The students of the group seemed fascinated by the body parts. The body parts were easily identified by this group, even though many other groups were having trouble matching organs to the ones from the diagrams given by the teacher. Additionally, the students were encountered with so-called "fat bodies." These miniscule structures appeared as spaghetti-like material and they represented the fat inside the body. "Wow, those fat bodies really did look like parts of spaghetti." Also, when the frog was first cut open, a liquid started to roam around through the frog and the group was unsure of what it was. The juice gushing through the frog really bugged this specific group. The heart was found above the three-part liver and it was seen in the shape of a triangle. Group #1 had trouble identifying the heart because they assumed it to be red because of blood, but however it was a white color. Right behind this organ, the lungs appeared squashed and simply disgusting. Despite the few surprising organs and substances found in the frog, the group found the systems of the frog really intriguing. They believed it was a "learning experience."

Wednesday, December 14, 2011:

     Day 2 - Summary and Connections to Human Body - Students gathered once again in their designated groups with their designated frog. Today, the groups were to cut out each individual part of the frog. They would think about the similarites between the frog and the human body.

 

Human Digestive System                                                                                                 
Source:http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/digestive/)  

This page talks about the human digestion process.                          
Frog Digestive System
 Source: http://www.tutorvista.com/biology/frog-digestive-system-diagram
  (This website talks about the anatomy of the frog digestive system..)       

   (Cloaca is the opening for urinary and reproductive tracts)
                                                                                   

Similarities:

• The digestive system of both the human body and the frog body have the same parts and functions.
• In the circulatory system for both the frog and human, there is a heart which has included a right atrium and a left atrium.
• For reproduction, both human females and frog females involve eggs.
• Both animals have fat bodies which are broken down by enzymes.
• Both animals have similar exterior parts. For example, hands, legs, a mouth, a tongue, etc...

Therefore, this lab showed a lot about how body systems of different creatures are related. It was indeed amazing to discover new things inside the frog and every student learned from the experience. This frog dissection definitely helped me learn about the frog and how the functions of the frog are related to the functions of other organisms.

More Multimedia: Virtual Lab- (To Help You Get A Better Understanding About The Frog Dissection)http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs/BL_16/BL_16.html

(explains dissection of frog)(steps)
http://frog.edschool.virginia.edu/Frog2/Dissection/Setup/setup1.html

A Frog Dissection Game:AWESOME!!!! - http://www.surgery-games.org/43/Dissect-a-Frog.html


Froggy Animation

 
 

Poster