This little fella, for instance, rarely used to pick up his sticks and could NOT keep a beat.
Posted on 08/11/2004 3:10:44 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Procrastinating monkeys were turned into workaholics using a gene treatment to block a key brain compound, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
Blocking cells from receiving dopamine made the monkeys work harder at a task -- and they were better at it, too, the U.S. government researchers found.
Dr. Barry Richmond and colleagues at the National Institute of Mental Health used a new genetic technique to block the D2 gene.
"The gene makes a receptor for a key brain messenger chemical, dopamine," Richmond said in a statement. Dopamine is a message carrying chemical associated with rewards, movement and a variety of other important functions.
"The gene knockdown triggered a remarkable transformation in the simian work ethic. Like many of us, monkeys normally slack off initially in working toward a distant goal," he added.
For their study, Richmond and colleague used seven rhesus monkeys. They had to push a lever in response to visual cues on a projection screen, and got a drop of water as a reward.
"They work more efficiently -- make fewer errors -- as they get closer to being rewarded. But without the dopamine receptor, they consistently stayed on-task and made few errors, because they could no longer learn to use visual cues to predict how their work was going to get them a reward."
Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Richmond and colleagues said they were trying to figure out how D2 is involved in a type of learning.
Humans and monkeys both use this learning, which involves looking at how much work there is, visually, and deciding how long it will take to complete it.
Monkeys and humans both tend to wait until the last possible minute to finish up the work, and become very adept at estimating how long they have.
Molecular geneticist Edward Ginns created a DNA antisense agent that tricked brain cells into turning off their D2 receptors -- which are molecular doorways used by dopamine to get into cells.
Antisense involves making a kind of mirror image molecule that looks like a strand of DNA and works to block a gene's action.
Although some employers might take a distinct interest in the work, the NIMH team said they are hoping to understand mental illness.
"In this case, it's worth noting that the ability to associate work with reward is disturbed in mental disorders, including schizophrenia, mood disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder, so our finding of the pivotal role played by this gene and circuit may be of clinical interest," Richmond said.
"For example, people who are depressed often feel nothing is worth the work. People with obsessive-compulsive disorder work incessantly; even when they get rewarded they feel they must repeat the task. In mania, people will work feverishly for rewards that aren't worth the trouble to most of us."
They masturbated and flung poo furiously.
Ah, yes... minor chan ge in gene code changes behavior. Score yet another one for evolution...
Uh-oh... cubicle rats for large corpaorations better shy away from the coffee pot and water cooler- bring your own drinks.
LOL...
"Joe Bob realizes these geniuses never even considered it could be just making the dang monkeys thirstier"
/john
First it was "Drunk as a Monkey" now it's "Workin' like a Monkey"...
"And this is one technology that we must suppress," said the government employees.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
Sometimes I see the entire field of psychiatry just deciding to feed everyone amphetamines for six days straight, then taking the next three days off while taking enormous doses of valium to let you get some sleep, avoiding the "Speed Crash" that makes you so grumpy. I'd market them in blister packs called "Life Kickers"
The amphetamines don't do much for the erectile disfunction thang, but once you get 'er goin, you'll wear the mattress out before tiring.
My first reaction was: Let's use it on the government employees!
My second reaction was: Do I really want more active government employees?
Maybe more active guv'mint employees, but fewer of them.
Hell, I've got a 17 year old son who I want feed a tub full of this stuff. I expect that my wife wants to feed a tub full of this stuff to me.
There has to be a downside to this monkey population we haven't heard of yet. Something like, although they worked furiously for an initial period of a few months, they eventually began hanging Dilbert Cartoons in their work areas and began urinating small drops of monkey piss in the researchers coffee when they thought nobody was watching.
Short term gains in metabolic energy thru chemistry are always offset by long term breakdown. Premature aging, liver and kidney failure, neurotransmitter diseases like parkinsons, moodiness, violence prone behavior, and neurodegenerative diseases like ALS.
This little fella, for instance, rarely used to pick up his sticks and could NOT keep a beat.
Our pristine brains become hardwired by what we are led to believe in; thus many of us become prisoners of our own device.
Chorus:
Yeah, yeah,
She loves the monkey's uncle,
Yeah, yeah,
She loves the monkey's uncle,
Whoa, whoa,
She loves the monkey's uncle,
Yeah, yeah,
She love's the monkey's uncle,
Annette:
And the monkey's uncle's ape for me!
Let the whole world start to put him down,
Chorus:
She loves the monkey's uncle!
Annette:
Feels like the circus just came to town!
Chorus:
She loves the monkey's uncle!
Annette:
It's as much fun as a "jungle gym",
Every time that I'm with him,
I love the monkey's uncle,
And the monkey's uncle's ape for me!
Chorus:
Ape for me!
Annette:
And I don't care what the whole world thinks!
Chorus:
She loves the monkey's uncle!
Annette:
Call us a couple of "missing links",
Chorus:
She loves the monkey's uncle!
Annette:
Let them say he's the booby prize!
Chorus:
She love's the monkey's uncle!
Annette:
He makes my heart and my temperature start to rise!
Chorus:
She loves the monkey's uncle!
Annette:
So let's stop all the monkeyshines,
Every day is Valentine's,
I love the monkey's uncle,
And the monkey's uncle's ape for me!
Chorus:
Ape for me!
Yeah, yeah,
She loves the monkey's uncle,
Yeah, yeah,
She loves the monkey's uncle,
Whoa, whoa,
She loves the monkey's uncle!
Annette:
And I'm MAD about his chimpanzee!!!
The difference between conservatives and liberals(?)
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