sábado, 5 de febrero de 2011

Nueva de Lyon 116; 56-2-231-4444), a new wine bar in the bustling downtown district of Providencia. It draws a mixed crowd of well-dressed residents and serious wine connoisseurs enjoying the recent trend here of wine by the glass.
Saturday
11 a.m.
4) FASHION TEMPLE
It took Jorge Yarur Bascuñán, a descendant of Palestinian textile merchants from Bethlehem, 10 years to turn the family mansion — a modernist glass construction from 1962 — into the Museo de la Moda (Avenida Vitacura 4562; 56-2-219-3623; mmyt.cl), a museum devoted to fashion and the memory of his mother, Raquel Bascuñán Cugnoni, a socialite with a penchant for high fashion. The museum’s approximately 10,000 garments include a Jean Paul Gaultier conical bra designed for Madonna, a tutu worn by Margot Fonteyn, and pieces from a recent ’80s exhibition, including early collections fromVivienne Westwood and Thierry Mugler. The museum has a delightful cafe, El Garage, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls, colorful art and light fare like salmon carpaccio (3,300 pesos) and seafood with couscous (5,500 pesos).
2 p.m.
5) HOMEGROWN TALENT
Fashion-savvy Chileans get word, often through Facebook, of temporary fashion markets known as ferias. One of the most popular is Bazar Oriente (Club Médico la Dehesa, Avenida La Dehesa 2245; bazaroriente.cl), which features smaller labels. For visitors interested in a shortcut, a stylist named Ameriga Gianonne (56-9-790-59144;agstyling.com) can help you find lesser-known ferias, as well as stylish stores like Hall Central (Merced 346; hallcentral.cl), which stocks upcoming Chilean designers, and Porquetevistes (Gertrudis Echeñique 360; 56-2-207-5525; www.porquetevistes.cl), with more established labels. You can’t say you’ve been shopping in Santiago without heading to the luxury-store-lined street of Alonso de Córdova, which looks like a toy town version of Fifth Avenue. New stores include Noon (Alonso de Córdova 4120; 56-2-723-0273;ojoconlamoda.com), which stocks coming Chilean and Swedish lines. Wool (Alonso de Córdova 4098; 56-2208-8767; alfombraswool.com), which sells carpets, displays small squares of carpet on its wall like fine works of art.
4 p.m.
6) PAINTERS AND A PARK
In November, Santiago’s newest museum opened: the Museo de la Chilenidad (Padre Hurtado Sur 1155; lascondes.cl), surrounded by a sprawling park. The permanent collection includes works by Chilean master painters from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including Pedro Lira.
6 p.m.
7) SHOE FIESTA
Every month or so, two shoe aficionados, Marcela Strika and Lorena Muñoz, otherwise known as Tacón Zapatos (Monjitas 537, Dpto 74, Bellas Artes; 56-9-9159-8995;taconzapatos.blogspot.com), invite customers to Ms. Strika’s apartment or a rented hotel suite to sip Champagne and check out the flamboyant shoes they sell from Luz Principe, an Argentine designer of frilly, floral slip-ons and sexy black ankle boots. From 63,000 to 110,000 pesos a pair.
10 p.m.
8) TUDOR TEMPTATIONS
For a local dining experience somewhat removed from the high-end restaurants of Vitacura, Casa Lastarria (Lastarria 70; 56-2-638-3236; casalastarria.cl), in the artsy downtown district of Lastarria, offers home-cooked meals in a 1930s Tudor-style building that is filled with vintage furniture. Frequented by artistic types, this new addition to the Santiago dining scene offers dishes like congria eel in almond sauce (5,000 pesos) and chicken with Cognac (5,900 pesos).
Midnight
9) ALL IN ONE PLACE
Multifaceted night spots, offering entertainment, dancing, drinks and food, have become popular in Santiago. Bar Constitución (Constitución 61; 56-2-244-4569;barconstitucion.cl) has indoor and outdoor spaces, including a bar, terrace, lounge and dining area, and attracts a young, fun-loving, casual crowd. Live music ranges from Nufolk to R&B and electroclash. For club listings in English, see Revolver Santiago Magazine (santiagomagazine.cl).
Sunday
9.30 a.m.
10) MEMORIALS FOR MISSING
When it opened last year, local residents flocked to the Museum of Memory and Human Rights (Matucana 501; 56-2-365-1165; www.museodelamemoria.cl). The contemporary concrete, glass and copper structure, designed by the Brazilian architect Marcos Figuero, covers an entire block in downtown Santiago. Inside are photographs of victims of Gen.Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorial rule, video footage of protesters and other documentation of his 17 years (1973-1990) in power, when more than 3,000 people lost their lives, or disappeared, following his crackdown on dissent. Another memorial site is Londres 38, housed in a building that was previously used as the municipal headquarters for the Socialist government of Salvador Allende and then as a torture center under the Pinochet regime (Londres 38; www.londres38.cl). On a cobbled street in the historic Paris-Londres district, it offers free guided tours on the history of the building.
2 p.m.
11) ON TWO WHEELS
Rent bikes at La Bicicleta Verde (Santa María Avenida 227, office 12; 56-2-570-9338;labicicletaverde.com) and explore the nearby vineyards of the Maipo — a region of winding roads and wineries some 30 miles from the city. Rentals are 12,000 pesos a day; vineyard tours available. Among the vineyards worth visiting (book in advance): La Montaña (Fundo el Peumo, Camino Santa Luisa, three miles south of Huelquen; 56-2-264-9846; vinalamontana.cl), with a wine store and hiking opportunities, and, a few miles farther, Pérez Cruz (Fundo Liguai, Huelquen; 56-2-655-1318; perezcruz.com), which has an unusual winery building with curved pillars. Two and a half miles down the road is Huelquen (Camino Padre Hurtado 4595, Huelquen; 56-2-822-1264; huelquen.com), an organic winery.
IF YOU GO
Opened in 2010, The Aubrey (Constitución 299-317; 56-2-940-28-00; theaubrey.com) is a 15-room boutique hotel in the artsy area of Bella Vista, with doubles from 118,000 pesos, about $252. Its restaurant, Pasta E Vino, is one of the most popular hangouts in the city with a three-week waiting list.
Also opened last year, the Hotel Boutique Le Rève (Orrego Luco 023; 56-2-757-6000;lerevehotel.cl) is in historic central Santiago, with 31 rooms starting at 121,000 pesos.
The W Santiago (3000 Isidora Goyenechea; 56-2-770-0000; wsantiago.cl), opened in 2009 with 196 rooms starting at $299 for a double.
A version of this article appeared in print on February 6, 2011, on page TR10 of the New York edition.

Black-Magic Woman

Published: February 4, 2011

That dog is the very Devil. No, seriously. That shaggy black mongrel is Satan incarnate, and he wants to buy your soul. Kind of cute, though, isn’t he, the way he perks up at the least sign of affection? You don’t know whether to scratch his belly or make the sign of the cross.

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Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Derek Smith, left, as Dog, and Charlayne Woodard as Elizabeth Sawyer in “The Witch of Edmonton,” a Jacobean drama at Theater at St. Clement’s.

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Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Clockwise from top, Derek Smith, in the shadows, Justin Blanchard and Christina Pumariega in a scene from the Red Bull Theater Company’s production of “The Witch of Edmonton.”

Shakespeare’s Hamlet observed that “the Devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape.” But he probably didn’t envision the scruffy canine form adopted by Mephistopheles in “The Witch of Edmonton,” a fascinating and seldom-seen Jacobean drama, which has been given a sturdy, insightful production by the resourceful Red Bull Theater company.

As inventively embodied by Derek Smith — who wears a jaunty highwayman’s hat with a snarling face hidden in its folds and uses a pair of sticks for front legs — the character bluntly called Dog is both really creepy and sort of endearing. You can see why a lonely, demented old woman and a simple-minded lad would take pleasure in his company and feel bereft without it.

Though it deals with the supernatural, natural human urges are at the forefront of “The Witch of Edmonton,” which opened on Thursday night at Theater at St. Clement’s. A collaboration among (at least) Thomas Dekker, John Ford and William Rowley, this 1621 workmay have the bloodstains and body count of a typical revenge tragedy.

But inspired by real events of the recent past in an English village, the play is homier and humbler than the usual Jacobean fare. There are no arrogant duchesses or swaggering, poison-wielding princes in Edmonton. The people who commit the play’s central crimes are of the everyday variety. And though Dog is around to whisper dark motivating words into their ears, it is intriguingly open to debate as to whether the Devil really made them do it.

Since its establishment in 2003, the Red Bull Theater has specialized in Elizabethan-Jacobean potboilers that New Yorkers rarely get a chance to see these days, including “The Revenger’s Tragedy” and “Women Beware Women.” But “Witch” — staged by Jesse Berger, the company’s artistic director — is of an even rarer stripe than usual.

Though the acting in this interpretation is variable, the play still emerges vividly as a singular blend of psychological realism, naturalistic detail and lurid, black-magic-shadowed sensationalism. A multilevel tale related with few of the flourishes of fancy poetry, “Witch” has the magnetic pull of a broadsheet ballad of murderous love.

The play follows two main stories, which are only tangentially linked: that of Frank Thorney (Justin Blanchard), an irresolute young man who finds himself inconveniently married to two women, and that of Elizabeth Sawyer (Charlayne Woodard), the title character, a ragged and desolate woman who is scorned as a witch by the people of Edmonton well before she becomes one.

It is Elizabeth who summons the Devil Dog into being, after which the sly cur attaches himself to Cuddy Banks (Adam Green), a simpleton. Dog is also on hand when Frank plants a knife in the breast of the doting Susan (Christina Pumariega), his second bride, so he can be with Winifred (Miriam Silverman), a pregnant serving girl whom he married previously.

I know this all sounds a shade byzantine. (Did I mention that Winifred is disguised as a man and was previously the lover of a foppish knight, portrayed with relish by Christopher Innvar?) But twists of story line are remarkably easy to follow in Mr. Berger’s version, which eliminates a festive subplot involving Morris dancers to focus on matters of the heart.

Mr. Berger elucidates the play’s suggestion that hearts are often divided, and that a devil’s easiest mark is an ambivalent soul. We are always aware of a tantalizing ambiguity as to why these people commit the crimes they do. And in the case of Elizabeth, we’re not entirely sure what crimes she is responsible for, or the extent to which the townspeople turn her into the vengeful harpy she becomes. Guilt, it seems, is a gray zone in Edmonton.

The production has been handsomely designed, with period costumes by Cait O’Connor, evoking the time in which it takes place without being overly literal. Anka Lupes’s stark, subtly symbolic set borders a gaping pit of dirt with a wooden walkway and two houselike frames on either end. Civilized folk mostly stick to the walkway, but you’re aware that one slip of the foot, and they could be in the dirt, where Elizabeth and Dog spend most of their time.

Though the production features two grisly executions and several bloody apparitions, it is strongest in its more prosaic moments, especially in the first half. Mr. Blanchard is very good at summoning Frank’s troubled passivity, if less convincing in the tragic heroics required at the end. Ms. Woodard portrays Elizabeth on a single note of angry, beleaguered dignity, but that note serves the play’s purposes.

Among the rest of the cast — which includes the familiar faces of Everett Quinton and André de Shields — I was particularly struck by Sam Tsoutsouvas, who, as the father of the murdered Susan, displays a grief that is a compound of shifting elements. Emotions are neither pure nor simple in this play.

Even the Devil, as Mr. Smith reminds us, has a human longing to be loved. On one perfectly entertaining level, “The Witch of Edmonton” is like a 17th-century edition of The National Enquirer. But its portrayal of startlingly mixed motives and responses adds a depth rarely found in tabloids.

The Witch of Edmonton

By Thomas Dekker, John Ford, William Rowley, etc.; directed by Jesse Berger; costumes by Cait O’Connor; sets by Anka Lupes; lighting by Peter West; music by Daniel Levy; sound by Elizabeth Rhodes; violence by Rick Sordelet; movement byTracy Bersley; projections by Dan Scully; voice and speech by Diego Daniel Pardo; hair and makeup by Erin Kennedy Lunsford; aerial effects by Paul Rubin; production stage manager, Damon Arrington; production supervisor, Production Core / James E. Cleveland; associate producer, Renee Blinkwolt. Presented by the Red Bull Theater, Mr. Berger, artistic director. At the Theater at St. Clement’s, 423 West 46th Street, Clinton; (212) 352-3101, redbulltheater.com. Through Feb. 20. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes.

WITH: Craig Baldwin (Warbeck/Countryman), Justin Blanchard (Frank Thorney), Adam Green (Cuddy Banks), Christopher Innvar (Sir Arthur Clarington), Christopher McCann (Thorney), Carman Lacivita (Somerton/Countryman), Christina Pumariega (Susan), Amanda Quaid (Katherine), Everett Quinton (Old Ratcliffe/Anne Ratcliffe), André de Shields (Old Banks), Miriam Silverman (Winifred), Derek Smith (Dog), Raphael Nash Thompson (Justice), Sam Tsoutsouvas (Carter) and Charlayne Woodard (Elizabeth Sawyer).

A version of this review appeared in print on February 5, 2011, on page C1 of the New York edition.

Seeking Support on Facebook: A Content Analysis of Breast Cancer Groups

Original Paper

Seeking Support on Facebook: A Content Analysis of Breast Cancer Groups

Jacqueline L Bender^1,², BSc MSc; Maria-Carolina Jimenez-Marroquin^1,³, MD; Alejandro R Jadad^1,^2,³, MD DPhil

¹Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
²Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
³Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Corresponding Author:

Jacqueline L Bender, BSc MSc

Centre for Global eHealth Innovation
University Health Network
R. Fraser Elliott Building, 4th Floor
190 Elizabeth St.
Toronto, ON M5G 2C4
Canada
Phone: 1 416 340 4800
Fax: 1 416 340 3595
Email: jbender [at] ehealthinnovation.org

ABSTRACT

Background: Social network sites have been growing in popularity across broad segments of Internet users, and are a convenient means to exchange information and support. Research on their use for health-related purposes is limited.
Objective: This study aimed to characterize the purpose, use, and creators of Facebook groups related to breast cancer.
Methods: We searched Facebook (www.Facebook.com) using the term breast cancer. We restricted our analysis to groups that were related to breast cancer, operated in English, and were publicly available. Two of us independently extracted information on the administrator and purpose of the group, as well as the number of user-generated contributions. We developed a coding scheme to guide content analysis.
Results: We found 620 breast cancer groups on Facebook containing a total of 1,090,397 members. The groups were created for fundraising (277/620, 44.7%), awareness (236, 38.1%), product or service promotion related to fundraising or awareness (61, 9%), or patient/caregiver support (46, 7%). The awareness groups as a whole contained by far the most members (n = 957,289). The majority of groups (532, 85.8%) had 25 wall posts or fewer. The support oriented groups, 47% (27/57) of which were established by high school or college students, were associated with the greatest number of user-generated contributions.
Conclusions: Facebook groups have become a popular tool for awareness-raising, fundraising, and support-seeking related to breast cancer attracting over one million users. Given their popularity and reach, further research is warranted to explore the implications of social network sites as a health resource across various health conditions, cultures, ages, and socioeconomic groups.

(J Med Internet Res 2011;13(1):e16)
doi:10.2196/jmir.1560

KEYWORDS
Internet; Facebook; breast cancer; supportive care; peer support; health promotion; fundraising

Introduction

Online communities present a convenient means to exchange information and support with people in similar circumstances and are increasingly being used for health purposes [1], particularly by breast cancer survivors [2]. One of the most popular and perhaps most successful online communities, if success is based on sheer numbers of registered users, is the social network site Facebook (www.Facebook.com). Just over 5 years since its launch, Facebook became the second most visited website in the world (second only to Google) [3], with over 500 million active users (those who returned to the site within the last 30 days) worldwide [4]. While young adults are still more likely to use social network sites [5], the fastest growing demographic of Facebook users is women 55 years and older [6], which corresponds to the average age of onset of breast cancer [7]. Although recent studies indicate that Facebook groups are used for health purposes [8], little is known about how this resource is used by people affected by breast cancer.

Online communities are “virtual social space(s) where people come together to get and give information or support, to learn or to find company” [9]. They tend to be characterized according to the activity (eg, support) or the people that they serve (eg, breast cancer survivors), or the communication technology that supports them (eg, message board) [10]. Initially, online communities were supported by mailing lists, and asynchronous and synchronous message boards. More recently online communities have formed around blogs, wikis, and social network sites, commonly referred to as Web 2.0 social media applications [11]. Social network sites are differentiated from other online communities based on their ability to enable users to display their social networks. Their backbone consists of visible user profiles that display an articulated list of friends who are also users of the system [12]. While other online community platforms enabled users to create a list of friends, these networks were not displayed or accessible to other users. This unique feature of social network sites is hypothesized to result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise have been made [12].

Research on online communities for health purposes has primarily focused on the use and effects of mailing lists and message boards by breast cancer survivors, who have been shown to be one of the groups most likely to seek support from peers on the Internet [2]. Qualitative studies have revealed that these types of online communities provide breast cancer survivors with a safe, relatively anonymous space to communicate about sensitive and potentially stigmatizing topics [13], reduce feelings of isolation and uncertainty regarding prognosis and ambiguous painful symptoms [14], and enable them to become more informed and better prepared for their interactions with the health system [15]. Randomized controlled trials have shown that professionally moderated mailing lists and message boards for breast cancer survivors can reduce depression, stress, and cancer related trauma, and can enhance social support [16-18].

Relatively little is known about the use of social network sites for health purposes. Keelan and colleagues [19,20] examined the use of YouTube videos and Myspace blogs as a source of information on immunization and found a subcommunity of users critical of or with divergent views about vaccines. Research by Scanfeld and colleagues has demonstrated that Twitter has been used to share information on the use and side effects of antibiotics [21]. To our knowledge, there is only one study of the use of Facebook for health purposes. Farmer et al [8] examined noncommunicable disease groups and found a considerable number of patient and caregiver support groups related to malignant neoplasms. Surprisingly, breast cancer groups were notably absent from their analysis.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide [22], and thanks to advances in detection and treatment, women affected by this disease form the largest group of female cancer survivors [23]. However, the posttreatment period carries numerous physical and psychosocial needs that often go unaddressed by professional health care services [23]. Addressing the needs of this growing population of cancer survivors has been identified as supportive care’s new challenge [23,24]. Social network sites could provide breast cancer survivors with a convenient means to connect with a diverse network of peers, thus facilitating access to a wider array of supportive information and services. In fact, some have questioned the utility of government-funded personal health care solutions, when social network sites provide users with the tools to create and share health resources on their own [25]. Little is known about how people affected by breast cancer use social network sites. This study attempted to fill some of the gaps by presenting a characterization of the purpose, patterns of use, and creators of Facebook groups related to breast cancer.

El Hospital Provincial abre una biblioteca virtual con más de 3.000 recursos

11-01-2011 / 16:10 h

Castellón, 11 ene (EFE).- El Consorcio Hospitalario Provincial de Castellón ha puesto en marcha una biblioteca virtual que permite a los profesionales del centro acceder a través de la web a más de 3.000 recursos de información electrónicos como publicaciones científicas, sumarios de revistas y una selección de enlaces de interés.

Así lo han explicado mediante un comunicado fuentes del hospital, que han precisado que actualmente la biblioteca cuenta con un catálogo que consta de un total de 3.240 publicaciones entre revistas de acceso abierto, colecciones de la Conselleria de Sanidad y el fondo propio del hospital, ya sea en formato electrónico o en papel.

Además, el usuario tiene la posibilidad de realizar peticiones de documentos a través del catálogo y la responsable de la biblioteca virtual se encarga de localizarlos y servirlos a través de los fondos mencionados o por préstamo interbibliotecario.

La biblioteca aprovecha herramientas de la web 2.0 para aglutinar sumarios de revistas de un total de veintinueve especialidades médicas y recopilar recursos de información electrónicos de calidad clasificados por diversas categorías.

Los profesionales pueden colaborar con la biblioteca y proporcionar nuevos sumarios de revistas, así como sugerir la inclusión de recursos web de interés para favorecer la labor asistencial, docente e investigadora del personal sanitario.

Asimismo se ofrecen otros servicios como el acceso a bases de datos, la petición de búsquedas bibliográficas y el servicio de referencia e información, que ofrece asesoramiento para que los usuarios encuentren la información que desean.

El hospital espera ampliar en el futuro el número de recursos y los servicios ofrecidos, de manera que la biblioteca virtual se convierta en un punto de referencia para investigadores, especialistas y personal en formación. EFE

Biblioteca Virtual > Recursos

Recursos

Recursos
- Catálogo de publicaciones del Consorcio Hospitalario Provincial de Castellón
A través del catálogo se pueden hacer peticiones de artículos, en caso de no estar disponible en nuestra biblioteca, se solicitará por préstamo interbibliotecario. Para ello, puede darse de alta en el sistema cumplimentando el formulario de alta.
- Biblioteca virtual de la Conselleria de Sanidad
- Sumarios de revistas del Consorcio Hospitalario Provincial de Castellón
- Recursos de información electrónicos
- Bases de datos:
- Cochrane Library Plus
- IBECS
- Índice Médico Español
- ISI Web of Knowledge (preguntar claves en Biblioteca)
- Pubmed- Medline (acceso con enlace al catálogo del hospital)
- Servicios:
- Búsquedas bibliográficas
- Obtención de documentos
- Asesoramiento para localizar la información que desea.

Contacte con la biblioteca

Use of the internet as a source of health information by Spanish adolescent

Use of the internet as a source of health
information by Spanish adolescents

Abstract
Background: The Internet is a fundamental part of the daily life of adolescents, they consider it as a safe and
confidential source of information on health matters. The aims is to describe the experience of Spanish adolescents
searching for health information on the Internet.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 811 school-age adolescents in Granada was carried out. An adapted and
piloted questionnaire was used which was controlled by trained personnel. Sociodemographic and health variables
were included together with those concerning the conditions governing access to and use of information and
communication technologies (ICT).
Results: 811 adolescents were surveyed (99.38% response rate), mean age was 17 years old. Of these, 88% used
the Internet; 57.5% used it on a daily or weekly basis and 38.7% used it occasionally. Nearly half the sample group
(55.7%) stated that they used the Internet to search for health-related information. The main problems reported in
the search for e-health were the ignorance of good web pages (54.8%) and the lack of confidence or search skills
(23.2%).
Conclusions: In conclusion, it seems plausible to claim that websites designed and managed by health services
should have a predominant position among interventions specifically addressed to young people

Para acceder al documento completo pinchar el siguiente link:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6947-10-6.pdf

Classora: una forma semántica de encontrar y organizar la información

Classora es otro de esos proyectos que se apoya en la colaboración para la elaboración de nuevos contenidos. En base a la colaboración de los usuarios pretenden crear una base de conocimiento para internet basada en el análisis de datos. Es un sitio donde se podrá consultar información de todo tipo , representarla gráficamente, verla en mapas , hacer comparativas, crear rankings personales, navegar por la información existente en classora..etc. La información en classora está basada en las Unidades de conocimiento o entradas, similares a los artículos de la wikipedia, que almacenan información sobre cualquier elemento del mundo. Con la agrupación de estas unidades se crean informes y clasificaciones sobre todo tipo de temas. Estos informes se pueden visualizar de diferentes maneras. Otro punto importante a su favor es que permite incrustar los informes en blogs y wikis con el código que proporciona. Este es un ejemplo del ranking se supercomputadoras más rápidas del mundo.

El cerebro almacena sólo los recuerdos útiles durante el sueño

de Tendencias 21 de Yaiza Martínez

A 19 personas les gusta esto.

El cerebro almacena sólo los recuerdos útiles durante el sueño

Después de una noche de profundo descanso, la gente recuerda mejor la información obtenida durante el día, pero sólo si sabe de antemano que dicha información le resultará útil en un futuro.

Esto es lo que ha revelado un estudio realizado por científicos de laUniversidad de Lübeck, en Alemania, y cuyos resultados han aparecido publicados en The Journal of Neuroscience.

El descubrimiento sugiere que el cerebro evalúa nuestros recuerdos y retiene mientras dormimos preferentemente aquéllos que nos resultarán más relevantes.

Darle importancia a los recuerdos

A lo largo del día las personas recibimos grandes cantidades de información. Mucha de esta información es codificada en recuerdos por el cerebro e inicialmente almacenada, pero la mayoría de ella es olvidada rápidamente.

En el presente estudio, el neurocientífico de la Universidad de Lübeck, Jan Born, y sus colaboradores se dispusieron a determinar cómo se produce este proceso, es decir, cómo el cerebro decide qué información retener y cuál olvidar.

Según declaraciones de Born recogidas en un comunicado de la Society for Neuroscience (SFN) de Washington: “Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que la consolidación de los recuerdos durante el sueño implica un proceso de selección básico que define qué partes de la información cotidiana será almacenada a largo plazo”.

Este proceso de selección estaría basado en la relevancia de dicha información para el futuro. Según los resultados obtenidos, el cerebro seleccionaría para su almacenamiento aquellos datos que nos puedan resultar útiles, explica el científico.

En The Journal of Neuroscience, los autores de la investigación escriben que, por tanto, la importancia que le demos a una información será lo que determine si el sueño beneficiará significativamente o no a su consolidación en la memoria.

Dos experimentos realizados

Born y sus colaboradores llevaron a cabo dos experimentos, con el fin de probar la retención memorística de un total de 191 voluntarios.

En el primero de ellos, se le pidió a una parte de los participantes que aprendieran 40 pares de palabras. En el otro experimento, un segundo grupo de voluntarios jugó a un juego de cartas en el que se debía emparejar imágenes de animales y objetos.

En ambos grupos, a la mitad de los voluntarios se les dijo, inmediatamente después de realizar las tareas, que se les haría una prueba acerca de la información presentada en ellas, 10 horas más tarde. De hecho, finalmente todos los participantes en el estudio se sometieron a esta prueba, pero sólo la mitad de ellos supieron con antelación que la harían.

A algunos de los voluntarios se les permitió además dormir en el intervalo de tiempo entre las tareas y la prueba.

Tal y como los científicos esperaban, los voluntarios que durmieron rindieron mejor en la prueba final, pero sólo en el caso de aquéllos que, además de dormir, habían sido informados de que iban a hacer un examen posteriormente.

Etiquetas y consolidación de la memoria

Los científicos registraron asimismo los electroencefalogramas (EEG) de los individuos que durmieron. De esta forma, descubrieron un incremento de la actividad neuronal durante la fase de sueño profundo o de ondas lentas(SOL), en las personas que sabían que serían examinadas de sus recuerdos.

Según Born: “Cuanto mayor fue la actividad de las ondas lentas en los participantes dormidos, mejor fue su memoria en el test de memoria 10 horas después”.

Hace tiempo que los científicos piensan que el sueño juega un papel clave en la consolidación de los recuerdos.

Los autores del presente estudio sugieren que, durante la vigilia, la corteza prefrontal del cerebro etiquetaría ciertos recuerdos como “relevantes”, mientras que otra región del cerebro, el hipocampo, sería la encargada de consolidar dichos recuerdos durante el descanso.

El hipocampo está implicado en varias funciones cognitivas, entre ellas la de la inhibición, la de la memoria y la de la percepción del espacio

El miedo ¿nace o se hace?

de Genciencia de Capitan Tomate

A 8 personas les gusta esto.

La mayoría de la gente tiene miedo a las arañas y las serpientes. Pero, ¿por qué nos resultan tan amenazantes?
Investigadores creen que el miedo se aprende. Según un estudio publicado en la revista Current Directions in Psychological Science, los niños no nacen con ese tipo de temores, pero son capaces de adquirirlos con gran rapidez.

Una teoría que pretende explicar por qué tenemos miedo a las arañas y las serpientes se debe a que algunas de ellas son venenosas, así que la selección natural pudo haber favorecido a las personas que permanecieron lejos de estas criaturas peligrosas para protegerse. De hecho, varios estudios han encontrado que es más fácil para los seres humanos aprender a temer cosas amenazantes que cosas que no los son.
Los autores de la nueva investigación han estudiado cómo los bebés y los niños reaccionan a objetos de miedo. En una serie de experimentos, mostraron a críos de siete meses de edad dos vídeos, uno de una serpiente y otro de algo no amenazante, como por ejemplo, un elefante. Al mismo tiempo, sonaba tanto una voz amenazadora como una voz feliz. Los bebés pasaban más tiempo mirando los vídeos de serpientes cuando escuchaban las voces de miedo, pero no parecían estar asustados.
En otro estudio, a pequeños de tres años se les mostró una pantalla de nueve fotografías y se les pidió que seleccionaran algunas. Los niños identificaron las serpientes más rápidamente que las flores y que otros animales que se parecen a los reptiles, como las ranas o las orugas. Los niños que tenían miedo de las serpientes eran igual de rápidos al elegir que los niños que no habían desarrollado el miedo.

La investigación original con adultos sugiere dos cosas importantes que hacen destacar a serpientes y arañas. Una es que los detectamos rápidamente. La otra es que se aprende a tener miedo de ellos muy rápido

Dice Vanessa LoBue, coautora del estudio e investigadora de la Universidad de Rutgers.
El trabajo con los niños parece confirmarlo. Se trata de un aprendizaje temprano, pero no innato.
Vía | Current Directions in Psychological Science