Mapping out the brain may allow for memories of things that never happened
Q. It’s the stuff of science fiction: Scientists conduct brain operations that implant a memory of something that never happened. What’s the true story here? A. The actors were a team at the French National Center for Scientific Research, the brains those of five mice, reports Teal Burrell in “Discover” magazine. First, the researchers monitored the brain of each mouse as it wandered in a large, open arena, noting the “place cells” that lit up. Later, when the mouse slept, “its place cells lit up again as the brain replayed the memory of roaming the chamber. (It’s believed the sleeping brain rehashes waking experiences to create long-term memories.)”
Then, when a place cell denoting one particular spot lit up, researchers simultaneously stimulated one of the brain’s pleasure centers, connecting that spot to a reward like a chunk of cheese. Outcome: Upon awakening and reentering the arena, the mouse headed straight for the stimulated spot (“Nature Neuroscience”).
Scientists think that during sleep, replay memories are malleable, perhaps providing a way to treat anxiety disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder. But, project co-director Karim Benchenane cautions, “reversing bad memories is trickier than creating positive ones.” Q. When it comes to idiomatic geography, what’s going on when “hell freezes over”? And there’s more to come. A. That’s Hell, Michigan, where the average January temperature is 17 degrees F., reports “Mental Floss” magazine. Supposedly, its name goes back to the 1830s, when local wives would lament their husbands visiting a nearby moonshiner, saying the men had “gone to hell.”
Ask residents of Setenil de las Bodegas, Spain, whether they “live under a rock” and most likely they’d answer “yes.” Rooted in a river gorge, part of the town was built into mountain caves, thus “turning a large rock overhang into a readymade roof.”
With their heads at times literally “in the clouds” are inhabitants of El Alto, Bolivia, a city of one million sitting at 13,650 feet, nearly three times as high as Denver. It’s “like dropping San Jose, California, on top of the Grand Tetons.”
And for those who would embrace “the wild goose chase,” there’s no better place than in Canada’s Dewey Soper Migratory Bird Sanctuary, the planet’s largest goose sanctuary and home to about 30 percent of Canada’s breeding geese. But be careful about a literal goose chase, says the magazine. “Geese can be vicious! Q. Jeopardy fans, you’re no doubt adept at providing questions for given answers. How about these? a. insects as a favorite food b. cats sent into microgravity c. feral rabbits of Japan d. fungus as a symbiotic partner e. horse racing that scored her a first with this sports magazine. A. For a. above, the question is “What does an entomophagist like to eat?” (from “Mental Floss” magazine as reported by Lucas Adams)
b. “In 1947, the U.S. Air Force did what with cats?” By observing cats in space, it hoped to understand how astronauts would also move in zero gravity.
c. “Okunoshima, a small island in Japan, is infested with hundreds of what?”
d. “Woodpeckers share a symbiotic relationship with what?” According to the magazine, “The fungi help soften the wood and make hole-boring easier for the woodpeckers. Meanwhile, the birds spread the fungi to new trees.”
e. “Robyn Smith was the first woman to be featured on the cover of ‘Sports Illustrated.’ What did she compete in?” Interestingly, horse-racing Smith was also Fred Astaire’s wife.