Excel opens to black screen

So, I thought I would post a quick note for anyone that might one day have this problem.

Symptoms: My spiffy Performance Analysis spreadsheet suddenly decided it did not want to open. Yeah, 1 week to SfN and not good. Excel would open with a blank screen. I could click stuff and it was responsive, but the center was completely blank, regardless of whether it was opened with a document or just launched with a 'blank worksheet'. Nuttin there.

System specs: Vista (32-bit), Office 2007, all updates etc installed.

Resolution: I don't know what caused this, but launching Excel as Administrator clears it up. Just navigate to your Office folder (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\), right click on excel.exe, and choose "Runs as Administrator". Voila! Yer welcome. I don't know if it resolves it entirely (that one launch clears up all future launches), but it works well enough to allow you to use the program.

Sf'nN baby

As a site note, sorry about not returning emails and responding to posts this last week. I've been really stressed with SfN material due for various approvals on a daily basis lately. I am hoping to get back to all of you Wednesday or Thursday before I leave for San Diego.

Here are the details for mine and Wilson's poster. Stop by and say "hi!"

Poster #: 517.15/VV1
Section: 517. Brain Machine Interface: Neuroprosthesis I

Motor cortex local field potentials and multi-unit activity during intended movements in humans with tetraplegia
*B. KING, W. TRUCCOLO, G. M. FRIEHS, J. STEIN, J. P. DONOGHUE, L. R. HOCHBERG

Monday, Nov 5 2007 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

I will be there during my assigned time, and probably roaming the area for a few hours before and after. Hey, my friggin picture's on the site here, so you can find me if you want to.

STRESS!!!

Super paper pre-SfN Friday!

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I have a ton of last minute SfN work to get done. Ahhhh!

Synaptic Connections between Layer 5B Pyramidal Neurons in Mouse Somatosensory Cortex Are Independent of Apical Dendrite Bundling
Patrik Krieger, Thomas Kuner, and Bert Sakmann
The Journal of Neuroscience, October 24, 2007, 27(43):11473-11482; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1182-07.2007

NMDA Receptor Hypofunction Produces Opposite Effects on Prefrontal Cortex Interneurons and Pyramidal Neurons
Houman Homayoun and Bita Moghaddam
The Journal of Neuroscience, October 24, 2007, 27(43):11496-11500; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2213-07.2007

Generation and reshaping of sequences in neural systems.
Rabinovich MI, Huerta R, Varona P, Afraimovich VS.
Biol Cybern. 2006 Dec;95(6):519-36. Epub 2006 Nov 29.

Early motor development from partially ordered neural-body dynamics: experiments with a cortico-spinal-musculo-skeletal model.
Kuniyoshi Y, Sangawa S.
Biol Cybern. 2006 Dec;95(6):589-605. Epub 2006 Nov 23.

Interhemispheric connections of the ventral premotor cortex in a new world primate.
Dancause N, Barbay S, Frost SB, Mahnken JD, Nudo RJ.
J Comp Neurol. 2007 Dec 20;505(6):701-715.

Preparatory band specific premotor cortical activity differentiates upper and lower extremity movement.
Wheaton LA, Carpenter M, Mizelle JC, Forrester L.
Exp Brain Res. 2007 Oct 23; [Epub ahead of print]

I’m not listing them all, but there are many good articles in the proceedings from the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2006. EMBS '06. 28th Annual International Conference of the IEEE, which can be found here.

Neural correlates of a postponed decision report.
Lemus L, Hernández A, Luna R, Zainos A, Nácher V, Romo R.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Oct 23;104(43):17174-17179. Epub 2007 Oct 16.

Motor cortical measures of use-dependent plasticity are graded from distal to proximal in the human upper limb.
Krutky MA, Perreault EJ.
J Neurophysiol. 2007 Oct 17; [Epub ahead of print]

Neural correlates of regional EEG power change.
Oishi N, Mima T, Ishii K, Bushara KO, Hiraoka T, Ueki Y, Fukuyama H, Hallett M.
Neuroimage. 2007 Jul 15;36(4):1301-12. Epub 2007 Apr 25.

Different neural systems adjust motor behavior in response to reward and punishment.
Wrase J, Kahnt T, Schlagenhauf F, Beck A, Cohen MX, Knutson B, Heinz A.
Neuroimage. 2007 Jul 15;36(4):1253-62. Epub 2007 Apr 5.

Attack of the FALCON! Ca-CAW!
A brain-computer interface with vibrotactile biofeedback for haptic information.
Chatterjee A, Aggarwal V, Ramos A, Acharya S, Thakor NV.
J Neuroengineering Rehabil. 2007 Oct 17;4(1):40 [Epub ahead of print]

Neural correlates of a postponed decision report.
Lemus L, Hernández A, Luna R, Zainos A, Nácher V, Romo R.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Oct 23;104(43):17174-17179. Epub 2007 Oct 16.

Design and validation of a rehabilitation robotic exoskeleton for tremor assessment and suppression.
Rocon E, Belda-Lois JM, Ruiz AF, Manto M, Moreno JC, Pons JL.
IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2007 Sep;15(3):367-78.

Top–Down Attentional Deficits in Macaques with Lesions of Lateral Prefrontal Cortex
Andrew F. Rossi,1 Narcisse P. Bichot,2 Robert Desimone,2,3 and Leslie G. Ungerleider
The Journal of Neuroscience, October 17, 2007, 27(42):11306-11314; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2939-07.2007

Weber's Law in Decision Making: Integrating Behavioral Data in Humans with a Neurophysiological Model
Gustavo Deco,1 Leandro Scarano,2 and Salvador Soto-Faraco
The Journal of Neuroscience, October 17, 2007, 27(42):11192-11200; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1072-07.2007

A chronically implantable device for the controlled delivery of substances, and stimulation and recording of activity in severed nerves.
Davis-López de Carrizosa MA, Tena JJ, Benítez-Temiño B, Morado-Díaz CJ, Pastor AM, de la Cruz RR.
J Neurosci Methods. 2007 Sep 2; [Epub ahead of print]

Activity-Dependent Development of Callosal Projections in the Somatosensory Cortex
Chun-Lei Wang, * Lei Zhang, * Yang Zhou, Jing Zhou, Xiu-Juan Yang, Shu-min Duan, Zhi-Qi Xiong, and Yu-Qiang Ding
The Journal of Neuroscience, October 17, 2007, 27(42):11334-11342; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3380-07.2007

Audiovisual Temporal Correspondence Modulates Human Multisensory Superior Temporal Sulcus Plus Primary Sensory Cortices
Toemme Noesselt, Jochem W. Rieger, Mircea Ariel Schoenfeld, Martin Kanowski, Hermann Hinrichs, Hans-Jochen Heinze, and Jon Driver
The Journal of Neuroscience, October 17, 2007, 27(42):11431-11441; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2252-07.2007

Non-invasive estimation of local field potentials for neuroprosthesis control
Rolando Grave de Peralta Menendez, Sara González Andino, Lucas Perez, Pierre W. Ferrez and José del R. Millán
Cognitive Processing. Volume 6, Number 1, January 17, 2005, 59-64/ 10.1007/s10339-004-0043-x

Computational model of a primate arm: from hand position to joint angles, joint torques and muscle forces.
Chan SS, Moran DW.
J Neural Eng. 2006 Dec;3(4):327-37. Epub 2006 Nov 21.

Modifiability of Generalization in Dynamics Learning.
Mattar AA, Ostry DJ.
J Neurophysiol. 2007 Oct 10; [Epub ahead of print]

Bilateral activity-dependent interactions in the developing corticospinal system.
Friel KM, Martin JH.
J Neurosci. 2007 Oct 10;27(41):11083-90.

Suppression of LTP-like plasticity in human motor cortex by the GABAB receptor agonist baclofen.
McDonnell MN, Orekhov Y, Ziemann U.
Exp Brain Res. 2007 Jun;180(1):181-6. Epub 2007 Mar 10.

Modulation of long-interval intracortical inhibition and the silent period by voluntary contraction.
Hammond G, Vallence AM.
Brain Res. 2007 Jul 16;1158:63-70. Epub 2007 May 18.

The non-invasive Berlin Brain-Computer Interface: fast acquisition of effective performance in untrained subjects.
Blankertz B, Dornhege G, Krauledat M, Müller KR, Curio G.
Neuroimage. 2007 Aug 15;37(2):539-50. Epub 2007 Mar 1.

Better than Energon Cubes

Silicon nanowires could be used to convert light to electricity. I don't understand it, and I'm sure Engadget doesn't, but hey, the Harvard researchers involved probably do.

If it has 'Bionic' in the title, it has to be good!

Researchers are reporting (also at Science Direct) some success in the creation of 'Bionic Nerves' at the University of Manchester. Reading the blurbs, there isn't much 'bionic' about it - they are cultivating fat tissue stem cells to become nerves. The initial results in animals look promising and they are already talking human trials on the very near horizon. About friggin time! Some stem cells, a little ECM, and we're talking some important real-world applications of science. (Yes, I know the picture is for sensory, and not motor nerves, but I like it!)

Here's a link to the actual study:
Adipose-derived stem cells differentiate into a Schwann cell phenotype and promote neurite outgrowth in vitro.
Kingham PJ, Kalbermatten DF, Mahay D, Armstrong SJ, Wiberg M, Terenghi G.
Exp Neurol. 2007 Oct;207(2):267-74. Epub 2007 Aug 2.

Head typing

I don't have all the details, but here's a link to a link regarding a keyboard/mouse hybrid combo that can be controlled by head position. I thought it was worth mentioning (kinda means this is becoming a BCI/neuroscience/assistive devices blog, which I have to qualms about).

Random bits/bytes/boutons

* If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me where to get a gold brain mouse, I would have no money. But, if that day ever comes, I now have an answer: Here.

* Dr. Richard Wiseman's crazy strange psych studies are highlighted on PsyBlog. Really worth a read/giggle.

* Mind Hacks has a brief mention of Leary's Eight Circuits. Though of little practical use, these types of mental exercises might help you to think outside the box. Other Leary news? His Neurocomics are scanned and online. And... a very interesting debate between G. Gordon Liddy and Leary on "the future". Of particular interest might be this famous quote:

"Computers will be THE drug of the future."

And a mention of Neo-Paganism and technology. (Not that I'm a huge Leary fan, but his ideas are fun to think abut from time to time. He always has that twinkle in his eye that says, "I know know something you don't, but one day you'll figure it out." Either that or, "I'm tripping balls right now.")

* Mmmmm... Clown Brains...

* Many of life's problems could be solved by really considering the Monkeysphere. Yes, you must read this. It offers such gems as:

First, picture a monkey. A monkey dressed like a little pirate, if that helps you. We'll call him Slappy.

It gets better from there...

* And finally, whether they were killing us, or humping us, robots made for big news this last week.