11 replies to this topic

[LabRat84]

New insights into the relationship of neurogenesis and affect: tickling induces hippocampal cell proliferation in rats emitting appetitive 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations.

It seems that tickling causes nerogenesis in rats that like to be tickled, but not rats that don't. For the uninformed: yes, rats are ticklish, and it appears that they laugh--at 50 hHz.

Laugh yourself smart... what a concept.

Edited by LabRat84, 27 April 2010 - 07:23 AM.

[outsider]

New insights into the relationship of neurogenesis and affect: tickling induces hippocampal cell proliferation in rats emitting appetitive 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations.

It seems that tickling causes nerogenesis in rats that like to be tickled, but not rats that don't. For the uninformed: yes, rats are ticklish, and it appears that they laugh--at 50 hHz.

Laugh yourself smart... what a concept.

Of course anything that makes you happy must cause neurogenesis.

Edited by outsider, 27 April 2010 - 07:49 AM.

[Declmem]

New insights into the relationship of neurogenesis and affect: tickling induces hippocampal cell proliferation in rats emitting appetitive 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations.

It seems that tickling causes nerogenesis in rats that like to be tickled, but not rats that don't. For the uninformed: yes, rats are ticklish, and it appears that they laugh--at 50 hHz.

Laugh yourself smart... what a concept.

Of course anything that makes you happy must cause neurogenesis.

*starts masturbating furiously*

[Guacamolium]

New insights into the relationship of neurogenesis and affect: tickling induces hippocampal cell proliferation in rats emitting appetitive 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations.

It seems that tickling causes nerogenesis in rats that like to be tickled, but not rats that don't. For the uninformed: yes, rats are ticklish, and it appears that they laugh--at 50 hHz.

Laugh yourself smart... what a concept.

Of course anything that makes you happy must cause neurogenesis.

*starts masturbating furiously*

Haha, but I think that it's through global endorphin mechanisms that cause hippocampal cell proliferation. If that were true for non-tickling ways, then I would've been the dumbest person if I didn't like comedies so much.

Curcumin, tickling, really.... what's next - sneezing and paprika?

[chrono]

We applied a standardized protocol of repeated tickling and assessed tickling-induced ultrasonic vocalizations as an index of the animals affect.

I'm having a great time picturing their experimental setup. First time I've ever laughed at biomedical research

[LabRat84]

We applied a standardized protocol of repeated tickling and assessed tickling-induced ultrasonic vocalizations as an index of the animals affect.

I'm having a great time picturing their experimental setup. First time I've ever laughed at biomedical research

From the paper:

Animals were tickled by a trained experimenter for 10 min on 5
consecutive days in the home cage during the light phase under
dim red light in the absence of other animals. Tickling consisted of
initial finger movements across the back, focusing on the neck,
followed by rapidly turning the rat over on the back with rapid
alternating finger movements on the ventral surface (Mällo et al.,
2007; Panksepp and Burgdorf, 2000, 2003; Schwarting et al.,
2007). Tickling phases (total duration 4.5 min) were intermitted by
phases without stimulation (total duration 3.0 min) and phases
where the animal was allowed to chase the experimenter’s hand
or where the animal was gently chased by the experimenter (total
duration 2.5 min), resembling play behavior in juvenile rats (Knut-
son et al., 1998). The experimenter attempted to minimize aver-
sive 22-kHz-calls and to maximize appetitive 50-kHz-calls, which
he heard in a down-sampled manner in real-time via headphones.

Serious business.

[chrono]

The fact that there are apparently four papers elucidating rat-tickling is going to make me pretty bitter the next time I'm wading through pubmed searches looking for cognitive enhancement in healthy subjects.

I should just give up and learn how to induce animals to squeak at certain frequencies. Like that guy in the Monty Python sketch who played The Bells of St. Mary's on the Mouse Organ.

[Guacamolium]

Now I'm picturing harnessed tickling machines that hold babies in the nurseries for NGF. Odd sort of visualization from the norm....

[chrono]

Now I'm picturing harnessed tickling machines that hold babies in the nurseries for NGF. Odd sort of visualization from the norm....

It would probably be considered unethical. Would give the babies who enjoyed being tickled a distinct developmental advantage over those who don't.

[Guacamolium]

Now I'm picturing harnessed tickling machines that hold babies in the nurseries for NGF. Odd sort of visualization from the norm....

It would probably be considered unethical. Would give the babies who enjoyed being tickled a distinct developmental advantage over those who don't.

Well wouldn't you be the nurse Gusturd! Those systems aren't built yet until puberty or slightly earlier from some reports. Geez

[chrono]

Well wouldn't you be the nurse Gusturd! Those systems aren't built yet until puberty or slightly earlier from some reports. Geez

Think I was making a joke, but I'm probably wrong.

Anyway, earlier neuron differentiation could have some interesting implications for cognitive improvement of the human animal.

[haha]

Something interesting is looking at studies that examine how the brain and its sections grow in individuals of different intelligence levels.
Extremely intelligent child have a maximium brain weight at 5 years of age, while the average indivdual reaches maximium weight in there early teens. You can actually tell intelligence/Personality and its different types with measures of face and head.
People who cant really quantify risk and are dumb(not including risk lovers), develop gaps between there teeth to limit the loss of teeth when they invariable bash there face in lol, you have got wonder if the brain is send growth factors around telling the body its dumb lol prob not