Highlights: "In 1994 Microsoft corporation designers Mark Malamud and Erik Gavriluk approached Brian Eno to compose music for the Windows 95 project... the agency said, "We want a piece of music that is inspiring, universal, blah- blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental, emotional," this whole list of adjectives, and then at the bottom it said "and it must be 31/4 seconds long.
http://www.dosenation.com/listing.php?id=7504
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Dopamine System in Highly Creative People Similar to That Seen in Schizophrenics, Study Finds
Highlights: "New research shows a possible explanation for the link between mental health and creativity. By studying receptors in the brain, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have managed to show that the dopamine system in healthy, highly creative people is similar in some respects to that seen in people with schizophrenia."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100518064610.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100518064610.htm
Friday, May 28, 2010
NYT: When Sartre Talked to Crabs (It Was Mescaline)
Highlights: Sartre: "Yeah, after I took mescaline, I started seeing crabs around me all the time. They followed me in the streets, into class. I got used to them. I would wake up in the morning and say, “Good morning, my little ones, how did you sleep?” I would talk to them all the time. I would say, “O.K., guys, we’re going into class now, so we have to be still and quiet,” and they would be there, around my desk, absolutely still, until the bell rang....
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/weekinreview/15grist.html
But after I finished school, I began to think I was going crazy, so I went to see a shrink, a young guy then with whom I have been good friends ever since, Jacques Lacan. We concluded that it was fear of being alone, fear of losing the camaraderie of the group."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/weekinreview/15grist.html
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
"Auditory Neurons In Humans Far More Sensitive To Fine Sound Frequencies Than Most Mammals"
Does this not imply that sound and music are crucial to the evolution of consciousness?
Highlights: "The results surprised the researchers. A single auditory neuron from humans showed an amazing sensitivity to distinguish between very subtle frequency differences, down to a tenth of an octave. This compared to a sensitivity of about one octave in the cat, about a third of an octave on average in rats, and half to one octave in the macaque.
"This is remarkable selectivity," said Fried, who is also the co-director of UCLA's Seizure Disorder Center. "It is indeed a mystery why such resolution in humans came to be. Why did we develop this? Such selectivity is not needed for speech comprehension, but it may have a role in musical skill. The three percent frequency differences that can be detected by single neurons may explain the fact that even musically untrained people can detect such frequency differences."
"There is also evidence that frequency discrimination in humans correlates with various cognitive skills, including working memory and the capability to learn, but more research is needed to clarify this puzzle."
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Medical science needs your brain
After reading Robert Jourdain's Music, the Brain and Ecstasy I found myself carried away by the uncertainty lying in the tangle of nerves at the nape of my neck. The transformation of vibration to sound, from information to understanding, is but a mystical light show to our primitive eyes. Once I realized that the answer to my burning questions could not be seen alive (with current affordable technology) I quickly called my mother and told her with grave persistence.... if anything happens to me, donate my brain to music science.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/today/tomfeilden/2009/01/medical_science_needs_your_bra.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/today/tomfeilden/2009/01/medical_science_needs_your_bra.html
Monday, May 24, 2010
Neurons That Fire Together Wire Together
by Roger Dooley, Neuromarketing
Highlights: "This phenomenon has profound implications for many areas of brain science. Researchers have found that brain maps (the locations of the brain that correspond to individual body parts) can be altered by training. One experiment attached two fingers of a monkey together for a period of months so that they acted, in essence, as a single finger; tests showed that the previously separate brain mappings for the two fingers had indeed become one."
Neurons That Fire Together Wire Together
Highlights: "This phenomenon has profound implications for many areas of brain science. Researchers have found that brain maps (the locations of the brain that correspond to individual body parts) can be altered by training. One experiment attached two fingers of a monkey together for a period of months so that they acted, in essence, as a single finger; tests showed that the previously separate brain mappings for the two fingers had indeed become one."
Neurons That Fire Together Wire Together
Loud music prolongs ecstasy's effects on the brain
by Charnicia Huggins
Highlights: "In the absence of the loud music, low doses of MDMA did not affect the rats' brain activity compared with rats given placebo. When combined with the loud music, however, low doses of the drug were associated with decreased brain activity, the report indicates...
Long-term experiments showed that the reduced brain activity among rats given the higher dose of the drug persisted for up to five days, the researchers note. Brain activity returned to normal after one day in rats given a similar dose of the drug who were not exposed to the loud music."
http://www.ezilon.com/information/article_16144.shtml
Do entheogen-induced mystical experiences boost the immune system? Psychedelics, peak experiences, and wellness
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Singing 'rewires' damaged brain
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