Futurity.org » Vanderbilt University

Less urge to work with brain wired to slack

David Salisbury-VU — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:15:05 +0000

VANDERBILT (US) — When it comes to working hard to earn money, people vary from slackers to go-getters—a difference that may arise from brain chemistry.

The new brain imaging study has found an individual’s willingness to work hard to earn money is strongly influenced by the chemistry in three specific areas of the brain.

In addition to shedding new light on how the brain works, the research could have important implications for the treatment of attention-deficit disorder, depression, schizophrenia, and other forms of mental illness characterized by decreased motivation.

Quantum dots shine brighter with acid

David Salisbury-VU — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:40:30 +0000

VANDERBILT (US) — Researchers have successfully boosted the fluorescent efficiency of white-light quantum dots from an original level of three percent to as high as 45 percent.

With the age of the incandescent light bulb fading rapidly, the holy grail of the lighting industry is to develop a highly efficient form of solid-state lighting that produces high-quality white light.

White-light quantum dots are one of the few alternative technologies that produce pure white light. These are ultra-small fluorescent beads of cadmium selenide that can convert the blue light produced by an LED into a warm white light with a spectrum similar to that of incandescent light.

Black hole wrangle ejects rogue stars

David Salisbury-VU — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:11:50 +0000

VANDERBILT(US) — Astronomers have identified nearly 700 new rogue stars that appear to have been ejected from the Milky Way.

It’s very difficult to knock a star out of the galaxy. In fact, the main mechanism that astronomers have come up with that can give a star the two-million-plus mile-per-hour kick it takes involves tangling with the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s core.

To adapt, diversity is mammals’ best defense

David Salisbury-VU — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:33:39 +0000

VANDERBILT (US) — Diversity helped mammals in North America survive climate change in “deep time”—a period of 56 million years.

During the period that began with the Eocene and ended 12,000 years ago with the terminal Pleistocene extinction, mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, giant sloths, and most other “megafauna” on the continent disappeared.

Brain ‘cascade’ in third party punishment

David Salisbury-VU — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:31:27 +0000

VANDERBILT (US) — Scientists have proposed the first neurobiological model for third-party punishment, a key component of human society and cooperation.

The willingness of people to punish others who lie, cheat, steal, or violate other social norms even when they weren’t harmed and don’t stand to benefit personally, is a distinctly human behavior. There is scant evidence that other animals, even other primates, behave in this “I punish you because you harmed him” fashion.

Although this behavior—called third-party punishment—has long been institutionalized in human legal systems and economists have identified it as one of the key factors that can explain the exceptional degree of cooperation that exists in human society, it is a new subject for neuroscience.

Decisions get tougher as white matter ages

David Salisbury-VU — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:16:30 +0000

VANDERBILT (US) — As we age, changes in the brain’s white-matter pathways make decision-making in unfamiliar situations tougher.

The brain-mapping study from Vanderbilt University finds that people’s ability to make decisions in novel situations decreases with age and is associated with a reduction in the integrity of two specific white-matter pathways that connect an area in the cerebral cortex called the medial prefrontal cortex with two other areas deeper in the brain.

Grey matter is the part of the brain that contains the bodies of the neurons while white matter contains the cable-like axons that carry signals from one part of the brain to another. In the past, most brain-imaging research has concentrated on the grey matter.

MRI shows kids learn words in isolation

Jennifer Wetzel-Vanderbilt — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:56:18 +0000

VANDERBILT (US) — Children who struggle with reading may benefit from being taught new words in isolation, rather than in the context of a sentence, a new study shows.

Researchers are studying how people learn new words in hopes of determining the best interventions for children who find reading difficult.

Protein in overdrive links to autism

Bill Snyder-Vanderbilt — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:53:23 +0000

VANDERBILT (US) — Early disruptions in serotonin signaling in the brain may contribute to autism spectrum disorder and other “enduring effects on behavior,” researchers report.

Serotonin is a brain chemical that carries signals across the synapse, or gap between nerve cells. The supply of serotonin is regulated by the serotonin transporter (SERT).

Submerged in liquid, graphene gets faster

David Salisbury-VU — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:37:37 +0000

VANDERBILT (US) — Researchers have found that submersion in liquid can overcome graphene’s Achilles’ heel—sensitivity to its electrical environment.

This single-atom-thick honeycomb of carbon atoms is lighter than aluminum, stronger than steel, and conducts heat and electricity better than copper. As a result, scientists around the world are trying to turn it into better computer displays, solar panels, touch screens, integrated circuits, and biomedical sensors, among other possible applications.

Phase transition in trillionth-of-a-second intervals

David Salisbury-VU — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:38:37 +0000

VANDERBILT (US) — Ultrafast “sonograms” are revealing the dynamic changes that take place as materials undergo phase transitions.

An international team of physicists developed the new technique that can track the structural changes that take place within solid materials in trillionth-of-a-second intervals as they go through an important physical process called a phase transition.