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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 ...
IRS supervisor denies wrongdoing

Lois Lerner appears Wednesday before a House panel hearing into the targeting of conservative groups by IRS agents under her supervision. She refused to answer questions after denying she broke laws or lied to Congress. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated ...
Group seeks to block insurance coverage of abortion in Michigan

Lansing - Political powerhouse Right to Life of Michigan is seeking a voter-initiated ban on health insurers covering elective abortion procedures in basic insurance plans in an attempt to bypass a Gov. Rick Snyder veto. Last year, Snyder struck down a bill he supported that would have changed the legal structure of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan after the GOP-controlled Legislature tacked ...
Former aide sues Harper Woods lawmaker Brian Banks claims sex harassment

Detroit - A former aide for a state lawmaker says the representative forced him to have sex and gave him a raise in an attempt to forge a romantic relationship. Tramaine Cotton, 29, is making his allegations against freshman state Rep. Brian Banks, D-Harper Woods, in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court. In his complaint Cotton also says he was subjected to a ...
Activists consider second Mich. wolf referendum to target game animal designation

Lansing - Animal rights activists are considering putting two questions before voters in 2014 about whether wolf hunting should be legal after the Legislature effectively rendered their first referendum meaningless. 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 vote next ...

Movie Review

Clean, Shaven [DVD]

Lodge Kerrigan's directorial debut, Clean, Shaven, is a daring and disturbing cinematic experiment that takes us inside the mind of a struggling schizophrenic for an unrelenting 80-minute ride. Kerrigan mixes a shaky narrative filled with gaping holes begging to be filled by the ... ...

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Political insider Govs staff emails have scent of skunk works

Under state law, the only time the public gets to peek inside the inner workings of the Governor's Office is when its staffers send emails to employees of other state agencies, which are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Records obtained by The Detroit News through an FOIA request to the Department of Technology, Management and Budget included the correspondence of Gov. Rick ...
Pfizer takes its shot at a vaccine for evasive superbug

Kathrin Jansen, senior vice president of Vaccine Research and Early Development at Pfizer Inc, poses for a portrait in one of her labs at Pfizer headquarters in Pearl River, New York, April 19, ...
Big plans are in the works for a tiny Capitol Park in downtown Detroit

The former United Way building at 1214 Griswold was bought earlier this year. The state approved a $6 million loan for the historic building. (Steve Perez/The Detroit ...
MLB Detroit 11 Cleveland 7

Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in three runs as part of a 14-hit attack Wednesday that gave Detroit a rainy, 11-7 win over Cleveland. The contest was delayed by rain in both the fifth and seventh innings, but was finally played to a conclusion. The final out came at 12:30 a.m. Cabrera doubled in a run during Detroit's two-run first and he hit a two-run homer in the eighth to give the ...
New hookah bar rules ignite ethnic debate in Troy

Candi Lee, 20, of Troy blows circles while hanging out with friends at Mist Hookah Lounge in Troy, Mich. on Thursday, May 16, 2013. The Troy City Council amended an ordinance on Monday that forces all hookah lounges in the city to close at midnight. For hookah bars like Mist, the move forces them to turn away customers who normally arrive at their lounges late at night. / Jarrad ...

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New York Marriott Financial Center Hotel

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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. ...