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Atomic Bombs Help Solve Brain Mystery
sciencehabit writes "The mushroom clouds produced by more than 500 nuclear bomb tests during the Cold War may have had a silver lining, after all. More than 50 years later, scientists have found a way to use radioactive carbon isotopes released into the atmosphere by nuclear testing to settle a long-standing debate in neuroscience: Does the adult human brain produce new neurons? After working to hone their technique for more than a decade, the researchers report that a small region of the human brain involved in memory makes new neurons throughout our lives — a continuous process of self-renewal that may aid learning."
I'll drink to that!
Arguing that it doesn't apply would require one to have an alternate explanation for why and how memory and learning occur after the brain supposedly doesn't create new neurons.
I was under the impression that the standard explanation was that learning and memory were based on connections, not generation of new cells.
Your impression is correct. You are born with (almost) all the neurons you will ever have. The density of synapses in your brain increases until you are ~18-20, then decreases somewhat and stabilizes. But the strength of the signal transmitted at any given synapse is subject to change at any time in your life, and is thought to be the mechanism for learning.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
According to TFA, the research which originally showed this could not be repeated since the chemical given to trace growth was found to be poisonous. Therefore it was based on a probably correct but unrepeatable experiment, something people in the hard sciences do not like. This new experiment has provided confirmation of the earlier result by a different method.
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
I was under the impression that the standard explanation was that learning and memory were based on connections, not generation of new cells.
That would strongly imply a zero sum game, which would be like, for example, learning a new programming language but in the process forgetting how to talk to wom...
Wait, you might be onto something.