Poppy-cocked

     Experiments on neurons show the ability to control the dopamine response.  This seems quite the breakthrough seeing that the dopamine receptors themselves were only discovered in 1958 by Arvid carlsson.

Artwork by Shirley Novak

Study Shines Light on Brain Mechanism that Controls Reward Enjoyment
Science Daily
by

     "GABA neurons located in the VTA are just microns away from dopamine and are negative regulators of dopamine funtion," Stuber proposes. "When they become active, their basic job is to suppress dopamine release. A dysfunction in these GABA neurons might potentially underlie different aspects of neuropsychiatric illness, such as depression. Thus, we could think of them as a new physiological target for various aspects of neuropsychiatric diseases."

UNC study coauthors include Ruud van Zessen and Jana L. Phillips. 

Coauthor Evgeny A. Budygin is at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. 

Jonathan's Cochlear Implant Activation 8 months old, right ear

What a beautiful gift thanks to technology we can witness in real time the significance of sound on human understanding and well being!

absolutely breathtaking

"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."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080110163845.htm

The Frequency Of Fire

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80544077/

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

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

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

Making Music Boosts Brain's Language Skills

Making Music Boosts Brain's Language Skills

Do entheogen-induced mystical experiences boost the immune system? Psychedelics, peak experiences, and wellness

by Thomas B. Robert Thomas B. Roberts PhD is a Professor of Educational Psychology at Northern Illinois University, DeKaIb, IL (USA), where he has taught courses on transpersonal, mind-body, psychedelic, and consciousness topics.

http://csp.org/practices/entheogens/doc/roberts-immune.html

Scientists study possible health benefits of LSD and ecstasy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/oct/23/lsd-ecstacy-health-benefits

Singing 'rewires' damaged brain

By Victoria Gill  Science reporter, BBC News, San Diego

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8526699.stm