Not All Robots Respect the Rules.

Before I sleep...

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:04:55 GMT

So, um, I'm getting married today.

When did that happen?

A Very Merry Un-Un- Birthday to Scott!

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:56:33 GMT

Happy Birthday Scott!

Congratulations on yet another year of not going completely apeshit and killing everyone!

Your present is somewhere in the US, we're just not sure quite where at the moment...

zombie neurobiology!

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:30:34 GMT

I found this article of Fark, it made me very very happy.

In Night of the Living Dead, zombies are brought back from the dead by a "mysterious force" that allows their brains to continue functioning. But how exactly does a zombie brain function? Finally, a Harvard psychiatrist has the answers.

Through education Dr. Steven C. Schlozman is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a lecturer at the Harvard School of Education. He is also an avid sci-fi and horror fan - and, apparently, the world's leading authority on the neurobiology of the living dead. He has even drafted a fake medical journal article on the zombie plague, which he calls Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency Syndrome, or ANSD (the article has five authors: one living, three "deceased" and one "humanoid infected").

Schlozman's foray into necro-diagnostics began when he volunteered to give a talk for the "Science on Screen" lecture series at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA. He conducted extensive research by talking with George Romero and immersing himself in genre literature and memorabilia - which is why the alternate title for his lecture is "A Way Cool Tax Deduction for a Bunch of Cool Books, Action Figures and a Movie."

So yes, Schlozman's lecture is actually quite funny, and liberally sprinkled with other pop culture references including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. But the underlying science is serious. His lecture is a tour of the human brain, using the living dead as a narrative theme.

According to Dr. Steven C. Schlozman, this is your brain on zombies:

The Frontal Lobe

This part of the brain is involved with "executive functioning" - enabling us to think carefully and solve problems in an abstract way. Clearly, there's not much going on there if you have the misfortune of being afflicted with living deadness. But we do know that zombies can see us and sense us. Schlozman concludes that zombies possess just enough frontal lobe activity to "listen" to the thalamus, through which sensory input is processed.

But the frontal lobe function most relevant to understanding zombie behavior is the control of "impulsivity"-the general term for when you do something and, if you had two more seconds, you might not have done it. For instance, if in a fit of rage you have the sudden urge to punch your boss in the face, the frontal lobe intervenes and allows you to consider why that might be a bad idea.

The Amygdala and Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Absent a properly functioning frontal lobe, a zombie is driven entirely by base emotions - such as rage - that are housed in the primitive parts of our brain, notably the amygdala. There's precedence for this in nature. A crocodile brain, for instance, is mostly driven by the amygdala. Researchers have confirmed this by introducing lesions into the amygdala of animal specimens: the result is a drop in the attack and retreat response that correlates significantly with the amount of damage that's done to that region of the brain. A crocodile without an amygdala isn't really a crocodile. As such, Schlozman argues, "you can't really be mad at zombies, because that's like being mad at a crocodile," adding that it's the delicate balance between frontal lobe and amygdala "that makes us human."

That balance is maintained by the anterior cingulate cortex, which modulates and dampens the excitability of the amygdala as it talks to the frontal lobe. So, when the amygdala gets all stirred up by fear, anger or lust, the anterior cingulate cortex steps on it a little bit, giving the frontal lobe time to think everything through before it sends signals toward the motor cortex and we act upon those impulses.

A zombie would have a dysfunctional anterior cingulate cortex, rendering it unable to modulate feelings of anger. The result? Hyper-aggression.

The Cerebellum and the Basal Ganglia

Science may once and for all settle the heated debate over whether "the infected" in 28 Days Later could be classified as zombies.

Schlozman says "no," observing that "the infected" possess "some sort of higher cortical function going on that allows them to hunt humans." Moreover, the fake zombies in 28 Days Later exhibit fluidity of motion. They can run, jump, climb and quickly change direction-activities that the true Romero zombies are incapable of performing.

Clearly, zombies suffer from cerebellar and basal ganglia dysfunction (duh!). Those are the parts of the brain that make fluidity of motion possible. The basal ganglia helps us with coordinated movement. The cerebellum helps us with balance. In fact, if you visit the website of the National Institutes of Health and read about cerebellar degeneration (such as ataxia), the symptoms match the familiar gait of the living dead: "a wide-legged, unsteady, lurching walk, usually accompanied by a back and forth tremor in the trunk of the body…"

Mirror Neurons

This is recent, cutting-edge research in the field of neuroscience. Schlozman describes mirror neuron theory as a "neurobiological model for empathy, which suggests, in a very hopeful way, that we might be wired to connect with one another." Regions of the brain are recruited in response to social interactions in which we watch and thus experience the experiences of the "other."

As a press release issued by the European Science Foundation explains it: in

Just as the same mirror neurons fire when observing and doing certain tasks, so other mirror neurons may be triggered both when experiencing a particular emotion and when observing someone else with that emotion.

But, Schlozman asks, what if the things we're fighting have brains that are incapable of connecting? In response, we disconnect from each other. Schlozman quotes a veteran of the Battle of Yonkers in the book World War Z: "Shock and Awe! But what if the enemy can't be shocked and awed? Not just won't, but biologically can't?"

At the Battle of Yonkers, the humans hit the zombie horde with everything they've got. But the zombies keep coming. They don't look scared. They don't look excited. They don't look enraged. And that actually freaks out the humans more than anything else, prompting the humans to turn on each other.

Schlozman suggests that mirror neurons also help explain the popularity of the zombie genre among the living. While watching these movies, "we like the permission to look at these things that look human - but aren't human - and have utter and complete permission to blow their heads off." In other words, we get off on the thrill of guiltless violence. We enjoy a brief vacation from empathy, and take our crocodile brains out for a spin.

By way of example, I came across an interview with actor Mike Christopher Berhosky, who played the iconic Hare Krishna zombie in the 1978 movie, Dawn of the Dead. Berhosky describes the audience reaction to the film's screening:

I got bashed in the head and everyone CHEERED. Took the wind right outta' my sails. Everyone hated the Hare Krishna devotees for their incessant pestering and swarming them at the airports and such….Killing off my character had the effect of releasing a lot of pent up frustration….bashing in the Hare Krishna zombie's head was much more than getting rid of another pesky zombie…it was VENGEANCE.

But the fun lasts only up to a point. As the movies progress, Schlozman says, we start to feel uncomfortable with the loss of our humanity-that we are "so willing to forsake those mirror neurons."

The Ventromedial Hypothalamus

In the movies, zombies are always hungry, no matter how many supporting actors they consume. The most likely explanation is that zombies don't have a properly functioning ventromedial hypothalamus: the region of the brain that lets you know whether you've eaten enough. The result is hyperphagia. Zombies will eat and eat and eat, but never feel satiated.

That raises a slightly awkward question: If zombies are constantly eating, then how come they never poop?

Schlozman doesn't know for sure, but he has at least one promising theory: Maybe the living dead are constipated.

Now we know why zombies are always moaning.

Mark Strauss is a senior editor at Smithsonian magazine.

http://io9.com/5286145/a-harvard-psychiatrist-explains-zombie-neurobiology/

Let there be cowbell!

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:44:39 GMT

After years, I suddenly realized how to do gifs.

ARE WE LIVE?!

Tue, 26 May 2009 02:18:52 GMT

Got to go see Penn & Teller this weekend. Dream come true. I told Fletcher that it would probably be better than marrying him. He accepts that.
I want to write about the whole sorid affair, but in the mean time I wanted to post the pictures I got with Penn and Teller. So fucking cool.

Lookit! Teller! I can't believe I have my eyes closed.

Penn is HUGE!

Will write it out all later. Promise.

Witness my creation.

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:47:35 GMT

A little something I found while hanging out in the lab

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:47:24 GMT

There's nothing like running BSR rats while watching rats sing about the brain. Narf!

Oh, and speaking of my BSR rats, Scopolamine is a hell of a drug. It fucked them right up yesterday.

I think I just had this discussion with Fletcher....

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:07:59 GMT

Toby vs. Santa, Ohio edition

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 02:17:33 GMT

You might remember last year when we took puppy Toby to go see Santa in a mall in Norristown.
Since the picture turned out so well, we decided to go again this year to see if we could strike gold twice. When we went last year, the mall had already been closed down and the event seemed to be organized as we had to fill out waiver forms and wait for our number to be called. This year seemed to be less organized as the mall hadn't closed yet and the Santa workers had no idea that any dogs were coming in.

For his part, Toby did really well around a mall packed with people. We got a LOT of looks for bringing a dog into a packed mall, but I think we'll live.

The Santa people were less than pleased that we showed up with a dog, but Santa let us shove Toby onto his lap and after some coaxing, yelling, and jumping around...we got one of them to pay attention to the camera. (sorry for the lack of LJ cut, I fail)

Caption: "I think Santa died!"

Some Santas never do grasp the point of "Picture with Santa"

Two words...

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:28:40 GMT

Rodent Warbles.

ugh.

Took Piggah and Bob to the Vet today, and much to everyone's surprise, they both had them. Piggah had one in his abdomen and Bob had one in his leg. When I first found out, I was excited and was showing everyone at school my vile of Warble. After running around like a crazy person and swimming, though, I was left drained and horrified. Huge insect larve eating my guinea pig from the inside out?! Piggah is no Trill. This is not a good thing.

Domo? At Target?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:59:31 GMT

We walked into Target the other day and found it completely covered in Domo-kun advertisements! There was Domo sitting on pumpkins, Domo passed out from too much chocolate, and Domo sking down a mountain of candy corn. I've been geeked out about it all week and even got myself a little plushie Domo shaped like a pumpkin and a Domo pillowcase.

Here are some of the products I saw:

And here is a Target advertisement for it, bonus: Domo doing Thriller.

I bet you could find all of the different products on Target.com if you felt like it. I don't.

DUDE.

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:18:08 GMT

So check this out:

Teller (from Penn & Teller) was published in NATURE. Not just nature, but Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

SCIENCE AND SOCIETY:

Attention and awareness in stage magic: turning tricks into research

Stephen L. Macknik, Mac King, James Randi, Apollo Robbins, Teller, John Thompson & Susana Martinez-Conde

Abstract
Just as vision scientists study visual art and illusions to elucidate the workings of the visual system, so too can cognitive scientists study cognitive illusions to elucidate the underpinnings of cognition. Magic shows are a manifestation of accomplished magic performers' deep intuition for and understanding of human attention and awareness. By studying magicians and their techniques, neuroscientists can learn powerful methods to manipulate attention and awareness in the laboratory. Such methods could be exploited to directly study the behavioural and neural basis of consciousness itself, for instance through the use of brain imaging and other neural recording techniques.

I want to read it. Bad. But Kent State is only to access this after a year delay. Anyone else out there in Live Journal land have access to this?

I so want to use Teller as one of my references. And a dissertation idea was born....

Eggplant Wizard sits back and thinks about it.

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:17:58 GMT

"Because when they ask me the question, 'What do you think should be done about medical marijuana?' My answer is: 'Heroin should be legal.'" - Penn Jillete

...yeah. Yeah.

Eggplant Wizard throws confetti!

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:02:45 GMT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SALLY!

Eggplant Wizard puts some tea on for Mrs. Frisby

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:03:24 GMT

Cloudy keeps catching mice from a certain corner in the basement. She catches them, brings them upstairs, and proudly presents a fully intact (and alive) mouse to me. I've gotten pretty good at catching them and putting them outside...but the number she catches each night seems to be going up... the kicker of this being that's she's gotten better at mousing since I put the bell on her.

Tonight, Cloudy's gotten three so far. This brings the grand total up to 9 this week. I'm beginning to get suspicous because she catches so many and they all look the same to me. I figure that the same mouse just keeps coming back inside and is too stupid to avoid the cat. I put the latest mouse in one of my rat cages and I'm going to wait and see if Cloudy catches another one tonight. I kind of really hope that there isn't a big ole nest of mice living in the basement, but I guess I could deal with that. Because, hey, labs pay good money to companies for research animals, and there just may be a whole bunch of FREE mice in my basement. Jackpot.
It's amazing to me the tortures that people suggest I do to these mice, and yet all animal research labs are required to follow the strictest rules when dealing with the care and use of subjects. Crazy, no?

We are going to go get our other cat from Kalamazoo this weekend. I wonder what Chester will make of the mice in the house. Maybe he will surprise everyone and actually kill all of these mice so that we don't have to worry about them. You know, when he decides..... to move.....

I really want to know why the pest inspection of the house didn't catch a mouse infestation.

Eggplant Wizard goes and gets his fucking shotgun

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:28:00 GMT

I am PISSED!

Toby and I went for a walk this morning. We were walking on the next street over to figure out where the horse farm was and when we got to the end of the block, two mastiffs came out from the barn area. I dropped the leash and Toby ran for it, the dogs chased him to the end of the street and then walked back home. Toby stood and waited for me, i picked up the leash and we walked back home. When we got home, I noticed that Toby's leg had been all chewed up.

What the fuck is wrong with these people?!

Now I have to figure out if I should:
Go talk to the people with the mastiffs running around. What would I say? My dog got bit?
Call the dog warden and report the attack
Have Toby checked out at the vet.

They all sound like great ideas now, but what if it all escalates into something I don't want ?

So this is the second time Toby was bitten and the .....6th time a dog went after him? I just don't understand. We just walk down the street... how can this keep happening?!

Toby's such a nice dog, this needs to fucking stop.

Just so you know...

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:08:11 GMT

Avatar was wicked awesome!

"I am the Melonlord!"

Better early than never....

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:26:17 GMT

Happy Birthday Scott!

Hope you have a great 25th!

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:21:14 GMT

So, today I was playing online and I found this live journal community called the "Unoffical Anime Club Loves Bread"
Apparently, it is a group of people in Kent who like to get together and watch anime and who also like Yakitate!! Japan (which is an awesome anime). I got excited and went over to the community, but it doesn't look like a club as much as just another Zombie Stove with a different name. So I decided to leave it alone.

I wonder what else is in here...
Maybe I should have found a summer job.

Eggplant Wizard's eyes widen in terror and slight hunger

Wed, 28 May 2008 18:17:02 GMT

We had 17 houses on our list of walk throughs for this weekend, but then it seems like magically --- they were all gone!

Now we have just 2 left, so we figured that perhaps it was better to go see them before this weekend.

That may mean that there is a possibility of us making an offer tomorrow on a house if we really like one.

And that's just plain scary!

Who needs money?

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:15:25 GMT

The most dangerous game of them all:

Looking at houses instead of cheap apartments.

I already found some great ones!

Sorry Fletcher.

It's like The Onion looked into my SOUL

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:30:52 GMT

IOWA CITY, IA—University of Iowa neuroscientists studying spatial learning and the effects of stress on memory announced Tuesday that a little son-of-a-bitch mouse ruined an experiment on cognitive performance by effortlessly navigating a maze that researchers spent nearly a year designing and constructing.

The test subject, a common house mouse, briskly traversed the complicated wooden maze in under 30 seconds or, according to the study's final report, roughly 1/8,789,258 as long as it took the lab to secure funding for the experiment. According to researchers administrating the standard Y-maze test, the fucking bastard never even broke his stride during the first trial, always selecting the correct route while consistently avoiding blind dead-end alleys.

Enlarge Image

Above, researchers discuss plans for a new maze, since the prick of a mouse, right, destroyed their chances of making any new discoveries whatsoever about the nature of synaptical response.

"We were unable to observe any statistically significant behavioral changes in the subject, largely due to the fact that he was in such a goddamn hurry to finish the maze," said Dr. Richard Barret, who was forced to estimate the mouse's various reaction times after one of his assistants smashed the lab's stopwatch in anger. "Further analysis will be required to garner any useful knowledge regarding this particular mouse's neurological processes, his reflex response to stimuli, and how in the hell that stupid jerk reached the goal without screwing up once."

Despite attempts to condition the mouse by screaming directly into its face, the researchers reported that the subject smugly completed the second and third runs of the three- dimensional spatial task with ease. A videotape of the mouse pausing during the final run has been subjected to a thorough review by the lab in order to determine if one of the maze's obstacles managed to momentarily confuse the mouse or if the test subject was, in fact, gloating.

"Had we obtained any usable data, perhaps that information would have led to the development of a cure for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's," said Dr. William Eng, who led the team responsible for creating the maze. "What is unclear at this time is why this particular mouse had to be such a dick and render useless all the work we had put into this controlled behavioral experiment."

In order to create the maze, Eng hand-drew 15 drafts of the 5-foot by-6-foot wooden puzzle and utilized 3-D-modeling software before painstakingly gluing each 7-inch-tall piece of wood together. Even though Eng said the maze's interconnecting pathways were designed to provide a challenging series of obstructions to disorient the mouse, after completing the course, the subject reportedly ran back through to the starting line twice as fast.

"It is regrettable to spend such a tremendous amount of money studying mammalian neuropathways, only to have some hotshot mouse ruin everything," Eng said. "However, we have compiled substantial data on this species's ability to breeze right in and destroy an entire postdoctoral legacy."

Repeated trials yielded similar results, with the mouse performing equally well despite added variables of Dr. Eng trying to "scoot" it back with a pen and Dr. Barret tipping the entire maze upward 45 degrees. Additional attempts to deceive the mouse by placing a reward of cheese in an impassable section of the maze were also unsuccessful.

"Taking into account my past successful experiments with chimpanzees, it is my final analysis that we are dealing with one smart little fucker," said team member Dr. Russell Sutton, who has already applied for an additional grant to study cognitive learning in the same mouse. "I wonder if he'll be so smart without a functioning hippocampus."

I laughed. Hard. When I read this. It's like they were looking into my soul. It was especially funny because I applied to work in that program.

Pi Day!

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:19:39 GMT

As I type this, i am listening to the cars on the road next to the apartment building. Today I am imagining that the cars are honking so much because they are celebrating Pi Day in the only fashion they know how. You know, instead of the alternative....that they are assholes......

One had a goiter!

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:22:23 GMT

Six years ago today, Fletcher and I spent an evening at my parent's house watching movies. We had just started going out, if that's what it even was. He had come over a couple of times to watch movies and awkwardly pet the dog at the same time as me so our hands would touch. It was nice to be around him and talk to him on AIM. On March 10th, 2002, after watching 60's Batman we went into my room and kissed for the very first time. It was good.

I felt like an ass (as I was just reminded by the post I made on March 10th 2002) because that was around the same time I had broken up with Pam. I'm not going to give excuses, it was six years ago.

Well, now Fletcher and I have been together for 6 years! I'm not sure how we did it, especially that stint we did living on different sides of the state, but here we are. I love him so much more than I did back then. I don't know what I would do without him (and I keep letting him know that!)

He decided to take the day off of work (and I from running rats) and we went to the zoo to celebrate our anniversary!
It was much nicer than I expected for it being in Philly. A lot of the animals were in winter quarters, but they still seemed pretty content (except the elephants). When we got to the giraffes (which I vowed to climb the fence and go touch like at Binder Park Zoo) Fletcher said he had a super secret surprise for me and took out a small purple box. I was pretty surprised. He went to one knee and showed me the prettiest ring I have every seen! He said something about what each of the stones represented, although I admit I'm not QUITE sure what he said....can you blame me?
Needless to say, I said yes and was distracted by that ring for the rest of the zoo trip. I think I can admit to a bit of tearing up...maybe.

Although we've been together so long already (our relationship is as old as a first grader!) it feels really strange to be taking this next step. I am trying to not think about the fact that engagement leads to weddings. Not ready for THAT one yet. From Batman to Giraffes. I know life will NEVER be boring with Fletcher.

I'm not sure what else to say other than, uh....I'm engaged!
(Or as Scott just suggested...OMG!!1!! I'm getting married!)

Look here for engagement rings. I know you can't see it very well, but it's purple! EPIXS l00ts!

No, see! He just game me this.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it!

(Seriously, there were 100 other pictures I could have put up....but giraffe butt is awesome!)

and...... an attempt to take a picture of the ring without having to take it off.

So now I am not only going to Kent State, I also just got engaged. And they want me to stay focused in school for HOW MANY more months?! Oh bother.

Contributing to Science 2: Electric Boogaloo

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:26:18 GMT

The rat names have been finalized!

1 : Scabbers
2: Jean Luc Picard
3: Darwin
4: Magwitch
5: Hamlet
6: Whaffles!
7: Fenris
8: Shatner
9: XP
10: Dr. Zaius

Thanks for all of the great suggestions!