[RUEBEN KOKILEPERSAUD] June 9, 2013

Article one: Research prods brain wiring underlying compulsive behavior - June 6, 2013
Researchers have found out a way to eliminate obsessive-compulsive disorder in animals. There it is a specific neurologic pathway in the brain which triggers compulsive behavior in animals. The study was done on rats that depicted excessive grooming. Researchers injected a virus into the rats, targeting the nerves which cause the nerves to respond to light. One specific neurological pathway was then stimulated. After 5 days of exposure (5 minutes per day) the need for the mice to groom themselves was gone. Researches had successfully found a switch which can be flipped to trigger or remove OCD. After more research, the stimulated rats were compared to normal rats. Researchers dropped one drop of water beside the two mice and compared the reactions. The stimulated mice only reacted when the water touched them and the normal mice reacted compulsively before the water was even dropped. When looking at the research which is being conducted in this article, I would agree and proceed with further research. There are many diseases which are caused by obsessivecompulsive disorder such as autism, Tourette syndrome and even repetitive hand washing. The information gathered from this article can be a potential cure for many people. Currently OCD affects 1% of the entire human population. If the technique to fix this neurological pathway is perfected then it will be a savior for many people worldwide. It is important for people to understand the neurological pathways of the brain because it can help us figure out triggers that to prevent OCD before it starts and many other problems as well. By studying neurological pathways in the brain, it will allow us to solve many problems unrelated to OCD as well. People who are born with parts of the brain which are not functioning can have that part physically repaired. For example, some people are born without a sense of smell. If the neurological pathway which controls smell is located, then this technology can be applied and it will give that person a sense of smell. In addition, the power to turn different parts of your brain on and off, gives doctors the ability to not only fix disorders, but change the way the body functions as well. Parts of the body which are controlled by the brain sub consciously, if undergoing a problem, can be fixed with the new technology. For example, when a cancer tumor becomes large enough, the brain thinks that it is a part of the body and the tumor then begins metastasize. Blood vessels enter the tumor, and then the cancer begins to spread to other parts of the body. However with this technology people will be able to turn this function of the brain off. Thus isolating the cancer in that location and eliminating it since after a time it will not be able to support its self. On the other hand, the complications of this technology are testing. Many mice will die or become severely harmed as a result of this research. Ethical complications will make it inhumane to kill another life for humans to better their own. In addition, even if testing was done on mice it may not have the same outcome when moved to a human. Human testing will need to be done, thus not having much ethical support as well.

[RUEBEN KOKILEPERSAUD] June 9, 2013 The next step to improve this idea is to begin research on other parts of the brain. Research on other parts of the brain will not only help with other disorder but aid in our general understanding of the organ overall. In addition, testing on humans can be conducted so it can be perfected for future use as a reliable treatment for OCD and other disorders. Testing will increase knowledge about the procedure and also ensure a safe trouble free procedure. Currently stimulation on the nerves is required every day for affects to show. Research can be conducted to a more long term/ permanent fix is found rather than temporary.
(Ehrenberg, 2013).