Reader reaction: ‘Know Thyselves’ highlights split-origin brain research and decision-making circuits

The useful part

I was pleased to find some studies that illustrate that we don't even fully understand the human brain yet. "Previous attempts to make hindbrain neurons likely tried to coax forebrain and midbrain progenitors into hindbrain cells, which our study shows is not possible," co-first author Rayyan Jokhai said. He added: "Now we have a model to better understand these devastating diseases, and work toward regenerative therapies for them.

How it works

• This is a very exciting new frontier in brain research." The researchers looked at various organisms and found that the separate systems date back over 500 million years.
• "Our research suggests that evolution took two existing neural systems and pushed them together spatially," Professor Loh said.
• Meanwhile, up the road a few miles, researchers at UCSF and UC Berkeley have shown, in real time, the brain essentially arguing with itself.
• They studied patients who had electrodes implanted for surgical evaluation of epilepsy, and used those to watch the brain trying to decide to do something or not.
• The researchers had participants play a video game where they had to navigate a maze with bomb-filled hallways, posing varying degrees of risk.

What to take from it

With so much attention and funding focused on A.I., it's gratifying to see that there is still startling research being done on what drives our own intelligence. "Having the brain as one organ would probably be more efficient, but we rely on this primordial way to make the brain as two separate pieces." "I was surprised at our findings because the word 'brain' implies a contiguous organ that likely has a singular origin," Mr. "What we saw instead was more like a switch flipping back and forth, oscillating between two extremes until one held." The researchers believe that their discovery could help conditions where people have an imbalance between risk-taking and caution, such as depression, OCD or gambling addiction.

Example or evidence

• disorders." Admittedly, the research was done on mouse brains, so more research will be required, but it is both promising and more evidence that our brains still hold more mysteries than we realize.
• The new research finding shows that the human brain consists of two ancient nervous systems cleverly packaged together — a more primitive part that regulates our hearts' beating, our breathing and other...
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• Weill Chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at UCSF and co-senior author of the study.

Details worth keeping

"Most models of decision-making assume the brain gradually ramps up evidence until it crosses a threshold, like a dial slowly turning," said Robert Knight, MD, professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at UC Berkeley and co-senior author. The amygdala has long been associated with immediate fear responses, but they identified a tiny nearby area called the amygdalostriatal transition zone (ASt). "When we started, we knew almost nothing about the ASt, and were truly exploring unknown territory in the brain.

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• Thehealthcareblog: By KIM BELLARD With all the fuss about A.I. I was pleased to find some studies that illustrate that we don't even fully understand the human brain yet. The ancient Greeks had Continue reading...