ucsdhealthsciences:

A micrograph by Thomas Deerinck of the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at UC San Diego reveals the organization of stained glial cells (cyan), neurofilaments (green) and DNA (yellow) in a section of rat hippocampus.
Remembering why we’re so alikeIn 1859, not long before Charles Darwin would publish his seminal On the Origin of Species, the renowned British comparative anatomist and paleontologist Sir Richard Owen published a controversial work of his own – an essay contending that humans should be reclassified as distinct and separate from other primates.Owen was among the scientific greats of his day, a hugely influential figure who was, among other feats, the first to recognize that the fossilized remains being discovered around the world represented a distinct group of prehistoric animals he dubbed “Dinosauria.”In other words, they weren’t just old, dead reptiles.But Owen proved to be wrong-headed about other things, most notably his stubborn opposition to Darwin’s theories about evolution and human origins. In his 1859 paper, Owen argued that modern humans represented a singular species based, in part, upon three ostensibly unique neuroanatomical differences in brain structure with nonhuman primates. In a paper published online this week in PNAS, Larry R. Squire, PhD, professor in the departments of neurosciences, psychiatry and psychology at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and Veteran Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, and Robert E. Clark, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry, recount Owen’s misthinking and go on to explain how memory systems involving the hippocampus are quite similar in form and function in rodents, monkeys and humans.I won’t go into great detail here about Squire’s and Clark’s observations. They tell a great story, including a brief recounting of patient H.M., who suffered from profound amnesia. Their basic point: There are multiple memory systems among animals, but their differences also highlight their similarities. Rodents, monkeys and other non-humans think a lot like us. As for Sir Richard, he met up with Thomas Henry Huxley, one of Darwin’s most ardent advocates, a few years later in a famed debate about evolution in general and his notions of brain structure in particular. This debate is not to be confused with Huxley’s 1860 rhetorical romp with the redoubtable Bishop Wilberforce on the merits of evolutionary theory. But like that debate, Huxley easily rebutted all of Owen’s assertions, noting that his three criteria for human uniqueness (one being the existence of a brain region called the hippocampus minor) were found in all primate species. Indeed, in some species the size of the hippocampus minor was larger than in humans. After Owen’s death in 1892, Huxley reviewed his work, perhaps ungraciously concluding that “hardly any of these speculations and determinations have stood the test of investigation, or, indeed, that any of them were ever widely accepted.”To be fair, Owen did leave a distinguished scientific legacy, not least of which was the founding of the magnificent British Museum of Natural History. It’s just that in terms of brain anatomy and memory, his ruminations are perhaps better forgotten.

il y a 2 jours · 1786 #can't stop reblogging this

… I’m dying from fear. Last exam of the year… and I’m terrified by the questions we could have. Especially those who ask you to think about a research subject, create the techniques for the experimentations, and find money to finance your research.

So terrified, I had to take some pills to calm this f*cking anxiety. Still don’t know if it was a good idea… I hope I won’t fall asleep during this session XD

Seems like I’m playing with my life everytime I have an exam.

il y a 2 jours

il y a 3 jours · 6166

Afficher davantage

il y a 3 jours #personal #i'm not the girl you think i am

il y a 3 jours · 13

il y a 3 jours · 84214

il y a 3 jours · 70686

il y a 4 jours · 243

il y a 4 jours · 2102

il y a 4 jours · 7665

il y a 5 jours · 496

A.R.G.H

Those courses are driving me crazy!! I HATE genetic engineering…

No, I hate HOW they teach it to us and their evaluations.

I’ll wake up in 2 hours, still awake… 6 hours before exams.

I still hesitate to keep reading or to sleep.

I’m tired and unable to speak/write properly in any language…

J’EN AI MAAAAAAARE !!!! T____T Ca rentre plus dans mon crâne ;__; j’ai l’impression d’être bête je comprends rien aux questions de Outils Génétiques Bactériens. Comment tu veux que je repère ta saleté de site d’initiation sur cinq lignes de code ? Je sais même pas repérer la TATA box steuplait u.u Et puis les phages… alors ceux là ils sont marrants ! Ouais ils présentent une banque de protéines à leur surface… punaise ça va m’aider à vivre ça ! ET APRES ?! On fait QUOI ?!

…

Told you: it drives me crazy.

il y a 6 jours

il y a 6 jours · 1240