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(Reblogged from explore-blog)
A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.
Brain Activation in Motor Sequence Learning Is Related to the Level of Native Cortical Excitability
Cortical excitability may be subject to changes through training and learning. Motor training can increase cortical excitability in motor cortex, and facilitation of motor cortical excitability has been shown to be positively correlated with improvements in performance in simple motor tasks. Thus cortical excitability may tentatively be considered as a marker of learning and use-dependent plasticity. Previous studies focused on changes in cortical excitability brought about by learning processes, however, the relation between native levels of cortical excitability on the one hand and brain activation and behavioral parameters on the other is as yet unknown. In the present study we investigated the role of differential native motor cortical excitability for learning a motor sequencing task with regard to post-training changes in excitability, behavioral performance and involvement of brain regions. Our motor task required our participants to reproduce and improvise over a pre-learned motor sequence. Over both task conditions, participants with low cortical excitability (CElo) showed significantly higher BOLD activation in task-relevant brain regions than participants with high cortical excitability (CEhi). In contrast, CElo and CEhi groups did not exhibit differences in percentage of correct responses and improvisation level. Moreover, cortical excitability did not change significantly after learning and training in either group, with the exception of a significant decrease in facilitatory excitability in the CEhi group. The present data suggest that the native, unmanipulated level of cortical excitability is related to brain activation intensity, but not to performance quality. The higher BOLD mean signal intensity during the motor task might reflect a compensatory mechanism in CElo participants.
“Se tens um coração de ferro, bom proveito. O meu, fizeram-no de carne, e sangra todo dia”.
José Saramago
MAPPING THE BRAIN:
Non-Invasive Mapping Helps to Localize Language Centers Before Brain Surgery
http://www.newswise.com/articles/non-invasive-mapping-helps-to-localize-language-centers-before-brain-surgery
Image 1 (Elsevier) : Fig. 3. Example of presurgical fMRI mapping. The fMRI measurement allowed to identify the two principal language areas, both in the left hemisphere: the Broca’s area and the Wernicke’s area. The Wernicke’s area is very close to the tumor, indicated in the picture by the black contour.
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(Reblogged from explore-blog)
There are so many people who don’t know what they want. And I think that, in this world, that’s the only thing you have to know — exactly what you want.
In this 1997 interview, iconic painter Agnes Martin, born 101 years ago today, echoes the importance of finding your purpose and doing what you love. (via explore-blog)
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(Reblogged from explore-blog)
I have no dress except the one I wear every day. If you are going to be kind enough to give me one, please let it be practical and dark so that I can put it on afterwards to go to the laboratory.
What Marie Curie told a family friend who offered to buy her a wedding dress. Respect. (via explore-blog)
Neuroscience: New Autism-Related Gene Variants Discovered
Genetics researchers have identified 25 additional copy number variations (CNVs)—missing or duplicated stretches of DNA—that occur in some patients with autism. These CNVs, say the researchers, are “high impact”: although individually rare, each has a strong effect in raising an individual’s risk…
New Autism-Related Gene Variants Discovered
The many maps of the brain
http://www.ntnu.edu/news/2012-news/mental-maps
Photo: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k9pcZkVuAoI/R1S1lFYoMGI/AAAAAAAAAxI/4wRb5mPj7bM/s1600-R/2036545593_55a0e7d659_o.jpg
