Ex-Sen. Bond now backing Akin's Mo. Senate bid

(AP) ? Former Missouri Sen. Kit Bond is now supporting Todd Akin's Senate campaign after previously calling on him to quit.

Bond's endorsement Friday marks an encouraging sign for Akin, who is trying to rebuild support among the Republican establishment after remarking last month that women's bodies have ways of avoiding pregnancy in what he called "legitimate rape."

Bond was part of a coalition of past and present Missouri senators who had urged Akin to drop out. But Bond now says he believes Akin's apology was sincere and will help his campaign against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Bond says, quote: "It is time to focus on the national stakes in this election."

Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt also recently backed Akin. But former Sen. John Danforth is still not doing so.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-09-28-Missouri%20Senate-GOP%20Endorsement/id-c8dd3de0028f40b6981d1873db39fb1e

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Benjamin Graham: What This Womanizer Can Teach ... - Investment U

by Alexander Green, Investment U Chief Investment Strategist
Friday, September 28, 2012: Issue #1871

The ?Father of Security Analysis? wasn?t much of a husband or father. He divorced his first wife in 1937, when divorce was still socially unacceptable, leaving his four children stigmatized.

The next year, he married a young actress. But his interest soon waned and he soon dumped her to marry his secretary. In between, he had so many lovers and affairs that in a new biography The Einstein of Money, the author calls him a ?swinger.? When he died in Provence at 87, it was in the arms of his long-time French mistress, whom he?d courted away from his son!

Needless to say, Benjamin Graham was not a family values guy. But he understood a lot about stock values. In fact, he pioneered the field of security analysis and made a fortune for himself in the stock market. Understanding even a little bit about his methods can make you a much better investor.

Graham arrived on Wall Street in 1914, a 20-year-old classicist fresh out of Columbia University. He began to make a name for himself by finding bargain stocks selling for far less than their intrinsic value. He soon put his money to work buying cheap stocks with a high margin of safety. In 1948, for instance, Graham invested a quarter of his firm?s capital in GEICO. It climbed 1,635% over the next eight years.

In 100 Minds That Made the Market, Ken Fisher writes that Graham ?hated technical tools like charts and graphs and equally distrusted growth investors? blind faith in a company?s management, upcoming products and present reputation ? those just couldn?t be measured in cold, hard numbers. Instead, Graham relied on earnings and dividends and felt book value ? the physical assets of a company ? was the basis for making sound investment decisions.?

Graham insisted you should buy a single share of a stock the same way you would buy an entire company. Understand the business. Analyze the balance sheet. Do the math. Forget about the state of the economy or the hot trend of the moment. The only thing that really matters is the health and assets of the business you?re buying, not who?s in the White House or what?s happening at the Fed.

Graham laid out his core principles in Security Analysis, now widely recognized as the bible of value investing and a textbook still used in many college investment courses more than 70 years after it was published. He later distilled this work into The Intelligent Investor, a book for the lay investor that still ranks in Amazon?s top 300 ? 62 years after it was first published. In fact, both books sell more copies each year now than when they were originally published, the true sign of an investment classic and a claim few books can make in any genre.

Today Graham is perhaps best known for his famous prot?g?, Warren Buffett. Buffett took Graham?s principles and used them to become the twentieth century?s best-known investor and one of the world?s wealthiest men.

Buffett still credits Graham for much of his success. ?No one ever became poor by reading Graham,? says Buffett.

I can?t imagine a serious stock market investor who wouldn?t profit from studying Graham?s disciplined, common-sense approach. He is rightly viewed as the father of fundamental security analysis. And ? given his social life ? perhaps the father of much else, as well.

Good Investing,

Alex

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Source: http://www.investmentu.com/2012/September/what-benjamin-graham-can-teach-you.html

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Oil steady, slow world economy still in focus

NEW YORK (AP) ? The price of oil is hanging around $92 as investors remain concerned that economic stimulus measures from central banks around the world won't stimulate much oil demand.

Benchmark oil rose 14 cents to $91.99 per barrel in morning trading in New York. In London, Brent crude rose 48 cents to $112.49.

Oil prices have been supported by economic stimulus measures and tensions in the Middle East, but traders are increasingly focusing on the weakness in world economies that prompted the stimulus measures.

The average retail price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. fell less than a penny to $3.79 per gallon. The price has fallen 8 cents over the past two weeks, but it is still higher than ever before for this time of year.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oil-steady-slow-world-economy-still-focus-145217240--finance.html

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Diet 911: Male and Female Nutrition Differences - Muscle and Fitness

Everyone knows crushing weights won't get you anywhere if you don't have the right diet to match. Even if you think you're eating all the right things, taking all the right supplements and getting all the right nutrients at the right time, there might be some adjustments you can make to reach your goals faster. That's where we come in.

This week, Eric Falstrault, founder of BODHI Fit in Montreal, Canada, takes a look at a meal plan from Muscle & Fitness reader Toni Lesatz. Want help with your diet? Submit it to Diet911@muscleandfitness.com and one of our nutrition experts will take a look.?

"I'm trying to lose 15 pounds and gain muscle with strength training at the same time."

Although I?m missing some basic information, what you sent gave me a good idea that you?re making one of the most common mistakes by women trying to gain lean muscle. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to gain lean mass and lose fat at the same time. Women aren?t that different from men, but there are some small differences when it comes to training and dieting down to the perfect body fat percentage. For example, an ideal body fat range for females is 15 percent and for males 10 percent when tested with a 12 fold sites caliper testing.

Why is body fat so important? Let?s say you lose 10 pounds. You could lose 10 pounds of fat or muscle mass, but on the scale, it still comes out to 10 pounds, but with very different health consequences. Losing 10 pounds of lean mass means inflammation and higher cortisol, lowered metabolism rate and, most probably, fat gain. This is only the start of a cascade of unhealthy consequences. Although some people will say we still need fat to be healthy, if you stay within the range of 10 to 15 percent, you won?t have any problem gaining lean mass and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In these ranges, the body functions optimally, I see it and prove it all the time with client?s blood work.?

Breakfast:

  • 1/2 cup (dry) Quaker Oats Old Fashioned Oatmeal
  • 8 oz. Starbucks Coffee with 1/2 oz. cream and 1 tsp. sugar

Lunch:

  • Homemade Garden Salad w/ Vinaigrette
  • 1 oz. Chicken Breast - Boneless, Skinless, Broiled
  • 1 packet Crystal Light Fruit Punch

Dinner:

  • 1 slice Food.Com Moist Turkey Meatloaf
  • 1/2 cup Del Monte Whole Kernel Corn,?
  • 1/2 cup Hungry Jack?Instant Mashed Potatoes
  • 1 oz. Shiitake and White Button Mushrooms Sauteed In Olive Oil
  • 1 cup 2% Milk

Snack:

  • 43 g?Wonderful Pistachios Roasted and Salted?in shell

How Did Our Expert Fix This Diet? >>

Source: http://www.muscleandfitness.com/nutrition/meal-plans/diet-911-male-and-female-nutrition-differences

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REALTOR? Guide to Ethics in Real Estate

Real estate is a business based on trust, and built on handshakes. Working ethically is essential building a solid relationship with your clients and to growing your business in a way you can be proud of. Buyers and sellers alike need to be able to depend on you to act with their best interest in mind, as they make major, life-altering decisions surrounding the purchase and sale of their homes and businesses. The National Association of REALTORS? is committed to promoting real estate ethics in everything we do.

Whether you?re a new and aspiring REALTOR? or whether you?re brushing up on changes in the industry, we have multiple resources to help you join us in a commitment to real estate ethics.

Be Honest with All Parties in the Transaction

This includes your client, other REALTORS? or real estate agents and their clients, and even yourself. It?s important to disclose issues like spotty credit records, for example, and as a REALTOR? part of your job is to collect and assemble all necessary paperwork and information to work through any potential roadblocks in the sale of purchase of a property.

Put Your Clients First

REALTORS? should make every effort to understand the housing needs of their client, including thoroughly researching available inventory, and sharing all relevant information with the buyer so they can make an informed decision. This service should be provided regardless of potential profit ? the client?s interest should come first, at all times.

Be Forthcoming with All Parties

Disclose all pertinent facts regarding the property and the transaction to both the buyer and seller. If something seems questionable about a property, you?re obligated to investigate and to make recommendations that buyers consult their own experts and inspectors. If a seller, on the other hand, asks that you act in a less-than-honest or forthcoming manner, such as concealing a leaky roof or another defect, you should remain above board, try to bring them to your side or end the business relationship.

Be Truthful in Advertising and Communications with the Public

When communicating with the public ? distributing newsletters, creating websites, or placing advertisements ? represent only your own work, and don?t mistakenly take credit for the work of another real estate professional. It?s important that prospective clients can differentiate between your actual work when making a decision about their REALTOR?.

For additional information on the Code of Ethics for REALTORS?, visit the following resources and articles:

Dec. 31, 2012, is the deadline for completing your NAR Code of Ethics training. All REALTORS? must complete the training every four years to maintain their membership. An online training course at REALTOR.org fulfills the requirement and is free of charge. Go to realtor.org/coetraining.

Have you completed your NAR Code of Ethics training? Tell us about your experiences with ethics in real estate.

Source: http://themembersedge.blogs.realtor.org/2012/09/27/realtor-guide-ethics-real-estate/

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Buyer Representation: A Closer Look at Contracts | Kimberly Howell ...

San Antonio real estate and property information provided by Kimberly Howell Properties. Kimberly Howell Properties does not assume any liability or responsibility for the operation or content of any of the linked resources, nor for any of the interpretations, comments, graphics, or opinions contained therein. All information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. KJH Properties, Inc. is a licensed real estate brokerage in the State of Texas, Equal Opportunity Employer, and supporter of the Fair Housing Act.

Source: http://www.kimberlyhowell.com/buy-home/buyer-representation-closer-contracts/

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What's on Your Tombstone Q&A ? The Student Voice

Words by Michael Lu

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Bob Halligan Jr. is a professor in the music and entertainment industries department at Syracuse University?s College of Visual and Performing Arts. He is also the lead vocalist and guitarist for Ceili Rain, a band he formed in 1995 that combines Celtic, rock, and contemporary Christian music. Halligan has had 140 songs recorded by well-known pop and rock artists, including Cher, Michael Bolton, and Judas Priest. He has published more than 975 songs and has sold more than 30 million units.

When did you first fall in love with music?

When we did show-and-tell in kindergarten, I sang the song The Night They Invented Champagne from the show Gigi. The kids and the teacher responded well.

When I was 11, I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, and that totally changed my life around. From that moment forward, I wanted to be them, and I?m still working on that.

The next moment is when I tried to write my first song when I was 15, and that got a tremendous response from my classmates. And it kind of said to me, maybe this is something that I?m meant to do.

What artists did you grow up listening to?

The Beatles. With them, it was their uniqueness and the amount of joy that was in their music. The fact that it was clearly by and for and about young people, but some of the older people enjoyed it too ? I thought that was great.

I also loved the Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder, and later a jazz musician named Chick Corea. They all influenced my songwriting and composing in the sense that I learned their songs. By learning other people?s songs, you take it apart. You discover the nuts and bolts of why it?s good. Combined with studying music in college, it gave me insights to the structure and quality as well as the ?x-factor? of what these various groups did. It inspired me to reach higher in my own endeavors.

How did you decide music in any capacity was what you wanted to do with the rest of your life?

That was in April of my senior year in college. The guitarist in the band that I was in was going to off and become an architect. He then turned to me and said, ?You?re going to be a musician, right?? The gravity with which he asked this question, the certitude of how obvious who I was and what I should be, made it so ? from that moment forward, it was all that I cared about. Why not allow myself to be who I was?

How would you describe your experience working in the music industry?

I got to work with Jim Henson, which was pretty amazing. What he taught me was, work with great people and encourage them. That was one of the major lessons in my life, and I use that in my teaching. You look for what?s great in people and treat it like a flower, and make sure it gets sunlight and water and is able to grow.

I had plenty of ups and downs. I worked with a lot of fantastically talented people. I had the beauty of opportunity meeting preparedness, which is where my success came from. There seemed to be no lack of opportunity, in part because I sought it out, and when I smelled it, I went after it.

Who was your favorite artist to work with, and why?

I worked with writer-artists and then just pure writers. Among the artists that I worked with who I thought were great: Joan Jett, Michael Bolton, and Rob Halford from Judas Priest.

When you spend personal time with people, it expands into feelings of warmth and where you?re rooting for that person. You feel you get to know their essence. Michael Bolton had plenty of mixed reviews, especially male music critics, but I got to know him and root for him not just because he had songs I wrote, but because I believed in him. You don?t have to love every song that he sings or every note he sings to be on his side.

A lot of the artists like Cher, I never even met. I just wrote a song with another writer and it was submitted to her, and she selected it. I have had that happen twice with her, but never to this day have I met her. That didn?t stop from the royalty checks from being in my mailbox. (laughs)

How did Ceili Rain come about? How and when did you become also interested in Celtic/Irish and Christian music?

My wife became interested in Celtic/Irish/Scottish music and suggested that I combine it with rock ?n? roll. At first I thought it was a terrible idea, but when I tried it, I fell in love with it, head-over-heels. The spiritual aspect of the music sort of crept in with God?s hands ? or accidentally, depending on how you looked at it. Once I understood that it was there, I embraced it and made it a central tenet of what we were doing, that every song was, in essence, a prayer and would have a spiritual content. In many of the songs the spiritual nature is not overtly available to the listener, but it?s always there.

How does Ceili Rain compare with what you accomplished throughout your career?

I?m finally part of a group performing, whether recording or live. This is what I always wanted to do: make my own records and be the singer, or one of the singers, of a band. I had done that over the years, but without any significant success. It was songwriting for other people that got my foot in the door.

On my tombstone, I don?t want it to say that I made music for Kiss or Cher or whomever. I want to be known as the guy from Ceili Rain, because I feel that is my life?s work. It is Ceili Rain that I feel is the full expression of my identity,? artistically and otherwise. I?m glad that I got the chance to be me.

How did you become involved with teaching, and what do you wish to instill in your students about music and composing?

Professor David Rezak (professor of practice and director of the Bandler Program in VPA) brought me in. It was never something that I thought about, it was just something he introduced and I said yes.

As far as what I like to instill, I try to have all my courses be life lessons first and foremost, and music lessons second. It?s no good bringing music to the world if you?re not bringing yourself to the finest form. That?s my real passion in teaching. Any student, any musician, bring his or her best to the endeavor ? watching that unfold in their lives is a fantastic joy.

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Source: http://studentvoicesu.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/whats-on-your-tombstone-qa/

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Learning about SEO With Online Marketing ... - Raw Business Law

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Learning about SEO and online marketing is not difficult, but it is time. When a person creates a website, they want the sales or visitors. Same site is not important, the traffic that it receives what matters. Way to get that traffic is to learn about SEO.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Identify the factors that, as a large site will rank the search string. Web site that uses extracts, has a few incoming links and rarely updated at a high rank to get visitors.

Learn about SEO and online marketing is the first step in finding resources. Which is the best site to learn? As the search algorithms are often changed, older sites offer little value to someone else wants to be educated. Websites in as little as a year out of date, if they do not regularly updated. I prefer to learn from the sites that receive frequent updates, and Internet marketing community institution agrees.

Most webmasters choose to transfer your site for SEO. Constantly learn and adapt to new search algorithms to quickly discourage some web site owners. One must always be a better way to surprise your search on the lookout. What do you often use today, tomorrow harm your site. SEO companies in their life, learning and re-learning these elusive search factors.

Always be careful when buying SEO products. The work of a few products, but many just use the webmaster need to get traffic. Learn more about SEO before investing any money for programs that promises traffic. Powered by educated understanding of the processes can be automated and what is not. Get thousands of auto tags to increase search engine rankings for the past days. Today, SEO experts understand that the hard way, it may be difficult, but produces results, is safe and durable.

The most important thing about search engine optimization is that it never ends. Site will never be finished. Senior and can probably be taken over by the upstart website that uses the latest techniques. SEO specialist training is partly determined by how quickly the old algorithms can be scammed. When the algorithm found a loophole, and the word becomes the search. Specify any SEO method that is not honest and organic leaves the site vulnerable to changes in the algorithm.

Knowledge

Hiring an SEO specialist ? that you pay for someone else?s knowledge. They probably accumulated over several years, this knowledge, and they also spend a lot of time to update this knowledge. Hardly any other field, it is important to know exactly how. search algorithms are constantly changing, new technologies arise and old methods are outdated. Having an SEO specialist in your team, you can relax knowing that your professional, yet retains all the latest developments.

Skills

Each profession has a unique set of skills that are required to complete the work. SEO Specialist and his team care and knowledge, develop skills, which they use to improve your site?s ranking. Decide to develop these skills themselves, means that you will have to invest considerable time and money. Hiring an SEO team that can demonstrate previous results, this means that you are guaranteed to hire skills.

Intellectual property

Most good SEO expert team has developed intellectual property, such as the unique processes and proprietary software to support their skills and knowledge. Working a team means that you can use such intellectual property and get a proven online marketing for your site too!

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Source: http://rawbusinesslaw.com/2012/09/27/learning-about-seo-with-online-marketing-search-engines-se-optimization-2/

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Mothers Who Know: Motherhood Moments

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Update to Mother's Day...

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I know what you are thinking..."Mother's Day was over 4 months ago."


Isn't that the joy of it all?? It is one of the holidays that keeps on giving sometimes all year long...
Lindsey?one of my 18 year old daughters throws a piece of folded up paper in my lap and??says, "Hey Mom, I forgot to give you this on Mother's Day.? Happy Mother's Day Mom"?[over 4 months ago]

Expecting to see the tender but usual.."you're the best mom ever" note we moms receive quite often...

I was quite taken back by the depth of her note. It was a much needed motherhood payday that we don't get? too often.

Dear Mom,

Thank-you for everything you've ever done for me! Thank-you for being my best friend and being so willing to listen to me talk about boys.? Thank-you for letting me make my own decisions.? That lets me know you trust me.? But most importantly, thank-you for being so strong in the church!? Thank you for teaching us in the church!? I always feel comfortable coming to talk to you about everything!! Thanks for being the best listener!! {she likes exclamation marks}? {then for the mom-moment...} I want to be a mom? exactly like you!? You are the Best Mom EVER!


Excuse my while I wipe the tears away and clear my throat...

Wow!? OK!? Well...

My most important goal in life is to be a Mother Who Knows. I am aspiring to be...I have not arrived. ?By having all daughters, who will hopefully be mothers themselves someday, shaping little souls...I do feel this responsibility to get it right.

To be an example....?the good kind, so there will be more tender tearful moments of joy in the future.

For now, I am basking in the light, that I did OK for today.

Now if you'll excuse me,? my 7 year old daughter is throwing a temper tantrum on the carpet behind me?because she wanted me to buy her fruit snacks at the store, and I forgot.

Source: http://mothers-who-know.blogspot.com/2012/09/motherhood-moments.html

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Assembling an Avenger - Inside the Brain of Iron Man

When I first started reading comic books there were many superheroes that interested me. Naturally the list included Batman, Iron Man, Daredevil, Captain America, Thor, Nova, the Flash, the Black Panther, the Phantom, and lots more.

What I enjoyed best of all were team ups where you got more heroes per page. Classics like the Fantastic Four, the Justice League, the Justice Society, and the Defenders as well as the Inhumans, the Invaders, and the Legion of Superheroes. The group to top the list for me, though, has always been ?The Avengers?. They are ?Earth?s Mightiest Heroes? after all.

The Avengers are also the Earth?s super group of scientists. Back in the 1963 debut story (penned by Stan-the-man-Lee, of course) ?The Coming of the Avengers!?, the original line-up included Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp, Thor, and the Hulk. This was arguably the most well-educated superhero group ever, well, assembled.

The scientists in that group included Dr. Bruce Banner (atomic physicist, the Hulk), Tony Stark (Iron Man, who may or may not have a PhD but has 2 master?s degrees in engineering from MIT), Dr. Hank Pym (sub-atomic physicist, Ant-Man), Janet van Dyne (not sure about her training, but she knew her way around the lab as the first Wasp), and Dr. Donald Blake (physician and surgeon, Thor).

That?s a line-up of heavy hitters of science that even one of my superheroes of science, Sir Francis Bacon, could be proud of. This remains even when it?s admitted that while rampaging around as the Hulk, we don?t usually get many insights about the Higgs-Boson and Thor isn?t typically trying to help treat injuries. Despite that, I am going to go ahead and assign the original Avengers line-up an A+ in scientists, if not always for science itself.

The 2012 Avengers movie re-envisions the origin and uses a plot that?s a lot closer to the excellent Marvel ?Ultimates? story lines. In the spirit of recreating and reinvisioning story lines, in this post I want to concentrate on turning the lens of science on good ole? Shellhead.

Iron Man is one of those few superheroes representing a more ?realistic? take on what might be possible. As I wrote in ?Inventing Iron Man?The Possibility of a Human Machine?, his origin story has some very plausible bits to it. This makes him seem more accessible as a character. But it?s accessing the mind of the Golden Avenger?connecting the Iron Man exoskeleton to Tony Stark?s brain?that is the main focus here.

Malleable Maps in Iron Man?s Mind

Starting in utero, a calibration of the motor and sensory inputs to and from your body parts began. This process has continued in your brain throughout your life. This results in a loose ?mapping? of neurons that goes on in the somatosensory and motor parts of your brain. As a result you have multiple representations of your body in your brain. This gives rise to our sense of self, body ?image?, and body ?schema?.

These representations have been refined and tuned throughout your life along with your changing body size and the experiences you?ve had. Except in the case of tragic accidents where a limb may have been lost or amputated, your body has always been there with you 24/7. Your body is you and it?s there all the time.

It turns out that tool use can alter these representations. But tools that we use aren?t part of our body and aren?t with us all the time. At least not physically. But are they with us in our brains? We use tools only when we need them (we always need our bodies). It turns out that the sensory maps of our bodies in our brains can be reshaped to include parts of the way we use tools.

This kind of melding with the tool is termed ?embodiment?? and reflects the plasticity your nervous system experiences to keep you as a fully functional you. This process is heavily influenced by the sensation of moving the tools and the visual input that you get from seeing yourself using the tools.

The main premise of my Iron Man book is that for Tony Stark?s exoskeleton to work as we see it work in comics, graphic novels and movies it would need to be connected directly to the brain and spinal cord of the user. It would need to be the most fantastic brain machine interface ever created.

My view of Iron Man is very similar to the version that Warren Ellis created in the Marvel Iron Man ?Extremis? story arc. Warren advanced the concept of an embedded interface between the nervous system and a highly modular armor. In broad strokes, this is really the only way it could work. But if such an ultimate brain machine interface existed could such a ?tool? be incorporated into the cortical representation of a real human brain?

Extending your reach beyond your grasp?

French and Italian scientists headed up by Lucilla Cardinali, confirmed brain plasticity from tool use in a really simple but clever study back in 2009. They developed a long hand-held ?grabber? like those used to clean up trash from parks and streets without the user having to bend over.

In this experiment the researchers asked participants to practice using the grabber to pick up and move things around on a table. They measured reaching and grasping movments before and after using the grabber. Surprisingly, practice using the grabber changed later arm movements performed even when the grabber wasn?t used!

There were changes in pointing movements and in how long participants perceived their arms to be. They thought their arms were longer, likely because the tool allowed them to reach further. From a functional perspective within the brain, their arms were longer since they could reach further with the grabber.

This plasticity is related to changing those body maps in the brain as a result of using a tool. Tools give us different abilities, like reaching further in this example, and this change in function pushes the plastic changes in the brain. The strength and length of that plasticity is not completely certain.

Could the changes become durable enough to become real memories for a new representation or map? We know that limb amputation can lead to changes in the maps. It leads to emptying some territory in those maps and taking over of territory by brain cells for other regions. The opposite perspective, that is, what happens when you add something to a map that is already complete, isn?t well understood.

Enter the alien arm?

Primate research using neural prosthetics controlled by the brain show very strong changes that occur after only a few weeks. These ?prosthetic motor memories? are in features of long-term memories. So it seems that the brain can incorporate foreign parts into this schema.

This idea of incorporating foreign parts into the body was shown in 1998 by Matthew Botvinick and Jonathan? Cohen at Carnegie Melon in Pittsburgh. They conducted what is now known as the ?rubber hand illusion?.

Using a life-sized rubber arm as an ?alien limb?, these scientists hid the left arm of each participant behind a blinding screen. Participants then focused their vision on this ?alien limb?. Using small paintbrushes, the experimenters then simultaneously stroked the alien hand (fully in view) and the real hand (hidden out of view behind the screen). After 10 minutes of this conditioning, participants were asked a number of questions about the experience.

Some of the answers were astounding. They suggested an illusion which provided touch sensation on the alien limb and not the real hand. That is, they seemed to feel the touch of the viewed brush as if the rubber hand had actually sensed the touch. One participant said that ?I found myself looking at the dummy hand thinking it was actually my own.? This powerful illusion has now been employed in many other experiments with similarly striking results.

A Swedish scientific team headed by Henrik Ehrsson extended the ?rubber hand illusion? to upper limb amputees. Using procedures similar to the initial experiment above, they created a sensation of embodiment that a rubber hand was actually a real hand attached to the stump where the amputated limb used to be.

Although this illusion works well in able- bodied persons, the researchers weren?t sure if it could still work after amputation. Strong illusions were actually found in one third of the amputees. Interestingly, the illusions were more powerful when the tests were done soonest after amputation.

The illusion was so powerful that in some cases suddenly plunging a syringe into the rubber hand produced physiological responses of anxiety (changes in skin conductance) that would occur if the hand was part of their body! Clearly a process of ?embodiment? was occurring. This group has recently done something that provides a bit of an answer to something I have been puzzling over since I wrote ?Inventing Iron Man?.

Paul?s puzzle?

Here it is: I don?t really understand where the Iron Man suit of armor could be represented in the somatosensory and motor cortices of Tony Stark. Above we discussed how we can reshape our body schema with practice using tools and in response to trauma like limb amputation. But those approaches all make use of neuronal territory that exists and is reshaped or was lost and is reused. What about something completely new like a whole new body? That?s what is meant to be shown in the Figure below.

And it?s an experiment from Ehrsson?s group that helps us get to the answer. Instead of jumping directly to the idea of a whole new body, they asked instead: ?Could it be possible that, in the not-so-distant future, we will be able to reshape the human body so as to have extra limbs? A third arm helping us out with the weekly shopping in the local grocery store, or an extra artificial limb assisting a paralysed person?? These questions are certainly on par with considering the question of embodying the Iron Man exoskeleton.

To see if you can really trick your brain into thinking you have an extra arm they used a variation of the ?rubber hand illusion?. And it includes a very bold placement of a 3rd limb?the rubber arm?right beside the person?s actual arm. So it?s right out there in full view. They then did the basic procedure of brushing the real fingers and those of the rubber hand. All while participants looked on.

Of course, the rubber hand illusion worked again. This elegant experiment included all kinds of control conditions and even some physiological measures like galvanic skin response that all showed the fake arm could even be ?threatened? by danger (this time by cutting with a knife). The upshot was that those in the study felt like they had a second right hand!

The concluding paragraph of this paper reads as follows: ?Thus, under certain circumstances, healthy humans can experience somatic sensations that seem to violate the human body plan.? This real-life research work is the closest thing I?ve found that possesses the answer to whether there is enough neuroplasticity to adapt to a full Iron Man exoskeleton. The answer is a tentative yes!

On Machine, (Hu)man, and Mind

A prosthetic limb or exoskeleton that is meant to be incorporated into the user?s body schema needs to include sensors and feedback. For example, sensors on the digits of the Iron Man suit could be used to activate brain areas that normally get that sensation from the real fingers! The idea is that over time the sensation from the artificial sensor would become integrated into the perceptions of the person such that they are ?one with the body?. Embodiment.

This means that an Iron Man suit of armor should have sensors on the fingers, hands, toes, etc. that would normally be activated on Tony Stark?s body. Using this approach, Tony would embody Iron Man like he declared by saying ?the suit of Iron Man and I are one? in Iron Man 2.

Since the lines between science and science fiction are pretty labile, it?s likely not a surprise that real experimental work shows this to be very useful. In 2010, Aaron Suminski, Nicholas Hatsopoulos, and colleagues at the University of Chicago used a ?sleeve? placed over a monkey?s arm to help learn how to move a cursor on a computer screen driven by recording activity in motor cortex.

Including sensation from the robotic limb improved the ability to learn the brain-machine interface commands. The scientists at the University of Chicago allowed the monkeys to use visual and somatosensory feedback together and learned how to control the cursor much faster and more accurately than without those sensations.

Back in 2011, my ?Inventing Iron Man? book had only been out for a few months when I was asked to comment on a paper just about to appear in ?Nature?. A research team at the Duke University Center for Neuroengineering headed by Miguel Nicolelis, a pioneer and leader in the area of brain machine interface, trained two monkeys using brain activity to control and move a virtual hand.

The critical piece in this experiment?and a requirement for functional training with the fictional Iron Man exoskeleton?was that electrical activation in the sensory and motor parts of the brains were used. Motor signals were used to drive the controller and then feedback was given directly into the brain by stimulating the sensory cortex when the monkeys made accurate movements. This huge advance actually provides patterns of electrical stimulation to the brain that mimic sensory inputs in movement.

This is really asking what happens when you take tool use?where the Iron Man suit of armor is the tool?to the extreme? What would happen in the brain if the tool is a representation of the body? What would happen to the body maps if we increase the representation of the body in the brain without first taking something away?

Would the neural plasticity associated with this affect the connection between your brain and your real body? How strong would the plasticity?the remapping?be and would you forget how to use your own real body if you used it too much? There remain a lot of questions. And a lot of work needs to be done. To borrow a bit of physics/engineering/mathematics jargon, some ?non-trivial? problems remain.

Some trivia about non-trivial problems?

A major non-trivial problem has to do with the ?form and function? relationships in biology. The cool thing about most of the body is that you can tell a lot about physiology (how it works) from the anatomy (how it looks). Function comes from form.

In your cardiovascular system you?ve got a big muscular pump in the form of the heart that receives and pushes blood all around the body. Taking a good look at the heart along with all the piping coming in and out, allows a reasonable estimate of what it does and how blood flows in the body.

In the case of the human nervous system, you have a big brain containing about 100 billion neurons. Those 100 billion neurons might have on average ~5000 connections from other neurons. That could produce about 100 trillion connections. A pretty big number. Far bigger than the estimated number of galaxies in the universe estimated to be between 200 to 500 billion. Overall this is a huge number of connections to consider.

This is part of what allows the nervous system to present with a much broader scope. Not because the anatomy is impenetrable or that much more complicated within different areas of the brain. It is certainly complex, but the general features of the connections from those 100 billion neurons form into tracts and bands of connections within the brain that can be reasonably identified (mostly).

The real non-trivial problem comes from the fact that the function?the behaviour?of the brain cannot be directly predicted from anatomy. Enter those 100 trillion connections. The key thing is that the network activity in the brain emerges from the activity of whatever synaptic connections are active at any given time. It is a constantly shifting landscape of network activity.

For a simple approximation of this complexity, imagine sitting in a ship that is rising and falling on the swells of the Mediterranean. Boats all around you rise and fall such that at any given moment you see different boats. Those boats all represent active connections between neurons that are expressed when you can see them and silenced when you cannot. To complete the metaphor, multiply by many trillions.

The real answers to these questions lie ahead. While we await those answers and work towards their solutions, let?s close with one of my favourite neuroscience quotes. The South African zoologist Lyall Watson (1939-2008) wrote: ?If the brain were so simple we could easily understand it, we would be so simple we couldn?t.?

Luckily for us and the advance of knowledge there are many scientists who keep trying to illuminate the function of the human brain. In true ?Avengers? fashion, the lack of simplicity is offset by the vigor and rigor of their efforts. I look forward to future developments. Developments, possibly inspired by fiction, but created for a new reality in neurorehabilitation (see Figure below).

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