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Addicting Mice To Light
Al writes "In an attempt to better understand how the reward system in the brain functions in people suffering from addiction, scientists at Stanford have created mice that are addicted to light. They engineered light-sensitive proteins to trigger signaling pathways in the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain that responds to pleasurable stimuli. They then connected a fiber-optic cable to this part of the brain and delivered a blast of light whenever the mice wandered into a 'reward chamber.' In previous experiments the mice have been given drugs like cocaine or amphetamine when they enter these rooms. The light treatment works in exactly the same way but lets the researchers very precisely control timing and dose of reward administered to the brain. The approach could also provide a way to probe receptors that cannot be accessed using existing drugs."
What, plants weren't good enough?
This would get thousands of people out of their basements this summer, and some of them might even get laid!
Do they bounce out of bed at the crack of dawn and show up in the office all bright and sunny with plenty of time to spare for some horrid 9 AM meeting or something? Oh, wait, that's light-addicted humans.
It should be noted that the nucleus accumbens is also involved in -expectation of reward- and not necessarily reward itself. This is a major part of addiction--the addict may be desensitized to the effects of the drug but nonetheless may seek out the drug due to EXPECTATION of "reward" and to keep away withdrawal symptoms.
The mice associating the rooms with the effects of the drug is directly applicable to humans. Anyone who has tried to quit smoking may have had a difficult time during smoke break time because the context cues one to expect/desire their fix. Good way to kick the habit, if you're looking to do so, is not to hang out in the same spots you did your drug, not to hang out with the same people, so on and so forth. Otherwise, you'll likely fall back into your own habits.
Next step: do this with sharks
Step after next: reverse it, such that every time a shark does a line of coke, it shoots a laser out of it's brain.
From TFS
"...lets the researchers very precisely control timing and dose of reward administered to the brain."
Oops, sorry, didn't mean to make "Rat Pr0n FTW" even less funny.
All I can say is the poor mice. Considering all the things the mice go through for us, all the research they help us accomplish, I think we really owe them an answer. Or a question, as the case may be.
Qxe4
We COULD addice lice to might! We'd be in a MITEY mighty bite of trouble... itchin' for trouble and cruisin' for a bruisin'...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Why the fuck is this not tagged Wirehead yet?
I may agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to face the consequences of saying it.
I guess if Fiber-to-the-Home isn't fast enough, you've got to try Fiber-to-the-Brain.
Stream porn straight to your visual cortex. Backup your memories with Google Hippocampus Beta. I guess mobility might be a bit of a problem, though. I wonder if it comes with one of those cool head jars?
The opinions in this post are ficticious. Any similarity to actual opinions, real or imagined, is purely coincidental.
I mean if you have the ability to just flip a switch and make me happy, I'd sure like that. I've been feeling kinda low lately and would surely enjoy having a nice button I could press... press... press... press... pressssusss... my precious...
It is bright. You are likely to be attacked by a mouse.
When someone says, "Any fool can see
I was once robbed by a gang of mice trying to score a hit of maglite.
see World of Warcraft...
The lights are on, but you're not home
your mind is not your own
your whiskers twitch, your body shakes
another hit is what it takes
Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh yeah
it's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough,
you know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to cheese^w light
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
... Mice get addicted to a random stimuli that causes the pleasure centers in the brain to release their happy chemicals. Therefore, mice like to feel good. OMG!!!!
it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
Reminds me of a study done long ago, when calves were kept in small pens in the dark to make 'white' veal. Whilst many people found this rather shocking, supporters claimed that it was OK since the calves 'did not know better'.
The researchers rigged up a light with a time switch, and a button that the calves could press to turn the light back on when it automatically switched off after a few minutes. The calves quickly learned to switch the lights on, and showed a marked preference for them staying on.
Could cows, mice and men just naturally prefer lighted conditions? If so, would make one wonder about the usefulness of this study.
So, what you're saying is that scientists have developed optical mice?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Yeah, that or "droud". Immediately thought of Niven :)
Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.
I guess if Fiber-to-the-Home isn't fast enough, you've got to try Fiber-to-the-Brain.
Have you ever jacked in? Have you ever wire tripped? No? [smirk] A virgin brain. Well, we're gonna start you off right.
This isn't like "TV only better", this is life. Yeah, this is a piece of somebody's life. Pure and uncut, straight from the cerebral cortex. You're there! You're doing it, seeing it, hearing-hearing it. You're feeling it.
It's about the stuff you can't have, right? Like running into a liquor store with a .357 magnum in your hand, feeling the adrenaline pumping through your veins. I can make it happen. I can get you anything you want. Ya just have to talk to me. Talk to me, talk to me, talk to me, talk to me. I am your priest. I am your shrink. I am your main connection to the switchboard of souls. I'm the magic man. The Santa Claus of the subconscious. You say it. You even think it. You can have it!
Are we beginning to see the possibilities here?
You know you want it.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
Oops, sorry, didn't mean to make "Rat Pr0n FTW" even less funny.
Don't worry. The only way you could make "Rat Pr0n FTW" less funny is if you punched me in the face while I was reading it.
Your courageous and selfless spelling corrections have made me a better person.
"Sweet photons. I don't know if you're waves or particles, but you go down smooth!"
(citation)
Entomologically speaking, the spider is not a bug, it's a feature.
Mouse enters reward chamber, and grimaces: "what is this slow crap?? I want UV! and it better be shorter than 300nm or I'm outta here!!"
It's always the same. They get you hooked with the primo stuff and then slowly start feeding you water.
Entomologically speaking, the spider is not a bug, it's a feature.
Haven't they already done experiments in the past where electrodes implanted in the brain can be used to stimulate sensations? If so, then there was no need to get clever with the proteins - put the electrodes in place, and then trigger them when the mice enter the lighted room. That seems more straightforward than adding photoreactive proteins that may have other unknown side-effects. But, then, me != biologist.
Long? What do you mean the signature at the bottom of every comment I post on Slashdot is too lo
Nah, I'm pretty sure that'd make it MORE funny.
I can just see it now. Slashdot user 'clem' is reading a particularly unfunny comment. As a sneer of disdain crosses his face, something moves in the gloom behind him, dimly lit by monitor glow. With a sudden lurch, interkin3tic crosses the distance to clem's chair. Clem barely has time to look up in horror before internik3tic shouts "RAT PR0N FTW!" and punches him in the face.
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
Coming to the next version of WoW...reward based rewards. When you complete your quest to collect 17 butt plugs of doom or whatever, the screen will flash in a precise way, leaving the player high and content.
We know random reward systems in games are as addictive as those in real life (eg. slot machines), but we can take it to the next level and introduce physical rewards.
- There is no point, it's like a sphere -
The cop approaches the motionless car as the driver stares ahead at the traffic light. "I pulled you over, Sir, because you just sat and stared at the green light" I'm sorry officer, I must have been in a mouse trance....I thought I was at a Pink Floyd Concert with babes that want me for my shiny aura of mice light. "Do you have any illegal light or other opened illumination paraphernalia I need to know about? I better not find any any open radiation or phosphorescence.....and sir turn off those headlights and stop drooling rapturously on my flashlight or I'll have no choice but to restrain you with blindfolds and darkness." "No not three blind mice! Anything, but that!!!
And parent is at +4 funny at the time I posted. Fractoid is right and it's good to see the system works.
Skiffy is Spiffy, but Ort is tort.
Finally, sailing ships can resolve their stowaway rat problems simply by strapping freakin' lasers to the sharks' heads!
8==8 Bones 8==8
Tanning delegalized. Everyone not wearing a sunscreen will be found guilty of drug posession.
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