A Different Kind of McCarthyism

I've been reading a lot about Jenny McCarthy's assault on Autism science recently, (eg. Wired's recent cover story), but her latest, as reported by Jeremy Radford at Discovery News, makes it very clear that this is not just about distrust of doctors or wariness of over-vaccination. It is a fundamental distrust or disbelief in science. Here's the main face-palm moment:

McCarthy dismissed the latest scientific research as worthless, and the scientists who conduct autism research as incompetent: "We're the ones seeing the real results. And until doctors start listening to our anecdotal evidence, which is, ‘This is working, it's going to take so many more years for these kids to get better. Every parent will tell you something different that helped their child."

It's a bit unfortunate to make my first post such a disturbing one, but this is one of the more tragic and frustrating neuroscience-related stories that's been in the media recently, so it's been on my mind and I thought I'd share and see if anyone can eke more perspective out of this than I can...

In his article, Radford delves right to the core of why this quote is so disturbing, pointing out that "McCarthy, like many non-scientists, seems to think that stories and anecdotal evidence are just as good as -- if not superior to -- well-controlled scientific studies." And reading the comment thread on his article just proves his point. Some (perhaps many) people do not understand the power of the scientific approach or appreciate its benefits, and misunderstanding leads to mistrust.

A common complaint against science is the accusation of fallibility (scientists are just people - they make mistakes like the rest of us) or the suspicion of political motivation (they have an agenda to manipulate their data)... I think that there is actually a disturbing and difficult grain of truth here. It is true, is it not, that few scientists would assert that any published study should be taken at face value? We all assess the articles we read to determine how much we trust their methodology, and we know that every scientist is tempted to try to support their own pet story, as much as they try to be objective.

So the question is, what are we asking non-scientists to do? We talk about science education, and it's true that even the most basic education could help avoid the kind of drivel McCarthy spouts above. However, somehow I can't bring myself to believe that science education will ever allow the common man or woman to read a study in Pediatrics and understand all the methodology and conclusions, to really be able to assess the reliability of the source. So aren't we really asking people to take a sort of leap of faith? To trust that science has all the answers and should be trusted in all cases above other sources, even when you don't understand it? Maybe so... Or maybe I'm too pessimistic about what education can accomplish.

Anyway, I'm realizing I don't have a conclusion here. I agree that we need to focus on educating the public, but I think we need to think long and hard about what we need to teach them. There is a fundamental gap out there. We can't just hope to fill it by pouring in knowledge from on high, because it is also a gap of language and a gap of belief and a gap of trust. We need to engineer a bridge built of all these things if we can hope to leave ignorance behind. If we can hope to.

Fun with Mathematics, in Britain

Although not strictly neuroscience related, the following exchanges are suitably entertaining to warrant spreading. In one corner, we have a Mr. Tom Brooks whose research is reported in British news (Metro and Daily Mail). Mr. Brooks has analysed 1,500 prehistoric monuments, finding that they lie on a grid of isosceles triangles, with the tip of one pointing to the next, and so on. Mr. Brooks research therefore clearly shows (according to Mr. Brooks) that prehistoric residents of Britain 1) had advanced understanding of geometry 1,000 years before it was invented by the Greeks  and 2) used that knowledge to construct monuments allowing them to travel between settlements easily. Says Mr. Brooks:

"Such patterns could only have been the work of intelligent surveyors and planners, which throws into question all previous claims as to the origin of mathematics."

However, Mr. Brooks points out that the work involved was most likely far outside the abilities of the members of the primitive culture that have been previously associated with the monuments in question. He suggests that this discrepancy points to "a culture existing in these islands in the past quite outside our expectation and experience today".  According to Ben Goldacre, writing for his blog Bad Science, Mr. Brooks does not rule out extraterrestrial aid.

Perhaps the monuments are in fact landing pads for alien spaceships, left over from when aliens enslaved the human race, posing as gods, before vanishing into the universe, to plot and scheme amongst themselves, until their empires were intruded upon by a small band of humans who traveling through a device known as a Stargate...

Anyway, many people have pointed out that given a sufficiently large data set (and 1,500 monuments is satisfyingly large), many kinds of patterns can be "discovered".

To prove this point with style, grace, and snark, is Matt Parker. Mr. Parker, who hails from the School of Mathematical Sciences at Queen Mark University of London, applies the same techniques used by Mr. Brooks to study another ancient and mysterious structure: Woolworth grocery stores. The pure genius of Mr. Parker should not be distilled, and his whole essay can be read online on Ben Goldacres other blog.

But as a spoiler, here is Mr. Parker's introduction to his research, and his conclusion:

“We know so little about the ancient Woolworth stores, but we do still know their locations” explains Matt Parker, “so I thought that if we analysed the sites we could learn more about what life was like in 2008 and how these people went about buying cheap kitchen accessories and discount CDs.”

“These incredibly precise geometric patterns mean that the people who founded the Woolworths Empire must have used these store locations as a form of ‘landmark satnav’ to help hunters find their nearest source of cheap sweets that can be purchased in whatever mix they chose to pick. Well, that or the fact that in any sufficiently large set of random data it is possible to find meaningless patterns of any required accuracy.”

Thank you, Mr. Parker, for fighting the good fight.

Creation: the Movie

I must admit, when I first saw a post for the upcoming movie Creation, I experienced a brief moment of panic. These days, the word "Creation" is associated (at least in my mind) with a host of unfortunate connotations. However, I had no reason to fear, as Creation (whose trailer is currently up on Hulu, link at the bottom), is in fact, a dramatization of Charles Darwin's writing of Origin of the Species. With Paul Bettany in the role of Darwin, this movie appears to be focused on Darwin's journey to writing the book, as well as the effects it had on his marriage and social standing. Although most of the dialogue seemed to address those subjects, there was one visual of a ship at sea. Presumably this involves the voyage of the Beagle, implying that some filming was done at the Galapagos. Very few mainstream films have filmed at the Galapagos, the first one being Master and Commander (which curiously also featured Bettany as a naturalist).

I will be interested in how this film mediates the choppy waters of depicting evolution and the battle between Darwin's writings and the beliefs of Christianity. With scenes of Darwin's wife accusing him of betraying his faith prominently displayed in the trailer, it looks like this film is not shying away from the subject.

The film was released in the UK in September. I wonder how the film will be received in America, given that with a January release, I have yet to see any major press. Being rather jaded about the ability of America to engage in a measured discussion of evolution, I wouldn't be surprised to see a very limited release of the film. But perhaps I underestimate film studios and people in general.

Creation Trailer on apple.com. In theatres Jan. 22.

I'll most likely post a review soon after the release date.

Astrocytes critical for Long Term Potentiaton

It's news that would make Ben Barres extremely happy. Last week in Nature, an article describes a role for astrocytes in memory. Specifically, the researchers found that long term potentiation depends on the release of D-serine from astrocytes.

The role for astrocytes in long-term potentiation (and well, everything) remains somewhat controversial. Neurons can synthesize D-serine themselves, leading to debate over whether astrocytes were really necessary, despite results showing that release of D-serine from glia allows LTP in cultures. In authors come down in favor of a role for astrocytes, showing that "induction of NMDAR-dependent LTP at excitatory hippocampal synapses depends on the availability of NMDARs provided by the Ca2+-dependent release of D-serine from a local astrocyte." The authors go on to suggest that neighboring astrocytes will have distinctive effects on their local synapses, but will also likely have an extended influence, potentially allowing LTP of synapses contacted by the activated astrocyte, extending LTP into a ranged alteration of potentially hundreds of additional neurons/synaptic contacts.

Henneberger et al. Long-term potentiation depends on release of D-serine from astrocytes. Nature, 463, 232-236 (2010).

And for those of you not acquainted with Dr. Ben Barres, or why the news that astrocytes are important would make him happy, I refer you to his Stanford academic profile, where you can read about "The Mystery and Magic of Glia".

Watching death glow in real time

Researchers at the UCL Institute of Opthalmology describe in Nature their novel use of fluorescent proteins to monitor nerve cell death in real time. All neurodegenerative disorders involve nerve cell death at some point in their pathology. Research into the molecular events underlying apoptosis and necrosis has advanced significantly, with many elements and triggers recognized as common between difference neurodegenerative disorders. However, research investigating the progression and dynamics of disorders has relied upon histological or in vitro analysis, limiting the types of results obtainable.

Happily for the advancement of knowledge, the UCL group has tagged two cell death markers with fluorescent labels, allowing in vivo imaging of disease progression in live cultures cells. The two markers in question are annexin V and propidium iodide (PI), which have been previously established as a method for differentiating between apoptosis and necrosis (presumably in histological sections).

The UCL groups paper in Cell Disease and Death details their use of fluorescent-labelled annexin V and PI to image retinal ganglion cell apoptosis in the mammalian eye. They report that they were able to track changes to individual neurons over hours, days, and week. All together, sounds like another win in the fluorescent protein column.

Oddly, the conclusion of the paper states that the reported imaging could be useful in a clinical setting.

"Although the equipment we use in these studies has been customised to suit animal models, the instruments are essentially the same as those used in hospitals and clinics around the world. This raises the possibility that in the near future, clinicians may be able to assess retinal nerve cell death in vivo as a method of monitoring disease progression and treatment efficacy."

With an experimental procedure that requires the injection of fluorescent labeled proteins, I will be very curious to see how (and if) the technique transitions from rats and mice to humans.

Cordeiro MF et al. Imaging multiple phases of neurodegeneration: a novel approach to assessing cell death in vivo. Cell Death and Disease: 1, e3 (2010)

Searching for an Introduction to Neuroscience?

Are you interested in learning about neuroscience, but have already graduated from college? Are you looking for some simple recommendations for resources that will help satisfy your deep-seated desire to learn about the marvelous inner workings of the brain? Do you know someone who is?

Never fear, Noah Gray (also known as @noahWG on twitter) has some advice regarding the best way to get up to speed on current thinking in the neuroscience field.

Noah Gray, answering the question: What's the best way for a post-college person to learn about neuroscience from scratch?

Note: Noah's advice includes both blogs and books that are useful/interesting for people besides those with college degrees and no experience in neuroscience. Both pre-college and college students would find the resources useful, and I, as a graduate student in Neurosciences, have the blogs he mentions perpetually bookmarked.

Also, one personal addition to the list of books mentioned is Susan Blackmore excellent series of interviews, called Conversations of Consciousness. This book really helped get me hooked on neuroscience while I was in college, and provides an excellent sampler of various theories in the field of consciousness.

Genetics explains Shar-pei wrinkles

The search for the genetic underpinnings of various phenotypes is a vast undertaking. As our knowledge of the relationships between genotypes and phenotypes matures, we have found more evidence that any particular phenotypic trait is encoded by the interactions of a host of genes, in concert with various environmental variables.

Given the vast complexity that geneticists have been slowly uncovering, it is always cheering to read about scientists localizing particular traits to a particular set of genes.

Especially if those traits and genes involve puppies.

The BBC reports that scientists have identified the genetic forces that play a role in giving the Shar-pei its distinctive wrinkled appearance. In particular, researchers have identified four single nucleotide polymorphisms located on the gene HAS2, which encodes an enzyme (hyaluronic acid synthase 2) known to be important for skin production (it makes hyaluronic acid, one of the principle components in skin). These SNP's were found while comparing a specific stretch of DNA between wrinkled Shar-peis, smooth coated Shar-peis, and other breeds. In addition, the group identified 155 genomic regions containing candidate genes for such phenotypes as are usually distinctive in breeds: size, coat color and texture, behavior, skeletal morphology, and physiology.

The full article is available at PNAS.

Fish gills evolved for chemo-regulation, not breathing?

The BBC reports on a paper in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B by a group of zoologists from the University of British Columbia, Canada. These zoologists, lead by Clarice Fu, studied the development of gills in rainbow trout larvae. They found that the larval gills developed the ability to regulate blood chemicals significantly earlier than the ability to exchange oxygen. As fish mature, both their ion exchange, and the oxygen uptake shifts from being primarily localized to the skin, to being localized to the gills. By studying the ability of young rainbow trout gills to exchange ions and to take up oxygen, the zoologists found that the localization of the ion uptake shifted to the gills first.

Clarice Fu et al go on to use the developing larvae as a model of evolutionary pressures, therefore proposing that as the rainbow trout evolved, ion exchange moved to the gills before the animals started breathing through their gills.

The question remains: why did fish evolve gills in the first place? Ion exchange can only move to the gills if the structures are already in place and capable of supporting exchange.

Locating the neural substrates of emotional intelligence

An article in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) is reporting that two types of emotional intelligence: "experimental" and "strategic", can be localized to two distinct brain regions.

The researchers at NINDS gave various tests to a group of Vietnam veterans who had sustained head injuries (the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, for all you human intelligence test aficionados out there). Vets who had injuries to their dorsolateral prefrontal cortex performed poorly on tasks that tested "experimental" emotional intelligence (the ability to judge emotions in other people). In contrast, vets with injuries to their ventromedial prefrontal cortex did not succeed at tasks testing "strategic" emotional intelligence (the ability to plan socially appropriate responses to situations).

Neither of the groups showed any deficit in general cognitive intelligence, leading the researchers to conclude that emotional intelligence can be dissociated from cognitive intelligence. They go on to describe the social importance of this proposal, saying that by recognizing the complementary nature of emotional and cognitive intelligence, we may be able to resolve the conflict between the dual influences of cognition and emotional intelligences in behavioral economics, particularly by recognizing that  "social exchange is a fundamental distinguishing feature of humans and that it finds expression in both impersonal exchange through large-group markets and personal exchange in small-group social transactions (59)."

Unfortunately, they do not discuss the implications of the distinct localizations of the two types of emotional intelligence. However, given the popularity of the subject, I am sure that such studies, both from the neurological and from the neuro-economic camps, are in our futures.

Krueger F, et al. The neural bases of key competencies of emotional intelligence. PNAS, 106: 22486-22491 (2009).

Good news for the coffee addicts

This just in: Consuming caffeine does not cause or aggravate tinnitus, the phenomenon of ringing in the ears that affects nearly 15% of adults in the UK.

Previously, giving up caffeine was thought to be one way to cure tinnitus. Now, research from the Centre for Hearing and Balance Studies at Bristol University has shown that, in fact, acute caffeine withdrawal might make that annoying ringing sound you keep hearing worse.

Says Dr. Lindsay St. Claire, the lead researcher:

"With almost 85 per cent of adults in the world consuming caffeine daily, we wanted to challenge the claim that caffeine makes tinnitus worse. Many professionals support caffeine withdrawal as a tinnitus therapy, even though there is a lack of any relevant evidence, and, in fact, acute symptoms of caffeine withdrawal might even make tinnitus worse."

I'd like to personally thank the intrepid researchers who have provided me with another excellent reason to keep drinking the yummy coffee.