Amanuensis challenge
Jul. 20th, 2006 12:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarigwaemirDeWolfe Apts., on the Feast of St. Arsenius
I'm posting it here now before I change my mind. >_> Notes and references to come later (i.e. after I take the GRE). I have a feeling my commentary will be longer than the fic itself. Actually, now that I've written it, I think it feels odd to call it a fic because it's not very fictional. It was also hard to maintain a realistic shorthand without sacrificing readability. -_-
A laboratory notebook is a long-standing tradition in scientific research, before the days of humongous data sets and computer records. Its usage differs slightly from person to person, but it's meant to provide a faithful record of one's experiments and data. I tend to neglect my lab notebook shamefully and only record the most mundane and irrelevant details. (A somewhat inevitable side effect of research data that usually involves several hundred markers at a time.) But my faculty mentor, who is very organized, keeps meticulous records in her lab notebook about her experimental plans, analysis of her results, meeting and lecture notes. My post-doc is more casual in his notebook upkeep, but he has a habit of writing out his train of thought, particularly in experiment planning stages. As you'll see, I borrowed from both models.
Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sub_divided (for providing the idea of writing something "technical") and ladydaera (for providing suggestions on content).
Disclaimer: While I did try my best to research the topic, I make no claims as to the accuracy of the content.
Found Notebook
[cover]
Dr. Kujou Mine
Department of Neurophysiology
Touhou Medical Center
---
[page 18]
020423
Group mtg.
Hippocampal lesion case study
Effect on retrieval correlates with age when lesion occurred
Discrepancies in localization of hippocampal activation - too much damage?
Temporal gradient associated with recency of memory (more stat. anal. to come)
Compare with fMRI scans
Control group needs assessment
Nakayama et al, 2002
Prosopagnosia = inability to recognize faces
visual processing defect
developmental (possibly genetic) and acquired, many possible causes
also a semantic memory defect? - search for imaging studies
TO-DO
- Book MEG machine (03-6884-2439)
- Obtain liability forms for hypnosis study, place ad for participants
- Email Hackett - induction procedures
- Prof. Masuyama mtg. Tues. @ 3
fMRI vs. PET - fMRI is novel technology and still in development but PET requires radioactive tracers. Discuss with Prof. Masuyama.
---
[page 67]
020507
7 subjects resistant to hypnotic suggestion (see p. 32 for profiles)
#A165 #A192
#A223 #A257
#B024 #B145
#B201
1 in 5 of general population cannot be hypnotized (cf. Spiegel, 2001).
Twin studies suggest hypnotizability is genetic and heritable. Candidate gene COMT (catechol–o-methioninehyltransferase), implicated in dopaminergic synapses (reduces extrasynaptic neurotransmitter levels) and lowering dorsolateral prefrontal lobe activity.
Selective forces on hypnotizability? Studies by Raz et al. suggest hypnosis is correlated with attention processes. Hypnosis -> resolving conflict between contradictory stimuli. Consider: neural circuitry responsible for susceptibility to suggestion permits ability to focus and habituate to complex environment. A social domain involved as well? - susceptibility to suggestion encourages consensus within a community.Mob mentality. Given highly subjective nature of perception and involvement of a priori modules in sensory processing, it is necessary to establish accepted consensus on what is being perceived. It becomes of increasing importance as humans develop sophisticated communication via language - how to find a word for "red" when red is not red for everyone (i.e. color blindness)? Consensus, and hence communication, achieved by suggestion - that color deemed red will be called red. More to the point, ability to ignore contradicting information is what streamlines social interactions and makes efficient leadership possible.
Amazing to think how our reality is dependent on the black-box working of the mind and its vulnerable biological wetware.
MEG and fMRI scans scheduled for next week. Run through standard battery of memory tests on all groups this week.
---
[page 78]
[fMRI scan images of brain activity in normal, hypnotic and post-hypnotic states]
---
[page 81]
[MEG scan data of brain activity during memory tests taken in normal and hypnotic state]
---
[page 86]
TO-DO LIST
- Analyze MEG and fMRI data
- Interview subjects for aphasia case study
- Kurosagi seminar lecture @ 1 - gender-based differences in episodic memory
Imaging studies suggest hypnotic state involves broad activation of occipital, parietal and prefrontal lobes. Significantly decreased activity in medial parietal cortex. No hippocampal activation - hypnotic mechanism separate from memory. (Is it possible to distinguish between false memory introduced by hypnotic suggestion and true memory? - is this involved in resistance to hypnosis?) Hypnotic state activates sensory and motor pathways in absence of stimuli: processing without input. In this sense, similar to dreaming and other altered states of consciousness.
Predominantly visual processing: neural imaging of hypnotic state resembles activity during visual imagination supported by descriptions of vivid mental imagery during hypnotic state. Not surprising - human consciousness dependent predominantly on sense of sight. (Have there been hypnosis studies with blind subjects?)
Hypnosis also associated with increased plasticity. Halsband study on learning under hypnosis: hypnotized group better at learning word associations. Hypnotizability may also be associated with better learning in normal conscious state. Logical to see connection between flexibility of cognitive processes and flexibility of sensory consciousness. Correlation to memory has yet to be determined. Are hypnotizable subjects better at encoding and retrieving visual memories? Hypnosis as therapeutic
---
[page 87]
tool for repressed memories. However formal psychological studies suggest more influence in implicit memory (conditioned responses, reflexes, motor memory) - unconscious memory
consciousness attention perception
learning memory
But reality is not immediate but temporal; a continuum built of discrete sensations. Memory is a foundation for consciousness. Alter memory -> alter reality.
ANOVA test on subject response time to word retrieval
(consult Shuuhei on regression model!)
---
END
My final conclusion: it was probably more enjoyable to write than it is to read.
Yours &c.
I'm posting it here now before I change my mind. >_> Notes and references to come later (i.e. after I take the GRE). I have a feeling my commentary will be longer than the fic itself. Actually, now that I've written it, I think it feels odd to call it a fic because it's not very fictional. It was also hard to maintain a realistic shorthand without sacrificing readability. -_-
A laboratory notebook is a long-standing tradition in scientific research, before the days of humongous data sets and computer records. Its usage differs slightly from person to person, but it's meant to provide a faithful record of one's experiments and data. I tend to neglect my lab notebook shamefully and only record the most mundane and irrelevant details. (A somewhat inevitable side effect of research data that usually involves several hundred markers at a time.) But my faculty mentor, who is very organized, keeps meticulous records in her lab notebook about her experimental plans, analysis of her results, meeting and lecture notes. My post-doc is more casual in his notebook upkeep, but he has a habit of writing out his train of thought, particularly in experiment planning stages. As you'll see, I borrowed from both models.
Thanks to
sub_divided (for providing the idea of writing something "technical") and ladydaera (for providing suggestions on content).Disclaimer: While I did try my best to research the topic, I make no claims as to the accuracy of the content.
Found Notebook
[cover]
Department of Neurophysiology
Touhou Medical Center
---
[page 18]
020423
Group mtg.
Hippocampal lesion case study
Effect on retrieval correlates with age when lesion occurred
Discrepancies in localization of hippocampal activation - too much damage?
Temporal gradient associated with recency of memory (more stat. anal. to come)
Compare with fMRI scans
Control group needs assessment
Nakayama et al, 2002
Prosopagnosia = inability to recognize faces
visual processing defect
developmental (possibly genetic) and acquired, many possible causes
also a semantic memory defect? - search for imaging studies
TO-DO
- Book MEG machine (03-6884-2439)
- Obtain liability forms for hypnosis study, place ad for participants
- Email Hackett - induction procedures
- Prof. Masuyama mtg. Tues. @ 3
fMRI vs. PET - fMRI is novel technology and still in development but PET requires radioactive tracers. Discuss with Prof. Masuyama.
---
[page 67]
020507
7 subjects resistant to hypnotic suggestion (see p. 32 for profiles)
#A165 #A192
#A223 #A257
#B024 #B145
#B201
1 in 5 of general population cannot be hypnotized (cf. Spiegel, 2001).
Twin studies suggest hypnotizability is genetic and heritable. Candidate gene COMT (catechol–o-methioninehyltransferase), implicated in dopaminergic synapses (reduces extrasynaptic neurotransmitter levels) and lowering dorsolateral prefrontal lobe activity.
Selective forces on hypnotizability? Studies by Raz et al. suggest hypnosis is correlated with attention processes. Hypnosis -> resolving conflict between contradictory stimuli. Consider: neural circuitry responsible for susceptibility to suggestion permits ability to focus and habituate to complex environment. A social domain involved as well? - susceptibility to suggestion encourages consensus within a community.
Amazing to think how our reality is dependent on the black-box working of the mind and its vulnerable biological wetware.
Let's restrict ourselves to
falsifiable hypotheses.
falsifiable hypotheses.
MEG and fMRI scans scheduled for next week. Run through standard battery of memory tests on all groups this week.
---
[page 78]
[fMRI scan images of brain activity in normal, hypnotic and post-hypnotic states]
---
[page 81]
[MEG scan data of brain activity during memory tests taken in normal and hypnotic state]
---
[page 86]
TO-DO LIST
- Analyze MEG and fMRI data
- Interview subjects for aphasia case study
- Kurosagi seminar lecture @ 1 - gender-based differences in episodic memory
Imaging studies suggest hypnotic state involves broad activation of occipital, parietal and prefrontal lobes. Significantly decreased activity in medial parietal cortex. No hippocampal activation - hypnotic mechanism separate from memory. (Is it possible to distinguish between false memory introduced by hypnotic suggestion and true memory? - is this involved in resistance to hypnosis?) Hypnotic state activates sensory and motor pathways in absence of stimuli: processing without input. In this sense, similar to dreaming and other altered states of consciousness.
Predominantly visual processing: neural imaging of hypnotic state resembles activity during visual imagination supported by descriptions of vivid mental imagery during hypnotic state. Not surprising - human consciousness dependent predominantly on sense of sight. (Have there been hypnosis studies with blind subjects?)
Hypnosis also associated with increased plasticity. Halsband study on learning under hypnosis: hypnotized group better at learning word associations. Hypnotizability may also be associated with better learning in normal conscious state. Logical to see connection between flexibility of cognitive processes and flexibility of sensory consciousness. Correlation to memory has yet to be determined. Are hypnotizable subjects better at encoding and retrieving visual memories? Hypnosis as therapeutic
---
[page 87]
tool for repressed memories. However formal psychological studies suggest more influence in implicit memory (conditioned responses, reflexes, motor memory) - unconscious memory
consciousness attention perception
learning memory
Hypnosis alters our "construction"
of reality, changes the boundary of
conscious and unconscious, creates
perception without input and
reduces perception of input.
of reality, changes the boundary of
conscious and unconscious, creates
perception without input and
reduces perception of input.
But reality is not immediate but temporal; a continuum built of discrete sensations. Memory is a foundation for consciousness. Alter memory -> alter reality.
ANOVA test on subject response time to word retrieval
(consult Shuuhei on regression model!)
---
END
My final conclusion: it was probably more enjoyable to write than it is to read.
Yours &c.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 06:04 am (UTC)Double "dependent". But that's not important! What matters is that
YOU ARE AWESOME. Mine is totally the comprehensive note-keeping type. I love the way you imply this as well as show it (by skipping so many pages between notebook entries, leaving us to imagine the sheer amount of information she keeps in that thing). Her notes in the margins are like poetry ^_^. I really like the progression in this fic, the way the first page is all routine, and then it becomes increasingly speculatory with some philosophical musings thrown in. And Shuuhei in parenthesis! And alter reality in small type! And the stray unscientific thought crossed out with a reprimand in the margins, I CANNOT CONTAIN MY LOVE IT IS OVERFLOWING HEARTSxINFINITY.
But of course the best part of all is that the subject matter is totally fascinating. The way it parallels the events of the series (without mentioning them, except where Shuuhei makes it into a parenthesis at the end) just makes it even better.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 06:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 11:43 am (UTC)Yay, I'm so glad you liked it! XD Although the Shuuhei part was actually just a throwaway detail (...I thought his name was Shuro?) although now that you mention it, that would have been so much cooler. I guess you give me more credit than I deserve. ^_^;; But it's great that the hypnosis connection worked. I worried for days over what she would be researching, and then when I thought of hypnosis, it just suddenly all fell into place.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 06:27 pm (UTC)And I can't wait for your notes, because I want to read the articles you used to write this, they sound fascinating.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-21 11:49 am (UTC)Coming across the articles involved was rather serendipitous! Apparently a France-based neurobiology journal had published a series of articles on hypnosis just a few months ago. ^_^ (Which makes this entire notebook a little anachronistic, but oh well...) I'll definitely post up links to all the papers once I get a chance to post up the notes. ^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 06:52 pm (UTC)But I have to work this way since I am too scatterbrained (and not smart enough) to keep the entire process straight in my head. A graduate student I was working with also kept notes this way, although he was better at picking out what was important and his handwriting was neater. Another grad student only kept text files on his computer, which worked for him but was useless for us when we tried to work out his organizational system after he'd left. I also worked with an undergrad whose main priority was that his notebook looked nice. He avoided writing anything down until the results were settled and always used the same pen. We actually complemented one another fairly well: his notebook was very easy to read, so we'd find the results first in his, and then I'd consult mine for a reminder of how we'd arrived at them.
Sorry for the off-topic remarks, I just wanted to say that Kujo's detailed yet insightful system really does seem like her.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-21 11:56 am (UTC)Of course the best combination would be to have an organized mind like Kujou and write down everything that's necessary and important...XD;;;
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-21 07:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-21 08:48 pm (UTC)Naturally the post itself probably won't be coming until after the GRE...I'm frantically doing last-minute practice tests at the moment, although I seem to have hit my plateau. -_-
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-21 09:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-24 02:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-24 06:46 pm (UTC)