NEUROTOPIA

Well you're in your little room....

2006-06-09T09:38:00.000-04:00

...and you're workin' on something good
but if it's really good
you're gonna need a bigger room.....

Time to move on. I'm setting up my blog over at the following URL:

http://www.scienceblogs.com/neurotopia

Please update your links accordingly and stop on by! And to any government-types who read this: no, I am not taking any compensation until the paperwork goes through!

SchadenFriday: Blogger

2006-06-08T23:16:00.000-04:00

I hate Blogger. HATE. I actually wanted to post some science this week, but every. single. damn. time I tried to get on, the website was messed up. So now I hope Blogger continues to implode.

I go live at SEED tomorrow anyway. So this is the last hurrah. I'll make one final post tomorrow redirecting to the new address. Update your bookmarks!

Blogging for Seed

2006-06-02T16:28:00.001-04:00

That sounds gross but I had to type it. They're not ready with the pages yet so I won't be moving over there for a week or two.

SchadenFriday Smoking Edition

2006-06-02T16:28:00.000-04:00

Justice Dept. Official to Be Questioned in Tobacco Case

Hughes vs Gracie analysis

2006-05-31T16:15:00.000-04:00

So I caught UFC 60 and the outcome was pretty much as I expected. Hughes basically owned Gracie the entire fight. Sure, some of the Gracie nut-huggers will try to explain the loss away by stating that Royce was out of the game for so long, but that excuse doesn't fly because he fought in Pride and a few other matches recently. More likely the age difference contributed to the outcome, but I think the real answer is that Royce lost to a guy with superior striking skills.

The Gracie family revolutionized training by bringing the importance of groundfighting and submission skills back into the public eye. For a decade they whupped on everybody. Unfortunately, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu apologists took this to mean that any fight could be won via good ground skills alone. At least as far as the UFC goes, this is not and has not been the case for a while. You won't hear the end of it from the BJJ guys though, as they'll proclaim that Royce lost because Hughes learned BJJ. While that may be true, he was also a 5th place NCAA wrestler and groundfighting is no stranger to him. And the simple fact of the matter is, if you watch the fight, right around the 3:45 minute mark Hughes has him on the fence and drives a knee right into Royce's gut. I think that blow pretty much took the wind out of Royce's sails; you can see him wince and double over, staying tied up when normally he would've gone for the shoot. Once it went to the ground, Royce barely put up a fight. I think he just kinda fell apart.

So I have to say sorry Royce, the game has evolved beyond you. In fact it has come full circle; you simply have to be a well-rounded fighter to win, no matter whether your specialty is stand-up or rolling. I appreciate what you did for the sport, but groundfighting ain't everything. Hit the gym and focus on your striking skills.

Change a comin'.....

2006-05-31T16:04:00.000-04:00

So I'm supposed to start blogging for SEED on June 2. I've taken off the last month or so because of family health issues and another grant deadline; I figure I'll be doing more blogging than I ever really wanted to, soon enough.

Unfortunately, due to NIH paperwork constraints, I won't be taking any reimbursement for my services until the paperwork goes through. And since SEED is running behind with the login information, that paperwork might get done before I start bloggin'...

So good-bye blogger, you suck. I shan't miss you much.

Did Lamarck get a bum rap?

2006-05-30T14:41:00.000-04:00

Fairly interesting piece. Maybe RNA is pissed about its alleged former status as Overlord of Inheritance, and is poised to make a comeback.

SchadenFriday Early Edition: Lay convicted on all 6 counts

2006-05-25T12:14:00.000-04:00

ABOUT GODDAMNED TIME

Blargh

2006-05-15T18:27:00.000-04:00

Been a lot happening lately. Parents were in town for a visit, and we had our Ben and Jerry's ice cream trip interrupted by news that my Grandma has just died. Might be out of commission for a while folks. On the other hand, maybe I'll post more as an escape. Who knows?

SchadenFriday: DeLay Will Resign June 9

2006-05-12T09:57:00.000-04:00

Ha ha.

Big Move!!!!

2006-05-09T13:22:00.000-04:00

Sweet! Assuming the NIH paperwork goes through, it looks like I will be joining the folks over at SEED Magazine in the next month or so! At SEED, science is culture (which makes me wonder why they want me around...) anyway, I'll let everyone know when I'm making the transition. FINALLY getting off Blogger. You'll have to update your links, I apologize for the inconvenience.

But on the bright side, I'll be contractually obligated to blog more science, so you'll get more Neurotopia than you ever bargained for!

How you know you've been in graduate school too long

2006-05-08T14:14:00.000-04:00

This means it is time to leave.

SchadenFriday-- Porter Goss resigns as CIA chief - May 5, 2006

2006-05-05T14:50:00.000-04:00

This is potentially too good to be true, because last week there were rumors that a CIA higher-up and other Congresspersons were involved in the GOP/lobbyist hooker scandal. Goss fits both those bills.

Now I don't want to start rumors, but what a timely retirement!

Ozone layer shows signs of recovery: scientists - Yahoo! News

2006-05-03T21:53:00.000-04:00

Just in case somebody tries to tell you that we can't affect significant environmental change through regulation.

Proper acknowledgments

2006-05-03T01:19:00.000-04:00

I want to thank a few individuals who helped my along my way.... click below...

To the lab in general, but especially: Rhonda, for always keeping things running and the boss happy. In the future try not to laugh at fashion faux pas when near the ER. Amy, Kari, Terry, and Stephanie, for teaching me the day-to-day survival hints and enduring the arduous equipment repairs. Keith, for helping me to maintain my sanity. Jul Lea, April, Paula, Dr. Browne, and Patricia; it has been a pleasure to work with you and hang out with you.

To "look at you" Armando, Anna, Hemant, Marian, Camillo, Susan, Frank, Andrea, Eusebio the Antichrist, Angry Dave, Katie-bird, Bob, Hal-itosis, Jen, Cock-blockin' Jorge, Kevin and Matt the Not-So-Ambiguously Gay Duo, Jarrett (who are you??!?), Amy, Monique, "I-can't-be-bothered-to-actually-hang-out-with-my-friends-when-they're-in-town-or-celebrating" Phil, and the rest of the Borders misfits, for your friendship. I will miss everyone more than you know.

To Homan aka "Dirty Balls", Kyung-Soo the Secret Asian Man, and Cris the King of Single Malts; ﺭﺩﺍﺭﺒ , 형님, brother. For your friendship, hospitality, and imbibing in copious amounts of ethanol with me.

To Karly (eeep!) and Audrey, the founders of the Adopt-a-Neuroscientist Program. You are truly my family. My couch is yours.

To Alex and Lesley, aka Otis and Hooch, it’s amazing what a crew of naïve undergrads can pull off, isn’t it? I bequeath a tubful of rats unto each of you.

To IWU, for a stellar undergraduate experience.

To the AN, for giving me a place to vent.

To the 2F/201 tradition.

To Mrs. Evil Monkey, for understanding.

Returning to a place I've never seen

2006-05-01T22:43:00.000-04:00

This weekend I went back to Winston to celebrate birthdays and hang out with old friends. The whole experience was very surreal because while my friends were very real and fresh in my mind, the town itself was not. I felt like I was returning to a place that I had just left, but had never been before. Just goes to show you how Anxiety Disorder + Ph.D. program = serious mental self-flagellation. A real Gunslinger dual-past moment, for your Dark Tower fans.

So I wanted to give a quick photo tribute to the city of Dream Time. Click below.

First off, getting there. The drive is absolutely gorgeous in the spring.

Next, the city. Notice the prominent phallus, err... building that used to house Wachovia.

The hospital where I got my degree.

The best goddamn diner, ever. Country ham and fruit pancake bliss.

Half of my old lab.

My cube.

The room where my fate was decided.

Winston at night. Not enough traffic to qualify for Koyaanisqatsi the movie, but from 2002-2005 I experienced Koyaanisqatsi, the Life. Very pretty regardless...

So there you have it. Thanks for joining me on a tour of the Dream Time.

SchadenFuckingFRIDAY!!! Republicans Involved In Lobbyist Sex Scandal At The Watergate Hotel?

2006-04-28T13:21:00.000-04:00

Let's hear it for family values.

America's rags-to-riches dream an illusion: study - Yahoo! News

2006-04-26T18:37:00.000-04:00

Who else isn't surprised?

Looks like Evil Socialist Europe might actually be better at rewarding hard work with upward social mobility, and vice versa.

The Importance of Protecting Biodiversity

2006-04-26T17:48:00.000-04:00

The article says it all.

Got the shaft

2006-04-22T13:54:00.000-04:00

Stochastic, the SEED Magazine blog asks who in your field has gotten the shaft, or not received the recognition they deserve?

My vote goes out to Viktor Hamburger, for his work on programmed cell death of spinal motoneurons in developing chick embryos. He was was not granted a share of the Nobel Price with Rita Levi-Montalcini and others.

F.D.A. Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana - New York Times

2006-04-21T14:19:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to the GOP for making the FDA a gutless, puppet agency just like the EPA. Is there anything these jerks won't lie about?

SchadenFriday: Intelligent Design

2006-04-21T14:07:00.000-04:00

Found this hilarious yet accurate summary of the Intelligent Design movement via Ed Brayton's blog:

ID is whatever we say it is, and we don't agree.

Greater and greater numbers of scientists are joining the ID movement, which is why we keep referring to the same three year after year.

ID is not creationism, and can be perfectly compatible with evolution. This is why we're asking schools to teach the "evidence against evolution".

We're not creationists, except for those of us who are, but the rest of us won't confirm that we're not. But if you call us creationists, we'll complain to no end.

The correct stance on issues like an ancient Earth, the common ancestry of organisms, and natural selection can be worked out later, after we've convinced the public that they should be rejecting at least one of these.

Check out the link in the title for more ID duplicity.

Lockbox

2006-04-20T12:39:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder that 4 months of war in Iraq could have bought us infinite solvency of the Social Security Program. Glad this administration has its priorities straight.

Unforeseen Spending on Materiel Pumps Up Iraq War Bill

Ambient Somnambulism, or The Zombies Among Us

2006-04-18T12:47:00.000-04:00

For those of you who haven't heard of this phenomenon, apparently the popular sleep aid Ambien (zoldipem tartrate) can have some very odd side effects: sleep walking and sleep eating. I think one of the networks did a profile on the phenomenon but I didn't catch it, so I dug around in the literature. Only a handful of articles deal with the subject. One of them in particular tweaked my interest, but more on that below...

Ambien is a sleep aid, a class of drugs known as hypnotics. For those pharma geeks, it is not actually classified as a benzo, but does have bind with high affinity at the ω1 binding sites on α-1 GABA-A subunits. Typically prescribed for the treatment of insomnia, it has a short half-life of 2-3 hours. Thus, a crucial part of the dosing regimen is to take the drug only when you know you are going to get at least 8 hours of sleep. Apparently, those who are forced to wake up earlier experience some interesting side effects, as can those who take the drug with alcohol.

Sleepwalking and sleep-eating: A small subset of Ambien users will sleepwalk and even sleepdrive when they use the drug. The scant literature on the subject suggests that those who were sleepwalkers in childhood, or those who have had brain injuries, are more likely to experience this set of side effects.

Memory loss also occurs, and anecdotal reports suggest that some Ambien users have actually raided the fridge while somnambulating and put on a substantial amount of weight, with no recollection of doing so. Others have apparently found themselves in car wrecks or pulled over by the police, with no recollection as to how they got there (although I personally find this a little too convenient).

I find this phenomenon intriguing for two reasons. One is zombies. No, not the Romero flesh-eating sort. In philosophical circles, much discussion occurs over zombies-- specifically, whether the existence of an entity that looks, acts, and responds normally but with no consciousness is possible. Can there be a human who goes to work, has a wife, coaches little league, but has no conscious experience? Perhaps here we have a way to investigate the possibility. Does Ambien shut off excitatory (or activate inhibitory) neural circuits that directly disengage a "consciousness" module or diffuse neural net? Can a somnambulant Ambien user "learn" new things, be they cognitive or motor skills, and can these new skills be performed/recalled at a high skill level when fully conscious, despite a lack of mnemonic recall for the event itself? Or can he/she be made to become fully conscious while in this state e.g. through the use of pain or loud noise, or direct stimulation of other neural circuits? To what extent does Ambien actually interfere with conscious perception? Do Ambien users display their normal personality when they are having a somnambulatory event? Can we stick them in an MRI or EEG and observe how activation patterns differ when the person is conscious and when they are on Ambien? David Chalmers is likely wetting himself at the experimental possibilities, while Daniel Dennett won't be particularly thrilled.

The other reason I find this intriguing has to do with memory. Perhaps the individual is fully conscious, but simply doesn't remember what happened once the meds are out of his or her system, simply because Ambien mucks up memories. Certainly there have been reports of memory impairments in patients who took Ambien but didn't get their full 8 hours of sleep. We may have an interesting drug with which to study the neural mechanisms behind the encoding and retrieval of memories. Certainly there has been quite a bit of research into the memory-altering effects of benzodiazepines and GABA-ergic compounds.

As I mentioned at the start of this post, one paper in the lit search struck me as particularly interesting, because it suggests that certain combinations of drugs may be used to elicit the somnambulist effect, and while one drug (zolpidem, in this case) may not elicit somnambulism, the system could be primed for the effect upon introduction of the second drug (valproic acid, in this case). While this may not hold true for all patients (particularly at one dosing regimen), common mechanisms may be elucidated in this manner. Conceivably we could build an inductive explanation to these phenomena.

Well that's that

2006-04-14T20:20:00.000-04:00

My mice are definitely not the right genotype. Shit. Now I have to recoup my losses and come up with a backup plan.

Conjoined Quintuplets Separated in Daring Surgery

2006-04-13T12:44:00.000-04:00

Medical science in all its glory!

Outsourcing saves less than claimed - Yahoo! News

2006-04-13T10:44:00.000-04:00

Why am I not surprised.

This is not a good week

2006-04-12T14:17:00.000-04:00

I don't think my mice have the genotype I thought they did. Looks like a few months' work just went down the tubes...

Not Safer

2006-04-09T18:13:00.000-04:00

How the Bush Administration is destroying the Armed Forces part CMLXXVIII

Anti-Conservative Academic Bias Not So True?

2006-04-09T16:24:00.000-04:00

The Palatine Hill: Ken Fisher's Journal: No bias facing conservative students?

Food for thought. Although the very nature of conservativism means that here the Liberal Bias Dogma(TM) has been violated, so these results obviously must be disregarded.

Let's hear it for my homies!

2006-04-05T11:42:00.000-04:00

ScienceDaily: Wake Forest Physician Reports First Human Recipients Of Laboratory-grown Organs

Eat More Fish

2006-04-05T11:38:00.000-04:00

ScienceDaily: Anti-inflammatory Effects Of Omega 3 Fatty Acid In Fish Oil Linked To Lowering Of Prostaglandin.

Might help stave off numerous diseases. I'll come up with a brain-related post soon.

The Talent Show: Republican Elitist Watch

2006-04-04T22:42:00.000-04:00

Check out the blog I linked to. Who else but Chameleon McCain could be such a pandering asshole and tell a room full of union workers

McCain responded by saying immigrants were taking jobs nobody else wanted. He offered anybody in the crowd $50 an hour to pick lettuce in Arizona.

Shouts of protest rose from the crowd, with some accepting McCain's job offer.

"I'll take it!" one man shouted.

McCain insisted none of them would do such menial labor for a complete season. "You can't do it, my friends."

Evil Monkey's wife points out that there are prostitutes who work for much less, and only an out-of-touch elitist pig would suggest your average American couldn't handle an honest day's work. Hell, I'd happily pick lettuce for $50 bucks an hour.

This is a wakeup call to everyone who honestly doesn't think there is an ongoing class war in the US.

Bush Admin. $15B AIDS Plan is a Sham

2006-04-04T21:46:00.000-04:00

Some of us have been pointing this out for years. Hmm, I see a pattern forming in my posts.

Props to Rep. Kennedy (D-RI)

2006-04-03T10:49:00.000-04:00

It appears somebody has their head screwed on straight. If Patrick Kennedy is your Representative, give him a call and thank him. If he is not, call your Rep and ask him or her to make a stand for science on the floor of Congress.

This is not a partisan issue. Science is for all Americans.

SchadenFriday Late Edition: Helms Has Dementia

2006-04-02T20:05:00.000-04:00

Some of us have been saying this for years. File it under "tell me something I didn't know."

Menopause III: Cognitive Consequences

2006-03-28T13:51:00.000-05:00

This is part three of a series. Parts one and two are here and here. This time around I describe changes in cognitive and behavioral profiles for women and animal models of menopause. I may decide to expand on a handful of studies at a later date, but for now I wanted to provide a very brief overview of human studies, problems inherent to human studies, and animal studies. I think the next part of this series will focus on the quality of our animal models and what they have to tell us. But for now, anyone who is interested in these issues knows where to start digging!

Read on...

Cognitive Changes in Postmenopausal Women

Postmenopausal women frequently complain about problems with attention and concentration, and increased forgetfulness (Kopera 1972; Anderson et al., 1987; Oldenhave and Netelenbos, 1994). Controlled studies of the cognitive effects of menopause and HRT, however, have been controversial. While a number of studies have found improvements on learning, memory, and attention following ERT (Hackman and Galbraith, 1976; Vanhulle and Demol, 1976, Fedor-Freybergh, 1977; Kampen and Sherwin, 1994; Robinson et al., 1994), others have failed to do so (Rauramo et al., 1975; Ditkoff et al., 1991; Barrett-Connor and Kritz-Silverstein, 1993). Some studies suggest that addition of a progestin may reduce any benefit of ERT (Okhura et al., 1995; Schneider et al., 1996; Rice et al., 1997; Rice et al., 2000), but other studies found no effect (Kampen and Sherwin, 1994) or an enhancement in a small group which was not borne out in an observational study in the same report (Hogervorst et al., 1999). Studies in surgically menopausal women have also been conducted, with disparate results on cognition (Sherwin, 1988; Phillips and Sherwin, 1992; Ditkoff et al., 1999; Duka et al., 2000; Binder et al., 2001).

Imaging studies have tried to correlate cognitive changes with neurobiology in postmenopausal women, relying mostly on measures of metabolic activation and cerebral blood flow. Resnick et al (1998) found that ERT or HRT enhanced memory while producing changes in cerebral blood flow patterns relative to placebo, while other studies have found dissociations between cognitive effects and brain activation. ERT altered cerebral blood flow in parietal, temporal, and prefrontal regions without affecting cognition (Berman et al., 1997) and also affected metabolic activation in parietal and frontal areas without affecting verbal and nonverbal memory (Shaywitz et al., 1999). Another study found that temporal blood flow was altered with HRT, but measures of visual and verbal memory were unaffected (Maki and Resnick, 2000). Other studies have looked at binding of ligands specific to neurotransmitter systems, but have not included behavioral analyses. Binding of a cholinergic ligand as assessed by positron emission tomography (PET) was significantly positively correlated with length of HRT in multiple cortical areas, and ERT appeared to have higher cholinergic binding than HRT (Smith et al., 2001). ERT may also alter dopamine transporter availability as assessed by PET (Gardiner et al., 2004).

Problems with Human Studies

A number of difficulties exist when conducting studies of menopause in humans. Sample bias can occur in observational trials, as women who are more highly educated are more likely to seek treatment, and inappropriate controls for education, socioeconomic status, diet, or depression are often used. Compliance can be an issue when many clinical studies rely on self-reports to determine compliance with treatment; serum assays to determine compliance or efficacy of treatment are rarely employed. There is little consistency between studies with regards to the neuropsychological measures being employed, and the dose, route, duration, and type of hormone replacement may vary significantly. Often women have previously taken some form of hormone replacement. Observational studies especially do not usually have the luxury of separating groups based upon type of therapy or duration of exposure and must settle for groups comprising many types of HRT at different doses, which can confound the results.

Animal models allow for the circumvention of many problems. Specifically, a uniform hormone therapy can be employed without concerns of compliance, and more invasive procedures can be performed. Multiple tests across the entire lifespan can easily be performed, and postmortem studies can be conducted in animals. Results of animal studies can often resolve questions which are difficult if not impossible to address in humans.

Animal Models of Menopause: Cognition

Most animal studies of the cognitive consequences of menopause have been conducted in rodents, and these investigations have primarily employed ERT as treatment. ERT administered to ovariectomized (OVX) rats enhances both the acquisition (Daniel et al., 1997; Fader et al., 1998; Luine et al., 1998; Gibbs, 1999) and memory (Packard and Teather, 1997; Luine et al., 1998; Bimonte and Denenberg, 1999; Fader et al., 1999) of spatial tasks, although the enhancements are not always consistent across studies. For example, acquisition but not memory on a delayed match-to-position (DMP) task or T-maze alternation task is enhanced in some studies (Fader et al., 1998; Dohanich et al., 1994) but the opposite is true on spatial water maze and water radial maze tasks (Bimonte and Denenberg, 1999). Some subsets of memory, such as working memory, may be more susceptible to changes in ovarian hormones than are others (e.g. reference memory, Fader et al., 1999), although reference memory enhancements due to ERT have been reported (Rissanen et al., 1999).

The few studies that examine HRT in rodents are conflicting. Sandstrom and Williams (2001) reported that ERT or HRT improved performance on a water delayed match-to-position (DMP) test, and HRT was equally effective as ERT at reversing a scopolamine-induced impairment on T-maze alternations (Donahich et al., 1994). HRT was more effective than ERT at enhancing the learning of a DMP task (Gibbs, 2000b). In contrast, another study found that HRT impaired performance on a spatial Morris Water Maze (Chesler and Juraska, 2000). More recently it was reported that long-term OVX actually results in a performance increase on a water escape radial arm maze in aged rats, due to the removal of high estrapausal levels of progesterone (Bimonte-Nelson et al., 2003). Administration of progesterone alone returned performance of OVX aged rats to the level of sham-operated aged rats (Bimonte-Nelson et al., 2004).

Although no non-human primate studies have examined the effects of HRT on cognition, a few non-human primate studies have examined the effects of ERT. ERT can enhance performance on tests of attention (Voytko, 2002) and memory in monkeys (Rapp et al., 2003; Lacreuse et al., 2002), similar to postmenopausal women receiving ERT. However, performance may vary depending on the age of the animals and the cognitive domain being assessed (reviewed in Tinkler and Voytko, 2005).

References:
Anderson E, Hamburger S, Lui JH, Rebar RW. 1987. Characteristic so menopausal women seeking assistance. Am J Obstet Gynecol 156:428-433.

Barrett-Connor E, Kritz-Silverstein D. 1993. Estrogen replacement therapy and cognitive function in older women. JAMA 269:2637-2641.

Berman KF, Schmidt PJ, Rubinow DR, Danaceau MA, Van Horn JD, Esposito G, Ostrem JL, Weinberger DR. 1997. Modulation of cognition-specific cortical activity by gonadal steroids: A positron-emission tomography study in women. Proc Natl Acad Sci 94:8836-8841.

Bimonte HA, Denenberg VH. 1999. Estradiol facilitates performance as working memory load increases. Psychoneuroendocrinology 24:161-173.

Bimonte-Nelson HA, Singleton RS, Hunter CL, Price KL, Moore AB, Granholm AC. 2003. Ovarian hormones and cognition in the aged female rat: I. Long-term, but not short-term, ovariectomy enhances spatial performance. Behav.Neurosci. 117:1395-1406.

Bimonte-Nelson HA, Singleton RS, Williams BJ, Granholm AC. 2004. Ovarian hormones and cognition in the aged female rat: II. progesterone supplementation reverses the cognitive enhancing effects of ovariectomy. Behav.Neurosci. 118:707-714.

Binder EF, Schectman KB, Birge SJ, Williams DB, Koher WM. 2001. Effects of hormone replacement therapy on cognitive performance in elderly women. Maturitas 38:137-146.

Chesler EJ, Juraska JM. 2000. Acute administration of estrogen and progesterone impairs the acquisition of the spatial morris water maze in ovariectomized rats. Horm.Behav. 38:234-242.

Daniel JM, Fader AJ, Spencer AL, Dohanich GP. 1997. Estrogen enhances performance of female rats during acquisition of a radial arm maze task. Horm Behav 32:217-225.

Ditkoff EC, Crary WG, Cristo M, Lobo RA. 1991. Estrogen improves psychological function in asymptomatic postmenopausal women. Obstet.Gynecol. 78:991-995.

Dohanich GP, Fader AJ, Javorsky DJ. 1994. Estrogen and estrogen-progesterone treatments counteract the effect of scopolamine on reinforced T-maze alternation in female rats. Behav.Neurosci. 108:988-992.

Duka T, Tasker R, McGowan JF. 2000. The effects of 3-week estrogen hormone replacement on cognition in elderly healthy females. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 149:129-139.

Fader AJ, Hendricson AW, Dohanich GP. 1998. Estrogen improves performance of reinforced t-maze alternation and prevents the amnestic effects of scopolamine administered systematically or intrahippocampally. Neurobiol Learn Mem 69:225-240.

Fader AJ, Johnson PEM, Dohanich GP. 1999. Estrogen improves working but not reference memory and prevents amnestic effects on scopolamine on a radial-arm maze. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 62:711-717.

Fedor-Freybergh, P: The influence of oestrogens on the wellbeing and mental performance in climacteric and postmenopausal women. In: Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica Eds: Ingelman-Sundberg A and Joelsson I, The Scandinavian Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Stockholm, Sweden, Suppl 64, 1-91. 1977.

Gardiner SA, Morrison MF, Mozley PD, Mozley LH, Brensinger C, Bilker W, Newberg A, Battistini M. 2004. Pilot study on the effect of estrogen replacement therapy on brain dopamine transporter availability in healthy, postmenopausal women. Am J Geriatric Psychiatry 12:621-630.

Gibbs RB. 1999. Estrogen replacement enhances acquisition of a spatial memory task and reduces deficits associated with hippocampal muscarinic receptor inhibition. Horm Behav 36:222-233.

Gibbs RB. 2000b. Long-term treatment with estrogen and progesterone enhances acquisition of a spatial memory task by ovariectomized aged rats. Neurobiol.Aging 21:107-116.

Gibbs RB, Burke AM, Johson DA. 1998. Estrogen replacement attenuates effects of scopolamine and lorazepam on memory acquisition and retention. Horm Behav 34:112-125.

Hackman BW, Galbraith D. 1976. Replacement therapy and piperazine oestrone sulphate ('Harmogen') and its effect on memory. Curr.Med.Res.Opin. 4:303-306.

Hogervorst E, Boshuisen M, Riedel W, Willeken C, Jolles J. 1999. The effect of hormone replacement therapy on cognitive function in elderly women. Psychoneuroendocrinology 24:43-68.

Kampen,D.L. and Sherwin,B.B. (1994) Estrogen use and verbal memory in healthy postmenopausal women. Obstet.Gynecol. 83:979-983.

Kopera H. 1972. Estrogens and psychic functions. Front Hormone Res 2:118-133.

Lacreuse A, Wilson ME, Herndon JG. 2002. Estradiol, but not raloxifene, improves aspects of spatial working memory in aged ovariectomized rhesus monkeys. Neurobiol.Aging 23:589-600.

Luine VN, Richards ST, Wu VY, Beck KD. 1998. Estradiol enhances learning and memory in a spatial memory task and effects levels of monaminergic transmitters. Horm Behav 34:149-162.

Maki PM, Resnick SM. 2000. Longitudinal effects of estrogen replacement therapy on PET cerebral blood flow and cognition. Neurobiol Aging 21:373-383.

Okhura T, Kunihiro I, Akazawa K, Hamamota M, Yaoi Y, Hagino N. 1995. Long-term estrogen replacement therapy in female patients with dementia of the Alzhemer type: 7 case reports. Dementia 6:99-107.

Oldenhave A, Netelenbos C. 1994. Pathogenesis of climacteric complaints: Ready for the change? Lancet 343:649-653.

Phillips SM, Sherwin BB. 1992. Effects of estrogen on memory function in surgically menopausal women. Psychoneuroendocrinology 17:485-495.

Rapp PR, Morrison JH, Roberts JA. 2003. Cyclic estrogen replacement improves cognitive function in aged ovariectomized rhesus monkeys. J.Neurosci. 23:5708-5714.

Rauramo L, Lagerspetz K, Engblom P, Punnonen R. 1975. The effect of castration and peroral estrogen therapy on some psychological functions. Front Horm.Res. 3:94-104.

Resnick SM, Maki PM, Golski S, Kraut MA, Zonderman AB. 1998. Effects of estrogen replacement therapy on PET cerebral blood flow and neuropsychological performance. Horm Behav 34:171-182.

Rice MM, Graves AB, McCurry SM, Gibbons LE, Bowen JD, McCormick WC, Larson EB. 2000. Postmenopausal estrogen and estrogen-progestin use and 2-year rate of cognitive change in a cohort of older Japanese women. Arch Intern Med 160:1641-1649.

Rice MM, Graves AB, McCurry SM, Larson EB. 1997. Estrogen replacement therapy and cognitive function in postmenopausal women without dementia. Am J Med 103(3A):26S-35S.

Rissanen A, Poulivali J, van Groen T, Riekkinen Jr P. 1999. In mice tonic estrogen replacement therapy improves non-spatial and spatial memory in a water maze task. Neuroreport 10:1369-1372.

Robinson D, Friedman L, Marcus R, Tinklenberg J, Yesavage J. 1994. Estrogen replacement therapy and memory in older women. J.Am.Geriatr.Soc. 42:919-922.

Sandstrom NJ, Williams CL. 2001. Memory retention is modulated by acute estradiol and progesterone replacement. Behav.Neurosci. 115:384-393.

Schneider LS, Farlow MR, Henderson VW, Pgoda JM. 1996. Effects of estrogen replacement therapy on response to tacrine in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology 46:1580-1584.

Shaywitz SE, Shaywitz BA, Pugh KR, Fulbright RK, Skudlarski P, Mancl WE, Constable RT, Naftolin F, Palter SF, Marchione KE, Katz L, Shankweiler DP, Fletcher JM, Lacedie C, Keltz M, Gore JC. 1999. Effect of estrogen on brain activation patterns in postmenopausal women during working memory tasks. JAMA 281:1197-1202.

Sherwin BB. 1988. Estrogen and/or androgen replacement therapy and cognitive functioning in surgically menopausal women. Psychoneuroendocrinology 13:345-357.

Smith Y, Minoshima S, Kuhl DE, Zubeita JK. 2001. Effects of long-term hormone therapy on cholinergic synaptic concentrations in healthy postmenopausal women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 86:679-684.

Tinkler GP, Voytko ML. 2005. Estrogen modulates cognitive and cholinergic processes in surgically menopausal monkeys. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Mar;29(3):423-31.

Vanhulle G, Demol R: A double-blind study into the influence of estriol on a number of pscyhological tests in post-menopausal women. In: Concensus on Menopause Research. Eds: van Keep PA, Greenblatt RB, Albeaux-Funet M, MTP Press, London, UK, 94-99 (1976).

Voytko ML. 2002. Estrogen and the cholinergic system modulate visuospatial attention in monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). Behav Neurosci 116:187-197.

Why Maryland HB 1531 stinks

2006-03-28T13:14:00.000-05:00

A colleague of mine has come up with a lengthy dissection of why HB 1531 in Maryland is a bunch of tripe.

Read on...

Critique of HB 1531

Note: Line numbers refer to the draft of the bill available on 3/15/06

Page 1: Lines: 20-23 Refers to Edwards v. Aguillard. The point of this statement in the original decision was that teachers were already protected when and if they presented scientific critiques of prevailing scientific concepts. Simply, this bill merely affirms an existing principle and is redundant. The key point, however, is that the critiques must follow the methodological principles of contemporary science and are neither motivated by nor in support of a specific religious doctrine that would violate principles established by Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971).

Page 2: Lines 5-7: Although this bill refers to a specific case related to science curricula, it is not clear why special protections should be extended to only science instructors. For example, shouldn't the same academic freedom protections be extended to a Social Studies teacher who would choose to discuss a Marxist perspective on socioeconomic issues, or to an American History instructor who proposes to debate the question of the role of slavery as a root cause of the American Civil War? It should be noted that Del. Burns is a co-sponsor of a bill that applies to Humanities courses (HB 1228). It would seem that the specification of
academic freedoms should be broader.

Page 2: Lines 8-13: Teachers are expected to follow the established curricular framework and certainly do not need protections for doing so. This section, however, then specifically mentions Intelligent Design. The teaching of Intelligent Design in public school Science classes is opposed by a substantial number of major scientific societies on the grounds that it does not follow the methodological principles of
contemporary science and is motivated by a particular religious perspective. Furthermore, the judge in Kitzmiller v. Dover (2005) was asked to rule on the scientific status on Intelligent Design by both the plaintiffs and the defendants. After extensive expert testimony by witnesses for both sides, he ruled that Intelligent did not meet the criteria of the methodological principles of contemporary science. As a result, specific inclusion of Intelligent Design would seem to violate the intent of this bill, would not fall within the boundaries set by Edwards v. Aguillard and may have ramifications with respect to Lemon v. Kurtzman.

p. 2: 14-16: Although the intent of neutrality with respect to the religious implications of Intelligent Design would appear to be possible in the abstract, the reality of any discussion is quite different. Proponents of Intelligent Design admit to the clear metaphysical implications of the concept, and several have freely admitted in print that it supports their individual religious convictions. Furthermore, supporters of adding Intelligent Design to the curriculum of Dover PA, Ohio, Kansas, and elsewhere, freely admitted the religious motivation for their support. Inclusion of Intelligent Design, regardless of how it might be discussed in the classroom would clearly be interpreted as support for a specific sectarian position.

p. 2: 17-24: This section is at least partially redundant. The description of evaluation methods is exactly what is currently practiced in the Maryland schools. A student may disagree with a scientific principle (e. g., the age of the Earth) on religious grounds, but must still be assessed on his or her understanding of the principle. In this case, understanding of the concept does not require acceptance and does not infringe on religious beliefs. There is judicial precedent in support of this point, but it is at the State level. This section does bring up an issue that is not addressed by the proposed legislation and cannot be addressed by any form of legislation. Intelligent Design and other forms of Creationism are often promoted by inaccurate resentation of scientific principles and specific cases of scientific research. Unfortunately, some have encouraged students to "challenge" their teachers with criticisms based on this inaccurate information. The bill does not address this situation, and could be interpreted as preventing a teacher from dealing effectively with a student who initiates a discussion based on inaccurate information that he/she thinks supports a particular religious belief.

p. 2: 29-34: This section has two contradictions. First, it says that the bill does not require a change in curriculum standards. The implementation of the bill, however, will require the development of lesson plans, professional guidelines for class discussion in order to meet restrictions on religious questions, and possibly allocation of funds for the purchase and/or duplication of materials.

The second contradiction is open to some interpretation. The proposed legislation does not "protect as scientific a view that lacks published or empirical or observational support". The is exactly the point made by the statements on Intelligent Design issued by, for example, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Academy of Sciences. The conclusion reached by these organizations is that Intelligent Design is not a scientific concept in terms of its methodology, empirical support, or record of scholarly publication. Obviously, proponents of Intelligent Design would disagree, but materials appearing on websites, in print from publishers whose books are largely religious materials and communiquis from political advocacy organizations are not accepted avenues of "published scientific debate".

p. 3; Subtitle 9; lines 7-34: This section not only has all of the flaws of the preceding sections, but is further redundant in that Academic Freedom in higher education is even more broadly protected by tradition, existing administrative procedures associated with the evaluation of faculty and students in higher education institutions in the State of Maryland and carefully monitored by faculty organizations throughout the state higher education system.

p. 4; Section 2; lines 9-10: The proposed legislation cannot be effectively implemented on October 1, 2006. The Maryland State Board of Education should be asked to provide a timetable and cost estimate for the implementation of this legislation.

Final Note: No additional action should be taken on this bill until the Maryland Attorney General offers an advisory opinion on this bill in view of Kitzmiller v. Dover and Lemon v. Kurtzman.

Sore!!!

2006-03-28T12:40:00.000-05:00

Man, getting in shape is a lot rougher than I remember it. I've got a bone bruise on my shin that started out the size of a silver dollar yesterday but is now 3 inches wide. I can barely even lift myself out of the car because my legs are so stiff and plain worn out. Yet I'm going again tonight. Christ I'm stupid.

Found this tribute video to Ramon Dekkers, a Dutch-born thai boxer. If you can ignore the terrible music and dumb intro, it is worth a view. The American version of a good fighter is a boxer with a record of like 33 and 3. A thai fighter is considered decent if he breaks even, and really good if he ekes out a win in 2/3 of his (or her) fights. Dekkers fought over 200 fights and won over 175 of them, all the more impressive when you recall that so many of them were not on his own turf.

I love this guy. He's like a steamroller. It isn't uncommon for him to throw an elbow with so much zeal that he catapults himself right over the ropes (he almost does it in this set). Be sure to watch for the Rocky III double knockout moment too. Mad fun.

MD resident? Work in science? Sign the petition!

2006-03-21T14:18:00.000-05:00

If you support evolution and want to keep ID out of public schools, there's a new petition going around for MD residents who are scientists, educators of science, or work in a science-related field.

There are two pro-ID bills in the Maryland House of Delegates. It is our intention that they die in committee. Read the petition and sign it if you agree. (Note: "disastrous" will be spelled correctly in the printed version).

HB 1531 is going to have an open hearing for the public to voice their concerns on the 23rd, Greg is going to drop this off there and speak his three minute's worth. We'd like to get at least 50 signatures in the next 2 days from scientists, science educators, and anybody else who uses science in their line of work. Spread the word. We can get some traction out of this when HB 1228 comes around, so keep telling people.

Please let people know that they don't need to put their full address online, just enough to show that they are a Maryland resident (e.g. town, zip) and if they like they can email Greg their full address at unnatural.selection AT gmail.com. While he won't give out addresses except to the delegates, they do seem to be showing up on the signature page.

The full text of the petition.

Links to the text of the two bills can be found here for 1531 and here for 1228.

Traffic

2006-03-17T11:13:00.000-05:00

Damn, links from those guys at Scienceblogs.com really bump up site visits. Normally I get 60-80 visits a day, last week I got 420 on average with a peak of over 1100. Chump change, I know, compared to some of the big guns.

SchadenFriday

2006-03-17T10:33:00.000-05:00

Looks like Lieberman has his panties in a bunch over his primary challenger. Poor Joe. Must suck to be a DINO facing down a liberal.

Chris Mooney to give talk in NoVA

2006-03-15T16:14:00.000-05:00

Mooney is the author of The Republican War on Science. His book will be for sale and there will be a signing. Also, the Alliance for Science will have a short meeting afterwards. If you live near Arlington, VA, stop by and check it out!

Damn, I LookED Good, or The Road Back to Fitness

2006-03-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

I found a video of me back in the day, when I used to be in shape. I got quite depressed because graduate school, especially the last few years, really screwed with my body.

But then I got inspired to do something about it. So inspired, in fact, that I snapped a picture or two of me off my TV. Wait, does that make me inspired or narcissistic?

Continue....

Regardless, I decided the pictures should serve as a kick in the butt. So I started lifting and running again, in hopes of getting that inner tube around my waist to puncture. And then, lo and behold, I found a Muay Thai gym that also trains in Filipino Kali, Indonesian Silat, and Jun Fan/JKD. Holy shit, I said, it's just like the old days in Dave's crazy garage! Well not quite, because this one also throws in some judo and jiu jitsu, but I'm not complaining. So here we go again, a little older and slower, but in the pursuit of fitness. Hopefully I'll be knocking the wind out of some poor S.O.B. soon, like I did to Jason:

(Yes I blurred out my face to remain as anonymous as I can on the net.) And, with a little luck, I'll get my huge back err, back as well:

Menopause II: Types of HRT and Physiological Consequences

2006-03-14T13:35:00.000-05:00

This is the second of what will probably be a four-part series that examines menopause, hormone therapy, and consequences of each. Today's installment looks at the makeup of common hormones on the market, physiological consequences of hormone loss and replacement, and the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) studies. A slight emphasis is placed on Alzheimer's Disease as a segway to the next installments, which will focus on cognitive and neurobiological consequences of menopause and hormone therapy.

Click below for more
Components of Common Hormone Therapies

17-beta estradiol (E2), the primary circulating estrogen during reproductive years, was first isolated in 1935 from sow ovaries (Stumpf, 1992). E2 is difficult to use as a postmenopausal therapy as much of the compound is deactivated in the gastrointestinal tract unless the hormone is micronized, and even then most E2 is converted to the less potent estrone (E1).

In the United States, conjugated equine estrogens (CEE), or oral Premarin, is the most widely used form of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT). Conjugated equine estrogens are extracted from the urine of pregnant mares (Stumpf, 1992). CEE is a mixture of many different compounds, some of which are not naturally present in the human: estrone sulfate (50%), equilin sulfates (40%), and at least ten other estrogenic compounds. E2 is not a major component of Premarin, although an oral dose of 0.625 mg/day is sufficient to produce normal E1 and E2 levels in most women. CEE is often used in conjunction with a progestin. Natural progesterone faces the same problems of absorption as E2 (Stumpf, 1992), consequently the most common progestin in the United States is the synthetic medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), which is produced by addition of a methyl group to the 6 position, and one acetoxy group to the 17α position of progesterone. MPA is also administered orally and is absorbed quickly, with levels peaking in serum in a few hours.

During oral administration sex steroids experience the “first pass” effect of exposure to the liver, where they undergo metabolic conversions, conjugation to water-soluble sulfates, and prepararation for excretion. Thus, oral administration of hormones can reduce bioavailability of estrogens as they become inactivated by conjugation (Lobo, 1987). This first pass also stimulates production of hepatic proteins and lipoprotein packaging that could have positive consequences for the circulatory system. Progesterones are subject to the same first-pass effect, where they can negate any benefit on lipid profiles exerted by estrogen.

Other forms of estrogen + progesterone combinations (hormone replacement therapy, or HRT) are available, and a number of routes and regimens are also available. Transdermal patches, vaginal creams, or intramuscular injections are common routes of administration that bypass the first-pass effects of the liver in an attempt to deliver estrogens directly into the bloodstream (Stumpf, 1992). Treatment regimens may include any combination of cyclic or continuous estrogen and/or progesterone, tailored to the needs of the individual.

Consequences of Ovarian Hormone Loss and ERT or HRT

Symptoms Associated with Menopause: Hot flashes, the increase in perception of heat within or on the body, often accompanied by perspiration, skin flushing, and insomnia, are a common complaint of women undergoing menopause. Estimates of hot flash prevalence are between 50 and 85% of women, and incidence of hot flashes decreases with the postmenopausal interval. Other symptoms such as vaginal dryness and changes to vaginal epithelium, epidermal changes, and a variety of urinary dysfunctions are common (Greendale and Sowers, 1997). Psychological symptoms may also occur, such as increased anxiety and depression (Rogers, 1956a). Early studies pointed to the benefits of using hormonal replacement to treat these physiological and psychological symptoms (reviewed in Rogers, 1956b). In the 1960s, hormone replacement became the subject of numerous studies that attempted to discern whether they could be used effectively to treat chronic conditions relating to menopause, and whether prolonged use of hormones had consequences of their own.

Osteoporosis: Albright et al (1941) suggested estrogen replacement therapy as a treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis. Measures of bone density became available in the 1960s, prompting an increase in attention to these issues and confirming that decreases in bone density follow the loss of circulating estrogens that occurs with menopause, and which can lead to osteoporosis. Bone mineral density declines at a rate of roughly 1% per year during perimenopause (Greendale and Sowers, 1997), and this loss is accelerated to 2-3% in radius and 5% in spine immediately following menopause (Cann et al., 1980). ERT was found to reduce the risk of hip and wrist fractures by 60%, and doses of Premarin as low as 0.625 mg inhibit postmenopausal bone loss (Lindsay et al., 1976), both with and without a progestin (The Writing Group for PEPI, 1996).

Cancers: Endometrial cancer rates increased in association with estrogen replacement therapy from 1953-1973, with the first reports appearing in 1975 (Smith et al., 1975; Ziel and Finkle, 1975), prompting a shift to therapies that included a progestin to offset endometrial hyperplasia. Combined hormone replacement therapy is not associated with endometrial cancer, making this therapy more appropriate for women who still had a uterus. In the 1980s, the first studies reported that combining ERT with a cyclic or continuous progestin could prevent endometrial cancer in women (Thom et al., 1979; Whitehead et al., 1981; Gambrell et al., 1983). An increased risk of breast cancer was identified from observational studies of ERT (Steinberg et al., 1991; Grady et al., 1992), and a later meta-analysis of 51 studies also suggested the same (Beral et al., 1997). Unfortunately, human and animal studies in the 1930s and 1940s had suggested associations between hyperestrogenism and mammary cancer (reviewed in Rogers, 1956b), but these potential links were not adequately addressed for decades.

Coronary Heart Disease: The first studies demonstrating that ERT could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) were released in the 1980s (Bain et al., 1981; Ross et al., 1981; Sullivan et al., 1988). It was also shown that ovariectomy led to a doubling of the risk of CHD, which could be prevented with ERT (Colditz et al., 1987). Other studies demonstrated favorable outcomes of ERT and HRT on CHD and serum lipid profiles (Bush et al., 1987; Rijpkema et al., 1990; Stampfer and Colditz, 1991; Grady et al., 1992), with as much as a 40-50% decrease in CHD, and studies in primates also suggested a protective effect of ERT on coronary artery atherosclerosis in ovariectomized (OVX) monkeys, although addition of a progestin had no effect (Adams et al., 1990). However, in studies of women with prior CHD, HRT seemed to increase risk of a CHD event (Hulley et al., 1998; Grady et al., 2002). Moreover, HRT did not reduce progression of atherosclerosis in another study (Herrington et al., 2000).

A Response to the Controversies: The Women’s Health Initiative

The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) began as a pair of randomized clinical trials designed in 1991-1992 to assess the relative risks and benefits of HRT and ERT on major outcomes associated with menopause, primarily CHD, and hopefully shed light on prior conflicting reports. The studies enrolled 161,809 postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 79 from 40 clinical centers around the United States and was divided into two arms: The HRT arm targeted the effects of most common regimen, a daily oral dose of 0.625 mg CEE + 2.5 mg MPA (Prempro, Wyeth-Ayerst, Philadelphia, PA) in healthy women who still had a uterus, and the ERT arm examined 0.625 mg CEE daily on major outcomes in women who had undergone hysterectomy. The major outcomes assessed were CHD (primary outcome) and invasive breast cancer (the primary negative outcome), stroke, pulmonary embolism, endometrial and colorectal cancer, and hip fracture.

The HRT arm was stopped after 5.2 of a planned 8.5 years, due to the relative risks exceeding benefits. All-causes mortality was not affected, but there was a 26% increased risk of breast cancer, a surprising 29% significant increased risk of CHD, and a 41% increase in stroke rates with a twofold increase in venous thromboembolism for the HRT group. Colorectal cancer risk was reduced 37% and fractures reduced by 24% in the HRT group, but these benefits were not enough to confer an overall benefit and justify continuation of the trial (WHI Writing Group for the Women’s Health Initiave Investigators, 2002). The ERT arm was also terminated early due to an increased risk of stroke (39%) in the CEE group. There was a decreased risk of hip fracture in the CEE group compared to controls (30 to 39%), a possible reduction in breast cancer (23%), but no overall effect on CHD. As the overall risk was not different between CEE and placebo, the trial was terminated (WHI Writing Group for the Women’s Health Initiative Investigators, 2004).

Ovarian Hormones and Alzheimer’s Disease--The WHI Memory Study: Postmenopausal women have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) than men, and it has been suggested that ERT can reduce this risk. A number of studies support this notion; case-controlled, cross-sectional, and prospective studies have reported that women taking ERT have a lower risk of dementia than do postmenopausal women not taking estrogen (Kawas et al., 1997; Henderson et al., 1994; Waring et al., 1999; Steffens et al., 1999; Baldereschi et al., 1998; Tang et al., 1996; Cauley et al., 1990; Matthews et al., 1999). Recent meta-analyses suggest the risk reduction for AD is 29-34% (Yaffe et al., 1998; Nelson et al., 2002) for women receiving ERT. A recent prospective study reported that HRT also decreased risk of the disease, with increasing duration of HRT conferring an increased benefit (Zandi et al., 2002). ERT might also have positive effects on cognition in women diagnosed with AD, as early studies found improvements on memory (Honjo et al., 1989), attention and orientation (Fillit et al., 1986), and subsequent studies seemed to bolster these findings (Henderson et al., 1994; Okhura et al., 1994; Okhura et al., 1995). However, some observational studies of ERT did not find a cognitive benefit or decreased risk of AD (Cauley et al., 1990; Barrett-Connor and Kritz-Silverstein, 1993; Brenner et al., 1994; Matthews et al., 1999), and neither have some prospective clinical trials (Henderson et al., 2000; Mulnard et al., 2000; Wang et al., 2000).

With these issues in mind, the WHI Memory Study (WHIMS) was conducted. This ancillary study to the WHI found that the risk of probable dementia in patients receiving Prempro was actually increased in postmenopausal women age 65 or older (Shumaker et al., 2003). Additionally, CEE increased the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment combined with AD (Shumaker et al., 2004), and CEE or CEE + MPA decreased performance on a cognitive profile (Espeland et al., 2004). The results from WHIMS differ markedly from prior reports which often consisted of mixed hormone regimens and doses, suggesting that specifically, the CEE + MPA combination may be detrimental.

Implications for WHI and WHIMS: While the WHI and WHIMS studies provide us with valuable information about the risks and benefits of ERT and HRT, the results must be interpreted with caution. Firstly, the studies assessed only very select forms of ERT and HRT, so their results should not be generalized to all forms of hormone replacement. Secondly, these studies were initiated in women who had been postmenopausal for a number of years, which suggests that they might have missed the “window of opportunity” where they could have received the most benefit from treatment. Additionally, many of the women in the study also displayed risk factors for the major outcomes of the study, which could have put them at increased risk for the negative consequences for the use of HRT. While there was no increased mortality, the lack of overall benefit of ERT/HRT justified early termination of the trials, as it was unlikely that prolonged exposure to hormone therapy would benefit the subjects.

While the WHIMS study found negative consequences for women taking ERT or HRT on a number of measures, including an overall cognitive profile, this study did not assess the effects of hormone therapy on specific cognitive domains. Indeed, a recent review of the literature suggests that symptomatic younger women who complain of more specific cognitive impairments associated with menopause may benefit from hormone therapy, while incurring little to no risk from the treatment (Maki, 2005).

References

Adams MR, Kaplan JR, Manuck SB, Kroritnik DR, Parks JS, Wolfe MS, Clarkson TB. 1990. Inhibition of coronary artery atherosclerosis by 17-beta estradiol in ovariectomized monkeys: Lack of an effect of added progesterone. Arteriosclerosis 10:1051-1057.

Albright F, Smith PH, Richardson AM. 1941. Postmenopausal osteoporosis: its clinical features. JAMA 116:2465-2474.

Bain C, Willett W, Hennekens CH, Rosner B, Belanger C, Speizer FE.1981. Use of postmenopausal hormones and risk of myocardial infarction. Circulation 64:42-46.

Baldereschi M, Di Carlo A, Lepore V, Bracco L, Maggi S, Grigoletto F, Scarlato G, Amaducci L. 1998. Estrogen-replacement therapy and Alzheimer's disease in the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Neurology 50:996-1002.

Barrett-Connor E, Kritz-Silverstein D. 1993. Estrogen replacement therapy and cognitive function in older women. JAMA 269:2637-2641.

Beral V, Bull D, Doll R, Peto R, Reeves G; Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. 1997. Breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy: collaborative reanalysis of data from 51 epidemiological studies of 52,705 women with breast cancer and 108,411 women without breast cancer. Lancet 350:1047-1059.

Brenner DE, Kukull WA, Stergachis A, van Belle G, Bowen JD, McCormick WC, Teri L, Larson EB. 1994. Postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy and the risk of Alzheimer's disease: a population-based case-control study. Am J Epidemiol 140:262-7

Bush TL, Barrett-Connor E, Cowan LD, Criqui MH, Wallace RB, Suchindran CM, Tyroler HA, Rifkind BM.. 1987. Cardiovascular mortality and noncontraceptive use of estrogen in women: results from the Lipid Research Clinics Program follow-up study. Circulation 75:1102-1109.

Cann CE, Genant HK, Ettinger B, Gordan GS. 1980. Spinal mineral loss in oophorectomized women: determination by quantitative computed tomography. JAMA 244:2056-2059.

Cauley JA, Cummings SR, Black DM, Mascioli SR, Seeley DG. 1990. Prevalence and determinants of estrogen replacement therapy in elderly women. Am J Obstet Gynecol 163:1438-1444.

Colditz GA, Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, Rosner B, Speizer FE, Hennekens CH. Menopause and the risk of coronary heart disease in women. N Engl J Med 316:1105-1110.

Espeland MA, Rapp SR, Shumaker SA, Brunner R, Manson JE, Sherwin BB, Hsia J, Margolis KL, Hogan PE, Wallace R, Dailey M, Freeman R, Hays J; Women's Health Initiative Memory Study. 2004. Conjugated equine estrogens and global cognitive function in postmenopausal women: Women's Health Initiative Memory Study. JAMA 291:2959-68.

Fillit H, Weinreb H, Cholst I, Luine V, McEwen BS, Amador R, Zabriskie J. 1986. Observations in a preliminary open trial of estradiol therapy for senile dementia-Alzheimer’s Type. Psychoneuroendocrinology 11:337-345.

Gambrell RD Jr, Bagnell CA, Greenblatt RB. 1983. Role of estrogens and progesterone in the etiology and prevention of endometrial cancer: a review. Am J Obstet Gynecol 146:696-707.

Grady D, Herrington D, Bittner V, Blumenthal R, Davidson M, Hlatky M, Hsia J,Hulley SB, Herd A, Khan S, Newby LK, Waters D, Vittinghoff E, Wenger N. 2002. Cardiovascular outcomes during 6.8 years of hormone therapy. Heart and estrogen/progestin replacement study follow-up (HERS II). JAMA 288:49-57.

Grady D, Rubin SM, Petitti DB, Fox CS, Black D, Ettinger B, Ernster VL, Cummings SR. 1992. Hormone therapy to prevent disease and prolong life in postmenopausal women. Ann Intern Med 117:1016-1037.

Greendale GA, Sowers M. 1997. The Menopause Transition. Menopause and Hormone replacement Therapy 26:261-277.

Henderson VW, Paganini-Hill A, Emanuel CD, Dunn MC, Buckwalter JG. 1994. Estrogen replacement therapy in older women. Arch Neurol 51:896-900.

Henderson VW, Paganini-Hill A, Miller BL, Elble RJ, Reyes PF, Shoupe D, McCleary CA, Klein RA, Hake AM, Farlow MR. 2000. Estrogen for Alzheimer's disease in women: randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Neurology 54:295-301.

Herrington DM, Reboussin DM, Brosnihan KB, Sharp PC, Shumaker SA, Snyder TE, Furberg CD, Kowalchuk GJ, Stuckey TD, Rogers WJ, Givens DH, Waters D. 2000. Effects of estrogen replacement on progression of coronary artery atherosclerosis. N Engl J Med 343:522-529.

Honjo H, Ogino Y, Naitoh K, Urabe M, Kitawaki J, Yasuda J, Yamamoto T, Ishihara S, Okada H, Yonezawa T, Hayashi K, Nambara T. 1989. In vivo effects by estrone sulfate on the central nervous system-senile dementia (Alzheimer’s Type). J Steroid Biochem 34:521-525.

Hulley S, Grady D, Bush T, Furberg C, Herrington D, Riggs B, Vittinghoff E.. 1998. Randomized trial of estrogen plus progestin for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease in postmenopausal women. JAMA 280:605-613.

Kawas C, Resnick S, Morrison A, Brookmeyer R, Corrada M, Zonderman A, Bacal C, Lingle DD, Metter E. 1997. A prospective study of estrogen replacement therapy and the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease: the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Neurology 48:1517-21.

Lindsay R, Hart DM, Aitken JM, MacDonald EB, Anderson JB, Clarke AC. 1976. Long-term prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis by oestrogen: evidence for an increased bone mass after delayed onset of oestrogen treatment. Lancet 1:1038-1041.

Lobo R. Absorption and metabolic effects of different types of estrogens and progesterones. Obstet Gynecol Clin Amer 1987.

Rijpkema AH, van der Sanden AA, Ruijis AH. 1990. Effects of postmenopausal estrogen-progesterone therapy on serum lipids and lipoproteins: a review. Maturitas 12:259-285.

Maki PM. 2005. A systematic review of clinical trials of hormone therapy on cognitive function: Effects of age at initiation and progestin use. Ann NY Acad Sci 1052:182-197.

Matthews K, Cauley J, Yaffe K, Zmuda JM. 1999. Estrogen replacement therapy and cognitive decline in older community women. J Am Geriatr Soc 47:518-523.

Nelson HD, Humphrey LL, Nygren P, Teutcsch SM, Allan JD. 2002. Postmenopausal hormone replacement: scientific review. JAMA 288:872-881.

Okhura T, Kunihiro I, Akazawa K, Hamamota M, Yaoi Y, Hagino N. 1994. Evaluation of estrogen treatment in female patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type. Endocr J 41:361-371.

Okhura T, Kunihiro I, Akazawa K, Hamamota M, Yaoi Y, Hagino N. 1995. Long-term estrogen replacement therapy in female patients with dementia of the Alzhemer type: 7 case reports. Dementia 6:99-107.

Rogers J. 1956a. The Menopause. N Engl J Med 254:697-704.

Rogers J. 1956b. The Menopause (concluded). N Engl J Med 254:750-756.

Ross RK, Paganini-Hill A, Mack TM, Arthur M, Henderson BE. 1981. Menopausal oestrogen therapy and protection from death from ischaemic heart disease. Lancet 858-860.

Shumaker SA, Legault C, Rapp SR, Thal L, Wallace RB, Ockene JK, Hendrix SL, Jones BN 3rd, Assaf AR, Jackson RD, Kotchen JM, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Wactawski-Wende J; WHIMS Investigators. 2003. Estrogen plus progestin and the incidence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women: the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 289:2651-62.

Shumaker SA, Legault C, Kuller L, Rapp SR, Thal L, Lane DS, Fillit H, Stefanick ML, Hendrix SL, Lewis CE, Masaki K, Coker LH; Women's Health Initiative Memory Study. 2004. Conjugated equine estrogens and incidence of probable dementia and mild cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women: Women's Health Initiative Memory Study. JAMA 291:2947-58.

Smith DC, Prentice R, Thompson DJ, Herrmann WL. 1975. Association of exogenous estrogen and endometrial carcinoma. N Engl J Med 293:1164-1167.

Stampfer M, Codlitz G. 1992. Hormone therapy to prevent disease and prologn life in postmenopausal women. Ann Intern Med 117:1016-1037.

Steffens DC, Norton MC, Plassman BL, Tschanz JT, Wyse BW, Welsh-Bohmer KA, Anthony JC, Breitner JC. 1999. Enhanced cognitive performance with estrogen use in nondemented community-dwelling older women. 47:1171-5.

Steinberg KK, Thacker SB, Smith SJ, Stroup DF, Zack MM, Flanders WD, Berkelman RL. 1991. A meta-analysis of the effect of estrogen replacement therapy on risk of breast cancer. JAMA 265:1985-1990.

Stumpf P. Estrogen Replacement Therapy: Current Regimens. Baltimore, MD: Williams and Wilkins. in Hormone Replacement Therapy, D.P. Swartz ed. 1992.

Sullivan JM, Vander Zwaag R, Lemp GF, Hughes JP, Maddock V, Kroetz FW, Ramanathan KB, Mirvis DM. 1988. Postmenopausal estrogen use and coronary atherosclerosis. Ann Intern Med 108:358-363.

Tang MX, Jacobs D, Stern Y, Marder K, Schofield P, Gurland B, Andrews H, Mayeux R. 1996. Effect of oestrogen during menopause on risk and age at onset of Alzheimer's disease. Lancet 348:429-32.

Thom MH, White PJ, Williams RM, Sturdee DW, Paterson ME, Wade-Evans T, Studd JW. 1979. Prevention and treatment of endometrial disease in climacteric women receiving estrogen. Lancet 2:455-457.

Wang PN, Liao SQ, Liu RS, Liu CY, Chao HT, Lu SR, Yu HY, Wang SJ, Liu HC. 2000. Effects of estrogen on cognition, mood, and cerebral blood flow in AD: a controlled study. Neurology 54:2061-2066.

Waring SC, Rocca WA, Petersen RC, O’Brien PC, Tangalos EG, Kokmen E. Postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy and risk of AD: a population-based study. Neurology 52:965-970.

Whitehead MI, Townsend PT, Pryse-Davies J, Ryder TA, King RJ. 1981. Effects of estrogen and progestins on the biochemistry and morphology of the postmenopausal endometrium. N Engl J Med 305:1599-1605.

Writing Group for PEPI. 1996. Effects of hormone therapy on bone mineral density: results from the postmenopausal estrogen/progestin interventions (PEPI) trial. JAMA 276:1389-96.

Writing Group for the Women’s Health Initiative Investigators. 2002. Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women. JAMA 288:321-332.

Writing Group for the Women’s Health Initiative Investigators. 2004. Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women. JAMA 291:1701-1712.

Yaffe K, Sawaya G, Lierberburg I, Grady D. 1998. Estrogen therapy in postmenopausal women: effects on cognitive function and dementia. JAMA 279:688-695.

Zandi PP, Carlson MC, Plassman BL, Welsh-Bohmer KA, Mayer LS, Steffens DC, Breitner JCS, for the Cache County Memory Study Investigators. 2002. Hormone replacement therapy and incidence of Alzheimer Disease in older women: the Cache County study. JAMA 288:2123-2129.

Ziel HK, Finkle WD. 1975. Increased risk of endometrial carcinoma among users of conjugated estrogens. N Engl J Med 293:1167-1170.

Holy Shane McGowan, Batman!

2006-03-10T15:38:00.000-05:00

We got Pogues tickets tonite!!! Might be the only chance to see McGowan before 1. he loses his last two teeth in bar fights or 2. he drops dead when his liver finally gives out.

I really hope he punches me, that would be so cool..... maybe I can have a shot at one of his teeth for a souvenier!

The Catholic Church is full of bigoted assholes

2006-03-10T15:27:00.000-05:00

Boston Catholic Charities Halts Adoptions - Yahoo! News

First line of the article says it all

BOSTON - The Boston Archdiocese's Catholic Charities said Friday it would stop providing adoption services because of a state law allowing gays and lesbians to adopt children.

Late night rant-- Who am I?

2006-03-10T00:39:00.000-05:00

What do you think scientists are like? Are we a bunch of aloof ivory-tower eggheads? Do we not care or notice what goes on in the world around us? Are we goofy, endearing nerds with pocket protectors who mumble a lot and trip over our own feet? Do we have great compassion for humanity and work for the advancement of society as a whole? Or are we just in it to make a buck?

I think people get a terrible impression of scientists. Certainly cretins like George Deutsch make a mockery of us, as if scientific knowledge was this vast postmodern melting pot of weak ideas easily supplanted by the next uncredentialed toady fool with a metaphysical ax to grind. I mean come on, who the hell do you think you are, Mr. Scientist?

But popular portrayals aren't much better. Read on...

For instance, recall Ghostbuster's Peter Venkman (played by Bill Murray) who cooks his goofy parapsychological research, goading pretty young college students into believing they have ESP, and presumably coaxing his way into their pants, by implication. Can you imagine the gall of such behavior? Who the hell does that Venkman guy think he is?

Or, on the other end of the spectrum, CSI. Cops these days can do it all! Slap on a nice suit, interview eyewitnesses, collect evidence at the crimescene, take said evidence to the mobile lab, extract 30-year-old DNA from a carpet thread inside of a bleach bottle, throw it on a gel, and image it with one hand... all while sipping a latte and driving to court with the other, to obtain a warrant 3 minutes before the statute of limitations expires then lead a SWAT team into the lying perp's crack house, save the dying hostage, make the bust, and extract the confession just in time to exonerate some poor blind priest on his way to the electric chair for a crime he didn't commit. Science, apparently, is brash, sexy, completely incidental to other endeavors and pathetically easy to conduct by the seat of your pants. Jerry Orbach, you were a troglodyte by comparison.

Or consider your average Intelligent Design Creationist. ID, too, is sexy. ID purports to reveal the ~~mind of God~~ hand of a designer. ID "science" is done by writing popular books that purportedly overturn the godless status quo. ID scientists regularly ~~preach~~ give lectures to the ~~faithful~~ interested at local ~~churches~~ community centers. ID scientists are regularly found testifying in court, brave in the face of the Evil Darwinian Orthodoxy. Who do you think you are, Mr. Darwinist?

This is not reality. If you want to do science, you're in the lab. You're in the lab a lot. Sometimes you forget what the sun looks like. You gotta pay your dues. That means laying your intellect bare for harsh criticism for years on end. Committee members and advisors constantly challenging you. Who the hell do you think you are? What makes you think you can succeed in this field?

A scientist makes a commitment to years of schooling long past what is legally required, and must possess a burning drive to push the envelope of our knowledge. A scientist is not generally reimbursed well, especially during graduate school.

And yes you have to "do it all", but not like it's done on CSI: Miami. Many days you go home reeking of monkey piss, or covered in rat shit and tempera paint (don't ask). All your clothes have grease spots from fixing broken equipment, chemical stains from a spilled reagent here and there, ketchup stains from some disgusting fast food choked down between procedures, or bleach spots from disinfecting the lab.

So with that in mind, I propose the following job description:

Position: Postdoctoral Researcher in Behavioral Neurobiology

Applicant should be able to demonstrate proficiency at the following:
Electrician, mechanic, carpenter, painter, plumber, computer programmer, graphic designer, engineer, janitor, accountant, author, publicist, editor, public relations specialist, communications director, animal trainer, veterinary assistant, surgeon, secretary, manager, and someday (hopefully) CEO.

Those are just the skills that enable you to do your work, which includes basic laboratory techniques, histology and immunocytochemistry, stereological analysis, molecular biology, behavioral analyses, statistical analyses. Chronic exposure to pathogens, carcinogens, and teratogens is a must.

Pay:
Pay is not commensurate with experience. You cannot expect to earn 6 figures in your lifetime. Most likely you will not make $50,000 a year until after you are 30. Before that, in recognition of spending 12 years on higher education, you can expect post-doctoral pay to start at $38,500 with benefits that are worse than what you just had in graduate school.

Applicant must have developed at least one psychological disorder in graduate school, including but not limited to generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, or dysthymia. The applicant must demonstrate that his or her physical health deteriorated in graduate school from lack of exercise and poor diet.

Applicant must be willing to put marriage on hold and live a minimum of 6 hours away from spouse for a period of three years. Visits home will not be more frequent that once a month. If your cats haven't forgotten who you are by the end of the first year, you're going home too much. Applicant must also have demonstrated a willingness to forego time with sick and dying relatives and skip out on funerals when required.

The applicant will be responsible for procuring residence on friends' couches and spare beds until welcome is worn out due to a lack of ability to pay two rents or general disenchantment sets in. During a dry spell, applicant may sleep in lab or on the floor in graduate student offices until somebody complains. Showers are provided adjacent to the animal colony. The applicant may unofficially crash in a physician's on-call room if he or she is able to fool security into granting access. All meals will be consumed in graduate student office, consisting of prepackaged boxed pasta meals or grilled cheese prepared over a portable electric burner using camping utensils. In the event that the burner is unavailable, hot plates from lab can be used. Trips to hospital cafeteria may be made in the event that an extra couple bucks are found. During final year, applicant may solicit funds from parents and move into an Extended Stay America where the air conditioner floods the room, the hot/cold water faucets are reversed, and the bathroom door locks from the outside.

So who am I? I'm tenacious. I can be ground down but never stopped. Repeated setbacks fuel my desire to overcome an obstacle and solve the problem. I am calculating; after dusting myself off, I plan a new approach before trying again. I show up to work every day because ultimately my job gives me a chance to improve lives. It isn't about money but the excitement of discovering something completely new and the prospect of alleviating human suffering. Sure I can withdraw into my work, oblivious to the world around me. But isn't that a good thing? Lives are improved by informed experts who fully immerse themselves in a problem. Does that make me arrogant? Maybe. Any headstrong person who speaks with well-earned authority can labeled "arrogant". Force-of-will is what it takes to succeed in this racket and to foster progress. And that is a good trait to have. Problems only get solved when tackled head-on.

I'm not satisfied with quick non-answers to hard questions. I possess both righteous indignation and humility in the face of ignorance. I reject the idea that religiosity automatically makes someone an expert on anything, especially matters of science. And I just might know what the hell I'm talking about. Who the hell do I think I am, spouting such arrogant, highbrow bullshit?

Back off man. I'm a scientist.

Altruism is Hard-wired

2006-03-03T15:02:00.000-05:00

Now this is an interesting study. It suggests that altruistic inclinations--the compassion and helpfulness that are often cited as the foundations for morality-- are in fact biologically ingrained.

Psychology researcher Felix Warneken performed a series of ordinary tasks in front of toddlers, such as hanging towels with clothespins or stacking books. Sometimes he "struggled" with the tasks; sometimes he deliberately messed up.

Over and over, whether Warneken dropped clothespins or knocked over his books, each of 24 toddlers offered help within seconds — but only if he appeared to need it. Video shows how one overall-clad baby glanced between Warneken's face and the dropped clothespin before quickly crawling over, grabbing the object, pushing up to his feet and eagerly handing back the pin.

Read on...
These behaviors were exhibited without any overt prompting by the experimenter.

Warneken never asked for the help and didn't even say "thank you," so as not to taint the research by training youngsters to expect praise if they helped. After all, altruism means helping with no expectation of anything in return.

And — this is key — the toddlers didn't bother to offer help when he deliberately pulled a book off the stack or threw a pin to the floor, Warneken, of Germany's Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, reports Thursday in the journal Science.

To be altruistic, babies must have the cognitive ability to understand other people's goals plus possess what Warneken calls "pro-social motivation," a desire to be part of their community.

But these behaviors weren't unique to humans; the investigator also performed the study with 3-4 year old chimps and found that they also helped locate a lost object, albeit to a lesser extent.

I find these results fascinating, particularly because we hear the old canard all the time: "you can't have morals without God". These results in infants who are really too young to know anything about religion, and in our chimp cousins, highlight the opposite. People are moral because our biology makes us moral, and we should expect variability in the degree of altruistic and other moral behaviors, plus the occasional amoral outlier like John Wayne Gacy.

Of course I'm not justifying immoral Gacy-like behavior. Rather, I'm suggesting that we should focus our research efforts on modifying behaviors that can be modified, while coming up with strategies to best identify and deal with those whose behavior cannot be safely addressed. Surely this approach is more realistic than simply locking up any misbehaving individuals and potentially turning them into hardened criminals (behavioral modification works both ways, after all), or pretending that any particular religion is a panacea for solving society's ills. An occasional pot user shouldn't be confined with and treated like bankrobbers or pedophiles, and religion isn't going to instill compassion in a person who doesn't have the biological capacity for empathy.

House mulls bill on food label removal - Boston.com

2006-03-03T14:15:00.000-05:00

The bill would stop states from adding warnings that are different from federal rules. States currently add hundreds of extra warnings, indicating the presence of arsenic in water, mercury in fish, alcohol in candy, pesticides in vegetables and more.

So what justification does the repugnican congress have for removing warnings about the dangers of mercury to pregnant women, or the lead content of your kid's candy?

"Consumers across the country deserve a single set of science-based food warning requirements, not the confusing patchwork that we have today," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

But wait, I thought this was the party of state's rights.....

"Food safety has been largely a matter of state law and oversight for well more than a century," the attorneys general wrote.
State and local officials perform about 80 percent of all food safety enforcement in the United States, they said.

I'd wager those state guidelines exist because the federal ones are too vague to begin with, and each state has different priorities for their food: obviously Montana and Washington don't need the same warning labels for salmon. The fish are going to be produced/processed in totally different manners and carry different health-associated risks. And since each state does 80% of the food testing, I am perfectly fine with differing standards because those standards are likely to be more stringent.

The GOP is in the pocket of corporations. They talk out one side of their mouth and vote from the other. So pass the tuna while I still know what's in it. Family values, my ass.

Caught on tape

2006-03-02T01:58:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard yet, Bush was caught on tape. No, not getting his winky whacked by an intern or gay internet prostitute.

A video surfaced of Bush teleconferencing into a meeting between Michael Brown, officials from Louisiana and Mississippi, and scientists from NOAA. A briefing. Warning of what Katrina would do when it made landfall. Of dangers like levees breaking. And the inadequacies of disaster plans like the Superdome.

All of which Bush told the American people he never heard before the hurricane.

Read about it here. Watch the video.

Then ask yourself-- is it really a stretch to lie to the American people about pretenses for war?

Battlestar!

2006-03-01T18:45:00.000-05:00

Michael is right. If you haven't been watching Battlestar Galactica, you're missing out on the best show currently on TV. Not a scifi fan? Don't worry. Neither is Mrs. Evil Monkey, and she's HOOKED. The show takes poignant current events and makes hella cool plots out of them. As Michael says, though, you have to watch it from the beginning. It starts out a little slow in the miniseries but just keeps getting better. By halfway through the first season, it really finds its footing.

It's smart, it's sexy, and it's on Netflix if you want to get caught up. Just keep in mind that Season 2 isn't the entirety of Season 2, only the first half.

Grants awaaaaaay.....

2006-03-01T15:39:00.000-05:00

Ugh, so glad that darned thing is gone. I don't think I could've handled another 17 hour day (minus the 45-minute-each-way-commute) and 4 hours of sleep. On to the next task...

DINOs

2006-03-01T13:12:00.000-05:00

Why Clinton-brand democrats are no different from republicans.

I'll never understand the fascination with Clinton, either those on the "left" who loved his (mostly not very Democrat-friendly) ideas, or those on the right who, 8-odd years later, can't stop obsessing about his penis.

Evolution being taught more in state, study says

2006-03-01T12:31:00.000-05:00

Just found this article. Finally, some good news!

Menopause

2006-02-28T06:30:00.000-05:00

*Sigh* so I guess it's time to grow up and start acting like the expert. Don't you people know that I'm a Toys 'R' Us kid??? A pox upon you, responsibility! From hell's heart, I stab at thee!!!

Inspired by one of my commenters, I will begin a short series on the status of hormone replacement therapy for the treatment of menopausal symptoms. The first segment gives a brief overview of menopause and past treatments for the symptoms associated with menopause, as well as an overview of the shifts in social context for the "change of life". Future installments will address recent findings and their implications for women's health, as well as that all-important question--- is estrogen safe???

Click below for the fun part, replete with sexist ads from the 1960s. Make sure you read the ad text.

The Transition to Menopause

Menopause is defined as the cessation of ovarian function. It occurs at the average age of 50 in women, is accompanied by a decrease in circulating levels of estrogen and progesterone associated with the loss of follicular activity, and, following one full year of amenorrhea the start of menopause is retrospectively designated as after final menses. The transition to menopause, referred to as perimenopause, begins roughly two to eight years earlier and extends one full year past final menses. Cycles may become shorter and levels of follicle stimulating hormone rise to compensate for a decreased number of ovarian follicles. Middle perimenopause is characterized by a transitional period where cycles become shorter and intervals between them increase. Levels of ovarian hormones become erratic and other symptoms such as hot flashes and uterine bleeding may become increasingly common. During late perimenopause-- or the year following the last menstrual cycle-- ovulation no longer occurs and estradiol (E2), the principal circulating estrogen, is no longer produced by follicles. The ovary continues to manufacture testosterone and estrone (E1, which is now the primary circulating estrogen), and the primary source of E2 is the aromatization of testosterone and androstenedione. Progesterone continues to be produced in smaller amounts by the adrenals (Greendale and Sowers, 1997).

History of Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy: Historically, the menopause was generally framed as a positive event for women who, having endured the rigors and burdens of childbearing and menses, had now earned the right to focus on themselves:

After a certain number of years, woman lays aside those functions with which she has been endowed for the perpetuation of the species, and resumes once more that exclusively individual life which has been hers when a child… The evening of her days approaches, and if she has observed the precepts of wisdom, she may look forward to a long and placid period of rest, blessed with health, honored and loved with a purer flame than any which she inspired in the bloom of youth and beauty.

As indicated in the above quote by George Napheys in 1869, in a book entitled The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to the Maiden, Wife, and Mother (Seaman, 2003), the change of life was viewed favorably, as a return to a carefree lifestyle. Menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes were viewed as a natural part of the transition. Treatments for menopausal symptoms had primarily consisted of herbals, and more recently a selection of belladonna, cannabis, or opium. In the 1890’s Merck offered these chemicals along with the flavored powder Ovariin for the treatment of menopausal symptoms and other ovarian ills (Merck, 1899). Aptly named, Ovariin was made by dessicating and pulverizing cow ovaries, and may have been the first substance commercially available for treatment of menopausal symptoms that was derived from animal sources. The first report detailing the use of ovarian extracts to relieve vasomotor symptoms of menopause occurred in 1897 (Speroff, 1999). E1 was isolated in 1929 (Butenandt and von Ziegner, 1930; Doisy et al., 1930), and in 1930 estriol glucuronide, which converts to E2 upon hydrolysis, was isolated from horse urine (Collip, 1930). Emminen, the first replacement therapy to contain conjugated estrogens, was extracted from the urine of pregnant women and became commercially available in 1933. In 1937 progesterone was used to prevent ovulation in rabbits, beginning the hunt for marketable progestins (Speert, 1980). Diethylstilbestrol (DES) was first marketed in 1939 as a far more potent estrogen than Emminen, which could not be made fast enough to keep up with demand. Ayerst Laboratories began marketing Premarin in 1942, which would eventually become the number one form of estrogen replacement therapy in the United States, and the estrogenic component of Prempro, a combination of Premarin and Provera, which eventually became the most widely dispensed drug in the US.

Premarin was five times as expensive as the competing product, which led to an ad campaign that marketed Premarin as an “upscale” therapy (Seaman, 2003). Initial advertisements for this drug, which would eventually become the most prescribed estrogen therapy, showed women in a highly glamorized light, surrounded by handsome men, happy families, and having fun. This campaign was successful, leading Ayerst to initiate an educational program for physicians on menopausal symptoms and therapies. Premarin use skyrocketed in the 1960s partly due to the highly successful “Keep her on Premarin” ad campaign that mixed authoritarianism with sexism, replacing the historical outlook of menopause as a natural transition with one of a deficient state to be treated for the rest of a woman’s life.

Ironically, Premarin was placed on the market one year after reports suggesting that estrogen may cause cervical cancer in animals (Seaman, 2003).

References:
Butenandt A, von Ziegner E., 1930. On the Physiological Effectiveness of Crystallized Female Sex Hormones in the Allen-Doisy Test. Studies on the Female Sex Hormone. J Phys Chem 188:1-10.

Collip JB. 1930. Ovarian stimulating hormone of placenta. Can Med Assoc J 22:215-219.

Doisy EA, Veler CD, Thayer SJ. 1930. Preparation of crystalline ovarian hormone from urine of pregnant women. J Biol Chem 86:499-509.

Greendale GA, Sowers M. 1997. The Menopause Transition. Menopause and Hormone replacement Therapy 26:261-277.

Merck Manual Diagnosis &Therapy. New York: Merck and Co.; 1899.

Seaman B. The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women: Exploding the Estrogen Myth. New York, NY: Hyperion; 2003.

Speert H. Obstetrics and Gynecology in America: A History. Chicago: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; 1980.

Speroff L. Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility. 6th edition. Baltimore, MD: Williams and Wilkins; 1999.

Debunking some health care myths

2006-02-26T12:14:00.000-05:00

Fun With Health Spending | TPMCafe

Interesting blurb.

Dammit

2006-02-26T11:17:00.000-05:00

We're not going to be able to get the ELISA data done and into the grant. Which is unfortunate, because I see that as being the most likely way to demonstrate an effect. However, it may not matter. If what they say is true and a picture is worth 1000 words, I'll have a couple hundred mouse brain sections done tomorrow that I can peruse for photographs.

Grants!!!

2006-02-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

This grant is going to be the death of me! I have three days to finish cranking out preliminary data, plus what we lost due to a co-worker's mistake. ARGH!

World science body slams tougher U.S. visa rules - Yahoo! News

2006-02-23T11:55:00.000-05:00

Yet another example of US ineptitude. How exactly are we to maintain our edge in science if we continue to alienate the best minds?

AAAS meeting

2006-02-21T22:49:00.000-05:00

I just posted some information on Alliance for Science over at Panda's Thumb. Check it out.

Happy Belated Darwin Day

2006-02-13T12:49:00.000-05:00

Tara over at Aetiology brought this to my attention; as a tribute to Darwin's 197th birthday, I'll detail how evolution fits into my research program. I'm not an evolutionary biologist in the sense that I specifically focus on research that illuminates evolutionary mechanisms. Evolution does, however, provide a framework for guiding my experiments and understanding/interpreting the results.

My graduate school project dealt with issues of menopause, hormone replacement, and cognition. Specifically I wanted to know how long-term loss of ovarian hormones, or long-term hormone replacement, impacted performance on tests of learning, memory, and attention. I also wanted to study the neurotransmitter systems affected by chronic hormone loss/replacement. Now obviously this sort of work is difficult to do in women, and for a variety of reasons I won't go into now. Suffice to say that an appropriate animal model needs to be employed if these sorts of experiments are to have appropriate controls.

So who do we turn to? Click below to see.

Our obvious first choice would be our closest cousins the Great Apes. However, apes are not feasible to work with in large numbers; they live almost as long as humans, are expensive to care for, and freakishly strong. Restrictions also prevent invasive research from being conducted on them. So where else can we look?

We start by looking at phylogeny; which extant animals are phylogenically close to us? Barring the apes, the next closest group would be the Old World monkeys. Monkey lineages split from ours more recently than any other group of primate species, but there are two to choose from. It turns out the New World monkeys aren't such a good choice, as these monkeys evolved after South America split from Africa. New World monkeys remained arboreal while Old World monkeys spend at least some of their time on the ground. Recently, Old World monkeys shared the habitats and to some extent the diets of their ape cousins.

It turns out that certain macaque species share numerous features with humans. Macaques have 28 day menstrual cycles that are virtually identical to those of a human female. They also undergo an eerily similar menopause. Their cardiovascular and skeletal systems respond to hormone loss and replacement in ways similar to humans. So from an endocrine standpoint, macaques are a good choice for the sort of research I want to do.

What about the brain? After all, I'm a neuroscientist, so I kinda care about that aspect. It so happens that macaques share a number of similarities in this department as well. They can be taught to perform tests of memory and attention that are directly adapted from tests used in clinical settings. Furthermore, their brains are arranged quite similarly to ours; each cytoarchitectonic subdivision identified in the macaque has a homologous area in the human. These areas have connection patterns that resemble those of humans, and the major neurotransmitters distribute themselves throughout the brains of monkeys in patterns similar to humans.

Ok, I've spent enough time on this for one day. In closing I would like to say thank you, Chuck, for the theory. Common descent helps me to understand why my chosen model works, and is much more satisfying than the untestable, unfalsifiable "they had a common designer, so they look similiar".

Now that, Alanis, is ironic

2006-02-12T18:31:00.000-05:00

This morning, regarding intelligence leaks and treason, Howard Dean refers to VP Cheney as "Aaron Burr".

Incidentally, Cheney shot a long time friend while on a hunting trip.

Coincidence?

Busy busy

2006-02-10T12:50:00.000-05:00

Got my mice, got 2 weeks to collect as much preliminary data as possible because the grant resubmission deadline is March 1! This is gonna be hectic....

Pro-Science, my ass

2006-02-09T10:59:00.000-05:00

Anybody checked the budget numbers past 2007? The CBPP has. Looks like you can count on a 24 billion dollar cut to the NIH, CDC, and other similar agencies between 2007 and 2011. I guess health just isn't a priority.

Neither is education. K-12 and vocational programs get cut 13%. Higher education gets cut 20%.

At that rate, we'll have 100% placement of our science students in 2050. All five of them will get jobs straight out of college.

Oh, but General Science/Space gets a 10 billion dollar boost, you say? I guess it is more important that we go to Mars than we have a competent healthcare system that stands ready to address biological threats, manmade or otherwise. Dollars to donuts that the technology gleaned from sending a human to live on Mars will coincidentally allow us to drill more efficiently for fossil fuels at the bottom of the ocean, or something similarly ridiculous. That's IngSoc for corporate welfare, in case you rely on 1984 references to get through the day. What a shocker. Here's another one: a 29% reduction (4.4 billion) in Energy cuts. That's the money which would be used to wean us from fossil fuels.

No pattern here at all. I don't see how we could possibly be headed for a scientifically illiterate society that is forced to suckle at the crude oil teat and like it, because they don't even know a better way exists.

Good job George, way to keep the proles barefoot and pregnant.

Incidentally, you can count on a 10.3 billion dollar cut to Veteran's medical benefits over the same period. Because this president is a compassionate president.

What a Deutsch

2006-02-07T15:44:00.000-05:00

Doesn't even have a degree.

Edit in:

Since lying is so prevalent in this administration, its about time one of them actually faced repercussions. Even if it is a peon faux-journalist. Ten bucks he gets hired on by Discovery Institute or ends up with his own FoxNews show.

Your Republican Leadership.

2006-02-07T12:29:00.000-05:00

I might be even more incensed today than yesterday. It is bad enough that soldiers are threatened with losing death benefits if they purchase their own body armor (let's forget for a moment that there's STILL a shortage of body armor), but even worse...

Click below

The last time 1st Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook IV saw his body armor, he was lying on a stretcher in Iraq, his arm shattered and covered in blood.

A field medic tied a tourniquet around Rebrook’s right arm to stanch the bleeding from shrapnel wounds. Soldiers yanked off his blood-soaked body armor. He never saw it again.

But last week, Rebrook was forced to pay $700 for that body armor, blown up by a roadside bomb more than a year ago.

He was leaving the Army for good because of his injuries. He turned in his gear at his base in Fort Hood, Texas. He was informed there was no record that the body armor had been stripped from him in battle.

He was told to pay nearly $700 or face not being discharged for weeks, perhaps months.

Rebrook, 25, scrounged up the cash from his Army buddies and returned home to Charleston last Friday.

Read the full story. If that link doesn't work, go to http://www.wvgazette.com and search for "rebrook".

If the notion of an unemployed ex-soldier, permanently disabled in the line of duty, and being forced to pay for his own body armor is repugnant to you, consider donating. The wife and I are foregoing a $50 dinner and a movie night.

This is your Republican-run military. This is how your sons and daughters are treated for putting their lives on the line.

Miffed

2006-02-06T15:25:00.000-05:00

Not at Blogger, although I'm fed up with their random outages. No, I'm miffed at an article from the NYT (link in title). This adminstration has gone way beyond the mere censoring of information and has now engaged in the Orwellian practice of literally rewriting science. We find examples of administrative pressure to spin press releases to favor administration talking points, illegitimate insertion of comments after press releases were submitted (where the researcher in question subsequently disavowed said comments which were attributed to him without his approval or knowledge), and barely veiled threats to government scientists. Most disgusting of all, however...

The Big Bang memo came from Mr. Deutsch, a 24-year-old presidential appointee in the press office at NASA headquarters whose résumé says he was an intern in the "war room" of the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. A 2003 journalism graduate of Texas A&M, he was also the public-affairs officer who sought more control over Dr. Hansen's public statements.

In October 2005, Mr. Deutsch sent an e-mail message to Flint Wild, a NASA contractor working on a set of Web presentations about Einstein for middle-school students. The message said the word "theory" needed to be added after every mention of the Big Bang.

The Big Bang is "not proven fact; it is opinion," Mr. Deutsch wrote, adding, "It is not NASA's place, nor should it be to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator."

Here we have a wet-behind-the-ears former journalism student, appointed by the administration, overriding NASA???? Since when does an arrogant little pipsqueak know better than the seasoned scientists hired to solve these problems? The fact that "War Boy" went to the contractor--the last stage before information is made public--and not the scientists who were consulted on the content speaks volumes (but isn't that always how Intelligent Design supporters do things?)

What is this, Atlas Shrugged?

I've never been so disgusted in my life. I think this might be one of those turning points for me, something that really gets me incensed. This administration is out of control and needs to be stopped. We're maybe two steps away from outright Lysenkoism.

Get on the phone to your congressional representatives and tell them you will not stand for science being batted around like a political shuttlecock.

Human/Animal Hybrids

2006-02-03T19:16:00.000-05:00

Imagine ghastly horrors created by godless scientists.

Picture the twisted minds behind such monstrosities.

Who can guess the nefarious uses for which these creatures are designed? Thanks to the Bush administration, we're safe and secure from these perversions of nature and their maniacal masters. In his State of the Union address, he placed them firmly on the spectrum of moral ills:

Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research, human cloning in all its forms, creating or implanting embryos for experiments, creating human-animal hybrids, and buying, selling or patenting human embryos.

Click below to witness them in all their Lovecraft-ian splendor. But be warned, more than one soul has been torn apart by their horrendous visages.

Misconceptions about Neuroscience

2006-01-31T22:15:00.000-05:00

This post is in response to a request by Chad at Uncertain Principles: what are your least favorite misconceptions about your field? Turns out there are a couple of them, but first the following conversation:

"What is your degree in?"
"Neuroscience"
"Nursing?"
"No, neu-ro-science"
"Neuroscience? Is that, like, the brain?"

Click below for more

I admit that it isn't nice to poke fun at ignorance, and it is not so much that I am bothered by ignorance (maybe it is my fault for not enunciating, plus I'm happy to educate when I can), it is the fact that this particular snippet of conversation plays out word-for-word every darn time.

On to the actual misconceptions:

1. Neuroscience = brain. One of my recent commenters displayed an extreme version of this (although in a cautionary capacity, not ignorance) by noting that I seemed to be suggesting that my site redesign would only focus on cortex. Likewise, there is more to the field of neuroscience than the brain. Your brain can't do much if it is deprived of sensory input (and indeed, goes crazy if completely deprived of stimuli for too long); those signals need to be transduced somehow! Likewise, you need an output pathway to your muscles, and feedback mechanisms to gauge the efficacy of the chosen motor plan. And let's not even mention those other pesky functions controlled by your brainstem so you don't have to think about them....

2. All neuroscientists are reductionists. This just isn't the case. It might have been true before the dregs of logical positivism died a long-overdue death back in 1950 or so, but today a number of philosophical outlooks are given a fair shake.

3. A background in neuroscience means that I'm somehow qualified to diagnose every nervous tic.

4. The "Magic Bullet" Pill Theory. The MBPT is a particularly insidious notion that permeates every lay conversation. Often MBPT is proposed immediately following my response to "Is that, like, the brain". The MBPT proponent simply can't deal with the uncertainty of the future and basically want fen-phen for their noggin (I guess Chad could call this the Uncertainty Principle of neuroscience; the memory capacity of any particular aging brain cannot be known with precision).

5. Neophrenology. This one is somewhat ironic given my training as an anatomist. Phrenology is an old notion that personality traits could be determined on the basis of skull shapes. There is a notion among first year neuro students that all functions can be localized to discrete brain regions, simply because the brain can (apparently) be anatomically parsed into areas based upon patterns of cellular architecture. However, this notion is incorrect, but the rationale is left for a future post.

Where ya been, hoss?

2006-01-27T17:48:00.000-05:00

I've not been posting a lot because my free time got taken up trying to put together a website over at the Alliance for Science.

Go check it out, tell me what you think. It's a little sterile right now, but we've got something much more pleasing to the eye in the works.

In order to expand my html abilities though, I need more practice. And since I find Blogger to be completely and utterly uninspiring, I present to you the hint for my next project.

I have a lot of science content ideas percolating through my noggin, so a few of them will be put down here, but not for long....

More new stuff

2006-01-19T15:39:00.000-05:00

Sweet, my disseration has been bound and is on its way to me. And I just got an office!

The Vatican Gets It

2006-01-19T15:37:00.000-05:00

Just further proof that religion and science can coexist peacefully.

How annoying is this?

2006-01-19T00:12:00.000-05:00

Finally, I got my Ph.D. diploma in the mail. After 8 years of work, it's finally here! Only.... THEY DIDN'T PUT MY FIELD OF SPECIALIZATION ON IT. It seems I'm a Doctor of Philosophy with no particular focus in any particular subject!

Ok, so that's petty on my part. I wonder if I can fit it in my Deskjet....

*insert underwater basketweaving jokes here*

Weird, I got an award

2006-01-05T15:49:00.000-05:00

This strange to me. I'm a Red Hot Blog of the Day. Yay, my first award!

I checked out the RedOrbit website, and it is a nifty science and technology news site. Check it out!

Victory in Dover!!!!

2005-12-20T11:18:00.000-05:00

Go to this link to find the pdf of the decision. It's over 130 pages though, so the word on the extent of the victory will have to wait.

Von Economo Neurons, Intuition, and Phylogeny

2005-12-14T07:55:00.000-05:00

A class of bipolar neurons, known as Von Economo neurons (VEN), are found in layer Vb of human neocortex. VEN morphology is very simple: they have a large apical dendrite as do cortical pyramidal neurons but lack the collection of basal dendrites. They possess the high-volume, elongated cell body that is typical of fast-conducting projection neurons, and preliminary tract-tracing indicates that they are such, although the array of their projections has not been elucidated. Interestingly, VENs are found in a select few cortical areas that receive inputs from numerous brain regions; the fronto-insular cortex (FI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Thus, VEN morphology and anatomical location suggest that these cells are positioned to receive an array of diverse information in parallel and then compress it for speedy processing.

Click below for more...

Figure 2. Location of the frontoinsular cortex (FI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) on coronal brain sections.

VENs may play a role in intuition. The FI and ACC, where VENs are located, are active during social situations; when we experience humor, trust, empathy, guilt, when we engage in deception, or when we must determine another's mental state. All of these scenarios carry a high degree of uncertainty. Intuition allows us to overcome uncertainty, to make quick decisions based upon our prior experiences when we do not have the time to conduct a proper cost-benefit analysis. Intuition is frequently described as the "gut feeling" or "going with your gut", which is especially interesting because the ACC and FI are literally involved in processing the conscious monitoring of visceral activity. VENs are the logical candidates to mediate these processes due to their morphological specifications and anatomical locations.

Perhaps the most intriguing characteristic of VENs is their phylogeny. An analysis of over 30 mammalian species (including monotremes, marsupials, insectivores, micro- and megachiropterans, rodents, carnivores, artiodactyls, and cetaceans) failed to find VENs in any neocortical region examined, including the ACC or its equivalent. In a wide survey of primates, including numerous species of prosimians, both New and Old World monkeys, lesser apes (gibbons), and the great apes (orangs, gorillas, both the common and bonobo chimpanzee, and humans,) VENs were only observed in the great apes.

Figure 3. Primate cladogram detailing the species examined for VENs. Species in red have VENs in the FI. Pongids have VENs in the ACC only. Click on the image for something readable.

VENs were common to both FI and ACC in all Hominidae but were found infrequently in the Pongid (orang) ACC, and were completely absent from the Pongid FI. Of the hominids, humans have the highest absolute numbers of VENs, and the highest percentage of VENs relative to total neurons. Humans and bonobos are similar in that they display a clustered pattern of VEN distribution, while the other apes do not.

Figure 4. Von Economo neurons in layer Vb of the anterior cingulate cortex in human (A), bonobo (B), common chimpanzee (C), gorilla (D), and orangutan (E). In all of these species the VENs display similar morphology and apparent somatic size. Note the clusters of VENs in the through-focus photomontage from the human and in the bonobo, whereas isolated neurons are observed in the three other great apes. (F-H) No VENs are present in the anterior cingulate cortex of the white-handed gibbon (F), Patas monkey (G), or ring-tailed lemur (H). [Bar = 50 µm (A), 80 µm (B-E and H), and 120 µm (F and G).]

Phylogeny

VENs represent a phylogenic specialization of the hominid line, thus they have arisen in the last 12-15 million years. As such, natural selection has had only a short time to refine their functional role, suggesting that they may be particularly susceptible to dysfunction. Perhaps unsurprisingly, VENs have been implicated in autism and may be selectively vulnerable to degeneration in Alzheimer's Disease.

The phylogeny of VENs make sense given their evolutionary context. The great apes are highly social animals that must engage in rapid decision-making to navigate complex social environs. Of the great apes, the most solitary is the orangutan. Similarly, they display the fewest VENs. Humans and bonobos have arguably the most complex social interactions, and display not only high numbers of VENs but also a similar clustered distribution, whereas in the common chimpanzee, gorilla, and orang, VENs are found in isolated arrangements. The evolutionary context also provides a framework for future research into the common origins of intuitive processing in great apes and its neurobiological underpinnings, and the role of VENs in dysfunctional brain states and neurodegenerative diseases.

Bonus Section: Implications for Intelligent Design Creationism

The existence of VENs raises difficult questions for the Intelligent Design Creationism movement. Do VENs suggest common ancestry? The IDC movement is split over whether humans shared a common ancestor with apes, and of course ID itself is consistent with either (or any) possible answer, but provides no actual explanation. If an IDC argues that VENs are the product of common ancestry, how does the IDC distinguish common ancestry from design? Will we finally get an internally consistent set of criteria for distinguishing the two? Somehow I doubt it.

If the IDC argues that they are not a product of common ancestry but indicative of design from a common body plan, what have we gained scientifically? Can we make inquiries into the teleological subtext of common design? Unfortunately no. According to the ID crowd, the identity and motivations of a designer are not subject to investigation. This means that we cannot distinguish between one common designer for all great ape species, individual designers for each species who share common "parts", or--as the commonality between species might also suggest-- A designer for Homo and Pan paniscus, a slightly-less-skilled designer for Pan troglodytes and Gorilla gorilla, and an inept designer for Pongo who pilfered the design from the troglo-and-gorilla designer, perhaps by reverse engineering or sending covert rhesus monkey corporate spies to steal the blueprints...

...except those stupid monkeys only stole the blueprint for the ACC.

So, once again, the ID crowd is at a scientific dead end.

PNAS Vol. 96, Issue 9, 5268-5273, April 27, 1999
Trends Cogn Sci. 2005 Aug;9(8):367-73. Review
J. Chem. Neuroanat. 1999:16, 77-116

Brokeback Blogging

2005-12-09T11:40:00.000-05:00

Last night, Mrs. Evil Monkey and I took advantage of some free passes to an advance screening of Brokeback Mountain, otherwise known as the "gay cowboy movie".

Click below for the rest...
As it turns out, the first 20 minutes of Brokeback Mountain live up to this monniker. Two teenage ranch hands (Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist, Heath Ledger as Ennis Del Mar) find summer work herding sheep all alone in Wyoming, circa 1962. After a few months of caring for the sheep, eating prodigious quantities of canned beans, and getting hammered on cheap whiskey, Ennis also hammers a rather willing Jack in a stark depiction of forbidden teenage man-on-man lust. Afterwards, when Ennis reminds us "..it don't make me no queer", Jack agrees.

Watching the film, it is almost as if director Ang Lee realized that this picture could not escape the gay-cowboy stereotype, and decided to utilize the yield-redirect-control principles of kung fu for which he is more widely known (having acquired much of his directing fame from Flying People, Hidden Wires moreso than Eat, Drink, Man, Woman and his other dramatic films) so as to keep Brokeback from suffering the same "homo-ass-candy-flick" stereotypy as Troy. With the colonoscopy now out of the way, we quickly find that Jack and Ennis are as uncomfortable with their "collision" as the audience, which will set the tone for the rest of the picture.

The rest of the movie details the following twenty five or so years, as Ennis and Jack try to inculcate themselves into rural Wyoming and Texas life, respectively, and establish some semblance of normalcy. They meet women, they marry, they have kids. From here, the movie tends to focus more on Ennis. Far from being a "gay cowboy movie", Brokeback Mountain is also a film about the hardships of a rancher raising a family in a region where money is scarce and the landscape is simultaneously as barren, harsh, and beautiful as an Andrew Wyeth painting. Rent money is hard to come by for a newly married Ennis (whose wife is played by former Dawson's Creek star Michelle Williams), and his family takes up residence in a dingy apartment above a laundromat after trying to make ends meet in an ancient farmhouse shanty. Both parents work, and try to balance their respective demanding low-wage jobs while juggling the kids back and forth. Jack's life is financially much more stable, but his relationship with his wife and her family are similarly unfulfilling.

Ennis and Jack also try to cope with their feelings for each other, going away for long weekends together a couple times per year, often at the monetary and/or emotional expense of their respective families. Their meetings cause problems for each other as well, since neither is comfortable with the all-too-infrequent liasons and knowledge that the other has no place in their "real" lives. And suffer they do, every one of them, which is unfortunate; nobody in this movie can by any stretch of the imagination be characterized as a "bad" person (except perhaps Jack's father-in-law, who gets put in his place during a very satisfying holiday dinner, to the audience's applause).

This film is superbly acted, expertly directed, and a cinematographic masterpiece. There is little dialogue, a la Lost in Translation, and the formula works well here. Heath Ledger outdoes himself, nailing the demeanor and regional dialect of a Wyoming rancher with shocking ease. You completely forget his cornier roles like 10 Things I Hate About You and A Knight's Tale.

The genius of Brokeback is that everyone can relate to some facet of this film, and not because we are ostentatiously beaten about the head with any particular message. There is no earth-rending scene that rips the tears en masse from the audience, although there are copious amounts of sniffles. Romeo and Juliet do not lovingly slay themselves to great fanfare. Rather, Brokeback wears upon the audience much as it wears down the characters; for us, there's precious little energy left to grieve by the end of the film. For them, time passes gradually, day by day, minute my minute, until there is nothing left but the shells of formerly vibrant human beings. People come and go. But Ennis's and Jack's demons never leave because they never let them. The lesson, if there is one, is that we create our own hell by failing to cast off our suffering and just live. Ultimately, Brokeback Mountain is a movie about two ordinary people who make bad decisions, and subsequently hurt themselves in an attempt to minimize the pain they cause others.

They just happen to be gay.

Go see this film.

Fordham Foundation releases assessment of state science standards

2005-12-07T12:37:00.000-05:00

Title link goes to the page. See how your state fares!

First public meeting of the Alliance for Science a success!!!!

2005-12-01T13:28:00.000-05:00

Last night was the first public gathering for the newly formed Alliance for Science. And let me say it was a success! On the agenda: a quick viewing of the DoverC.A.R.E.S. video put out by the folks in Dover, PA, followed by a creationism/evolution seminar. Turn-out was approximately 115 new faces! I took a picture of the registration/book sale table early on:

Click the full page link for photos and more!!!

I also tried to get a shot of the crowd during the talk, unfortunately I could only get the front half of the auditorium and the stage to fit in the frame simultaneously:

So anyway, the talk. We decided to kick off by pulling out the Big Guns; inviting members of the general public to a talk hosted by none other than Dr. Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education. Dr. Scott is a leading proponent for evolution education in public schools. She did a bang-up job informing the attendees about the nature of the Intelligent Design Creationism movement, and dispelling misconceptions about the theory of evolution.

We also had a media crew there shooting video of the talk.

Hopefully, they will be able to get Eugenie's talk up on the Alliance for Science website for public viewing, once we have that up-and-running.

So all and all, a great night for the Alliance for Science. We got new people, we got the message out, and Dr. Scott sold an entire box of her book (one of which I forced her to autograph for me.) Stay tuned for more details on the organization!

Bonus shot: Eugenie in repose.

Public Evolution Seminar in Northern VA

2005-11-28T16:08:00.000-05:00

If you are in the area, stop by. Bring a friend.

The D.C. area Alliance for Science, formerly known as the Message Group, is sponsoring a public meeting on "News from the Front: Creationist Efforts in our Schools and Legislatures" featuring Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, on Wednesday, November 30th from 7 – 9:00 pm at Oakton High School, 2900 Sutton Road, Vienna, VA (the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metro Stop on the Orange Line).

More information at: info@allianceforscience.org

BAM

2005-11-22T00:37:00.000-05:00

This has got to be the best letter to a magazine. Ever.

Sit the fuck down, Paris and Nicky.

Good ID Op-ed in Washington Post

2005-11-18T08:32:00.000-05:00

The post title links to a nice op-ed on Intelligent Design. While Krauthammer's economic policies may sometimes seem pretty silly to this admittedly untrained ear, he laid the smacketh down on the ID crowd in admirable fashion.

In order to justify the farce that intelligent design is science, Kansas had to corrupt the very definition of science, dropping the phrase " natural explanations for what we observe in the world around us," thus unmistakably implying -- by fiat of definition, no less -- that the supernatural is an integral part of science. This is an insult both to religion and science.

This is precisely what we need to see; rational conservatives who have the moxie to say "enough!!!" For too long have both the left and the right (but especially this administration) played politics with science.

Conference Photo-blogging

2005-11-16T16:32:00.000-05:00

Greetings from the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, DC! Quick plug: SfN has a number of resources for the non-scientist. You should check them out. The Brain Facts primer is particularly good; I picked up a copy of this free resource at the meeting. Very slick!

This year is the 35th annual shindig of our organization, and from what I understand our turnout topped 30,000! To get a sense of what 30,000 neuroscientists look like, I took a picture:

Click below to see 'em

Of course that isn't all of them. The two rows you can see are posters RR-1 to RR-65, SS-1 to SS-96, and TT-1 to TT-36. Keep in mind that there are rows A to YY, and any given row has 30-96 posters in it (depending on the layout). Then consider that there are two poster sessions per day, so each position has 2 posters on it per day for 5 days and, well... that's a lot of freakin' presentations! Doesn't even take into account panels, symposia, or slide presentations!

I tried to get a perspective shot so you could see the immensity of the convention center.

All those booths are vendors from different companies (about 1300 this year) peddling their research wares. The poster aisles wrap around the back and sides of the vendors.

I also ran into some old friends and compatriots. For example, there's Lesley, aka "Hooch" who went to my undergrad alma mater and worked in the same lab.

Here's Christa and Joe, a couple of Canadians who regularly imbibe with me (but not this year):

Christa is the one with the sideburns. Ok not really. Canadians aren't that weird. :)

All and all, it was a good meeting. I spent my time learning about transgenic mice since I will be working with them in the very near future. Next year... Atlanta!

Trouble

2005-10-29T01:22:00.000-04:00

Trouble
Oh trouble set me free
I have seen your face
And it's too much too much for me

Trouble
Oh trouble can't you see
You're eating my heart away
And there's nothing much left of me

I've drunk your wine
You have made your world mine
So won't you be fair
So won't you be fair

I don't want no more of you
So won't you be kind to me
Just let me go where
I'll have to go there

Trouble
Oh trouble move away
I have seen your face
and it's too much for me today

Trouble
Oh trouble can't you see
You have made me a wreck
Now won't you leave me in my misery

I've seen your eyes
and I can see death's disguise
Hangin' on me
Hangin' on me

I'm beat, I'm torn
Shattered and tossed and worn
Too shocking to see
Too shocking to see

Trouble
Oh trouble move from me
I have paid my debt
Now won't you leave me in my misery

Trouble
Oh trouble please be kind
I don't want no fight
And I haven't got a lot of time

-Cat Stevens

SchadenFriday

2005-10-28T00:59:00.000-04:00

Got some indictments coming out today. Word on the street is Libby will definitely be indicted, and Rove will remain under investigation for now. I also have my money on one of the external-to-the-White-House indictments being Bolton.

**I know, it can't really be schadenfreude if they brought it on themselves.

IDiot in Dover testifies for Affirmative Action in science class

2005-10-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

Link in the title takes us to a little gem from Dover. We find a witness who claims that ID is fringe science, claims that ID doesn't have any testable theories, and claims students must essentially be recruited in school to the ID way of thought in order for any ID-based research to proceed in the future.

Here's the priceless bit: this loon is a witness called by the ID side. And he actually did use the term "Affirmative Action". Almost makes me sound prescient.

Click below for more...
In a shining example of special pleading, he states:

Why should ID supporters allow the Darwinian establishment to indoctrinate students at the high school level, only to divert some of the brightest to becoming supporters of a mechanistic account of evolution, when by presenting ID at the high school level some of these same students would go on to careers trying to develop ID as a positive research program? If ID is going to succeed as a research program, it will need workers, and these are best recruited at a young age.

If ID is to succeed as a research program, it needs researchers who haven't already come to a predetermined conclusion about the factual nature of ID. It needs researchers who will get off their butts and do some actual lab work, and prove that ID is worth anything. As it stands right now, they're stuck with "wish-in-one-hand, shit-in-the-other, see-which-fills-up-faster" method of truth determination.

We don't teach evolution to kids so that they end up evolution supporters, we teach it so they know how and why evolution is our best scientific explanation to date. We also teach it in hopes that someday, some bright scientist will make a few leaps of logic, conduct some elegant experiments to prove his or her point, leave evolution in the dust, and vastly broaden our understanding of how the world works.

Much like Charles Darwin, who vastly improved our understanding of life by overturning.... Intelligent Design. Darwin succeeded through years of meticulous categorization and observation, not through public school indoctrination. I don't think that is too much to ask for the next generation of scientists. It certainly beats drilling them with vapid details about 200-year-old discredited conjecture.

If human beings were the sums of their possessions....

2005-10-24T11:48:00.000-04:00

I would be reduced to a plastic Target bag of laundry, a much smaller bag of toiletries, a pair of sandals, a jacket, a bottle of castille soap/shampoo, 3 DVDs, and a backpack. This is what I've been carrying around for what feels like forever, and aside from work stuff (laptop, papers, and books), I have apparently achieved some sort of literal Buddhistic detachment from the material world, which is sort of cool(well, almost. I refuse to stop bathing and wearing clean clothes). Unfortunately, the mental detachment part is very slow in coming, and I can't even self-immolate in piles of useless plastic Walmart crap to relieve the pain.

(Translation: How sad is my life?)

What the hell is wrong with Indiana State legislators?

2005-10-05T12:10:00.000-04:00

The title links to a PDF of a bill proposed by the presumably psychotic religiofascist republican state senator Patricia Miller. Apparently marriage would be a requirement for motherhood, with penalties for unmarried women who become pregnant by means other than intercourse, which means "unauthorized reproduction" would be a class B misdemeanor. Those seeking to use artificial means would have to apply for a "gestational certificate". Only married people will be eligible for said certificate.

Interestingly, the bill only targets women; unmarried fathers aren't beholden to the same standards. Perhaps the sponsor has a problem with lesbians who wish to become pregnant? I speculate that she is stupid enough to also support restricting access to birth control.

Whatever. All I know is I am dumber for having read that bill. I thought dem der evul libruls were supposed to be the ones proposing this Brave New World shit.

Like the new layout?

2005-09-29T18:45:00.000-04:00

I do. Less cramped, better graphics. Spiffy!

Banned Books!

2005-09-29T14:14:00.000-04:00

The title links to the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-2000, according to the American Library Association. How many have you read?

5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
55. Cujo by Stephen King
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William
84. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
85. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

I'm fairly disappointed in myself. I've only read 15% of the list, and most of it during childhood. I must give props to my parents for actually encouraging me to read some of them!

So what's a disseration like? Part III

2005-09-26T16:57:00.000-04:00

So now you know the basic format and requirements, and you're familiar with my committee. I guess it's time to discuss the actual day. It began with the public seminar, which took place at 1pm. About 20-odd people showed up, which wasn't bad considering it was a Friday afternoon in August.

More in Extended....

For starters, I choked on the presentation. Big time. One of my worst in a while. I have General Anxiety Disorder, and I don't seem able to control it too well when I'm in a situation where the potential negative outcome is considerably worse than the potential positive outcome. For instance, I could rattle the talk off quite well for a job interview (which I got), because the worst case scenario was just that I had to look for another job. Here, I didn't do well because the worst case scenario (finding a new field and restructuring my career after wasting 8 years of my life) was much worse than the potential payoff (being done with graduate school and looking forward to writing grants), and my mind started racing to the point that I couldn't pick out the words I had planned.

Thankfully, the presentation quality wasn't really the focus. I've presented at conferences and won awards for it before, plus in the past my program director has given his stamp of approval on my abilities, so it's not like it was too big of a big deal. More of a crushing blow to my fragile ego than anything.

Moving on to the next part, the private defense. This is where you and your committee go off to a room and they grill you for a few hours. My committee, being very business-like, does not see the value in rehashing old, basic material that could have been covered in the Prelim exam (which, for the lay people, is essentially similar, and occurred in 2000. It is an exam where you propose a thesis project and then defend it orally to your committee, and where they also test you on your basic knowledge as relevant to points in the thesis proposal). Most general knowledge is assumed covered in the preliminary and qualifying exams, so you won't get questions like "Can you tell me the steps in the synthesis of acetylcholine", but questions more like "Do you know patterns of nicotinic receptor expression in the cortical areas you studied" as a setup question for something like "Now tell me the implications for your results, for instance how does/might the pattern of nicotinic receptor expression change with estrogen loss or replacement, and how would you expect cognition to be affected? Can you design an experiment to examine this?"

We went around the table twice, with everybody asking me a block of questions; Montag, Nadirius, Pepto-Bismol, Pizza, and Volvo. Montag wanted to know why I didn't pursue the effect I found in my first study. I didn't for practical reasons, which isn't really the answer he was looking for, so the conversation switched to more theoretical questions on the mechanisms underlying the effect I saw, and what I could've done to further explore it. He also had concerns about the statistical analyses I used, which I don't necessarily view as valid criticism due to the design of the study. Nevertheless, he made interesting points. Nadirius didn't really have too many concerns, his were primarily centered around places where I wasn't clear in the written dissertation. Pepto-Bismol grilled me on my methodology, and pointed me towards things I could do in the future as potential controls. Pizza and Volvo focused a lot on pharmacology of the systems I studied and potential studies.

All in all, it was a very odd experience. I expected a lot of nitpicking at details and pointless arguments, with a dash of prospective studies. Maybe some candles, leg irons, creepy Benedictine monks chanting from the dark corners of the room, Patrick Stewart dressed as a druid announcing "Now for the final ordeal.... the paddling of the swollen ass!" Instead it was very collegial. I'm glad it is over, but even moreso I'm glad my committee rocked.

This concludes my dissertation story. I can provide more info if anybody is interested (as if anybody reads this blog besides the scripts that automatically fill my comments with loan offers everytime I post something new).

Gearing back up...

2005-09-24T10:21:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to get my life in order so maybe I can write something of interest (or something, period). More to follow next week...

Kiss your National Parks goodbye

2005-08-28T03:50:00.000-04:00

Check the link in the title of this one. The mission of the National Parks is about to be changed.

They are changing the whole nature of who we are and what we have been," said J.T. Reynolds, superintendent of Death Valley National Park. "I hope the public understands that this is a threat to their heritage. It threatens the past, the present and the future. It's painful to see this."

The potential changes would allow cellphone towers and low-flying tour planes and would liberalize rules that prohibited mining, according to Bill Wade, former superintendent at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

Larry Whalon, chief of resource management at Mojave National Preserve, said the changes would take away managers' ability to use laws such as the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act to oppose new developments in parks.

Additionally, the mission changes seek to remove references to evolution.

Who is dying for America again?

2005-08-26T04:10:00.000-04:00

Those neocons who try to paint all liberals as anti-war traitors and crybabies might enjoy a nice plate of crow for breakfast today.

McCain joins Bush in support of Affirmative Action

2005-08-25T12:56:00.000-04:00

This story details Senator McCain's stances on a number of issues. We find that he follows the current wingnut trend of hypocritically supporting Affirmative Action:

McCain told the Star that, like Bush, he believes "all points of view" should be available to students studying the origins of mankind.

The theory of intelligent design says life is too complex to have developed through evolution, and that a higher power must have had a hand in guiding it.

More in Extended Entry.

I guess McCain missed the part where Intelligent Design isn't actually science. Scientific theories provide a mechanistic explanation for a phenomenon, not throwing your hands in the air and proclaiming "I can't explain this, so Goddidit!" If it makes no predictions, cannot be falsified, and cannot be tested, then it just doesn't count as a scientific theory. Even if ID could do these things, their experimental track record is so pathetic compared to evolution (for which literally hundreds of thousands of experiments have been performed) that one could only consider this to be another example of Neocon social promotion. "Teach all points of view", when some of the points of view are clearly of inferior quality, starts to sound suspiciously like the typical wingnut mischaracterization of Affirmative Action.

I wonder if he also supports the poorly titled Student & Faculty Academic Freedom bill, which requires "alternative viewpoints" to be taught in an effort to "balance out" the "liberal bias" among college professors? Is this a bona fide quota system in the works???? It crossed my mind that the so-called liberal bias may exist because people who get paid to think come to the conclusion that some positions embraced by so-called conservatives are intellectually bankrupt.

Remember folks, it's Evil Affirmative Action when those filthy liberals do it. If rich, white, racist, sexist, fascist theocon freaks do it, it's good science. McCain clearly has chosen to pander to that demographic in his bid for the 2008 nomination. Moderate, rational Republicans out there, the true conservatives, I implore you to stand up for reason and get your party out of the Dark Ages before we go back to leeches and bloodletting as treatments for haemophelia.

For the record, I have no beef with Affirmative Action, just the "quota system" lie that the Rush Limbaugh-types perpetuate, and the blatant hypocrisy of the theocons. Rage, rage against the lying of the Right!

So what's a dissertation like? Part II- the committee

2005-08-24T18:10:00.000-04:00

Our program requires a committee to be composed of a minimum of five members; your advisor, and four other faculty, one of which must be from outside your department.

See the Details in the Extended Entry

My dissertation dealt with the effects of estrogen therapy on two neurotransmitter systems in the cortex of menopausal monkeys. It has relevance to the recent controversies surrounding hormone replacement in women. Accordingly, my committee was chosen with regard to their specialties, so they could properly analyze my abilities and the quality of the work.

Dissertation advisor: Peggy Sue Volvo, Ph.D., Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology
Dr. Volvo's research program focuses on the cognitive and neurobiological changes that accompany menopause. Not surprisingly, my advisor's expertise is directly relevant to my own. Duh.

Committee Chair: Guy Montag, Ph.D., Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Dr. Montag was chosen due to his extensive experience chairing committees, and relevance of his research program. He studies the effects of growth factors on aging brains in mice, and as such is familiar with the functions of the brain regions I examined, the role of gonadal hormones in neuron survival, and animal behavior in general.

Marcus Nadirius, Ph.D., Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Dr. Nadirius investigates the neural mechanisms underlying substance abuse. He is one of the premier researchers in his field with an extensive knowledge of pharmacology and monkey behavior, and as such is qualified to assess the implications of my work on cognitive performance. He is also familiar with the dopaminergic system, one of the neurotransmitters examined in my studies.

Cokie Pepto-Bismol, Ph.D., Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy
A collaborator of Dr. Montag, Dr. Pepto-Bismol's work focuses on growth factors responsible for changes in cortex and hippocampus that occur with age, the effects of caloric restriction on brain aging, and is qualified to review my work on purely technical grounds if nothing else; like me, she uses sterological principles in her neuroanatomical analyses.

Raphael Pizza, M.D., Anesthesiology
Dr. Pizza has his own research program (until last year when he took over as department chair) that investigates the effects of sex hormones on analgesic responses. For those of you that don't know, response to nociceptive stimuli varies greatly between the sexes. One focus of his work is to study the effects of estrogen on cholinergic pharmacology, the other neurotransmitter system investigated in my dissertation. He also assists Dr. Nadirius and Dr. Volvo in their research by overseeing anesthetization of subjects for non-invasive MRI and PET scans.

Potential conflict of interest--- Professional ethics demand that I be forthcoming about the fact that Dr. Volvo and Dr. Pizza are married. This in no way affected the integrity of my committee or dissertation

So what's a dissertation like? The Big Day Part I

2005-08-24T17:47:00.000-04:00

I've had a number of people ask me to spin a yarn or two about what the "big day" is like.

More in Extended Entry.

The format of the day varies by department and/or school, but ours goes like this: 50 minute oral presentation given to the public (which usually means just people in your department, since nobody else cares. About 20 people showed up to mine on a summer Friday afternoon, which isn't bad), summarizing why you did the work, the results, and the interpretations. A short question/answer session, then you get carted off by your committee to a small room where they bend you over and take turns giving your butt paper cuts with pages of your dissertation. And that's what they do if they liked it. Kidding!

Following that, they all sign off on the dissertation if they find it acceptable. Some committee members may request that you do minor revisions, and leave it up to your advisor to oversee said revisions. Major alterations may require that the committee not sign off until the changes have been passed around to everyone again.

Two points: If the committee, the graduate school, and your advisor have all done their jobs correctly, and you show up with a pulse, you are going to pass. It is a foregone conclusion. There are ample opportunities to fix any problems that may occur before the big day, and everyone knows it. Secondly, if your dissertation is done right, it is not a confrontation. It is a roundtable discussion between experts, of whom you are the most knowledgeable (even moreso than your mentor, since you have done all the benchwork). The committee's responsibility is therefore to learn as much as they can from you by assessing the breadth and depth of your knowledge in your area of expertise, and your ability to apply it to hypothetical situations and future directions. Of course this is not painless, but it should be fair.

Excuse me....

2005-08-19T17:08:00.000-04:00

... that's Dr. Evil Monkey to you.

Just over 24 hours to go...

2005-08-18T11:31:00.000-04:00

EEEEEEK!