Scientists Identify Genes Activated During Learning And Memory 56
Researchers have theorized that certain genes must be activated to alter neuron activity inside the brain for learning and memory to take place. Finding and cataloging all the genes involved in learning is a formidable job. Scientists have now developed a computational approach to provide a rapid way to identify the likely members of this sought-after set of genes.
Well.... (Score:5, Funny)
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Recursion (Score:2, Funny)
Title is misleading (Score:5, Informative)
This is nothig new (Score:4, Interesting)
Anyway, according to the article, the work was done by an undergraduate student and it probably was good research but nothing news worthy. These kinds of press releases don't really do anyone (not the author, the scientific community nor the reader) any justice.
That's all fine and dandy... (Score:5, Interesting)
... but I do hope no-one's looking forward to some sort of treatment which would drastically improve our memory, except maybe as a way to diminish symptoms of Alzheimer's or similar diseases.
Much as I've always wanted a btter memory, studies conducted on the few people with truly eidetic memory showed that while they indeed had nearly perfect recollection, they also lacked the ability to discriminate between important and unimportant, though I still have my doubts as to what is the cause of which.
Re:That's all fine and dandy... (Score:5, Insightful)
Irrespective of which causes which, it's unlikely that we're going to get an all-or-nothing scenario; it should be possible to improve memory and/or learning without going the whole hog. And TBH, I think the effect on Alzheimer's is likely to be limited; while IANAN, I imagine that it's not defective memory-activating genes that cause it as much as it is plaques 'n' stuff in the brain.
Besides, have you looked at the internet lately? It seems that it's not eidetic memory that causes one to lose one's ability to distinguish between the important and the irrelevent; it's a modem.
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Actually, I really think we needn't resort to biology, neurology and biochemistry to do that. Schools, for one, could teach many more things, both facts and skills, if certain things were re-organized. With teachers throughout the world being as poorly appreciated as they are, that is just not going to happen, though.
Our capacity to learn and to memorize is near-infinite; it's not the capacity that's the problem, but the w
Re:That's all fine and dandy... (Score:5, Insightful)
This results in me getting really bad grades in memory-minded Asian school, since we're practically must memorize every single little thing in exams. However, this lack of ability also allows me to be very selective on what to memorize (e.g. I discovered rather quickly what is important and what is not) and allows me to develop other skills to compensate since I can't remember shit.
I have to say that my lack of strong memory actually helped me a lot in later life. I learned at an early age, much unlike my peers, that if I understand something I don't need to memorize it. When everyone in my class tried very hard to memorize an A4 paper full of formulas, I can get away with memorizing three of them (in parts no less; I have problem memorizing a full formula so I have to separate them into logical parts) and derive the rest during exam. Now as far as I know I'm the only person in my high school class doing a PhD in Engineering. And I still can't remember shit.
Now what was that article about again?
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Thank you for illustrating my point so clearly.
Croatian schools are also pretty memory-centered, which is quite a nuisance to most students, who attempt to memorize things without understanding them.
If you ask me, it just sucks to be them.
I too meet the same people three times before I learn their names, can't remember a date to save my life and would probably leave my head on a bus were it not attached to my neck, yet I have twice in a row come first in the entrance exam to my university, which consists
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What? Did you forget that you were accepted the first time around?
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Heh, almost...
I wanted to study one other thing along with my first choice, actually.
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Hell yeah, thinking of the vast amount of money I've spent on alcohol trying to forget, that would be a kick in the face for sure.
So, have they -found- anything? (Score:1)
What if.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Temporary memory boost? (Score:3, Interesting)
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My grandmother swears by amphetamines; she used to use them to prepare exams in med school.
That was before they were illegal, of course... yet even today she says she doesn't know why they're illegal, for she'd used them and she's quite fine.
Her liver condition certainly has nothing to do with that.
Luckily, she dropped out; with that kind of attitude, it's a damned good thing she never graduated.
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But her liver condition certainly has nothing to do with that.
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You mean, the liver condition she's been living with for the past 30-40 years at the very least?
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Will we be seeing even greater things if everyone in this world one day could get hold of a recipe to boost their memory? Boosting memory is not equal to intelligence but at least a large number of people could connect the patterns and do some great stuff.
I can't wait for the day our descendents create a big new world parallel to Earth and make it a sanctuary , even withstanding Black Hole rampage.
Think of the children ;) (Score:2)
I know my parents, for all the other good and (plenty of) bad things they did, pretty much buried me alive in extra homework. I'm not even sure it was as much for a future as such, as because in the circle of mom's and dad's equally nerdy friends they could brag about my achievements. I even pretty much e
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Memory is a complex mechanism, both in the storage and in the retrieval part.
I somehow doubt that such drugs would be of any good use; even if you were able to memorize things while under the influence, your brain would still have to sort it all out and you'd still have trouble recalling everything - at least while not under the influence.
Really, I do loathe the mere idea of chemically achieving something that could be done much better by simple practice.
We needn't be super-human; if most people were hum
Even better.. (Score:1)
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A natural herb used in asia for centuries, sold as a nootropic in the west. The research on it is a bit flakey, however it certainly does makes me feel more relaxed yet alert. However it can not compare to amphetamines.
Balance of Power (Score:2)
And so would probably be made illegal in education like steroids are in sports.
"Where's my revision timetable, Lister? It's Saturday night. No one works Saturday night. You don
What's up, neuroscientists? (Score:2)
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Genes are activated when a protein binds to the DNA sequence normally found upstream of a gene. Each protein binds to a specific DNA sequence (although there are often acceptable variations within the sequence). So if a protein binds to CATTACG, then you can find which genes may be activated by this protein by scanning for genes that have the signature CATTACG upstream of them.
This
Mixed feelings (Score:5, Interesting)
On the other hand I can't help but feel like unlocking the secrets of the mind will inevitably lead to the obsolescence of the everyday human. Granted, we're still a long way off from creating super smart people with the flick of a switch but one day it will happen. We've already seen the creation of super strong rats and the like (too lazy to find links). The brain is quite complex however and chances are some mad scientists somewhere are bound to created a more than a few scrambled melons before striking success.
With each new discovery of the human genome we inch closer to fully understanding it. Once we have a complete grasp there are bound to be those who wish to further the species with "unnatural means". I would argue that we would only be speeding what would otherwise take thousands of years to take place (although there are certainly no guarantees we'll ever get much smarter as a whole). If survival of the fittest is the name of the game, and why would we not want further generations to be the best they can be? I suppose that can be answered by any number of sci-fi flicks, but Hollywood seems to paint a grim picture of genetically modified people as if they automatically become evil, or at least have the chance of snapping and turning evil at any moment. I see no reason we can't eventually re-create the likes of a Da Vinci. The only problem is that this type of work doesn't benefit an individual because he would be contributing to his own demise, the end of "natural" humans. If something that at least somewhat looks/acts/feels like a human makes it off this planet and onto other worlds I'd be happy knowing we lived on in at least some form.
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This research is nowhere near even coming close to that level. However, I do have one thing to say about your lament. I damn well hope so! Have you seen what a good job the everyday human is doing at running this planet? If anything is due for an upgrade, it's the everyday human.
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I see no reason we can't eventually re-create the likes of a Da Vinci.
I would disagree with this point, however. I think we do recreate Da Vinci's every day of every year. But most of these guys don't look right, don't get the right opportunities, are born to parents who don't give a stuff, are born into poverty, etc., etc..
But what if you could, hypothetically, re-create Da Vinci? He might mature, apply his enormous intellect to his creation, realise that the optimum characteristics required to survive our murky world are stupidity and aggressio
Re:Mixed feelings (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not arguing that Da Vinci wasn't brilliant. But in today's society, would he even be noticed? We have more geniuses than ever, and as such, they are less noteworthy than ever. In Da Vinci's time, it was dangerous and difficult to be a genius. Being different was a lot harder back then, and if you should come up with an idea that was against the local religion, you would probably die. Now if you go against the grain, you merely get screamed at, screamed with, and get a lot of publicity. Not necessarily in that order.
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Misleading (Score:3, Informative)
Worth publishing in a scientific journal? May be. Worth the front page of
Research dollars wasted? (Score:2)
plots.. (Score:2)
great memories - not great memory (Score:2)
While this research is fantastic and will surely result in breakthoughs to help people who cannot store information, I'm pretty sure it won't help me remember my father-in-law's birthday.
So they've... (Score:2)
nice job of publicity (Score:3, Informative)
Not just a proposal (Score:1)
The actual journal article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/8/20 [biomedcentral.com]
This is not simply a proposal, though you have to go to the actual journal article to determine that. The press release is so hyped up though that it's hard to see that basically all they're doing is applying two well-known bioinformatics techniques to the problem of finding previously unknown/unstudied genes related to learning an