martes, 26 de junio de 2012

Final Summary


We as humans have the memory. This is an ability which we posses to comprehend our reality through our experiences. We can recognize our thoughts, consciousness and language due to this ability. Also we can classify memories. There are two types of memories. These are the short-term and the long-term ones. We understand the memories that occurred in the present or the past thanks to the transient memories. These are the essential memoirs that we carry out by some processes that allow us to comprehend the meaning of our experiences.







Likewise, there is a kind of transient memory called the working memory. This is known as the memory that takes place in the present. Its information capacity is very low but it has an important role as well. It permits us to comprehend spoken and written language. The researches have stated that more or less significant memories depend on the reactions. They could be physical or mental reactions that happen within the brain.







On the other hand, our experiences don’t have to be considered relevant to be long-term remembered. There is a phenomenon known as the flash bulb memory, which is not an important lived memory but it is still kept within the long-term memory. Also, in normal circumstances, these memories are not quickly forgotten.







In addition, the brain is altered. We have been talking about the short-term and long-term memories. Thanks to this we can say that there are different mechanisms for their information. Within the brain, the synapses in the neural circuits are altered to conform the formation of the memory. The long-term memory requires dialogue between neurons and genes for its functional work. But the short-term memory does not require any of those factors.







Our brain has a lot of knowledge inside it. One of the most particular characteristics in that the brain is able to “classify” information, so we can know exactly for example, which is capital of a country, how to give address and even the name of our friends. We possess all kind of simple and complex skills at the same time. Our brain’s memory banks, it means that when we learn something we acquire it even if we don´t practice often we never forgot it, like for example riding a bicycle or knitting, it means that those things stays in our memory store. The parts that involved our complex motor skills in the brain are located in the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. Motor skills are an essential part of our memory store, we have also an “episodic” memory to remember things that happened in the past, which is not easily to verified and that can be recalled. Some sort of studies made it by scientific aware that memory has recollected details of past events, it means that not only specific memory has a physical basis but that each also has a particular physical location in the brain.











The "where" of memory.







Different kinds of memory have different positions in our brain. The explicit working memory is associated with the pre-frontal cortex. The hippocampus is where the long-term explicit memory is. The hippocampus is related with the navigation too because this part of our brains help us to create detailed maps. With more information the hippocampus becomes larger. Learning complex motor tasks engages the motor and sensory cortex.







The how of memory.







There are many experiments in animals about that because we use the same genetic code as worms’ flies and other animals or insects. In the 60's Eric Kandel doesn't knew which this method will work in sophisticated kinds of memory like in the human. He won the prize on 2000 about memory research.







Sensation is another type of learning seen in humans and the sea slug.



It occurs when we are exposed to an unexpected or strongly unpleasant stimulus.



After that our attention is sensitized as an innocuous stimulus.



Generally the sensitizing effect last perhaps for just a few minutes. But if the alarm stimulus is repeated a number of times our senses maybe heightened for days and now sensitization is a form of long-term memory.







Kandel has studied the two most basic types of memory, short-term and long-term using the paradigm of habituation and sensitization. He could observe what was going on in individual neurons and at individual synapses while the memory was being form. Kandel showed that the gill withdrawal reflex of Aplysia can be sensitized by a single strong electric shock to the tail. Thus a single shock gives rise to a memory in the form of sensitize responsiveness, lasting just a few minutes.







Next Kandel repeated it five times in spaced trials and converted the short-term memory into a long-term memory that last days. These experiments demonstrated that Aplysia displays form of learning leading to short- and long- term memory similar to humans. What was required now was evidence that there was indeed a true conservation of the physical or molecular mechanism of memory formation between Aplysia and mammals.







The neuronal network controlling the gill reflex is very simple. The sensitizing stimulus to the tail excites these neurons and when they are inhibited the sensitizing effects of stimulating the tail are blocked. The activation of these neurons is necessary for the creation of memory. These key cells are named “modulatory neurons”. With these cells inactivated the sea slug is capable to perform the gill withdrawal, but the strength of touching the siphon is not capable in short- long- term by shocks to the tail.







The roles of the modulatory neurons are crucial to explain how the strength of the gill reflex was modified by experience.



Kendel’s experiments showed that the activation of the modulatory neuron strengthened the pre-existing synapses between the sensory neurons and the motor neurons.







They showed that when a puff of serotonin is directed to the sensory motor of the synapse, it was strengthened for a few minutes just like the tail.



The serotonin can substitute the tail shock and produce short- long- term memory.



So now the question is how serotonin, a neurotransmitter, found in all animals, strengthens a synaptic connection in short-long- term.







Kandel showed that the common denominator in Aplysia is the ubiquitous second messenger called cyclic-AMP, whose synthesis is triggered by serotonin released by the modulatory neurons.



When cyclic AMP is injected into the sensory neurosis mimics the effects of serotonin.







Now we must ask how cyclic-AMP operates. It activates a very important enzyme called Kinaze. The target of this enzyme is the potassium channel.



Thus the sensory neurons synapsis with the gill motor neuron is strengthened.







Finally we have arrived to the strengthened synapse modifying the animal behavior in short-term. This is only in short-term memory because the special enzyme removes phosphates from proteins and return to their original state restoring the synaptic strength. There is requirement of new proteins to be synthetized and the blocking of this prevents long-term memory formation and this is true in Aplysys as it is true in us.







The synapse must involve the cell body and its nucleus. The relation between synapse and nucleus cause the stimulation of the necessary genetic information that is needed for the synthesis of the new protein required to the strength of the long term memory. The beginning process is the same as short-term memory, it´s different only because of the time that serotonin is delivered. When is delivered several times, its long- term memory formation.



When the cell body is activated it modifies proteins, those ones interact with the DNA and determinate the manifestation of particular genes. In Aplysia the converting process of short-term into long term memory, requires the strengthening of short term changes in synaptic strength and thee development of new synapses. Those processes need the synthesis of new proteins



Memory mechanisms are universal.



From all the experiments, we get two conclusions. First, the synapse is crucial for adaptive change in the brain, learning and memory. Chemical synapse´s function is to modify the strength of that process. Also involves the ability of communication with the cell´s genome which has the purpose of making and finishing possible changes. Summing up, synapse makes evolution and adaptation possible. Behavior is determinate by the last experiences in our environment.



Secondly, it´s always told that upbringing influence our mental skills, but the ability to learn from nurture is determinate by how our genes are intended to answer to experience.



Different species and human beings can have similar and even the same mechanisms of memory formation. Also, between a hippocampus and a snail they both have the same mechanism of synaptic strengthening.



The advanced knowledge of the components of memory allows the development of advanced drugs, which can help us to improve our learning ability and the efficiency of our neurotransmitters. On the other hand, we have to be careful with those drugs, because in a future they might help on the memory loss. That’s why we need to be aware of our mechanisms of memory formation.



Brain is a flexible machine and very responsive, so if we are looking for a better memory we only need to keep learning. This machine will develop a new storage if we give it new information. As we grow older neurons die and we cannot replace them, so, we lose brain ability. Nevertheless, mental exercise can reduce this dramatic time effect.



Daniel Andrades

Alan Becar

Francisca Arellano

Sebastian Aravena

Camila Contreras


jueves, 21 de junio de 2012

Visit to "museo de la Memoria"


1)I didn't know about the existence of this museum until this day.
A museum that exhibit about the things that happened in September 11th, 1973 surprise me a lot because we live in a society where the most of the people with social power do a great effort to make us forget about our own history about the horrible things that happened in that era.

2)I think that the memory is all the things we remember from our past.
We have memories about the most relevant events of our lives.
These event can be good or bad experiences but both of them are important because these events change us a little and these changes define us in the present.

3)I think that the collective memory is very important for us both as individual and as a society.
Is important in the way that doesn't let us to commit the same mistakes we did in the past.
Also we have to look in these memories the tools to find solution to the problems in the present.

I already have knowledge about what happen in the dictatorial era in Chile but at the moment I saw the pictures, videos and the newspapers at the museum I realized how much the people suffer in that era.

4)The artifacts that called most my attention were the draws and toys that the children left because is said by some people that during the military dictatorial the children didn't suffer torture but they suffer a lot when their relatives were taken away forever or how they were tortured in front of the children.
In my opinion this is also considered torture.

5)I think this visit was a really good experience.
Even if these memories made us feel very sad there are very important for us to remember the wishes of liberty and equality of these people which were killed and tortured.

A Important memory

Dear readers,


I want to share with you one of my memories.
When I was a child I suffer a near-dead experience.
I went with my neighborhood Mrs. Juanita to her relative’s house.
The house has a stairs in the backyard and I was sitting there when I have the accident.
In the second floor lived a couple with their children.
All the family used the stairs at the same time to go to the first floor.
The woman didn’t see me when used the stair and without the intention she pushed me out.
While I was falling I felt that he time became slowly.
All the important people in my life like my family and friends come to my mind in those seconds.
I can’t say that I saw all my life in front of my eyes but it was extraordinary.
I was really lucky because I fell in a place full of water where the people used to wash their clothes.
This isn’t the most exciting story but I can assure you that the weird things you could see when you are near death are real believe or not.
                                             -Sebastian Aravena

martes, 12 de junio de 2012

"Shopping for one" & Capitalism

In the story "Shopping for one" Jean the main character felt very lonely.
She didn´t want to buy the cookery book because its name was cooking for one.
She felt that the book´s title describes her life because she felt its "pinpointed her aloneness, to prescribe an empty future".
Like her mother said that "you can know a person just by looking what they buy".
I think she felt like she was judged by the other people in the supermarket but is most like she was judging herself all the time.
The story is based in a Capitalism environment where the elements of loneliness and materialistic are present.
The Capitalism was born in Europe thanks to their innovations in financial and commercial techniques.
In USA the principal driving force of Capitalism in the world history also have downs under it.
In the 20th century the country`s people has to suffer the bad effects of it, the Great Depression.
Then the people start to hate that system and charismatic guys come with new ideas for the future of the country.
The resolute next president of USA of that era take some ideas of these people (put taxes to rich people, give pension for people without job) in order to continue with the Capitalism system.
I think that even with new fixes to the system the Capitalism continue to bring unhappiness to a lot of people but this system was created by the men so we can change it if we want to!.

jueves, 26 de abril de 2012

Cultures around the world

The culture is know to be people knowledege, feith, daily life and the resources that those people have to resolve their problems.
Those facts were different for people who lives in different places because of their history and the characteristics of the place where they lived.
For  a person who lived his entired life in one place is naturally difficult to understand other people culture is not a easy task .
The people usually prefer to only pay attention to their world, to their culture and ever hestitate to understand other people culture, their way to life .
These misunderstanding usually finish to create unfounded hate and discrimination .
The goal we have to pursue is to pay atention in the things we have in common.
The Celts same as the Mapuches were invaded many times.
The invaders usually want to impose their culture to gain full control in the territory.
But any war cant destroy the culture of other they only generate a mix of the cultures.
The convergence of one or more cultures is the result that we can see these days.
Not only Chile and England cultures are the result of this convergence.
Even Indian and Egypt cultures are not the same they were in the past.
The religions usually is the cultural characteristic that people want to impose in others.
The religion like all the others characteristics of culture also change with the cultural convergence.

lunes, 23 de abril de 2012

Ra and his children Questionnaire & Summary


Questionnaire
1-the last thing Ra creates was men and women
2.Sekhmet became Hathor the lady of love
3.the people love The era of Ra because it was full of peace
4.The people trick Sekhmet putting alcohol in the Blood the when she drink it she fall asleep
5.The power of Ra lays in his name that is hidden of everyone that makes him so powerful
6.Ra was the first Pharaoh of Egypt 
7.Ra´s eye of death can destroy everything
8.Ra became older because he transform hisself into a human being
9.The Nile river is sacred because is a god that Ra created
10.Aphophis is the dragon o dark he represent the evilness
11.Ra send Sekhmet to kill the evil men influenced by the evil dragon
12.Ra became the Pharaoh of Egypt to rule all men
13.Ra became human to be Pharaoh of Egypt
14.The first day of the world start when Ra said that he is the god of sun
15.A festival in honor of Hathor is represented in the first day of the year
16.The priest drink the beer in the first day of the year
17.The new pain is the punishment that Ra gives to people

Summary
Ra proclaim hisself the god of sun creating the first day of the world
Ra create the sacred Nile river
The last thing that Ra created was men and women
To rule all people Ra become human and the first pharaoh of Egypt
The people love the era when Ra was the Pharaoh
The evil dragon Aphophis influence the people of Egypt
Ra first think to kill them all with his eye of death but that can destroy Egypt too
Ra send Sekhmet to kill all the human
The people apology se to Ra and his give them the idea to put alcohol int the blood that Selkhmet likes to drink
Sekhmet returns to Ra and she receive a new name ass Hathor the lady of love
In the first day of every year the priest have to drink beer in a festival in honor of the god ness Hathor

miércoles, 11 de abril de 2012

Different Cultures

The text "Hills like white elephants of Evrest Heminway 
talks about a American guy and a girl who are waiting for the express train
in a train station between the cities of Barcelona and Madrid 
They drinks beers and watch the hills in the meantime
But the real plot in they are going to Madrid to have an abortion
I think that it is really difficult to understand the real meaning under the conversation between the protagonist because you have to realize it by reading carefully the clues that the author gives to you maybe the purpose of telling that the man is American is because they usually travel to others countries to have an abortion.

The video show how a guy named Sidharta lived a comfortingly life under the care of his father
He became an adult and wanted to saw the world
Where he saw the illness and death for first time in his live
After a long travel of suffer hi discover the nirvana 
I think that is very important how the video shown that are people living in luxury
While a lot of people are in suffering.

The visit to the exhibition about the Indian culture show
Their religion the Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism
Their gods who are represented in statues and paintings 
How they rule their daily life
I think that their culture is very interesting because they have a god for every human emotion
How their religions promote the peace between the people and the rest of the world

Its amazing how the cultures around the world can be so different
The Indian people have a strong connection with their religions
The different cultures have different meaning for life and death
This differences can change people ding in their life
The religion can be really intimated with peoples life