Category Archives: Neuroscience

Don’t be fooled by those tasty looking cakes.

Dear friends,

With this week marking the end of my time studying abroad, I look back on all that I’ve experienced and know that I will truly miss being in Paris. Maybe it’s the people I’ve meet, or the sights I’ve seen, or just all the amazing food I’ve had, but I really can’t put my finger on why I’ll miss this place.

Amazing falafel from L'as du Fallafel

Amazing falafel from L’as du Fallafel (definitely beats Falafel King)

Speaking of food, I’ve gotten into the habit of trying a different pastry at lunch each day! While definitely not a healthy practice that I should keep up when back at home, I’ve gotten to taste some really good sweets!

Because of my minimal French speaking skills, I choose my pastries simply by pointing to one at random. This technique works fairly well for the most part because I usually end up with a delicious pastry in my stomach! However, the other week at Blé Sucré, I chose one that tasted awful. I think I got a rum cake, but I honestly can’t be too sure since I didn’t bother to read the description (I probably wouldn’t have understood it anyways). Interestingly, while I thought it was absolutely atrocious and extremely bitter, others thought it didn’t taste that bad. At the time, I couldn’t understand why they thought it tasted any good, so I decided to do some research.

Location of Blé Sucré in relation to ACCENT Center

Location of Blé Sucré in relation to ACCENT Center

Surprisingly, a great amount of information exists on individual differences in food preferences. In a recent study conducted with 305 participants, the researchers concluded that genetics play a large role in bitter food taste preference (Negri et al., 2012). In this study, the researchers collected a sample of each participant’s saliva to determine their genetic code for the TAS2R38 gene, a DNA sequence responsible for creating a specific bitter receptor that recognizes a chemical called 6-propyl-2-tiouracil (PROP). The DNA sequence of this gene can vary to cause an individual to be considered as a non-taster, medium taster, or super taster. Basically, an individual could not taste the bitterness of PROP, could taste the bitterness, or could taste the bitterness and thought it was extremely disgusting.

Molecular structure of PROP

Molecular structure of PROP

After the DNA genotyping, the researchers gave the participants a small amount of PROP to taste and asked them to rank the amount of bitterness that they experienced on a scale of 1 (no taste) to 4 (very unpleasant). The participants then answered a questionnaire about the specific foods that they ate in the past three days. The researchers instructed them to focus on any bitter vegetables they consumed. With some statistical analysis tests, Negri et al. found that individuals with increased PROP sensitivity tend to avoid bitter foods and therefore have a lower consumption of these types of food in their daily routine. Applying this conclusion to my situation, I guess this means that I’m a supertaster! I’m not sure if this difference in preference has any other implications, but I think that would be a great next experiment to look into!

Are you a super taster?

Are you a super taster?

This study definitely helped clear my confusion about how my friends could possibly think that my rum cake tasted any good, however, I did find that it contained a couple weaknesses. Negri et al. recruited their participants through convenience sampling, where they asked people in their clinic or in a nearby university if they wanted to participate, instead of conducting a random sample. Using this type of sampling method may lead to an unrepresentative sample of the population and therefore yield results that may not be applicable to their population of interest. Additionally, I personally find it difficult to recall everything I ate in the last three days, so I believe that the participants may have found it difficult too. This problem may result in a response bias that could impact the integrity of the results as the participants could have just listed down some of the foods that the researchers included in the questionnaire instead of actually trying to remember what they ate. Despite these shortcomings, this study uses good experimental controls and provides an excellent explanation of their methods to the point where I could most likely replicate their experiments!

Array of delectable goods sold at Blé Sucré

Array of delectable goods sold at Blé Sucré

While I doubt I would spend the rest of my time in Paris trying to reproduce this study, I have learned a valuable lesson: when in Paris, don’t be fooled by those tasty looking cakes.

Best,
Phi

 

References

Negri R, Di Feola M, Di Domenico S, Scala MG, Artesi G, Valente S, Smarrazzo A, Turco F, Morini G, Greco L (2012) Taste perception and food choices. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition 54:624-629.

Less Work, More Play!

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Having lived my entire life in the USA, a country that takes pride in their ideology of the “American dream” (which, if we’re being honest, is working AT LEAST a 40 hour work week in hopes of becoming powerful and wealthy…). And furthermore, being born and raised in the big N-Y-C, I’m used to things i.e. restaurants, shopping malls, supermarkets etc. virtually being open 24/7. So, it was a major culture shock to me when I tried to go to a boulangerie one Sunday afternoon to satiate my hunger and to much dismay, found out that it was not open after I walked all the way there. As I enter my 5th week studying abroad in Paris, this French-styled siesta continues to be a difficult concept for me to wrap my head around.

The French love their time off! Most French people work a 35-hour work week with 5-weeks paid vacation time that is not including their time off for holidays. I’ve noticed many restaurants only open for brunch and again for dinner, and most remain closed on Sundays. Major shopping malls like Galeries Lafayette, BHV, and Printemps aren’t open on Sundays as well. This is so bizarre to me; Sunday, a day where major American cities would grapple at the opportunity to capitalize off of their tourists, is the day the French chose to rest. They seem to not care so much about such trivial things like making a profit. Why? Doesn’t everyone love money? The French would rather their long lunches at the nearest café and their Sundays off to spend time with their families or significant other. After doing some research, I propose that the French place a higher value on social interaction and leisure. Some may call the French lazy, but I say no: the French are simply in love with oxytocin (granted the immense amount of Parisian PDA I’ve witnessed). Oxytocin is a hormone that acts like a neurotransmitter in the brain and is released by the hypothalamus. In humans, oxytocin is thought to be released during hugging, touching, and orgasm in both sexes, it induces a general sense of well-being including calm, improved social interactions, increased trust, and reduced fear (Ishak et al., 2011).

pause cafe

Typical Parisian Cafe, near ACCENT (where I take classes).

 

A recent study looked at the social buffering hypothesis and the governing effects of oxytocin (Smith and Wang, 2014). The social buffering hypothesis states that social animals are better able to recover from stressful experiences (i.e. the work-place) through positive social interaction (Kikusui et al., 2006). The researchers hypothesized that oxytocin plays a role in the stress response in rodent models. To test this hypothesis, female prairie voles were exposed to 1-hour immobilization stress and then recovered alone or with their male partner to mimic the effect of social contact. They then treated immobilized female voles recovering alone with oxytocin or vehicle and female voles recovering with their male partner with a selective oxytocin receptor antagonist or vehicle. If the researchers did not use the appropriate controls, we would not be able to determine the mediating effects of oxytocin on the stress response. The researchers found that 1 hour immobilization decreased the amount of time female voles recovering alone explored the open arms in an elevated plus maze and increased corticosterone levels in comparison to female voles recovering with their partners and the controls (Figure 1). Intra-paraventricular nucleus oxytocin injections reduced behavioral and corticosterone responses to immobilization, whereas injections of an oxytocin receptor antagonist blocked the effects of the social buffering. The male partner acted as a social buffer which increased oxytocin release in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus in the female. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the researchers found that immobilized female prairie voles that recovered with a male partner had a significantly lower level of oxytocin in the PVN compared with other groups (Figure 3C). By use of microdialysis, the researchers identified increased levels of extracellular oxytocin concentrations (Figure 4B). These data demonstrate that PVN oxytocin release is increased with social interaction.

I chose this paper to propose a reason for the short work weeks many Parisians possess. The French seem to understand the necessity of healthy human interaction when it comes to the everyday stresses of life. Money can make someone happy only for so long, but in the end, it’s the meaningful connections with others that are maintained over these lunch breaks and restful weekends that can aid in lowering stress levels and increasing happiness. Both factors makes for a healthier individual. Hmm, maybe NYC should shut down on Sundays… Ha! Now that’s never going to happen. Just the thought of Times Square without people seems rather ridiculous, better yet scary O_O!

Until next time! Au revoir!

-Danielle

 

References

Ishak W, Kahloon M, and Fakhry H. (2011) Oxytocin Role in Enhancing Well-being: A Literature Review. Journal of Affective Disorders 130(1-2): 1-9.

Kikusui T., Winslow J. T. , and Mori Y (2006) Social Buffering: Relief from Stress and Anxiety. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Biological Sciences 361(1476): 2215-2228.

Smith A., and Wang Z. (2014) Hypothalamic Oxytocin Mediates Social Buffering of the Stress Response. Biological Psychiatry 76(4): 281-288.

Why put so much effort into learning a second language?

I have loved the study of French language since the day I started classes in 9th grade. Even though Neuroscience is my primary major, my French second major has always been a passion and an outlet from core sciences. While this is my 3rd time in Paris, I’ve (finally) noticed that fluency is coming more naturally, even when I’m flipping between conversations and homework in French to texts and Skype sessions in English. As a double major in French and Neuroscience, (naturally) I was interested in finding out how language development and the brain’s response are interconnected.

I have stayed with 3 homestays and lived in the Cité Universitaire over the past 5 years. [image souce: Google maps]

Over the past 5 years, I have stayed with 3 homestays and lived in the Cité Universitaire. [image souce: Google maps]

Paris is an ideal place to begin an inquiry into language and speech. The earliest roots can be attributed to the work pioneered here by Paul Broca, the French physician and anatomist, who studied the speech production centers of the brain – now termed Broca’s area.

The brain Broca studied at Musée Dupuytren [image source: google images]

I visited the brain Broca studied at Musée Dupuytren [image source: Google images]

Advances in technology not available to Broca in the 1800s allow us to use neuroimaging methods to reveal specific functional brain patterns in learning a second language. After doing some research on the effect of bilingualism on the brain, I think that what I’ve been experiencing in my studies abroad is likely an actual change in brain structure. A property known as plasticity is the ability of the brain to physically and functionally change in response to factors such as environmental stimuli or cognitive demand (Stein et al., 2010). This process occurs in everyone who learns or speaks a second language, which turns out to be over half the global population (Bialystok and Barac, 2013). Learning a language in addition to your native tongue induces these changes in the brain (Stein et al., 2010). While this process occurs regardless of age, the speed of plasticity directly correlates to the long-term proficiency of an individual (Stein et al., 2010). So, relative to the time I started learning French in 9th grade, my immersion experience these last six months has allowed my brain to greatly pick up speed in making physical and functional changes compared to my 15-year-old self.

Not only is the study of French language a passion, being bilingual (or as close as I’ll ever get) advances cognitive control meaning that bilinguals develop better decision making and conflict mediation skills than monolinguals, according to the bilingual cognitive advantage hypothesis (Bialystok and Barac, 2013). This development results from a bilingual’s ability to better monitor life-long experience, cultural sensitivity, and mentally separate and switch between two languages (Stein et al., 2010).

A study in 2011 tested the impact of bilingualism on conflict monitoring and found that bilinguals not only resolve cognitive conflicts more efficiently (meaning with less neural input), but that their brain also better sorts and makes sense of conflicting input (Abutelabi et al, 2011). Using a group of 17 highly proficient German-Italian bilinguals and 14 Italian monolinguals, researchers studied the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the brain center involved with language control and monitoring conflicting information, through blood flow measurements in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. Participants were then asked to perform language and non-language switching tasks. For the language-switching task, monolinguals were presented with a set of 32 different pictures and asked to produce a noun or a verb associated with the picture based on a color-coded system (red for nouns and green for verbs). Bilinguals were then shown these same pictures, but asked to describe the picture in either German or Italian, per another color-coded system (green for German and blue for Italian). Researchers found that ACC activity was significantly increased in bilinguals. For the non-language switching task, the participants were presented with a cross in the middle of the screen to fixate their line of sight during the entire trial. Five arrows then appeared in randomized order and direction and the participants were asked to identify the direction of the center arrow only.

A schematic of the visual task presented (Albutelabi et al., 2011).

A schematic of the visual task presented (Albutelabi et al., 2011).

Here, the bilinguals required less ACC activity while still outperforming monolinguals in accuracy. These results show that bilinguals are more efficitvely and efficiently able to distinguish the direction of the center arrow surrounded by the swtiching stimuli.

I loved that this study incorporated both a language switching task and a non-verbal task, which shows that the two tasks were carried out by the brain in the same region and thereby lends credit to the idea that development of the ACC in the study of a second language has positive effects in other parts of our daily lives. However, I wish that Albutelabi et al. had used participants of varying degrees of proficiency to see if the bilingual advantage spans across any second language learner.

Independent of my improved ability to find the best pastry in Paris due to increased language proficiency, I hope that I will have gained a life-long advantage to greater health and mental acuity. Not only have Paris and my French studies given me a greater awareness and appreciation of the world, increased neuroplasticity will allow me to use these now more refined areas, giving me confidence to switch between subjects and focus in on information relevant to the task at hand. This will come in particularly useful in my pre-dental studies along with other future endeavors, as lifelong bilingual experience may serve as a major deterrent to the onset of age-related cognitive decline (Grogan et al., 2012).

I shadowed a French general dentist in the 11th arrondissement.

This semester, I shadowed a French general dentist in the 11th arrondissement.

As I end my time in this beautiful city, I will keep my experiences (and brand new brain) pour toujours.

~ Amy Yeh

References

Abutalebi J, Della Rosa PA, Green DW, Hernandez M, Scifo P, Keim R, Cappa SF, Costa A (2011) Bilingualism Tunes the Anterior Cingulate Cortex for Conflict Monitoring. Cerebral Cortex 22:2076–2086.

Bialystok, E., & Barac, R. (2013). The psycholinguistics of bilingualism. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Grogan A, Jones OP, Ali N, Crinion J, Orabona S, Mechias ML, Ramsden S, Green DW, Price CJ (2012). Structural correlates for lexical efficiency and number of languages in non-native speakers of English. Neuropsychologia 50(7): 1347-1352.

Stein M, Federspiel A, Koenig T, Wirth M, Strik W, Wiest R, Brandeis D, Dierks T (2010) Structural plasticity in the language system related to increased second language proficiency. Cortex 48:458-465.

The chocolate adventures of a chocolatier’s daughter in Paris

Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. I can’t even begin to describe how much I love it. To give you guys a bit of context on my never-ending craving, my mom started a chocolate company while I was growing up. On a daily basis, my whole house smelt of freshly rolled truffles, baked brownies and chocolate cookies. Now, everywhere I go, I need to make sure that I have chocolate available at all times.   In my Parisian dorm room, I have at least five chocolate bars in stock. The satisfactory feeling of biting into a creamy piece mid-essay is unbeatable.

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Map of some of the best boulangeries in Paris

Walking around Paris, I love to stop at boulangeries and try whatever they have to offer, chocolate style. Some of my favorites so far include pain au chocolat, opera cake, and chocolate crepes. I recently spent the afternoon vising my brother and his wife in Belgium, and was in chocolate heaven. The Belgian chocolate brownie I had was life changing. My chocolate adventures continued this past Friday when I went to Le Musée Gourmand du Chocolat in Paris. It was quite the delicious experience; I indulged in cinnamon hot chocolate, praline, and other rare chocolates from all over the world. Best afternoon yet.

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Me at Le Musée Gourmand du Chocolat

My current neuroscience mindset made me start to wonder how my chocolate cravings translate to brain activity. In a study by Frankort et al. the researchers studied the short-term effects of chocolate cravings on behavior, specifically how neuroimaging can predict chocolate consumption. The two different experimental groups consisted of participants who smelt chocolate and participants who didn’t, with 17 females in each group. They compared self-reported craving to brain activation showed by fMRI scans which measures the change in blood flow in different brain areas. Previous studies have found that prolonged chocolate exposure, like the chocolate scent group, leads to a decrease in craving. This effect was not observed in the Frankort et al. study; perhaps because the fMRI scan interrupted the 1-hour scent exposure sessions, which displays a weakness of the study since the interruptions don’t accurately model a real life situation.

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Brain activation in areas correlated with chocolate intake. Green: whole group anterior PFC activation, Yellow: exposed group caudate and frontopolar cortex activation, Purple: control group dorsolateral PFC and mid-dorsolateral PFC reduced activation.

Primarily, Frankort et al. found that neural activation in the right caudate and the left lateral frontopolar cortex predicted chocolate intake in the exposure group. The left lateral frontopolar cortex and the right caudate are both associated with reward and memory (Pochon et al. 2002), which explains the chocolate consumption. Furthermore, the left dorsolateral and mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) correlated negatively with consumption in the control group, meaning the activation predicted decreased intake. These findings make sense since this area is associated with cognitive control (I would guess that I don’t have a very active left and mid-dorsolateral PFC when it comes to chocolate consumption). In both groups, the right anterior PFC, activation was associated with chocolate intake. This region is associated with cognitive behavior, planning and decision making (Wikipedia).

These regions of activation represent a better measure of future chocolate intake than self-reported craving, meaning that my brain knows I’m going to crave chocolate better than I am consciously aware of! The most surprising fact from this study was that overall self-reported chocolate craving did not correlate with intake. Meaning, just because I think I crave chocolate doesn’t mean I necessarily crave it. To really know if I crave something I would have to check my brain scans! A significant weakness of this study was how craving was measured by asking participants one question. Future studies should include a more appropriate measure of craving with multiple questions, since just having one may not fully explain the results.

This newfound knowledge on self reported craving has definitely made me rethink my chocolate consumption. Is a craving really a craving without brain activation? Whatever the answer to this question, I’m going to eat all the chocolate I can in this last week! Maybe I should rename the program title to Neuroscience, Chocolate and Paris.

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Me eating un pain au chocolat

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Me eating a chocolate cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Sasha

References:

Frankort A, Roefs A, Siep N, Roebroeck A, Havermans R, Jansen A. (2015) Neural predictors of chocolate intake following chocolate exposure. Appetite. 87:98-107

Pochon JB, Levy R, Fossati P, Lehericy S, Poline JB, Pillon B, Le Bihan D, Dubois B (2002) The neural system that bridges reward and cognition in humans. An fMRI study. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 99: 5669–5674

Map: http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-boulangeries-and-patisseries-in-Paris-for-each-arrondissement

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefrontal_cortex

The Nose Knows

Hi Friends!

There are so many scents in Paris that I can talk about, ranging from lovely floral fragrances to freshly baked baguettes in patisseries. My olfactory (another word for smell) senses are overwhelmed with all the new odors that I’m exposed to! Last week, during a class excursion, we went to the Fragonard Fragrance Museum. We got to tour the museum and learn about the history of fragrance. Apparently back in ancient times, they used fragrance to preserve the dead so that the people could mourn the bodies during ceremonies. It’s bizarre to think how much the usage of fragrance has changed since the beginning of time! Now the perfume industry is all about making yourself appear attractive. When I was at Fragonard, my favorite perfume scents were floral mixed with fruity. It was an exciting experience to find the perfect perfume for myself (and my family) and it was extremely fun to try to distinguish all the different scents. I learned from one of my classes here that the human olfactory system can distinguish more than a trillion olfactory stimuli (Bushdid, 2014). One trillion?! That’s a ton of different smells!

I got these three perfumes at the Fragonard Museum for me and my family! Hopefully we all smell nice 🙂

Even though there are many pleasant scents here, I also found some that are cringe-worthy. For example, I noticed that many Europeans smoke cigarettes and the streets are constantly polluted with people smoking. Cute bistros will have tables outside where people smoke, which makes my dining experience quite unpleasant when I’m eating in a haze of smoke. I guess I am never really exposed to this much smoking in the states, so I spent the first couple of weeks here adjusting to the smell of cigarettes. After thinking about all these pleasant and unpleasant smells, I started to wonder…how does this relate to neuroscience? Surely my field of study can explain how my olfactory senses adjust to unpleasant smells!

Typical tables outside of a French bistro. This is my favorite one called Bistrot d’Edmond!

In a study done by Ferdenzi et al. in 2014, the researchers found that repeated exposure to odors induces “affective habituation” of perception and sniffing. “Affective habituation” was a phenomenon described by Cain and Johnson in 1978 that states repeated exposure to a scent shifts odor pleasantness ratings toward neutrality. In other words, this theory says that we will start to like a pleasant smell less and feel more neutral to it if we are exposed to it repeatedly. Cain and Johnson’s “affective habituation” phenomenon happens with unpleasant smells, too. Previous studies, however, only focused on self-reported ratings and did not investigate variations of physiological responses among individuals. Thus, Ferdenzi et al. aimed to analyze both self-reported ratings and changes in sniffing patterns to pleasant and unpleasant smells.

Ferdenzi et al. first recruited twenty-six young adults at a French university (what a coincidence this study was done in France!). The researchers split these people up into two groups – the “likers” and the “dislikers” when presented with an odor such as chocolate. They kept track of these groups and repeated this step with 8 different odors through a nasal mask. The “olfactometer” was connected to a nasal mask and measured how much each person breathed, which calculated the levels of sniffing. Lastly, study participants were instructed to rank how pleasant each smell was on a computer.

This picture shows the experimental device and how study participants would wear a nasal mask in order to smell the odor and rank its pleasantness.

This picture shows the experimental device and how study participants would wear a nasal mask in order to smell the odor and rank its pleasantness.

Ferdenzi et al. found that pleasantness significantly decreased with time in “likers” while unpleasantness tended to decrease with time in “dislikers.” Increase in sniffing also correlated to a shift in greater pleasantness ratings, meaning that people would sniff more when they were repeatedly presented with an unpleasant smell. In general, their findings support the “affective habituation” hypothesis both at the self-reported level and at the olfactomotor level. This is interesting because I find this to be congruent with my life experiences. I notice that I find an unpleasant smell less aversive when I’m repeatedly exposed to it. However, I wonder if 26 young adults is a representative sample of the general population. I wish they had more test subjects and an equal amount of males and females in this study so that the researchers can have a more comprehensive analysis. Previous research has shown that females have better odor identification abilities than males (Doty et al., 1985). I wonder what the results would have been if they had an equal number of males and females.

I now understand why I am becoming more immune to the strong smell of cigarettes here in Paris. Affective habituation and neuroscience can definitely help explain this weird phenomenon! Maybe one day I’ll get accustomed to the pungent smell of body odor on the metro (ha ha!). Let’s just hope that people will wear deodorants on hot days so that I don’t have to deal with smelling and feeling body sweat on the train (eek!). I hope you enjoyed this blog post about smell and neuroscience. Sending love from Paris! 🙂

-Kimi

References

Bushdid C, Magnasco MO, Vosshall LB, Keller A (2014) Humans Can Discriminate More than 1 Trillion Olfactory Stimuli. Science 343: 1370-1372.

Cain WS, Johnson F Jr (1978) Lability of odor pleasantness: influence of mere exposure. Perception 7(4):459-65.

Doty R, Applebaum S, Zusho H, Settle R (1985) Sex differences in odor identification ability: A cross-cultural analysis. Neuropsychologia 23(5)667-672.

Ferdenzi C, Poncelet J, Rouby C, and Bensafi M (2014) Repeated exposure to odors induces affective habituation of perception and sniffing. Front Behav Neurosci 8:119.

Puppies in Paris*

*Title credit goes to Rachel Cliburn for her initial “Pooches of Paris” idea

Dear fellow readers,

I cannot believe this is my last week in Paris. The time has flown by. I can’t believe how much I’ve learned, the amazing people that I’ve met, and what I’ve been able to explore in Paris as well. As I spent some time the past few days reflecting on my time abroad these past five weeks, I couldn’t help but think about how my experience and life at home has shaped my experience here, especially since I got to spend a week of my trip with my mom.

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My mom and I at Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, located at the 18th arrondissement in Paris

But while I wandered the streets of Paris, whether it be near the Accent center where we have class, on the Metro, or near Cité Universitaire where we live, I couldn’t help myself noticing all the different animals that freely roam about Paris, especially dogs. Most people who know me and know me well know how attached I am to different animals; however, none compare to how much I love dogs. I’ve seen them here and there around Paris: from a pleasantly plump pug to a shaggy, content mutt, I’ve taken note and even snapped a few pictures!

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A black pug seen across the street from Accent (although not a great picture)

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Spotted: An adorable mutt seen on the Metro (pun intended). My mom called this dog my brother’s “doggleganger”, since they both have two different colored eyes. 🙂

I had the pleasure of growing up with two Newfoundland dogs. If you aren’t familiar with the breed, Newfoundlands are typically very big, black dogs that originate from the coast of Canada. My first dog, Rufus, was a darling: quite a sweetheart and lived with me until I was about 8 years old. After he died of a brain tumor, my family got another dog named Angus. Same breed, but quite a different animal entirely. Angus was rambunctious and always quite a joker: he used to eat our socks (which we’d later find mixed in with his poop in the backyard a day or so later)!

But we all loved Angus. Up until he passed away in 2013, he was one of the most important parts of my life.

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Angus and me reunited during fall break of my first year of college (2012)

After seeing various puppies around Paris, I thought back to Angus and just how important he was to me. These thoughts made me wonder: do our canine counterparts feel similarly attached to us as we do to them?

After some researching, I stumbled upon a study that looked into attachment behavior in dogs. This study applied Ainsworth (1969)’s original Strange Situation Procedure to attachment behavior in dogs! For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Procedure, this paradigm consists of separations and reunions between parent and child and is used to assess degrees of attachment. The paradigm can be broken up into three stages:

1. Child enters a room with their parent/guardian (usually the child’s mother) filled with toys and a stranger whom the child has never met before. The child is allowed to explore/play with the toys in the presence of both the stranger and his or her parent.

2. The mother leaves the room, leaving the child alone with the stranger (and the toys).

3. Third, the mother re-enters the room and re-joins the child with the stranger.

The child’s behavior is observed during each of these stages to assess the level of attachment the child has towards his or her parent. If the child has a “secure” attachment to their parent, they will likely be upset when the mother leaves, but quickly soothed upon her return. An “insecure avoidant” child will not be phased by the mother’s initial presence, absence, or return, and will likely ignore the parent throughout all stages. An “insecure anxious” child will be so distraught by the parent leaving the room that they are often inconsolable, even upon the parent’s return. Lastly, a “disorganized” child exhibits strange behavior that does not fit into any of the above categories.

To better understand this procedure, here’s a video example:

So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that they did a similar study with dogs! In Topál et al. (1998), they modeled this strange situation procedure with a series of separations and reunions in 51 dog-owner pairs. And do you know what they found? Adult dogs show patterns of attachment toward their owners! The observed dog behaviors are also similar to the mother-infant interactions recorded during Ainsworth’s original study. Additionally, another study by Zilcha-Mano, Mikulincer, and Shaver (2011) found that individual differences in human attachment to pets results in pet-related cognitions, emotions, and behavior. This study also illustrated these differences lead to different emotional reactions to the death of the pet. No wonder my attachment to Angus resulted in so much grief when he passed!

After reading Topál et al.‘s research findings, I’d be curious to know at what point during the dog’s life this attachment emerges. In humans, attachment develops fairly early. This study was only done in adult dogs, and the researchers also admitted to having considerable variability in dog behavior. Additionally, I wonder if abused dogs would show “insecure avoidant” behavior, as abused children often do.

For the moment though, it does appear as if my attachment to Angus probably wasn’t only one-sided. I wonder if he misses me as much as I miss him!

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Me and Angus in 2005

Here’s hoping that all the Parisian puppies out there have good and kind owners, and that they can develop an emotional attachment as special as mine and Angus’s was.

Au revoir pour le moment lecteurs!

Meg

References:

Ainsworth, M. D. S.Wittig, B. A. (1969). Attachment and exploratory behavior of one-year-olds in a strange situation. Determinants of Infant Behavior, 4, 113136.

Topál J, Miklósi Á, Csányi V, Dóka A (1998). Attachment Behavior in Dogs (Canis familiaris): A New Application of Ainsworth’s (1996) Strange Situation Test. Journal of Comparative Psychology. 112: 219-229.

Zilcha-Mano S, Mikulincer M, Shaver PR (2011). An attachment perspective on human-pet relationships: Conceptualization and assessment of pet attachment orientations. Journal of Research in Personality. 45 (4): 345-357.

Sugar, Parisian Sights, and Group Runs are Nice

Bonjour family and friends,

When I first arrived in Paris two weeks ago, I was excited to find so many active Parisians running and biking everywhere! Walking around the Cité Universitaire residential campus, I am often startled by a breathless “Pardon!” (Pardon me!) as a runner passes by on my left. Also, more than 20,000 bikes are available for rent in Paris through Vélib’ for €1.70 per day (visit http://en.velib.paris.fr/How-it-works/Bikes). My Paris bucket list definitely includes trading my metro pass for a bike for at least one day in the upcoming three weeks.

Velib

Vélib’ public bicycle sharing system

One of my professors, Dr. Jacob, and our TA, Rachel, lead group runs in parks around Paris. I ran my first half marathon this past March in Atlanta and wanted to continue running and exercising while in Paris. Running is a great opportunity for sightseeing and exploring beautiful, natural spaces such as parks, gardens, and riverbanks.

park run

Rachel and I spreading our wings toward the birdhouse carvings in the tree!

Running also helps work up a healthy appetite…Lucky for me, there’s a boulangerie (bakery) on the corner of each street!

During the hour-long lunch break between my two neuroscience courses, I usually orient myself towards a boulangerie for lunch. Nearly every boulangerie’s Formule Dejeneur (or Lunch Formula) includes a sandwich, drink, and dessert that’s almost too pretty to eat. With so many boulangeries and crêpe stands as far as the eye can see, Paris must be every sugar addict’s heaven on earth. However, such easy access to desserts makes me wonder about the current diabetes rate in France. Also, I wonder in what way physical exercise, such as running and biking, can affect a diabetes patient’s brain. After some online research, I found a few neuroscience explanations to satisfy my curiosities (for now).

Formule Dejeuner

Sample lunch formula

 

Tarte au Citron

Tarte au Citron (Lemon Tart) – Is your mouth watering yet?

First of all, diabetes is a disease in which high blood sugar levels exist over a long period of time. I personally know a few individuals who are pre-diabetic and have to carefully monitor the sugars they consume. Drawing from a research study published today (6/8/2015) in The Lancet, a British medical journal, diabetes occurrence increased 45% from 1990 to 2013 (Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 Collaborators, 2015). In France, 7.2% of adults (20-79 years old) suffer from diabetes. This percentage represented about 3,241,300 diabetes cases last year in 2014 (visit https://www.idf.org/membership/eur/france).

Diabetes, specifically diabetes mellitus, directly relates to neuroscience because this disease decreases brain function and leads to neurodegenerative diseases (Yi, 2015). In a research study hot off the press (5/22/2015), Nunes de Sena et al. investigated the effect of treadmill training on the brain function of diabetic rats. They divided sixty rats into four groups, with exactly fifteen rats in each group.

  • Group one included non-trained, healthy rats.
  • Group two included trained, healthy rats.
  • Group three included non-trained, diabetic rats.
  • Group four included trained, diabetic rats.

Based on this experimental break down, half of the rats received a chemical injection (streptozotocin) that led to diabetes over the course of thirty days and symptoms of hyperglycemia and body weight loss throughout the experiment. After thirty days, the exercise (“trained”) groups underwent five weeks of running training on a treadmill apparatus.

rat on treadmill

Could you imagine seeing this runner training at the gym?

On the day after the last training session, all of the rats participated in a short-term memory test, known as the Novel Object-Recognition Test (NOR). Rats were placed at the center of an open field apparatus (a.k.a. box) and given three minutes to explore their new environment. (This acclimatization period reminds me of the first few days after our arrival in Paris. We also landed in a new environment that we needed to adjust to before beginning coursework.) After the initial three-minute exploration time interval, testing included two five-minute trials. In the first trial (T1), the researchers placed two different objects inside the testing box. In the second trial (T2) one hour later, a new object replaced one of the objects from the first trial. The objects were as different as they could be! They differed in shape, surface, color, contrast, and texture. The researchers recorded the amount of time the rats spent exploring the new object and divided by the amount of time the rats spent exploring both objects, to check for any object preference. In terms of results, both of the exercise groups exhibited a stronger preference for the novel object. Thus, the researchers concluded that treadmill running improved short-term memory performance in both healthy and diabetic rats. I am not entirely convinced, however, based on results from one memory task. In order to establish a stronger connection between running and short-term memory, I think multiple, diverse memory tasks should be carried out. Overall, this paper is significant due to a major strength in the design of the research study: for the first time, researchers used diabetic rats to show that exercise improves performance in a non-spatial memory task. I am highly interested in reading future studies regarding the effects of exercise on other components of brain function in diabetic rats! Hopefully, such studies will contribute to more naturopathic treatments for pre-diabetic and diabetic patients.

With so many picturesque gardens, parks, and the Seine River, Paris provides countless opportunities for running. Even if you have normal blood sugar levels, what are you waiting for? Explore as you run!

À bientôt,

Beatrice

References

Bill F, Foundation MG (2015) Articles Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries in 188 countries, 1990 – 2013 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. 6736:1990–2013.

De Senna PN, Xavier LL, Bagatini PB, Saur L, Galland F, Zanotto C, Bernardi C, Nardin P, Gonçalves CA, Achaval M (2015) Physical training improves non-spatial memory, locomotor skills and the blood brain barrier in diabetic rats. Brain Res: 1–8 Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26032744 [Accessed June 7, 2015].

Yi SS (2015) Effects of exercise on brain functions in diabetic animal models. World J Diabetes 6:583–597 Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25987956 [Accessed May 21, 2015].

All images were obtained through a Google image search, besides the image of Rachel and I in the park and the image of the Tarte au Citron.

 

Watch your step!

Dear Friend,

The phrase “Attention à la marche en descendant du train” echoed through the platform as I grabbed my bag and stepped from the train. Ready to explore the beautiful, world-renowned city of Paris, I proudly raised my head and firmly stepped forward with intent. However, I couldn’t help but ask two very important questions. Where am I, and where can I find the delicious food?

Thoughts of savory crepes, warm baguettes, and chocolate-filled croissants distracted me during my voyage, somehow causing me to step off at the wrong station. I stopped and unfolded my pocket metro map, promptly realizing my disorientation landed me somewhere in the center of the complex Parisian underground maze. I wondered how I lost track of time so fast by simply staring through the window of the train. I was practically blinded by my quest for French desserts, but just about ready to go back home to Cité Universitaire.

map

In the two subsequent weeks that zoomed by, I paid much closer attention to my surroundings. Though I indulged in wonderful Parisian delicacies, and adapted to the city life, I also started perceiving my environment with more respect for sensory information. Doing so kept me from getting lost and allowed me to focus more. This habit greatly coincided with our neurosciences classes that started focusing on the brains interaction with bodily functions like motion, vision, and hearing.

With my senses primed, I took note of Paris’ every little detail, and learned how to travel as an expert tourist and passenger, exploring what Paris has to offer both above and below ground.

Above ground, I saw beautiful gardens and remarkable architecture. I experienced the jostling waves of the Seine while on a boat tour, and got dizzy staring up at the Eifel tower. I also heard countless sirens, and noticed pedestrians don’t care about traffic lights.

Below ground, I listed to musicians perform inside metro hallways and I watched entertainers dance in moving trains, all accompanied by the hum of bustling crowds and the sound of screeching metal pressing together to slow down trains. In this wild sub-terrain, I also noticed that closing automatic doors don’t care about rushing passengers, and warnings of “attention à la marche” exist for a reason.

train1Some things however literally caught my eye. As I stared outside of a train window one day, I caught a short glimpse of a nearby pole while we zoomed by. This was strange considering how slow and peaceful the buildings and scenery in the background passed by. I looked more closely, noticing the tracks below the train and the platform steps to the side of the train, moved incredibly fast while the landscape a few hundred meters out barely seemed to move at all. At this speed, the steps were actually dangerous!

 

I realized my mind must be playing tricks on me since the train was moving at the same speed compared to the ground, shared by both the tracks and the landscape. A few days later, I noticed this effect again at the roundabout circling the Colonne de Juillet at the Place de la Bastille (a great monument, see link 1)where cars near me seemed to move faster than those furthest away. I wanted to know more so, like any student investigator, I decided to search and see if neuroscience could provide and answer to this puzzling question.

Bastille

Screenshot at Bastille from GoogleMaps

The above process, called motion parallax. is a visual cue that signals depth where objects that are closer appear as if they move further across the visual field, while those that are farther away move less (Kim et al., 2015)

 

A recent study by Kim et al. (2015) looks at the neuroscience behind this cue and explores a specific area of the brain called the middle temporal (MT) area that could be responsible for the perception of depth from motion parallax. Although another study by Nadler et al. (2008) found that this part of the brain carries information about depth, it was not necessarily clear what kind of information was transmitted. The data from Kim et al. (2015) fill this gap by hypothesizing that the MT specifically carries information about the perception of depth.

The experimenters take two male monkeys, trained to respond to dots they see on a screen, and set them up with recording devices for their eyes. Researchers then fix the monkeys with electrodes in their MT areas, located by the use of MRI imaging. Finally, testing involves placing monkeys on a motion platform where the monkeys’ eye movements and brain signals provide computer-collected data.

The results from Kim et al. (2015) show that the MT will actually predict a monkey’s decision regarding its perception about depth. This paper gives a lot of support to the field of neuroscience because it reveals more information about the MT with sound methods.

The study finds that the MT further contributes to the perception of depth but it does not show that the area is entirely responsible perception. Although very recent, this article comprises one train-cart in a long train of studies on the MT. It lacks particular novelty and demonstrates that there is still much to learn about vision and the brain. Research in animals should definitely continue, but it would find it very interesting blend more than one study to find bigger applications. For example, Nawrot and Stroyan (2012) show that humans require about 30ms to detect depth from motion parallax. What if scientists could use deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the MT to provide brain enhancement for car accident prevention? I am incredibly excited for this research to continue.

Through my city travels, I hope to walk down the beautiful streets of Paris and remember that neuroscience allows me to navigate safely and effectively. My time in Paris is showing me that even though life has twists and turns, senses are needed to make “sense” of them (pun intended). I hope one day, a breakthrough in research and technology will allow us to better watch our steps!

References:

Kim HR, Angelaki DE, DeAngelis GC (2015) A functional link between MT neurons and depth perception based on motion parallax. J Neurosci 35:2766–2777 Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25673864 [Accessed June 8, 2015].

Nadler JW, Angelaki DE, DeAngelis GC (2008) A neural representation of depth from motion parallax in macaque visual cortex. Nature 452:642–645 Available at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2422877&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract [Accessed June 8, 2015].

Nawrot M, Stroyan K (2012) Integration time for the perception of depth from motion parallax. Vision Res 59:64–71 Available at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3349336&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract [Accessed June 8, 2015].

 

link 1 http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Paris/Monuments-Paris/Bastille6.shtml

link2 http://psych.hanover.edu/Krantz/MotionParallax/MotionParallax.html

Why should you visit museums?

It is unreal how fast time flies when you are having a great time! I can not believe that two weeks have already passed of my five week study abroad adventure in Paris. Despite the challenging workload of the courses I am taking, I can tell you that I have enjoyed my time here ever since day one (except for the part of experiencing the “jet lag” phenomenon for the first time). This is because I am surrounded by amazing people and I have been able to site-see some parts of Paris with them. I enjoy visiting new places and experiencing their cultural and aesthetic characteristics. I think that one of the best ways to explore the culture and beauty of France during my short time abroad is by visiting as many historical buildings and galleries as possible.

Within the last two weeks, I was able to visit the following places: Eiffel Towel, Musée du Louvre, Musée de l’Orangerie, Arc du Triumphe, Musée Dupuytren, Musée de l’Histoire de la Médecine, and the Château de Versailles (Yes, the very touristy ones are important too!). I have previously visited some museums and historical sites back home, yet it was until this past Sunday, while walking through the beautiful gardens of the Chateau de Versailles, that I began to ask myself about the neuroscience behind art perception and appreciation.

Gardens of Versailles

At the Gardens of Versailles

 

Arc de Triumphe

Exploring the city after class (Left to right: Nicole, Sasha, me, and Danielle). Photo credits: Celia Greenlaw

 

 

That same day, after I arrived back to my room in Cité Universitaire, I searched for studies that would help me to understand if the brain perceives aesthetic objects differently. Unfortunately, I was able to find two research articles that are interesting and that provide insights about the biological foundations of art appreciation. So hopefully by the time you complete reading this post, you will understand about the effect(s) of art perception and appreciation in our behavior.

Let me begin by telling you about the study of Brieber et al.( 2014), that tested the effect of context (location) on the experience of art and the time spent viewing the art. In this study, two groups of participants (44 students between the ages of 18 and 31, with normal or corrected vision and no formal training in art/art history) were randomly divided into two groups: the museum group and the laboratory group. These groups represented the context in which the participants viewed an art exhibition: The museum group viewed original artworks in the museum and the laboratory group viewed digital reproductions of the same artworks on a screen in a laboratory. The viewing time of the participants was recorded using a mobile eye-tracking device. In addition, the participants were allowed to freely view the exhibition and were also given a map of the respective exhibition. Finally, after the participants completed the viewing of the exhibition, they were asked to rate each of the artworks found in it on the following criteria: liking, interest, understanding, and ambiguity.

To make things short, after the data were statistically analyzed, the researchers found a significant difference among the participants in the museum group. The participants in this group viewed the artworks for a longer time and that they also rated them higher in both liking and interest, contrary to the laboratory group. Based on these results, the study was concluded with the notion that art museums (the context) help to foster a more focused and enduring experience of art and that such context can also modulate the relationship between the general experience of the action and a particular behavioral response.

Although this study was interesting and presented a way to account for the context of the presentation of art, I think that the data that were obtained are not sufficient to help me understand how seeing the Mona Lisa at the Musée du Louvre is different, in brain activity, than when looking at it on the internet. Mona Lisa at Musée du Louvre

Selfie with the Mona Lisa at Musée du Louvre

Some limitations of the results of this study is that they have the potential to be biased  based on art preferences of the participants. In addition, since the data do not provide convincing evidence of a clear association between context and the perception of art, multiple interpretations and explanations can be derived about the validity of the results. As a neuroscience student, I think that the increase in ratings and satisfaction,  for example, might not simply be due to the context. Maybe the release of the dopamine neurotransmitter in the presence of a novel stimulus is causing the increase in ratings since an increase in dopamine release is associated with the increase of experience of reward, the improvement of perception and action, and an increase in motivation (Krebs et al., 2011).

Personally, I would like to see a follow up experiment of a modified version of this study where not only the context of the visual presentation is taken into account, but also sensory integration or the type of art that is presented. Recording the neural activity of the participants through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), such as in the study of brain activation during the presentation of paintings and photographic analogs (Mizokami et al., 2014)  could also be used to reduce response bias visualize the regions involved.

So by looking at other articles that studied the role of the brain in art appreciation in more detail, I was able to obtain a more solid understanding about how it that we perceive an appreciate beauty in art through the study by Cattaneo et al. (2014). In this study, twenty volunteer participants (right handed , with normal-to-corrected vision, an average age of 22 and no previous training or special interest in art) were administered a short test prior to the experimental trial to indicate about their preference of representational (with objects) vs. abstract (no objects) paintings. On test day, the participants were seated in front of a 17″ PC screen and asked to perform a computerized trial that consisted of two rating tasks: 1) To indicate, as fast as possible, whether they liked the painting or not by  pressing with their right index finger the left key for “yes” and with the right middle finger the right key for “no”. Immediately after a response, a white screen with a number scale of  “1 2 3 4 5 6 7” was presented at the bottom of the screen. 2) The participants were then asked to use the keyboard to select the number of the scale that corresponded to their appreciation level of the shown image (1= “I do not like it at all”, 7= “I like it very much”).

The stimuli (the paintings) presented consisted of two sets with 36 representational and 36 abstract images. The first set was presented three consecutive times and after a short break, the second set was presented with the order of stimulated sites of the first set trials being reversed. During this time, three 10 Hz transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) pulses, which cause the depolarization of cell membranes and initiation of action potentials, were delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and to the right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) after 100 ms from the presentation of each painting. Fig. 1 of the study (shown below) is helpful to understand these steps.

1-s2.0-S1053811914004029-gr1

 

Picture of where the DLPC and PPC are located

Picture of where the DLPC and PPC are located

To summarize the findings of this study, the researches of this study concluded that TMS over the fronto-parietal (DLPC and PPC) network significantly affected art appreciation and that its effects depended on the art category and “from the beginning” preference of the participants. These findings are important since some of the areas involved in art appreciation were observed.

Since these two studies helped me to learn that visiting museums has been shown to be more rewarding and meaningful and that some specific brain areas are involved in art appreciation, I will continue to visit as many as I can during the remaining time I have in Paris. From now on, my excuse to go out and explore the city’s historical buildings and galleries will be with the idea of activating my front-parietal network by letting my brain appreciate the beauty of the arts I encounter.

 

-Maria Vazquez

References:

Cattaneo, Zaira, Carlotta Lega, Chiara Gardelli, Lotfi B. Merabet, Camilo J. Cela-Conde, and Marcos Nadal. “The Role of Prefrontal and Parietal Cortices in Esthetic Appreciation of Representational and Abstract Art: A TMS Study.” NeuroImage 99 (2014): 443-50.

Brieber D, Nadal M, Leder H, Rosenberg R (2014) Art in Time and Space: Context Modulates the Relation between Art Experience and Viewing Time. PLoS ONE 9(6): e99019. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0099019

Krebs RM, Heipertz D, Schuetze H, Duzel E. Novelty increases the mesolimbic functional connectivity of the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area (SN/VTA) during reward anticipation: Evidence from high-resolution fMRI. Neuroimage. 2011. Sep 15;58(2):647-55. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.06.038. Epub 2011 Jun 24.PubMed PMID: 21723396.

 

Making something look beautiful couldn’t be easier

Even after years of backpacking through museums I still see the same three kinds of gallery visitors: the enthusiasts that try to find the beauty in every piece, the critics that only find value in the works with the most detail or symbolism, and the “oh, that’s cool” troupe that falls in between.  The visitors I saw during my trip to the Musée de l’Orangeire, unfortunately, fell into similar categories.  I suppose I expected to see more enthusiasts in Paris than I had in the United States considering the number of statues and beautiful architecture I discover each day just on my commute to class.

The moment I realized th1at Parisian gallery visitors act no different than those back home happened when I spotted a series of painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.  I couldn’t help to stop and stare at his work.  One painting in particular titled “Jeunes filles au piano” really caught my attention.

IMG_1833

“Jeunes filles au piano” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

 

I identify as a sculpture, a monochromatic one at that, and yet I was captivated by Renior’s palate choice for this painting.  Everything from his brush strokes to the wrinkles of the girls’ clothing to drew the finer details in the chair, dresses, and facial expressions kept me rooted to my spot in awe.  A couple speaking in French broke me from my trance when walked up beside me, pointed the image, then carried on as if not impressed.  A moment later I realized that I stood alone at the paint, the only person  in the room giving it much attention while standing in others walked by it.

Everyone has different kinds of perception and perspectives on art, and yet at time we all interpret many basic forms of art perception similarly.  Despite how we perceive the world in textures, colors, shadow, and highlights, we can still recognize simple line drawings that lack those qualities as quickly and accurately as we can identify photographs of the same scene (Biederman and Ju, 1988).   When someone compares the appeal of an artwork such as a photograph or painting, whatever the viewer considered to be a beautiful paintings created more brain activing in a particular region of the brain than images the individual found ugly (Lengger et al., 2007).  This area of the brain was found to be the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, or lDLPFC.

Imagine the moments when you’ve had to plan your day’s schedule the night before or when you had to do work out the price of a discounted item in your head.  Both of these tasks activate areas in and around the lDLPFC just like when we judge the beauty of art, places, and even people (Sayim, 2011).

One particular study by Cattaneo et al. hypothesized that how much beauty we see in something or someone is based solely on how much stimulation the lDLPFC receives.  Using twelve participants, these researchers showed them a series of representational or abstract images and asked to rate the images beauty.  Several days later the participants were shown the same set of images but this time underwent either a sham or real transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS.  The tDCS is a stimulator whose electrodes were placed on the skin of the head over the lDLPFC of each participant.  When turned on, the electrodes made the participants’ foreheads tingle and itch for the first 30 seconds before the itching sensation subsided.  The real tDCS stimulation sent electrical pulses to the lDLPFC to cause additional activation in that part of the brain for 20 minutes.  The sham tDCS made the paticipant’s forehead tingle for the first 30 seconds, but it was turned off soon after.  The participants couldn’t tell if they were getting the sham or real tDCS.

The results showed that when stimulated by the real tDCS, the participants rated representational images to be more beautiful than the sham tDCS group.  There was no statistical difference, however, in how the participants rated abstract images compared the sham group.

1

Stimulation in the lDLPFC caused an increase in the aesthetic mean score value of representational art but not abstract art.

As things turn out, the lDLPFC seems to be related to how much beauty we find in the things we perceive.  Maybe an artist’s or art critic’s constant exposure to artwork caused them to have more stimulation in the lDLPFC and have a greater appreciation for art.   Maybe many people found the Renior’s painting of the girls at the piano too abstract to fully understand.

Works Cited:

Biederman, I., and Kim, J. G. (2008). 17000 years of depicting the junction of two smooth shapes. Perception 37, 161–164.

Sayim B and Cavanagh P, What Line Drawings Reveal About the Visual Brain, Front. Hum. Neurosci. 5 (2011).

Lengger, P., Fischmeister, F., Leder, H., Bauer, H. (2007). Functional neuroanatomy of the perception of modern art: a DC-EEG study on the influence of stylistic information on aesthetic experience. Brain Research, 1158, 93–102.

Cattaneo P, Lega C, Flexas A, Nadal M, Munar E and Cela-Conde C, The world can look better: enhancing beauty experience with brain stimulation, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 9 (2013).