Hooray for cheap anatomy and physiology textbooks!

I wanted to proudly display my "new" but used and very cheaply purchased A&P textbook... courtesy of Half.com by eBay. This was purchased and delivered for under $20... the book is in great shape and hardly looks used at all. The publishing date is 2004, luckily not much has changed in the content of A&P books since 2004 so it would be perfect for any anatomy or physiology class. It did take about a week and a half to arrive but if you are not in a hurry... it even had the CDROM, unopened in the back of the book. This is a great alternative to the $125-$210 new textbooks available online and at the Bookstore.

~~~~BIO25~~~~

Misty's dancing career and leg go pop!

Superstar athlete and 2-time Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Misty May-Treanor injured her leg on the reality TV series Dancing With The Stars. She was forced to drop out of the dancing competition and had to undergo surgery to repair her injured leg. During training / rehearsal for the show Misty ruptured her calcaneal (Achilles) tendon. She reportedly heard a "pop" which is common of people tearing their calcaneal tendon... others often describe "feeling" something hit the back of their leg... caused by the sudden rupture of the body's largest and possibly strongest tendon. [Click images for a larger view]

The rupture of the calcaneal tendon could be a somewhat serious injury to a volleyball player like Misty given the tremendous force and stress on the tendon during jumping and leaping. The Achilles is formed by the tendinous contributions of the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles (i.e., the calf muscles) which are used in plantarflexion of the foot at the ankle... which is part of the motion of jumping. Of course, most athletes make a full recovery from this type of injury and the occurrence of re-rupturing the tendon does not appear to be high. Check out eMedicine for a detailed description of Achilles tendon rupture (LINK). Hopefully Misty will be back to volleyball as good as new when she returns to the beach, and perhaps the AVP beach volleyball tour will comeback to Sacramento... haha... probably not... look at the empty stands... regardless, check out May-Treanor's vertical leap at the net. She is going to need those Achilles tendons healed and healthy.

~~~~BIO25~~~~

This is your brain on drugs... errr.... music

All of us would probably agree that the music we listen to depends on our mood or even shapes our mood. A slow song might help you mellow out or fall asleep... loud rock songs or hip-hop might motivate your workout routine at the gym. Songs evoke strong emotions and memories from our past.

But what I really wanted to know is "why does listening to your favorite song make you feel so good?" Like many people, it seems I am always finding a new favorite song, listening to it almost obsessively for awhile, and then eventually it is on to a new one. It occurred to me that this seems a lot like reward-seeking behavior or pleasure-seeking behavior such as eating your favorite food, smoking cigarettes, shopping, taking drugs, hiking to the top of a mountain, gambling, etc. You might wonder, as I did, is music making us feel good just like all these other rewarding stimuli?

Well, it turns out that neuroscientists and psychologists have recently been studying music as a model to discover the brain circuitry involved in pleasure and reward. Here are some interesting things I came across on the subject of music listening, pleasure, and the brain:

• In humans, music increases activity in a network of brain structures involved in reward and pleasure processing including the nucleus accumbens and the ventral tegmental area (1). These brain structures are also known to be active in response to other very pleasurable stimuli, such as food, sex, and drugs of abuse (2).
• It is believed that pleasurable music activates dopamine pathways in brain regions such as the nucleus accumbens, thus increasing the levels of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter used by neurons to signal to each other. Interestingly, cocaine exposure increases dopamine levels specifically in the nucleus accumbens of rats (3) and music too has been shown to increase dopamine levels in the rat brain within the nucleus accumbens (4,5). What does all this mean? Drugs and music (both seemingly pleasurable stimuli) induce the same neurochemical changes in the same exact brain regions, at least in rats. This is likely to be similar in the human brain.
  
• Increased dopamine levels in the brain are associated with compulsive eating, falling in love, sexual pleasure, drug abuse, alcohol consumption, and many other euphoria-inducing stimuli.

What is the take home message? Well, this just might help explain why listening to music* is one of the most rewarding and pleasurable human experiences. It certainly helps me understand why I like listening to my favorite songs over and over again... it is basically a sonic addiction.





*remember music is cheaper than drugs and healthier than cigarettes. Some free music and dopamine release courtesy of SubPop records. Sorry, no hip-hop :)

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~~~~~ BIO25~~~~~~

Learn to save a life in 2 minutes... the new CPR

Think watching a two minute video on YouTube might make you a life saver? This video just might... it is on the newest form of CPR for adults that collapse suddenly and it is called continuous chest compression CPR. The physiological basis of this CPR has been discussed in a previous blog post... but check out the video, then go read more about it.








~~~BIO 25/26~~~

TrueBlood?... blood doping and EPO

A recent story in the news reported the re-testing of blood samples from cyclists in this years Tour de France. It seems that several cyclists had suspicious urine samples related to the naturally occurring hormone erythropoietin. In all our bodies, erythropoietin (EPO) is produced by cells in the kidney. EPO circulates in the bloodstream eventually signaling to marrows cells in the cavities of our bones to stimulate production of new red blood cells (erythrocytes). The production of new RBCs is termed... erythropoiesis. Drug companies produce and market synthetic forms of EPO to treat anemia which can often occur with cancer chemotherapy, kidney failure, AIDS, and more.

Cyclists in this years Tour de France are suspected of using a newer generation of EPO called CERA, marketed my the pharmaceutical company Roche. Endurance athletes illegally use EPO type substances in order to increase their RBC count and thus improve the oxygen carrying capacity of their blood. Basically, it improves cardiovascular function giving these elite athletes a potential edge on the competition. Roche suggests that CERA might be more effective than other available EPO drugs... the following is a brief description of CERA from the Roche website:

CERA is a Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator. Studies have shown that CERA has unique activity at the receptor site. It is postulated this is related to its repeated and rapid attachment and dissociation from the receptor involved in triggering erythropoiesis (red blood cell formation) together with an extended serum half life. This results in more potent stimulation of erythropoiesis, both in magnitude and duration, compared to standard EPO drugs.

~~~~ BIO 25/26 ~~~

Smoke 'em if you got 'em... or not

A new report by the American Lung Association describes the current status of tobacco use and policies on college and university campuses in the United States (link to full report). This report has some interesting details... including that 1 in 5 college students smokes cigarettes (or about 19%). Examining the same age group that is NOT in college shows 35% are smokers. The 19% college smokers is the lowest rate in nearly 30 years. Of course, the cigarette industry knows this and is looking to get you on board! Some interesting facts about smoking related to college students:

• In 2005, the tobacco industry spent more than $1 million per day targeting and marketing cigarettes to college students like you!
• Cigarette smoking is significantly higher in individuals with lower education levels and lower income levels
• A recent survey showed that nursing students were more than 4 times as likely to be smokers compared to medical students on the same campus (Ref).
  
• In 2005, tobacco companies spent $13.1 billion to market cigarettes. Imagine how much profit they are making in order to spend this much money getting you to buy them!
• The peak in college smokers seems to have been 1999 with 30% reportedly smoking.
• Recent declines in college smoking are due partly to the higher prices of cigarettes
• According to their own documents, tobacco companies market to "occasional smokers" such as college students in order to create new "everyday smokers."

Oh by the way, smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, although I believe obesity is catching up. Plus, smoking makes you smell bad... peeeww. Thank you for smoking ;)








---BIO 25---

Ice Cream, You Scream... the science of ice cream

Nothing is more unsettling and disturbing than finding your precious ice cream has been ruined by ice crystals (aka frost bite, freezer burn)... what will I eat for breakfast now? Scientists to the rescue. It appears that scientists (not working on important issues like cancer, AIDS, heart disease, MRSA) have discovered a natural "antifreeze" that can protect ice cream from ice crystal formation in the freezer. The antifreeze substance is actually a naturally occurring protein molecule called gelatin hydrolysate derived from collagen found in connective tissues... related to what is found in Jell-O brand gelatin and ice cream already. This additive appears to reduce or stop ice crystal formation in stored ice cream... which means your ice cream will last forever. Did I mention it is great for breakfast? Read more about antifreeze in ice cream (Click). Some interesting ice cream facts:

• Ice cream is a $5 billion annual industry in the United States
• The average American eats 6 gallons of ice cream a year
• People in the U.S. eat more ice cream than any other country in the world
• Those tiny hot-dog shaped chocolate sprinkly things are called... JIMMIES after their inventor James Bartholomew
• Presdient Ronald Reagan declared the third Sunday of July as National Ice Cream Day

--- BIO 25---