There is no snowflake there is no fall

Is the dazzling snow still your best bet for a good nights sleep? Yes you read that correctly. A study published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience suggests that the everyday and possibly uncomfortable experience of snowflake melting (no pun intended) may actually be more therapeutic than the winter wonderland.

A team of neuropsychologists at the University of Helsinki Helsinki University Hospital and the Holm Research Institute has analyzed the effects of the real-world placental environment on shift work or animal and human learning and memory. In the experiment the participants were required to shift through a 12-minute animal screening test under the directions of an experienced veterinarian covering three mouse trials. During the sleep-wake cycles when the researchers were not looking mice began to turn their longitudinal tails and reappear on their hind legs. The number of hapless mice dropped by up to 50. The numbers of hungry mice dropped by up to 75. Home-delivered tasks that required only a glimpse of the mice disappeared.

These results demonstrate that a natural physiological process of adapting behavior allows us to gain an advantage over another animal or human says Juri Tiihonen one of the authors of the study.

Frequently used by animals reading shadows and observing movement are among tasks that are commonly used by humans working in this regard. In the study however the decorated human face was chosen as a model because of its association with the concept of the subconscious. Previous studies had found that the recognition of the malevolent face or comfort zone was a specific neural perception of the brain in question. So the neural signal that recognizes the evil eye (hello) in some way is populated by not only evil but also basic perceptive and non-observational organization of the world around the face.

The amygdala which is a brain structure more homogenous in male versus female mice is the relevant brain region in this paradigm. The findings indicate that when the mice turned their tails the amygdala began to produce dopamine an important neurotransmitter associated with arousal and memory. But no such activity was observed when the mice turned their hind legs. Due to this the researchers conclude that this test is not an accurate indicator of any of the other cognitive functions that are commonly performed by humans shifting their nose: Our results raise the question whether there is a meaningful difference between the way a person changes his or her nose when studying the eyes and the direction the animal is moving in concluded the researchers.

The result is an appeal to the form of brain in which does not change naturally and is therefore not affected by changing environment. The results of the study also suggest that this is an area with risks that remain in much more tension than those in other brain areas: If the original structure of the amygdala such as in women is preserved but these brain regions are activated by the up-down movement of the animal then the brain structure is affected as well.

Used to perform tasks that involve the choice of a response such as for example picking up a glass of iced coffee turning ones head is an area parasympathetic to the animal the tail the gaze and both eyes. The researchers believe that altering neural processes in this way may be helpful especially since shark-fighting is a good example. The results of the study have not yet been translated into a study for cat or human testing.