Author: Janet Guo

When I saw this contraption that says “Coffee + Hit = You are FIT!!” at Le Musee de Fumeur, I did not know whether to be shocked or humored. In our previous NBB402 class, we read an article about the beneficial cognitive effects cocoa flavanols (found in coffee) can have (Karabay et al., 2018). However, we did not discuss any of the ways taking a hit (quickly smoking something) could benefit one. The idea that coffee and smoking could somehow have a synergistically beneficial effect to enhance one’s fitness seems counterintuitive since smoking is known to have many detrimental effects on one’s lung health. This makes me wonder how caffeine and nicotine taken together at a high dosage could affect one’s cognitive function (whether it is beneficial or detrimental).

Citation:

Karabay, A., Saija, J. D., Field, D. T., & Akyürek, E. G. (2018). The acute effects of cocoa flavanols on temporal and spatial attention. Psychopharmacology, 235(5), 1497-1511. doi:10.1007/s00213-018-4861-4

Around a week ago, my roommates and I visited the Grand Palais where there was a special exhibition being held called Artists and Robots. At the exhibit, there were many different examples of robots creating their own “art pieces”. This made me consider how close robots are getting to emulating human capabilities. Although there is still much debate as to whether or not robots could ever really replicate human consciousness and theory of mind (as thoroughly discussed in NBB471), simple tasks such as motor grip are easily achievable. The robots pictured above can grasp a pen that allows them to draw complex patterns. This is interesting because we as humans utilize our motor cortex when picking something up but robots do not have a brain and cannot; yet, we are still able to achieve the same end goal of grasping an object.

I am sitting in front of the Château de Chenonceau, a French château spanning the River Cher. I’ve noticed that the closer I am to rivers, lakes, or oceans, the happier I am. This made me wonder about the how much self-reported health correlates with real health– why would being near water automatically make me happier? According to Wheeler et al. (2012), the closer you live to the English coast, the healthier you are which may, in turn, affect your overall mental health. There is science behind everything after all!

Reference:

Wheeler, B. W., White, M., Stahl-Timmins, W., & Depledge, M. H. (2012). Does living by the coast improve health and wellbeing? Health & Place, 18(5), 1198-1201. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2012.06.015

This photo is of the first electrostatic machine built by the Englishman Jesse Ramsden for the Cabinet of Physics of the Duke of Chaulnes in the 19th century taken at the Musée d’Histoire de la Médecine. I was amazed to find out that Louis XV made his entire court “get electrified” simply because electrotherapy was “in fashion” at the time. Listening to this story made me think about the wide-use of hyperbole we discussed in our NBB471 (Neuroethics) to generate hype for different neurotechnologies. If someone was well-educated and held high status, I would be easily inclined to believe what they had to say about new devices. Although it is very easy to get caught up in the hype, it is important to remain cautious and form a well-substantiated opinion about new technologies before following others simply because it is “in fashion”.