alanhu's blog

Parkinson’s Disease is a disorder that affects the central nervous system. Signs and symptoms include tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia, and akinesia. There are reasons to suspect that certain signs and symptoms come from the medication that are being consumed to help with PD. Medication such as Levodopa, an antiparkinsonian medication. An experiment was conducted to see how people with PD would reacts to commands when they are on Levodopa or not. Results showed that PD volunteers, who were introduced to the drug or not had a lower false alarm rates on the high reward. The premise of the experiment was to see the reaction rate of the volunteers with or without the drug. Even if the volunteer wanted to move faster their bodies cannot and there was a difference between the volunteers taking and not taking the drug. The results of the study can be used to design new drugs that can improve motor initiations. Now we know that the current drugs are not allowing people with PD to move fast enough. 

Researchers tested a hypothesis that an inflammation in a chemical pathway would cause schizophrenia. Researchers targets tryptophan, which is a precursor for the development of kynurenic acid. Therefore, it blocks a key glutamate receptor in the brain. What was found was that  the astrocytes were providing nutrients to neurons with elevated of kynurenic acid. The elevated levels of kynurenic acid causes inflammation which is a major part of schizophrenic symptoms.

Researches had found neurons in the amygdala which are known as “stimulation neurons”. The stimulation neurons allows animals to stimulate and predict decision making processes of others. Researchers hypothesized that the dysfunction of the neurons would lead to a disrupted social cognition. Meaning that people with autism would have likely have less active neurons. While people with overactive neurons would have social anxiety. With this knowledge, researchers have a more specific direction for studying how the stimulation of neurons have an effect on people.

Researches had found that there are neurons that mirror emotions and pain experienced by others in the anterior cingulate cortex. The cingulate cortex contains mirror neurons which allows us to feel pain while seeing someone else in pain. Researchers tested this by making rats watch other rats being put under an unpleasant stimulus. When the cingulate cortex was looked at, researchers found that the observing rates had activated the same neurons as the rats who are receiving the unpleasant stimulus. Rats tend to freeze when they are in fear and a way to avoid being detected by predators. When researchers injected a drug that inhibited the activity of the cingulate cortex, it was found that the rats no long froze when they saw other rats receiving an unpleasant stimulus.

Researchers found a connection between the hormone noradrenaline and perception of images. It was found that people with higher levels of noradrenaline in their systems were able to discriminate low quality images better. What the researchers attempted to figure out was whether if noradrenaline and an effect on sensory perception and if noradrenaline improved perception of images. Noradrenaline plays a role in the late processing of the cerebral cortex. Therefore, it would determine whether the image would be brought back into the person’s memory. Typically, noradrenaline is expressed during arousal but there are more functions to the neurotransmitter that was found.

Researchers found a connection between the hormone noradrenaline and perception of images. It was found that people with higher levels of noradrenaline in their systems were able to discriminate low quality images better. What the researchers attempted to figure out was whether if noradrenaline and an effect on sensory perception and if noradrenaline improved perception of images. Noradrenaline plays a role in the late processing of the cerebral cortex. Therefore, it would determine whether the image would be brought back into the person’s memory. Typically, noradrenaline is expressed during arousal but there are more functions to the neurotransmitter that was found.

Cyclohexene was made through the dehydration synthesis of cyclohexanol, resulting in a percent yield of 34.88%. The identity of cyclohexene was confirmed using IR spectrometry. The peak at 2926.14 [1/cm] is the Csp3-H stretch. The peak at 3022.58 [1/cm] is the Csp2-H stretch. Gas chromatography was used to show the purity of the compound. There was only one line at 0.738, during the run. If there were more lines being produced that would mean there were more compounds in the solution. Since there was only one line, there was only one compound. When reacting bromine with cyclohexanes the solution turned orange after the first drop. Then after a few more drops the solution turned reddish-brownish. When reacting bromine with cyclohexene there was no change after many drops, the solution remained clear. When reacting potassium permanganate with cyclohexane there were two layers with cyclohexane on top.

The coverings of the spermatic cord include the external spermatic fascia, cremaster muscle, and internal spermatic fascia. The coverings are originally part of the abdominal wall. The external spermatic fascia is part of the external abdominal oblique and contains the dartos muscle. The dartos muscle is a layer of smooth muscle and is responsible for the wrinkling of the scrotal skin. The cremaster muscle is part of the internal abdominal oblique. The role of the cremaster muscle is to pull the scrotum in towards the body when it is cold. The body heat would ensure that the testes are at the right temperature for sperm production. When it is too warm the cremaster muscle would relax and the scrotum would be further from the body. The internal spermatic fascia is part of the transversalis fascia.