Anyone interested?...

So I just got back to uni after a nice 3 weeks off. Christmas was ok, I am yet to receive my main present (a BOSS ME50B bass effects board) which is on layby. I have to put in a bit myself even though my folks, grandma and girlfriend all gave me cash instead of pressies. It was good to see the family again, I have a younger sister (18yrs), younger brother (15yrs) and younger half-brother (10yrs). It's funny seeing them grow up now that both my sister and elder-younger bro are becoming of-age.

So my holiday after xmas consisted of a trip to the barrier reef (northern queensland, australia - one of the seven wonders *i think) with 7 mates for 10 days. Pretty sweet as it was the 3rd year running I have gone.
Highlights:
- Caught a 7 foot shark (whaler) in a 13 ft tinny and pulled it up on beach the beach for some photo's then let it go.
- Saw a mate Ro Sham Bo another mate (he fell down so no return kick was issued) - FUCKIN HILARIOUS
- Basically did lots of drugs and drank heaps and acted like 'fuckin larakins' all week... good times

So I am back at uni with lots of work to do but some good news has come to greet me. My first paper has been accepted into a journal :D And a good one at that. 'Biological Psychiatry' claims the 3rd and 17th highest journal in psychiatry and neuroscience, respectively. It also has an impact factor of 6 which makes it one of the best journal's this lab has published on this model !!

Anyway I am heading home early today,

Later

So I am only writing because of the inherent boredness that has seeped into my night. I have a range of vid games I could be playing, but my interest wanes. I am currently waiting for my download to finish - Sygate personal firewall. Yes, I realise it is only 10MB so why how can I be bored waiting... simple, we have exceeded our cap (meaning I am downloading at the rate of a 56kb modem). We have a habit of using to much of our peak time to download. We have 40+40GB and we have downloaded like 40.5 + 16GB with 7 days still in the month...
We need to learn more disciprine (just watched the new southpark 914, haha AA is such bullshit)! On the same note we only recently got back on the DSLAM so we have 12000/1000 and hence the following day we downloaded 8GB so it hasn't been a normal month.
Wow 28% downloaded at a sweet 4kb/s

Meanwhile, I finished reading 'Ender's Game' by Orson Scott Card tonight.. If you haven't read this book -> READ IT!! This is my second time with the book and it was still awesome even though I knew what was coming. One of those books that really opens up your mind to new ideas. I have endless respect for the ender saga and Orson Scott Card for writing them. They rate up there with some of my other favourite books:

Test of the twins trilogy (dragonlance)
Snowcrash (Neil Stevenson)
The foundation series (Isaac Asimov)
Brave New World (aldous Huxley)
1984 and Animal Farm (George Orwell)

and for sentimental reasons -> anything Roald Darl

On another note, I bit the bullet and ordered in 'You had it Coming' by Jeff Beck. A sweet album that I can't wait to hear again. I know what my christmas present will be too (this has nothing to do with the fact that I have requested money to buy something I want :D); I am going to get a BOSS bass effects board \m/ can't wait to fool around with it, making crazy noises with my bass HAHA mainly because I am not that good and anything sounds cool when it sounds weird.

Anywhoo, download is getting there and I have nothing else to say, so later

So I did my confirmation seminar today!

Went well -> I am now a confirmed PhD student (essentially this means that I am not on probation anymore). My seminar went ok... but the post-grad committee was very happy with the interview, apparently I made a great impression :D

So at the moment I am playing computer games (well not this second obviously) drinking some rum (Inner Circle - Australia's premier rum) and waiting until 8:30pm when my basketball game starts. Yes I am drinking rum prior to the game, but only a couple so I will be sweet. We are playing a good team tonight (apparently), better than the team we played last week (we lost by ~10 points but we won the 1,2 &4th quarter) so it should be interesting...

Anyhow, later

So the response was quite the counter argument I must say...

'Clearly, we disagree. But thanks for taking the time to write.'


clearly...

Another letter to another SHIT story (http://www.startribune.com/stories/191/5756313.html)

'The institute's staff members aren't prudes trying to protect kids from a few naughty words. "Take 'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,' " says David Walsh, a psychologist and the institute's founder and president. "In this game -- the top seller of 2004 -- kids can hack prostitutes to death with chain saws. Today we're seeing things we never saw in the late 1990s, like cannibalism. The f-word is now common in video games. Profanity is up 3,000 percent. Sexual content is up 800 percent."'

I am writing this email to complain about your obvious lack of investigative journalism. The article 'Video games go from worse to unspeakable' from which the above quote came from is atrocious. Firstly, the title: from WORSE... where did 'worse' come from or is it just for effect. The quote by David Walsh 'kids can hack prostitutes to death with chain saws' is completely incorrect as the game is M17+ so 'kids' shouldn't have access. He goes on to say that the rating system is broken! Only 17+ can by the game which means basically only adults can (18 is adulthood in australia at least). Cannibalism -> here he is talking about two games in the spotlight, 'F.E.A.R' and 'Stubbs the Zombie' what you failed to mention in your bias article was that there is maybe 5 scenes of cannibalism in FEAR by the inherently evil 'villian'. The aim of the game is to STOP him from doing this therefore, in no way does the game condone it. 'Stubbs the Zombie', don't get me started; firstly, it is NOT cannibalism in the technical sense -> a zombie eating a human, undead eating living = NOT cannibalism and secondly, the game is a cartoonish parody, he pushes people back by expelling noxious gas (farting) so how can the game be taken seriously to begin with (he is GREEN).
Lastly, where are the statistics on profanity and sexual content in movies?... I garuantee kids can get movies underage easier than video games - most video games cost like $50 US or $90 AU which is a lot of money for a 13 year old whereas movies cost $10-20 US and are MUCH more realistic.

'"Take out the words 'alcohol' or 'cocaine' and substitute 'video games,' " he says.' Hardly the same, alcohol and cocaine are extremely bad for your health and is Dr. Walsh claiming that underage (that is what he is refering to) drinking and cocaine use is AS BAD as playing a video game...

I find it quite sad that you neither raised any of these points in your article and hence never even tried to make it worthy journalism by reporting the story rather than cutting and pasting the 'buzz story' tearing through what we call 'educational media'. Sadly, I feel all the lies and rumours spread by people like yourself are worse for kids than any video game because all you manage to do is create parents who don't know the true facts and then make bad decisions regarding their kids.
Atleast the advent of unrestricted media (internet blogs etc) will give people a second opinion that isn't dictated by money and all commercial media like your own employer had better be careful because our generation is already very cynical of the media and most of us play video games. Might I add that even though video game use has increased in America over the past ten years, you are currently dealing with the least violent generation of Americans, do the math.

I really do hope you feel ashamed of the rumours/lies you report.
Sincerely,

Once again ->not in the blog


It is a sad state of affairs that any of this is even happening -> and I am not one to write emails to random people generally but this stuff just begs for a complaint. Can the voice of reason make a difference... I doubt it cause it isn't worth any money. Send an email complaining to her yourself so she really gets the point (kkersten@startribune.com)

Ahhh the ol' copy paste worked so it is sent :D

This is a comment I was going to send to mediawise however their comment box is too small so I figure I will put it here.

Title: I am Saddened by your own lack of ethics
Hi,
I have been paying a lot of attention to the current video game saga in the the 'great' USA and UK. Being an Australian I am interested because unfortunately any actions in america tend to make it here also.
I have a complaint to make about this site (and the National Institute on Media) and unfortunately, your ethics. First of all, I am all for minors not being allowed to play content that is too violent/whatever for them (unless their parents decide that they are mature enough). Secondly, I was in favor of your cause (especially after you dissociated yourselves from Jack Thompson proving you have some credibility). Now, however, I am quite disgusted. Let me tell you why:
1. You claim that underage children should not have access to video games... AGREED, yet you attack the rating systems trying to achieve this. An older brother can always buy the game , and how many under 15yr old teenagers have seen an M rated movie (F*** loads) and why isn't there the same 'political agenda' for them.
2. 'Vid games serving up cannibalism' (http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/370337p-314887c.html) Now whilst I understand this if obviously a low level scrappy publishment, what are you trying to say? That 'Stubbs the Zombie' encourages cannibalism... really?.. sorry I am stunned. He is a Zombie, he is green, he can detach his arm and control it, how can this be taken seriously - even by a kid.
I didn't see you complain that Mario jumps on his enemies to squash them, why not, too unrealistic to encourage this in children? Well, blow me down...
3. Your review of ‘Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ (http://www.mediafamily.org/kidscore/games_gta4.shtml). It is pathetic… yes, be ashamed of yourself Jeremy Gieske. Be very ashamed… This was actually what encouraged me to write this letter. I will tell you why:
Best for ages: 18+
Playability: Difficult
Graphics: Excellent
Entertainment value: High levels of exploration and variety
Educational value: None
Reading Level: 5+
This Jeremy Gieske claims to be an avid gamer in his bio at the end of the article, yet playability is difficult. This is quite contradictory as young children will stop playing a game if they find it ‘too hard’. Hence if this game is a risk for young children I would argue it has easy playability, which incidentally, it does – pretty straight forward actually. This also means your quote “Jeremy Gieske has been an avid game player since the days of the Apple II+ and Karateka.” is incorrect or a lie, as I haven’t even been gaming for that long and it is VERY easy to pick up. I can understand best for ages 18+ but most 15 year olds would be able to handle it.
And lastly, the fake interview is atrocious. You seriously think anybody needs to ask a criminal what this ‘stereotyped’ violence looks like… Everyone from the age of 10 up has seen punch up’s, cuts, and movies with full blown violence (much more realistic than games will be for quite some time also). The worst bit is you make it sound like the violence is realistic… hahahaha hardly, you have to back over a person like 6 times with a car before they stop getting back up.
Oh and you say educational value is none, that’s your call Jeremy but let me review your review:
Best for ages: Anyone who understands the words ‘inherent bias’
Playability: I don’t think they did
Graphics: Can’t argue with the blue and yellow colour scheme
Entertainment value: Quite hilarious actually
Educational value: They do mention how much the game costs
Reading Level: 5+ (only parents and people like me would be reading it anyhow)

Enjoy your side of the fence, but remember; if you keep building the fence higher you won’t be able to see what’s on the other side ->then you might as well make up with Jack Thompson because you will be seeing a lot of each other.


Sincerely,
(I would have put my real name on the site comment but I am trying to keep this blog a little more anon)

So earlier I mentioned my hungover procrastination but I have since had a 'light bulb' as you could put it. I may have just stumbled accross a plausible theory for both my labs animal model and schizophrenia!!

Of course if anyone were ever to read this blog I would probably get shot down in flames but I am going to write it anyway because nobody probably will.

So a quick background to both the animal model and schizophrenia:

Schizophrenia - general onset of the psychosis is at adolescence (18-25 for males and about 5 yrs later for females) but there are various symptoms prior in life. I will try to reference but I just kinda know this stuff now.
-they generally learn to crawl later and show more neuromotor abnormalities early in life
-some studies have shown that pre-adolescence people who develop schizophrenia have a lower IQ
-they also tend to be less social adept i.e. have less friends, less likelihood of having a girlfriend etc

Our model - I test rats at adulthood (10 weeks of age) and look for changes due to developmental vitamin D depletion
-we have shown these animals to have a sensitivity to the locomotor inducing effects of MK-801 (a PCP analogue, quite similar)
-pilot data suggests that they are LESS sensitive to amphetamine though (dex-AMPH i.e. ritalin not meth)

OK so i was looking at a paper I got awhile ago (Vasilev et al. 2003 - Age-related differences in MK-801-and amphetamine-induced locomotor and stereotypic activities of rats) and interestingly enough young rats are more sensitive to MK-801 and this decreases with age (this corresponds nicely with the NMDA receptor subtype expression at these ages). Furthermore, amphetamine induced locomotion (dex also) shows a peak at adulthood/middle aged with younger and older rats less sensitive. So my theory is (in relation to locomotion at least) that developmental vitamin D depletion/deficiency slows the aging of these systems i.e. sets it back a notch. Vitamin D can regulate various neurotrophins and is involved in the differentiation of neurons which I wont go into detail about here.

This may sound a little eccentric but try this... vitamin D is only a risk factor so obviously not all this that cause schizophrenia are due to a lack of D in the womb but think of a younger neural system in relation to learning, motor function and social skills. A younger person has a lower IQ as experience helps us to calibrate our thinking (very bad way of describing it); have less developed motor skills which incidentally WOULD be more obvious during the initial stages of learning e.g. crawling; is less socially capable. Let me explain the social factor a little, remember when you've met little kids and they hide behind their Mum and Dad? And how as you get older you become more confident in your interactions with people e.g. you don't ask your parents to sort things out for you anymore like calling people on the phone. So picture this 'younger' system and remember this is only neurological not peripheral or endocrinological just in the brain. One of the idea's as to why the onset of schizophrenia is at adolescence is that when the 'primed' system undergoes the major stage of synaptic pruning (layman; like when you move house you throw all the crap that you may have once wanted but no longer need out, the brain basically does a big clean and trims everything back to what is deemed 'useful' i spose) a critical flaw (or multiple) are exposed which lead to the evident psychosis. now assuming nothing is wrong with the timing of the synaptic pruning a 'younger' system may not be fully ready for this event. Hence, schizophrenia is aging problem in specific systems in the brain and vitamin D deficiency in the womb may increase the chance that this critical window of 'the right age to prune back the synapses' is off. Think of a mind not ready to determine what it still needs and what it doesn't so it ends up discarding valuable connections and gets left with a fragmented consciousness. This could also explain the diverse range of symptoms patients display and the lack of any diagnostic marker for the disease, as the development of these systems can be highly individual, after all we are talking about consciousness and an assumed human ONLY disease. Furthermore it can explain the decrease in symptoms and episodes over time, as the brain is slowly rebuilding the essential connections that were lost - so to speak.

Anyhow I ramble

I am going to work on this one I think and maybe write a review about the arguments for and against. I will chuck it up here when I am done and maybe even think of trying to publish it it the theory still stands.

So I went to the RE (Royal Exchange) last night for my ex-housemates birthday drinks. Had a real good time but unfortunately am paying for it today... Late to uni, on herron blue paracetamol (spelling?...) and completely unmotivated towards anything.

On the other hand I drank jugs upon jugs of rum which is never a bad thing (at the time) and had some games of pool and chatted with a bunch of my friends I haven't really talked to in a while.

In light of my current mood I am doing a simple experiment today that I planned yesterday:

I am running a set concentration of my standards through the HPLC-ECD (high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection) at varying cell potentials (150-450mV in increments of 50) which will allow me to plot a CV (current voltamogram *I think) of each of my analytes (L-DOPA, noradrenaline, DHBA (internal standard), DOPAC, dopamine, DE (internal standard), 5-HIAA, HVA and serotonin). From this graph I can decide which potential suits my setup best and allows for the greatest sensitivity. It's a simple experiment because once its all setup the rest is automated... ahhh sweet, sweet automation

oooh, I bought METAL HAMMER yesterday and copped a nice METAL 2005 CD with it. Trivium, Arch Enemy, Mastodon, Black Label Society, Bullet for my Valentine, Soulfly, Devildriver, Chimaira, Shadows Fall and a few others I haven't heard of before. One of the bands 'GOD FORBID' sounds pretty cool and I am going to try a get a copy of their cd if possible.

Anyway, back to procrastinating...

If anyone knows anything about ECD's could you throw me some tips on reducing baseline noise (I am not a beginner so the little things that most people don't talk about would be best)

So... Here I am entering my first entry into livejournal.com. I don't really have much to say bar that I am pretty hungry and too broke to buy food -> ahhhh the life of a student, gotta love it. I have had an interesting week though, failed to replicate a finding I got last year (fuck). I spose I should describe what I do...

I am a PhD student in the great down under (Aus) studying Neuroscience. Specifically, I investigate the effects of low maternal vitamin D (layman *spelling* = the effects of your mother not getting enough sunlight when she was pregnant) on development. We study schizophrenia (Sz) and believe low vitamin D is a risk factor for the development of this disease. It is important to note however that I work on an animal model (rat) not humans. Personally I investigate the effects of this on brain neurochemistry and behaviour, its quite interesting to see the differences these things can have on the behaviour of an adult rat (70 days old and have had normal vitamin D levels since birth).

Quick reasons why vitamin D can be linked to Sz:

The incidence of Sz increases with increasing latitude, if you were born in winter/spring (i.e. me), if you born in an urban environment (i.e. me) and if migrated to a cooler/less temperate country (this is especially pronounced in afro-carribean migrants to the UK). All of these can be associated with decreased sunlight exposure. Also Vitamin D interacts with so many systems of which many could also be associated with Sz.

On a side-note -> haha to Jack Thompson for being booted from the alabama court case he has been pimping his new book at. Sorry to all his 'fans' (i hate to piss off the minority) but this man represents most of what I hate about man (and women :D). Having studied behaviour, psychology and psychiatry I feel I have the right to say this guy has no idea about human behaviour and predisposition to violence, whilst I am not a professor in the subject I think it's pretty obvious. If your interested (i am alone in my group of gaming friends in actually knowing about this let alone being interested in it) in the whole video games vs conservatives battle raging at the moment go to my news link and read some gamepolitics (great journal, check it out). I like to keep a keen eye on it for two reasons; firstly, american law will eventually sneak its ugly head into australian politics so a win in america is a win in australia to some extent and secondly, you are what you love/hate and I hate 'this man' so in learning more about him I learn more about myself. The second one may be a bit confusing but its true.

anyway, I am going to try to be diligent with this blog so if anyone cares... give me some topics you would be interesting in hearing about (anything psychiatric/research science/neurochemistry/pharmacology (i.e. drugs)/games/music is prefered)

James