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Potential brain switch responsible for our behavioural change identified

A new study by investigators at the University of Michigan and Eli Lilly may reveal the "switch" that helps our brains to make the shift from current behaviours to new ones. They measured levels of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which is involved in attention and memory, while rats monitored a screen for a signal. At the end of each trial, the rat had to indicate if a signal had ...
Detroit is brokebankruptcy may be next

The first report by Detroit's emergency manager declares that the city is broke and at risk of running completely out of money - a financial meltdown that could mean employees don't get paid, retirees lose their pensions and residents endure even deeper cuts in municipal services. If Detroit cannot avert disaster by reducing its debt payments, the only remaining option appears to be ...
Former GM Pontiac site could get auto-themed destination

M1 Concourse proposed for former GM Pontiac site: An entrepreneur is proposing to build a major automotive-themed destination called M1 Concourse at a former General Motors property in Pontiac. Nathan Bomey/Detroit Free ...
Shoalts Red Wings are proof that depth means everything in the playoffs

Detroit Red Wings left wing Drew Miller (20) celebrates his 2nd period goal with teammates as Chicago Blackhawks defencemen Johnny Oduya (27) and Chicago Blackhawks defencemen Michal Rozsival (32) reacts during Game 3 of their NHL Western Conference semifinals game in Detroit, Michigan May 20, 2013. (REBECCA ...
Full circle Summer shutdowns at Detroit Three scaled back or cancelled

The Detroit Three auto makers learned a valuable lesson during the Great Recession: too much assembly capacity is deadly.Now, with the U.S. market bouncing ...

Movie Review

Missing [DVD]

Costa-Gavrass Missing has gone from being speculative to definitive. It is a rare based-on-true-events political thriller whose conjectures about then-mysterious cover-ups and governmental deception have since been vindicated. At the time Missing was released, it was a center of ... ...

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Jewish group denounces Farrakhans comments in Detroit

The leading Jewish civil rights group in the U.S. slammed anti-Semitic comments made in a Detroit church by Minister Louis Farrakhan, the head of the Nation of Islam. The Anti-Defamation League is also calling upon Detroit leaders who invited Farrakhan and hosted his talks last week in Detroit to condemn his ...
Troy Catholic parish asks for donations in tribute to priest accused of stealing

Police are investigating whether Rev. Edward Belczak, the longtime pastor of a Catholic church in Troy, might have embezzled or mismanaged more than $400,000. / Archdiocese of ...
Car designers urged to simplify infotainment controls

The new touch-screen interface features new simpler graphics and controls that are easier to use. Customers will experience significantly faster touch-screen response times, one of the top requests from owners. ...
Man with claw hammer robs Speedway station in Waterford

Waterford police are hoping someone will recognize a robber shown on surveillance video slamming a hammer onto the counter during a gas station heist early this morning.The man, armed with a claw hammer, entered the Speedway Gas Station at 4960 Dixie Highway at 3:38 a.m., according to a news release. He demanded money from the cash register, and the clerk complied after the man struck the ...
Doctors save Ohio boy by printing an airway tube

In a medical first, doctors used plastic particles and a 3-D laser printer to create an airway splint to save the life of a baby boy who used to stop breathing nearly every day.It's the latest advance from the booming field of regenerative medicine, making body parts in the lab.In the case of Kaiba (KEYE'-buh) Gionfriddo, doctors didn't have a moment to spare. Because of a birth ...

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New York Marriott Financial Center Hotel

I arrived by taxi to the hotel which is just a block from the former World Trade Center site. The ...

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Potential brain 'switch' responsible for our behavioural change identified

A new study by investigators at the University of Michigan and Eli Lilly may reveal the "switch" that helps our brains to make the shift from current behaviours to new ones.

They measured levels of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which is involved in attention and memory, while rats monitored a screen for a signal. At the end of each trial, the rat had to indicate if a signal had occurred.

Researchers noticed that if a signal occurred after a long period of monitoring or "non-signal" processing, there was a spike in acetylcholine in the rat's right prefrontal cortex. No such spike occurred for another signal occurring shortly afterwards.

"In other words, the increase in acetylcholine seemed to activate or 'switch on' the response to the signal, and to be unnecessary if that response was already activated," said Cindy Lustig, one of the study's senior authors and an associate professor in the U-M Department of Psychology.

The researchers repeated the study in humans using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures brain activity, and also found a short increase in right prefrontal cortex activity for the first signal in a series.

To connect the findings between rats and humans, they measured changes in oxygen levels, similar to the changes that produce the fMRI signal, in the brains of rats performing the task. ...