Why do people reject science Heres why

post from Top stories on 13 November 2011 11:26:38 PM. © Top stories

Why do people distrust science? Why do some of us reject consensus on a whole range of scientific findings? As Professor Stephan Lewandowsky explains, it often comes down to the way we look at the world.

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Can alcoholic parents put their kids at risk for
memory problems

post from The Quantum Lobe Chronicles on 13 November 2011 11:16:31 PM. © The Quantum Lobe Chronicles

The alcoholic beverage has existed as early as the Neolithic period (cir. 10,000 BC), its use once mandated by The Lord on High in 1,116 BC China (Patrick, 1952). Oh thy holy ethanol, how it's absorbed by the bloodstream, travels to the brain, and binds to glutamate and GABA receptors, blessing us with the desired effects of slow reaction time, slurred speech, gregariousness, and the ability to sing and dance like a rockstar. However, too much of the bottle and you can find yourself in some serious trouble, including coma, death (more on alcohol poisoning) and the gradual development of a nasty alcohol addiction (check out Korsakoff's syndrome).

I'm sure we've all experienced the awful sleep and nasty hang over from a forgettable night on the town. My question is can a history of alcoholism cause sleep and cognitive problems not only for the individual, but for the individual's future offspring as well?

An example of fetal alcohol syndrome
Recently, I came across an article by Tarokh and Carskadon (2010) finding that healthy children between ages 9-10 of alcohol abuse/dependent parents had abnormal sleep electroencephalograph activity including reduced delta band and spindle range. Both electrical phenomena are found in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and are suggested to play 2 important functions; protect sleep from disruption and consolidate declarative memory. The authors believe that the mechanism for the former function may be impaired for these kids. Basically, they'll probably have worse sleep quality compared to their "normal" peers. If this is indeed the case, I don't think that's all that'll be negatively impacted.

In my last post I wrote about how abnormal NREM sleep consisting of reduced spindles and slow wave activity can potentially impair declarative memory (i.e. facts, episodes) through an abnormally functioning thalamus; the sensory relay station of the brain. The kids with alcoholic parents are showing a similar kind of dysfunctional NREM sleep pattern (although the authors only measured spectral power in the spindle range and not spindles directly). Thus, it leads me to believe that they would evidence problems with declarative memory consolidation as well (e.g. remembering what they learned from yesterday's history class).

Are these poor kids being dealt an unfortunate hand consisting of a gimped memory storage system due to their parents' uncontrollable booze lust? Or is it a matter of genes? Genes/behavior/environment interaction perhaps? A lot more questions than answers it seems.

Of course, this just another crazy hypothesis that I've concocted from thin air that obviously needs empirical support. Quick! To the sleep lab for some more EEG and declarative memory tests! Mom, dad...you can leave that six pack with me.

References:

Tarokh L, & Carskadon MA (2010). Sleep electroencephalogram in children with a parental history of alcohol abuse/dependence. Journal of sleep research, 19 (1 Pt 2), 165-74 PMID: 19735444

Lu W, & Göder R (2011). Does abnormal non-rapid eye movement sleep impair declarative memory consolidation? Disturbed thalamic functions in sleep and memory processing. Sleep medicine reviews PMID: 21889375

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/1114796842.html

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UP to launch PH Genome Center in Los Baños soon

post from Home on 13 November 2011 07:59:47 PM. © Home

MANILA, Philippines ? The Philippine Genome Center (PGC) Agriculture Program will be launched at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños on November 28.PGC executive director Dr. Carmen Padilla said the core of the PGC will be plant genetics and[...]

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Russia resumes manned spaceflight after failures

post from Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News on 13 November 2011 06:16:10 PM. © Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Moscow (AFP) Nov 13, 2011
Russia on Monday launches three astronauts for the International Space Station on a key mission Moscow hopes will restore faith in its space programme after an unprecedented string of failures. Two Russians and one American will blast off on a Soyuz-FG rocket from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0414 GMT, the first manned launch since the retirement of the US shuttle made Russi

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Russia Mars probe considered lost: report

post from Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News on 13 November 2011 06:16:10 PM. © Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Moscow (AFP) Nov 12, 2011
Efforts to resume contact with a Russian space mission to Mars stuck in Earth orbit after launch have failed and the probe must be considered lost, Interfax news agency reported Saturday. "All attempts to obtain telemetric information from the Phobos-Grunt probe and activate its command system have failed. The probe must be considered lost," Interfax quoted a source in the Russian space sect

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Rover Continues Studies While Heading North

post from Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News on 13 November 2011 06:16:10 PM. © Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 14, 2011
The seasonal plan for Opportunity is to winter over on the north end of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater where northerly tilts are favorable for solar array energy production. As such, the project has been driving the rover towards the north end of the cape with a route along the west side that creates opportunities for science along the way. The science team is investigating

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International consensus on joint space
exploration

post from Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News on 13 November 2011 06:16:10 PM. © Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Paris (ESA) Nov 14, 2011
Representatives from 28 countries, the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA) met in Lucca, Italy, on 10 November for the Third International Conference on Exploration and the first High-level International Space Exploration Platform. The conference, co-organised by ESA, the Chair of the ESA Ministerial Council - Italy - and the European Commission, highlighted the importa

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International Launch Services and Eutelsat
Announce Launch of the W3D Satellite in 2013

post from Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News on 13 November 2011 06:16:10 PM. © Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Reston, VA (SPX) Nov 14, 2011
International Launch Services (ILS) and Eutelsat, of Paris, France, one of the world's leading satellite operators, has announced a contract for the launch of the W3D satellite into geostationary transfer orbit on an ILS Proton in 2013. The W3D satellite is being built on the Spacebus 4000 C3 platform by Thales Alenia Space with a launch mass of approximately 5400 kg and a 15 year design l

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nounce_Launch_of_the_W3D_Satellite_in_2013_999.html

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Giant planet ejected from the solar system

post from Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News on 13 November 2011 06:16:10 PM. © Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Boulder CO (SPX) Nov 14, 2011
Just as an expert chess player sacrifices a piece to protect the queen, the solar system may have given up a giant planet and spared the Earth, according to an article recently published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. "We have all sorts of clues about the early evolution of the solar system," says author Dr. David Nesvorny of the Southwest Research Institute. "They come from t

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Contact with Russian Mars probe 'unlikely' -
expert

post from Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News on 13 November 2011 06:16:10 PM. © Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Moscow (RIA Novosti) Nov 14, 2011
The Phobos-Grunt unmanned spacecraft cannot be controlled at a low-Earth orbit, where it is currently stuck, because of its design features, a Russian space expert said on Saturday. The Mars probe was launched from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, but its engines failed to put it on course for the Red Planet. The craft, designed to bring back rock and soil samples from

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t_999.html