Michigan Sun news

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 ...
News on Wrestle Mania possibly heading back to Detroit Tammy Sytch and more

WWE to host either Wrestle Mania 31 or 32 with the event taking place at Ford Field in downtown Detroit. Ford Field was the site of Wrestle Mania 23 back in 2007, which was headlined by John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship. Wrestle Mania was held in Michigan one other time, back in 1987 at the Silverdome in Pontiac, ...
Eric Garcetti elected mayor of Los Angeles

Los Angeles - Eric Garcetti has defeated Wendy Greuel in the race to become next mayor of Los Angeles. With all precincts reporting Wednesday, the city councilman grabbed 54 percent of the votes against his fellow Democrat. Garcetti sent out a tweet thanking voters and saying he's honored to lead the city. The 42-year-old Garcetti will be the city's first elected Jewish mayor. He was ...
Student paddles 216-mile fundraising kayak trip

MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) -- A Western Michigan University student has completed a six-day, 216-mile kayak trip down the Muskegon River to raise money for Parkinson's disease research, education and ...
Man hit by pickup killed while stopped along road

BROOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- Authorities say a 37-year-old man is dead after being hit by a pickup truck while stopped along the side of a mid-Michigan roadway to check on another ...

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The Sessions

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Assault complaint leads to big marijuana bust

ALDEN, Mich. (AP) -- Authorities investigating a domestic assault complaint in Michigan's northwestern Lower Peninsula ended up finding a marijuana growing operation with hundreds of ...
Children elderly woman rescued from burning home in Detroit

Two children and an elderly woman are being treated at area hospitals after Detroit firefighters rescued them from their burning home this morning.A fire was reported in the home in the 800 block of Navahoe Street, near East Jefferson and Conner, at about 6 a.m., Detroit Fire Department Senior Chief Larry Gassel said ...
Port Huron woman to be arraigned today in fake rape case

Sara Ylen, 38, who gained sympathy after a 2002 rape and then rallied people when her cancer diagnosis became pubic, faces fraud charges after state police found no doctor who diagnosed cancer. / Wendy Torello/Times ...
Financially troubled Buena Vista Schools district recalls more workers

Buena Vista School District Superintendent Deborah Hunter-Harvill, left, speaks during a May 9 Buena Vista School District Board of Education meeting. / Colleen Harrison/The Saginaw News/Associated ...
Jackson too creepy for Clippers MAY 22

Lakers executive Jeanie Buss. While the source insisted it wasn't a reflection on Jackson's coaching ability, it would simply be "too creepy" for ...

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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. ...