# s-brain: a safer way to rapidly treat depression

It was <<  identified a brain circuit that brings about the beneficial effects of ketamine. The circuit sends signals between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex >>

<< activating the circuit in rats causes antidepressant-like effects similar to those caused by ketamine, whereas preventing activation of the circuit eliminates the antidepressant-like effects of ketamine >>

<< The idea is, if one part of the brain contributes to the beneficial effects of ketamine, and another part contributes to its abuse and effects such as hallucinations, now we can come up with medications to target the good part and not the bad >>

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/uoth-tib122115.php

F R Carreno, J J Donegan,  et al.   Activation of a ventral hippocampus–medial prefrontal cortex pathway is both necessary and sufficient for an antidepressant response to ketamine. Molecular Psychiatry, 2015; DOI: 10.1038/mp.2015.176

http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/mp2015176a.html

# s-ecol: fresh air inside

"Vitality Air - Enhancing Vitality - One Breath At A Time"

http://vitalityair.com/products/bottled-goodness/air.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.it/2015/12/22/smog-cinesi-comperano-aria_n_8859690.html?utm_hp_ref=italy

<< China smog: Beijing residents buy fresh air from Canada >>

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35155357

# s-acad: the 50 best business schools in the world

Emmie Martin, Melissa Stanger and Tanza Loudenback
Dec. 14, 2015, 2:55 PM

http://uk.businessinsider.com/best-business-schools-in-the-world-2015-12?r=US&IR=T

breakdown of the methodology:

http://uk.businessinsider.com/business-schools-ranking-methods-and-sources-2015-12?r=US&IR=T

# rmx-n-lang: drastic changes from prescriptive grammars

the study << demonstrates the importance of prescriptive grammar as a social force and its steady increase over the course of the twentieth century >>

<< these changes can sometimes be rather drastic >>

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151218161433.htm

http://www.linguisticsociety.org/sites/default/files/Language_12_15.pdf

Joseph Frazee, Lars Hinrichs, et al. Which-hunting and the Standard English relative clause: Online Supplement: Automatic Zero-Relative Detection. Language, 2015; 91 (4): s1-s3 [link]

https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/language/summary/v091/91.4.frazee.html

# s-zen-behav: a compassionate, fundamental approach

<< compassion — and intentionally cultivating it through training — may lead us to do more to help the wronged than to punish the wrongdoer. Researchers found compassion may also impact the extent to which people punish the transgressor >>

http://news.wisc.edu/a-compassionate-approach-leads-to-more-help-and-less-punishment/

Helen Y. Weng, Andrew S. Fox, et al.  The Role of Compassion in Altruistic Helping and Punishment Behavior. PLOS ONE, 2015; 10 (12): e0143794 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143794

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0143794

<< Un punto focale del pensiero di Shih T'ou e' il concetto di mutua interazione (hui hu) tra chiarezza e oscurita'. Questo significa che il mondo delle contaminazioni e quello della purezza sono interdipendenti. Se abbandoni uno, abbandoni anche l'altro >>

"6. Meta' combacianti (Ts'an t'ung ch'i) del maestro Shih T'ou Hsi Ch'ien (700-790)";  in "La poesia dell'illuminazione ". Astrolabio, Ubaldini Ed., Roma (2001); pag.97. " The poetry of enlightenment". Dharma Drum Publications, New York (1987).

# s-gst: dogs lap: a precise method

<< sloppy-looking actions at the dog bowl are in fact high-speed, precisely timed movements that optimize a dogs’ ability to acquire fluids >>

<< even though feline and canine mouths structurally are similar, their approaches to drinking are as different as — cats and dogs >>

http://www.newswise.com/articles/dogs-may-be-sloppy-drinkers-but-they-get-the-job-done

Sean Gart, John J. Socha, et al. Dogs lap using acceleration-driven open pumping. PNAS, December 14, 2015 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1514842112

http://m.pnas.org/content/early/2015/12/09/1514842112

<< (..) tuttavia cani e gatti leccano in modi differenti >> Anonymous, XX e.V.

# s-brain-ai-data-tool: abstract versus concrete behaviors: a hierarchically ordered connectome

a model <<  to show how the physical brain could give rise to abstract thought >>

the <<  work demonstrates (..) the basic operational paradigm of cognition, but shows that all cognitive behaviors exist on a hierarchy, starting with the most tangible behaviors such as finger tapping or pain, then to consciousness and extending to the most abstract thoughts and activities such as naming. This hierarchy of abstraction is related to the connectome structure of the whole human brain >>

Another outcome of the research <<  will be a new geometric data-science tool, which is likely to find widespread use in other fields where massive data is difficult to view coherently due to data overlap >>

http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/how-brain-architecture-leads-abstract

P. Taylor, J. N. Hobbs, et al. The global landscape of cognition: hierarchical aggregation as an organizational principle of human cortical networks and functions. Scientific Reports, 2015; 5: 18112 DOI: 10.1038/srep18112

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep18112