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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 ...
House Republicans promote 20-week abortion ban

These Republicans want to move ahead despite recent court decisions that have struck down similar state laws. The GOP lawmakers also are taking on their own leadership, which has shown little desire to hold votes on contentious social ...
Judge wont allow hearing in lawsuit to void Detroit EM Orrs appointment

Mason - Ingham County Judge William Collette refused Wednesday to allow an evidentiary hearing to compel testimony from top state officials in a lawsuit seeking to void the appointment of Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. Andrew Paterson, an attorney for union activist Robert Davis, had sought the hearing after the state Court of Appeals overturned Collette's earlier ruling that Orr and ...
US District didnt properly probe assault claims

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- The U.S. Department of Education says a Grand Rapids-area school district failed to properly investigate allegations by two female students that they were sexually assaulted at their high ...
Court rules for union in child-care dues dispute

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan child-care providers who sued to try to recover union dues have failed to persuade an appeals court to revive their ...

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The Sessions

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Africa World Bank Announces U.S.$1 Billion Pledge to Africas Great Lakes Region

Africa: World Bank Announces U.S.$1 Billion Pledge to Africa's Great Lakes Region, Targeting Energy, Roads, Agriculture, Cross-Border Trade, Health, and ...
Michigan Democrats Lay Out Auto Insurance Bills

Detroit’s Democratic state House Caucus is laying out an effort to change Michigan’s auto insurance policies. The package of legislation was revealed during a news conference in Detroit. Republicans control the state Legislature. Under the proposal, insurance companies couldn’t use credit history, education or occupation in determining a person’s premium. It would also ...
Abortion opponents petition drive could bypass statewide vote potential governor veto

LANSING — Abortion opponents will embark on a petition drive to ensure that Michigan residents have to buy an optional rider on their health insurance to cover abortions.And unlike most petition drives, if they get at least 258,088 valid signatures, and the state Legislature approves the issue, it will become law without a signature from Gov. Rick Snyder, who has already vetoed the bill ...
Judge denies request for testimony in Detroit emergency manager lawsuit

MASON — An Ingham County judge, citing a recent Michigan Court of Appeals opinion, refused today to call an evidentiary hearing in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the appointment of Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr.Circuit Judge William Collette also said he knows of no court rule that provides for an evidentiary hearing during the discovery process of a lawsuit, as requested by attorney ...
Tiger Woods Fried chicken comment from Sergio Garcia was hurtful

Sergio Garcia, left, shakes hands with Tiger Woods at the conclusion of the third round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on May 12, 2013, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. / Associated ...

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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. ...