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02.28.2013

rat brain telepathy

One rat brain can control the decisions of another using a brain-to-brain interface. The brain activity of one rat is encoded and then transmitted to the matching area of another. The rat receiving the signal will usually perform in the same manner. Ed Yong describes the intercontinental telepathy in Nature News:

The brains of two rats on different continents have been made to act in tandem. When the first, in Brazil, uses its whiskers to choose between two stimuli, an implant records its brain activity and signals to a similar device in the brain of a rat in the United States. The US rat then usually makes the same choice on the same task.

Miguel Nicolelis, a neuroscientist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, says that this system allows one rat to use the senses of another, incorporating information from its far-away partner into its own representation of the world. “It’s not telepathy. It’s not the Borg,” he says. “But we created a new central nervous system made of two brains.”

The original research is reported in Scientific Reports.

02.27.2013

sobering up with nanoparticles

In keeping with today’s theme of alcohol-related science (see today’s earlier post), Popular Science recently had a write-up on using enzymes encapsulated in nanoparticles to help mice sober up after alcohol consumption. From PopSci:

Led by Yunfeng Lu, a chemical and biomolecular engineering professor at UCLA, researchers injected mice with three enzymes related to the breakdown of sugars, and after this worked, they tried it with two enzymes related to the breakdown of alcohol, alcohol oxidase (AOx) and catalase. They wanted to test the enzymes as both an intoxication preventive and a treatment.

When mice were fed a diet of alcohol and the nano-capsule at the same time, their blood alcohol concentrations were greatly reduced within 30-minute increments, compared to mice that were fed just alcohol or alcohol plus one of the enzymes. The team also tested it on drunk mice, and found the treatment greatly lowered yet another enzyme, alanine transaminase, which is a biomarker for liver damage.

For the original research published in Nature Nanotechnology click here.

02.27.2013

drunk on alcohol and caffeine

How does mixing a caffeinated drinks like coffee or cola with alcohol change your level of drunkeness?

This month’s Scicurious column on Scientific American examines the interaction between caffeine and alcohol when we’re drinking. As you know alcohol is a depressant and caffeine is a stimulant. Does the combination of the two cancel each other out? Or is there a more complex interaction. An excerpt:

Consuming alcohol results in one set of effects, and consuming caffeine results in a completely different set of effects. When used in moderation, both alcohol and caffeine consumed alone can have positive outcomes. Despite this, most of us have experienced very negative consequences from consuming too much of either beverage. What about alcohol and caffeine together? When alcohol and caffeine are combined, the effects and ultimate results become much more complicated.

Alcohol drinkers who also consume caffeine feel awake, talkative, and stimulated for a much longer period of time compared to when they drink alcohol alone. However, the added caffeine does not make you less drunk or less likely to go home with a grenade. Furthermore, the sedation that always accompanies drinking alcohol is often muted, or experienced much later when caffeine is in the picture.

Click the link for much, much more.