--Original published at Sarah's Blog

For this week’s first impression post, I chose to watch Thomas Insel’s TEDTalk titled “Toward a New Understanding of Mental Illness”. I am very interested in learning about mental illnesses and how they have an effect on people differently. In this video Insel talked about how the rates of mortality in physical diseases have lowered drastically within a span of about 30 years, but suicide is still a major leading cause of death. He labels suicide as a condition or situation that leads to mortality, but most people do not realize how common it is. Some statistics that Insel talked about was how “there are 38,000 suicides a year in the United States”, which equates to about one every 15 minutes. That fact alone stunned me, as I never realized how big of a number it was. He also stated that “90% of suicides are related to a mental illness”, which was also an interesting fact to hear. Thomas Insel talks about how mental disorders are being considered “behavior” disorders, but he believes that we should rethink them as brain disorders. He is working towards making progress on scanning the brain to be able to detect brain disorders early on. Insel explains how patterns in our brain can be a factor in mental illnesses.

Insel explained this topic in a simple sense, which helped greatly to understand the topic. He has put in a lot of work into this study and seems to be very trustworthy in his information. I favor that he is working on this and I believe that this will be helpful in the future to try and see where mental illnesses begin. I would like to continue to follow this research and see how it progresses as time goes on.

--Original published at Jessie's PSY105 Blog

The TED talk that I chose to watch was give by Jim Fallon, called “Exploring the mind of a killer”. The reason I chose this talk is because I have always wondered if chemical imbalances in the brain or differences in brain structure are what cause a person to turn into a psychopathic killer, or if its simply just an outcome of the environment they grew up in and the personality they developed (basically the standard nature vs. nurture conflict).

The talk started out with Fallon telling about some experimentation that he conducted with the brains of psychopathic killers. He pointed out that there was distinct brain damage in the brains of murders. Specifically, he pointed out damage to the orbital cortex and the anterior temporal cortex that was a commonality among the brains. He then talked about a gene for violence that is passed down hereditarily, which led him to speak about his own family history. He mentioned how earlier generations of his family were murderers (at one point he said seven men in a row on his father’s side). He chose to talk about this to emphasize that while the ‘violent’ gene can be passed on, it isn’t always.

Something that I found most interesting about the talk was how he explained why most psychopathic killers are typically male. He said that the gene that allowed for more violence/violent tendencies is located on the X chromosome, meaning that you receive it prominently from your mother. This is why males prominently end up with gene because the y chromosome that they receive from their father does not have the gene.

I found the presenter himself to be a reliable source. He led off the presentation by providing the audience with his credentials. He mentioned having a degree in neuroscience and being a professor on the subject as well. He then described the personal research that he did on the brains and how he even went as far as beginning to put his own family through CAT scans to try to trace where the ‘trouble’ would be in his family. To me, it seems that his credentials are good enough for him to be a reliable source on neuroscience.

A potential research idea for this subject would be to conduct a cross-sectional study on how different ages affect the potency of this gene. By dissecting and analyzing brains, in much the same fashion as Fallon did, of psychopaths of different ages, it could show whether there is a time when the brain is more apt to cause violence. This could be done by measuring the amount of damage to the orbital cortex and anterior temporal cortex. If a trend was found, then there would be more information on when someone was more at risk of doing something violent. Pairing this information with knowing whether or not someone has the ‘violent’ gene, would help us to understand why these psychopathic crimes are committed.

--Original published at Nadia's Blog

I chose the TED talk on how the brain may fix itself with help. I decided to chose this topic because I immediately was drawn to the scientific aspect of how the brain is able to work. Jocelyne Bloch began to explain how when there is damage to the human brain it most likely leads to an individual being handicap. Her as well as other doctors, have been trying to find evidence to repair the brain in a successful way. During a head trauma the brain begins to swell with pressure. The only way to decrease it is by removing a section of the brain tissue. When it was removed, they decided to study the tissue and attempt to grow new cells from that tissue, which they realized would be very difficult. Many attempts later they were able to grow new cells and soon realized they had created a new cell population that would divide slower and were able to die quicker. They created an experiment to discover if they could use these cells to help with brain repair. They first did a biopsy of the brain, then looked at the cell culture, labeled the cells they injected with colors in order to track them, and then re-implanted them in the same individual. They began testing this on monkeys, their control group was a normal monkey and they came to find that when injecting the cells into a normal monkey the cells were not needed and disappeared. They then injected the cells in the monkeys who had a lesion, and found that these cells remained, and began to mature into new neurons. Their experiment resulted in success and are now in the process of meeting the regulations for them to apply this concept on humans.

I found it interesting that they were able to track the exact cells that they had implanted into the brain by coloring them. To me this was surprising, since they are able to differentiate between millions and millions of cells. I felt that the presenter was very reliable because not only is this research in her field, but she is a very well educated neurosurgeon. I also felt that Bloch was reliable because along with her efforts in her study, they were also able to make progress and get logical and accurate results from their experiments.

Another research idea could be studying other types of brain tissues and applying the same process of studying the culture, labeling the cells and re-implanting them into the same individual, to see the affects of different cell tissues in the brain.

--Original published at Sierra's College Blog

For this week’s first impression post, I chose to discuss the TED talk with Jim Fallon. “Exploring the mind of a killer” was the title of this particular episode. I was drawn to this topic because I watched numerous television shows involving psychopathic killers in the past. I was interested in knowing some background information on why these murderers commit severe crimes.

“Exploring the mind of a killer” was given by Jim Fallon, who was a neuroscientist and professor of the University of California. Fallon was given the opportunity to discover how one became a psychopathic killer by looking at their brains. He examined many brains, normal and those of previous killers, to conclude his findings. From his data, he searched for reasons in the brain that caused the human to become a murderer. He saw how the damaged brain and the environment together impacted the human. He concluded all killers had damage to the orbital cortex; however, the specific timing of the damage resulted in a unique and distinct psychopathic killer. Fallon also talked about the major violence gene, and how it was sex linked on the X chromosome. This meant more males were expected to be killers than women. Lastly, Jim Fallon talked about his previous history. His family, on his father’s side, had numerous psychopathic killers including Lizzie Borden. He described how he viewed the brains of his family members, and they were now waiting to see who the next psychopathic killer would be in their family line.

The most interesting thing I learned from the talk was the major violence gene (MAO-A gene) explained why the people became psychopathic killers. I was further intrigued the MAO-A gene was sex linked and only appeared on the X chromosome. This meant the mothers carried the gene, so men were more likely to become murderers compared to women. I had previously wondered why television shows usually depicted men as psychopathic killers, but I had learned the reason for this after watching the TED talk.

Jim Fallon was an overall reliable presenter on the information he presented in the TED talk. I believed he was trustworthy because he was a neuroscientist and professor at the University of California. He had over thirty five years of background, studying the behavior of genes and circuit analysis in the brain. Since he was a presenter on the TED talk, this also showed the importance and high standard of knowledge he needed to have prior to the show. Even though he was on TED talk, there were some things that stuck out to make him seem unreliable. He did not explain all the aspects and details of the experiment, which would lead to questioning whether it was a true experiment or not. I was not able to see whether or not the experiment included random assignment, the age differences between the brains, or whether the data was generalized to the entire population. Jim Fallon, however, described the experiment was blinded, and he did not know which brains were from the psychopathic killers.

Based on the information presented, I would conduct a research experiment to see if the damaged brain in the orbital cortex could be reversed. Can a method of research be implemented in a child who has damage to the orbital cortex to prevent him or her from becoming a psychopathic killer? The independent variable would be the use of the research methods to reverse the orbital damage. The control group would not receive the treatment, while the experimental group would receive it. The dependent variable would see if the damage to the orbital cortex was corrected by the ones who received the treatment. The random selection of the population would include all genders, age groups, and different cultures. Random assignment would allow the participants to belong to certain groups of the experiment. Also, the ones who received the placebo and the treatment would be randomly assigned. This experiment would allow for casual claims because it was a true experiment. Lastly, it would be generalizable to the entire population because it included all cultures and had random selection. This experiment would be trustworthy because it answered the five critical questions of research. There would be some problems with the experiment because it would be potential for it to be unethical by the Institutional Review Board. Some children would not receive a method to prevent them from becoming a psychopathic killer, which would be considered harmful and inhumane.

Overall, “Explaining the mind of a killer” was extremely interesting and gave me an insight on how damage, a severe event, and the X chromosome all had a part in creating a psychopathic killer.

--Original published at Miguel's College Blog

The TED talk that I watched was titled: “Jim Fallon: Exploring the Mind of a Killer.” I was drawn to this TED talk because I am always fascinated by psychopaths and serial killers. The motives for their actions and the brain processes behind it are unique. I also did a project in high school about famous serial killers and their motives but never on the neurological level.

In this talk, Fallon explained how psychopathic killers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy came to be by looking at their brains. By looking at their brains, Fallon determined that a combination of events in early childhood plus having a certain gene can create a psychopathic killer. Among all of the killers, Fallon claims that all of their brains have damage on the orbital cortex. Fallon adds that the MAOA gene, a gene passed from mother to son, is found in the population and causes the brain to be exposed to too much serotonin. The constant exposure to serotonin so early in development causes the brain to be desensitized to the calming effects of the chemical. At the same time, the person needs to be exposed to traumatic experiences early on. If all of these theoretical boxes are checked, then a killer can be created.

What interested me the most about this talk was how the MAOA gene causes the brain to be bathed in serotonin early in development. A chemical that usually helps people feel calm can also be a reason to why killers commit their acts. Like an addiction, the over exposure to serotonin makes the brain insensitive to the chemical. It is incredibly interesting to see the adverse effects of certain natural chemicals in the brain when different amounts of the chemical is exposed to the brain in different times of life.

I think Fallon, as well as his information, is trustworthy because the research he has conducted on such a specific population of people supports his theory. The brains he has looked at have commonalities among all of them such as the damage on the orbital cortex. He has also gone on to scanning his own family’s brains to add to his research since his family history has murderers in it. Also, he is a professor at the University of California and has been researching this for over thirty years to add to his trustworthiness.

A topic that I would be interested in researching is instead of the over exposure of serotonin in the brain in utero, what if cortisol was overexposed in the brain during utero? Would the brain be insensitive to the effects of cortisol later in life? Cortisol is the chemical in the brain that is associated with stress. I think that in order to see the effects of this, I would observe two groups of people over the course of their lifetime. To replicate the release of cortisol in utero, I would observe a group of pregnant women who are exposed to very stressful situations such as an area of warfare. The second group of people would be another group of pregnant women who are not exposed to an intense amount of stress throughout their pregnancy. At various times during the pregnancy I would monitor the baby’s heartbeat to see if there is a change in heart rate. Exposure to cortisol temporarily increases the heart rate and blood pressure so if the brain is exposed to cortisol regularly, in theory, the resting heart rate will be higher than most normal babies. Then later in life, those babies (now adults) will undergo a controlled stressful situation and I would see if their heart rate and blood pressure will increase as cortisol is released in their brain. It is a lengthy study but it sounds very interesting to pursue.

--Original published at Brittany's Thoughts

I watched the TED Talk video of Thomas Insel talking about his work in the federal government for mental disorders. I am personally drawn into topics on mental health and specifically on mental disorders. It is very interesting to me, and I want to work with those who have mental disorders as a music therapist in the future. Insel talked about how deaths related to heart disease, stroke, AIDS and Leukemia have dropped significantly in the past few decades in the US. The same does not apply to suicide rates, which have stayed stagnant. 38,000 people commit suicide a year, which is double the homicide rate and higher than the amount of vehicle fatalities a year. His work involves early intervention in diagnosing mental disorders, which he referred to as brain disorders. By scanning the brain, researchers are beginning to see that they can see the onset of some mental disorders, specifically schizophrenia. By performing these scans before the symptoms even appear, it could prevent long term devastating effects and lower suicide rates. He hopes to find the technology and ways to do this in the next two years.

I found the presenter to be very trustworthy. He is employed by the federal government to research early intervention and prevention of chronic mental disorders. He had lots of statistics and research to back up his case. He was even humble about his credentials, and was more interested in sharing his work and bringing awareness to the audience. His work shows real potential in the mental health field as well, making it more credible.

A research idea I have is about the effects of different environmental factors on the development of a mental disorder. I would get participants from all different backgrounds (ethnicity, location, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.) and follow them over the course of twenty years, starting from around age 5. They would have brain scans performed on them every year and have to discuss important events in their year (a change in environment, identity, situation, traumatic events, etc.) as well as symptoms that could indicate underlying mental disorder(s). If significant changes occur and begin to indicate that a mental disorder is appearing, whether in scans or through symptoms, then the event(s) that occurred to the person will be analyzed to determine if they perhaps caused the mental disorder.

--Original published at Madison's Blog

For this week’s first impression post, I decided to watch the TED talk by Jim Fallon about “Exploring the Mind of a Killer.” True crime, especially murder mysteries have always been an interest of mine. This topic of a killer’s mind from a neuroscience perspective is quite fascinating to me, because a person can really have murderous genes in their biological makeup.

In the talk, Jim went on to discuss the components of the brain that can be altered biologically to create a psychopathic killer. The most important components to look at are the genes, brain damaged areas, and the environment in which they grew up in. All of these tie into the age and timing of developmental issues that have occurred in the individual. Different precise timings of these aspects can determine various types of psychopaths and how they will behave. Typically, psychopaths have damage to their orbital cortex, which is above the eyes, and the interior part of the temporal lobes of the brain. Each killer had these similar features, but each was distinctly different in the degree of damage. There is also a violence gene, MAOA, which is sex linked and you can only receive it from your mother. This can explain why majority of psychopaths are men, because they directly inherit the gene from their mother on the X chromosome. Too much serotonin during development causes the brain to become insensitive to it, and later causes violent tendencies to occur.

What I found the most interesting about the talk was that famous serial killers in history all share similar brain damage when looked at comparatively. Before modern technology, killers were seen as individuals who all were sick in the head. Now, we can compare their brains and see correlations between them and their biological aspects. I found Jim Fallon trustworthy in his presentation, since he is a neuroscience professor at the University of California, and for over thirty years he has studied behaviors through the means of the brain. He had logical information and explained the topics of his studies in great detail. He had brain scans to show the audience, and he compared them to each other to further show correlations between the killers studied, and the abnormalities. He came across as a well educated man, who was passionate about his experimental findings and explained them in a logical way.

A topic I would like to study is how serotonin can effect the brain’s ability to calm down an individual.  I would use a typical experimental design with a control and an experimental group. One group will get a saline solution to spray up their nose, and the other a serotonin solution. The saline would be used as the placebo. Then the groups will be faced with a stressful or aggravating situation, and be timed to see how long it took their bodies to calm down. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps the body regulate mood and social behavior. I would need to keep in mind the levels of each spray, to see if more serotonin is needed for a conclusive result. This would be interesting to research because I haven’t heard of this neurotransmitter being a factor in serial killer’s behaviors before.

--Original published at Rachel's Blog

The talk that I decided to watch was by Rebecca Saxe, which was titled ,”How we read each other’s minds.”  I decided to watch this video because as soon as I read the title, I immediately thought of how sometimes when my sister and I just look at each other, we automatically know what we’re thinking.    Other times, it is almost as if we are having a whole conversation between ourselves without saying any words, because we think we understand what one another is thinking.

Throughout the talk she mentioned how RTPJ, which is right temporoparietal junction, and how this is being used.  To start, she talked about an experiment she conducted with a three year old, a five year old, and a seven year old.  The purpose of this experiment was to show different stages of development in how people can have multiple beliefs, and what consequences are for their actions.  The experiment was about a pirate putting his sandwich down, it falling off of a chest, and then another pirate putting his sandwich on the chest and then the pirates end up taking the wrong sandwiches.  The five year old is able to predict what happens, but the three year old predicts the wrong thing, and then gives a different explanation.  The seven year old gives a more “adult like” response.  She then talks about what goes on in brain development that helps children think about what others are thinking.  She tells us that RTPJ is being used in kids while they think about other people, but this is not used the same way that an adults brain uses it because an adults brain is specialized in the way it thinks about others thoughts.  This statement was then supported by a chart that showed roughly 26% specialized in kids age 5-8, and about 90% specialized in adults.

The part that I found the most interesting was that they were able to show us the inside of the brain when people make decisions.  Another part that I found interesting was how they used the machine to put a magnetic pulse in the brain to change people’s moral judgement.  I thought that this was very interesting because you do not usually hear of something that will cause people to change thoughts.

I thought that this presenter was very trustworthy because she told the audience that she is an actual scientist.  I also thought that the information she presented was credible because she was able to include specific facts and examples in her talk.  She also used pictures and figures to support the claims that were being made and this was very important to include because these visuals helped us as the audience to get a better understanding of what she was trying to communicate to us.  A final contributing factor was that she gave actual video footage of her conducting the experiment with the two children and this was helpful when she was explaining her results to the audience because we could actually visualize what the experiment was.

A research idea that I have would be to test RTBJ with elderly people.  I think this would be an interesting study because it would be studied to see if elderly people use RTBJ as much as young adults.  This would be able to test if perception of moral judgement changes as you get older.  To test this, the test would be similar to the one Rebecca Saxe conducted in her experiment.  The change is that instead of using pirates and cheese sandwiches, they could use a moral dilemma and have the participants choose which option they think is the best to solve the issue.

--Original published at The Core Techs

Suicide rates in today’s world are so high that one self-inflected death happens every fifteen minutes. It is also said to have nearly doubled compared to the rates of homicide. Crazy? I think yes…

Over the years, I have encountered many interesting experiences in life that shape me into who I am today. Although many of those experiences have been wonderful, there are always cons to every pro. In high school, I was in the ages where suicide peaked in the area. There had been three suicides of former students I knew, and three students whose fathers had killed themselves. These six lives were ones that I was personally affected by, but were they the only ones? No. It is very sad to say that many of these deaths were caused by brain disorders only over the time of just four shocking years. Keep in mind that these suicides were only within my school district. This does not include other suicides that had happened in neighboring schools. My school district is a very unique one; although so many tragic events have happened, each student and faculty member manages to come together to create a special type of bond that is similar to that of a family. In this sense, many of us were able to recover over time, and many students who suffered from depression or suicidal tendencies have been helped. It does not stop there, though. People must continue to speak out about suicide and other mental disorders; Early detection is key.

One TED Talk really helps define what a “mental disorder” is, and how it is actually being labeled as a “brain disorder” now. In the beginning of the talk called “Toward A New Understanding Of Mental Illness,” Thomas Insel explains all the improvements that humankind has made over time due to new technology and information. Despite this, as previously said, with every pro there must almost always be a con. He then speaks of how although rates such as leukemia, heart disease, AIDS, and strokes have lowered in the sense of deaths, suicide still remains at the same consistency. Why is this? Well, just as mentioned before, these other diseases have been halted because of early prevention. If people do not understand very much about suicide and other bad mental health tendencies, how can they prevent them? As time goes on, technology and more research is allowing the human race to gain more knowledge about mental health. For example, Insel shows pictures of the brain in three different patients. One who has depression, another who has OCD, and the third with PTSD. Each picture labels how the brain is structurally different in the sense of how thought processes occur. It is abnormal compared to the average brain. Different parts of the brain are used more than others and perhaps in the wrong order as well. The speaker also goes on to show scans of a schizophrenic’s brain in the before and after stages. In the before stages, we can see where the thought processes are taking place, and which parts of the brain are working the hardest. Decline has not necessarily taken place yet; even if it was, it was not noticeable. Over the years however, the brain has shown massive decline in gray matter. Deficits in the brain are obviously present. Insel talks about ways that we should now be able to tell if the brain is functioning differently from the rest of us (that is, of course, if you had the fancy technology to perform these functions). He speaks of how the brain is wired; Sometimes, people who have these brain disorders can have variations in the wiring. Despite this, risk factors may become present, giving us clues as to who may be in danger of these disorders. Parkinson’s diseases, on one hand, has a section of the brain that is completely “blown out”, but in these cases (OCD, depression, PTSD, etc.), there are “road blocks” – things that prevent the brain from functioning in the way it should. It is not so much a physical problem, but rather a communication problem, similar to arrhythmia. Early declines are often shown, but ignored because they are not considered “full on” factors to a specific disease. Detecting decline in a brain disorder is essential because often times, the disorder is not obvious until behaviors have changed, and behavior change is the last step in brain alteration. “There are changes in the brain a decade or more before you see the first signs of a behavioral change.” Early intervention involved early detection, and this is not just the “detection” of behavior change. Insel speaks about how people in today’s world do not currently have the technology to detect specific changes in individual diseases, but inferences can be made based on other. Because of this, we should be given ideas of where to go from here.

This talk was very interesting because it showed the audience why “mental disorders” should be labeled “brain disorders,” and not just because of the typical brain imbalance. It is all about structure, communication, and reasoning inside the brain. There is much more to it than meets the eye. I find it quite incredible how everyday lives can change simply because of a lack of communication (both literally and metaphorically).

Overall, Insel seemed pretty trustworthy. Not only do they make fair an logical points, but they provide evidence with it as well. Some of the information in his speech is given through data and other types of research, and his speech is also supported by pictures, graphs, and diagrams coming from specific scientific studies with credible sources. The presenter also seems very confident his information being supplied. He provides reasonable evidence to inform and capture his audience.

In order to perform a research experiment based on the information Insel provides, I think it would be most interesting to design a study revolving around schizophrenia patients. Schizophrenia is one among many of the diseases that obvious symptoms are not detected until the very last stages. I would conduct the experiment by having many patients with diagnosed schizophrenia, and many younger patients who are at risk for schizophrenia volunteer to have brain scans done. In these brain scans, it would show which parts of the brain are being used most heavily in certain situations, and if there are communication errors or other abnormalities taking place between the parts of the brain. Then, once brain scan results come back, we can relate the scans to behaviors and be able to come up with a possible theory to detect early brain deficits and symptoms for schizophrenics.

If we advocate for more technology and studies to be brought about for the right of solving brain disorders early on, things such as suicides could be prevented.

We will never forget you, Gabriel. Hope you’re catching the biggest fish up in God’s rivers. 

-B

Photo courtesy of Camie

--Original published at Max'sPHY105blog

For this week’s impression post, I choose to comment on a Ted Talk given by Jim Fallon about exploring the mind of a killer. Jim Fallon grew up in a family tree in which there were murderers on his father’s side of the family. He is a neoroscientist at the University of California who had been asked to look into the brains of psychopathic killers. He found out what is in the brain of a psychopathic killer and why this is more common in men than women. The initial trigger of a psychopathic killer is two much serotonin built up in the frontal cortex of the brain before birth. Jim found this confusing at first since serotonin usually helps people stay calm. He later found out that to much serotonin causes the brain to become unresponsive to it and therefore it does not work. This effect is more common in boys than girls because this trait is only inherited through the mother who has a XX chromosome. It is not as likely for a girl to catch this trait because the trait in the X of the father’s XY chromosome would cancel out with an X in the mother’s XX chromosome. After explaining this, Jim went on to explain that people with this trait become psychopathic killers if they are victims of or witness strong violence before puberty. These occurrences or more common in the middle east, so there are more psychopathic killers there.

This video changed the way I think about psychopathic killers. I originally thought psychopathic killers were mentally insane or have been abused as children. I now see that there is more to these facts in which psychopathic killers develop. A biological occurrence is at play as well. A trait for being unable to keep calm is the initiator for psychopathic killers. This leads me to conclude that the ability to keep calm in a setting of emergency goes a long way into growing into a mature adult. Knowledge like this will help parents raise their children if they have a disability for being unable to keep calm. Children with such a disability should be kept away from anyplace or anything which could cause them to see a violent event, so they don’t become psychopathic killers in the future.