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 ...
ACO to close 14 locations in Michigan

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) - ACO Home, Garden & Hardware say the company is closing 14 underperforming stores as they work to improve and strengthen the company's financialposition. As part of the process, ACO will conduct a "Total Inventory Blowout Sale" at each of the affected locations. The sales will being on Thursday, May 23. The affected stores are: 13400 E. Eleven ...
Pfizer plans offering to pare Zoetis stake

TRENTON, N.J. - Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. plans to try to sell its controlling stake in its former animal health business, Zoetis Inc., through a voluntary stock exchange with Pfizer shareholders.Pfizer, the world's second-largest drugmaker, said Wednesday that its shareholders will be able to trade their Pfizer holdings for Zoetis shares at a discount expected to be about 7 percent. The ...
Detroit Pistons picking eighth in 2013 NBA Draft

2013 NBA Draft Lottery with a slim chance of moving up into the top three. It seems quite likely they would be picking seventh when the actual event rolls around. Then, something improbably happened. No, the Pistons didn't move up. Instead, a team with even worse chances of getting a top three pick, the Washington Wizards, moved up, meaning the Pistons will be drafting ...
Hunting of gray wolves in Michigans U.P. put on hold

Lansing - A planned hunt of gray wolves in the Upper Peninsula has been put on hold - for now - after the law authorizing the harvest was suspended Wednesday pending a statewide referendum vote in November 2014. The Board of State Canvassers determined Wednesday the group Keep Michigan Wolves Protected turned in more than the minimum 161,305 signatures required to get the issue on the ballot. ...

Movie Review

Jarhead

Sam Mendes Jarhead, based on the bestselling memoir by Anthony Swofford, is set in 1990 during the Gulf War, but it is not particularly about the Gulf War. In fact, it is not really about war itself, which is a topic too obviously enormous and complex for any one movie to try to ta ... ...

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Wolf hunt referendum to go on 2014 Michigan ballot

The Board of State Canvassers on Wednesday certified the signatures collected by Keep Michigan Wolves Protected to place the referendum on the ...
Change of command at Maine shipyard Friday

Vice Adm. Kevin M. McCoy, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, will preside over the change of command ceremony and give the keynote speech ...
Falcon chicks atop Macomb County building named Wayne Oakland

'Oakland,' the Peregrine Falcon named by Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, makes a lot of noise as he and his brother named 'Wayne' were banded indoors at the Old Macomb County in Mt. Clemens, Michigan on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. / Eric Seals/Detroit Free ...
Lions Delmas taking it easy not participating in OTAs

Louis Delmas is not taking part in Organized Team Activities this off-season as he continues to rehab from knee injuries that cut short his last two seasons.Delmas was one of two players on the ...
Maurice Cheeks will have second interview with Pistons today

Evidently, Mo Cheeks impressed someone during a recent phone interview with the Detroit Pistons.The Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach and former head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers will have second interview with the Pistons today, according to two people with knowledge of 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. ...