The Mind and Consciousness
Video Exercises
Nicotine Like Heroin |
| 1. Scientists studying how the brain reacts to smoking are finding more evidence that nicotine and heroin have similar effects. This ScienCentral News video re-ports that researchers at University of Chicago have found a part of the brain that responds to smoking and heroin in much the same way.
Interviewees: Brian Large and Tricia Gooden, smokers; Dan McGehee, Univer-sity of Chicago
Produced by Sunita Reed Edited by Chris Bergendorff Copyright © ScienCentral, Inc.with additional footage from ABC News and cour-tesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory.
How do the research findings presented in the above video reinforce the dis-cussion of the biological basis for addiction found on pages 172 - 173 of your textbook? What chemical, in particular, seems to be a key factor for reward centers in the brain?
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Magnetic Brain Boost
Whether it's hitting the books for exams or extreme situations like combat, lack of sleep often comes at times when we need to perform at our best. Now, as this ScienCentral News video reports, brain researchers studying how sleep deprivation impairs memory have found a potential remedy.
Interviewees: Sarah Lisanby, Columbia University and New York State Psychiat-ric Institute
Produced by Joyce Gramza Edited by Jessica Tanenbaum and Chris Bergendorff Copyright © ScienCentral, Inc. |
| 2. Based upon your reading of the neural mechanisms for sleep discussed in your textbook, what areas of the brain are the researchers in the above video likely examining? Why? |
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Mind Reading
As pollsters have so well demonstrated in the past presidential primary season, reading minds, whether of voters or the person next to you, is close to impossi-ble. However as this ScienCentral News video explains, scientists are actually one step closer to reading our thoughts.
Interviewees: Marcel Just and Tom Mitchell, Carnegie Mellon University
Produced by Joyce Gramza
Edited by Brad Kloza
Copyright © ScienCentral, Inc.
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| 3. Given that different areas of the brain relate to different types of thoughts, what challenges, if any, might the researchers in the above video face if they were to use someone who had undergone “split brain surgery” in the above ex-periments? Why? Refer to the discussion of “split brain surgery” on pages 139 - 144 of your text as you think about your answer. |
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Addicted Brain Changes
New research is overturning previous thoughts about how addiction perma-nently changes the brain. As this ScienCentral video explains, these new in-sights might lead to new ways of treating addicts.
Interviewee: Christopher Cowan, University of Texas, Southwestern Med Ctr.
Produced by Chris Bergendorff– Edited by Chris Bergendorff and James Eagan Copyright © ScienCentral, Inc. |
| 4. How do the researchers in the above video explain how their experimental findings may lead to new treatments for addiction? Using the chapter’s discus-sion of addiction, explain the type of approach that these researchers are using to understand addiction. |
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