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See the original image at nytimes.com —

Looking On as the Brain Remembers the Simpsons(Infographic)

nytimes.com — Interesting that the memory of the Simpsons is more resilient than the Statue of Liberty.

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  • Sererena, on 09/05/2008, -0/+45Because The Simpsons is entertaining?
    • Mootabolife, on 09/07/2008, -6/+3Nah.. subliminal advertisements are embedded that go straight into memory.
  • SteveLRowe, on 09/05/2008, -1/+52Amusing, but massively useless. Did all the clips contain sound or just landscapes? Was the neuron in a portion of the brain associated with comedy or the color yellow?
    • IG64, on 09/07/2008, -1/+6Maybe it was because it's a colorful cartoon and the rest of it was all real photos? It's especially useless to us because we don't have all of the information.
    • chris86, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2Here's the article its from:

      http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/science/05brain. ...
    • dpalmer, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3Not massively useless at all! This is showing that individual cells can be directly linked to specific memories. In all of our knowledge about medicine and the body, the brain still remains a bit of an enigma. Neurologists and researchers (including all the neuroscience professors I've talked to) have been puzzled over how the brain recalls memories and as mentioned in the article this could be the beginning of a foundation for further research. Also, an interesting finding is the fact that the neurons are firing a "second or two" before the memory is recalled. In neural cells, this is a long ass time.

      PLUS, I've never heard of a researcher getting a publication in Science out of a "massively useless" study.
  • MelvinSchlubman, on 09/05/2008, -0/+25Maybe "The Simpsons" is something they've directly experienced (as much as it can be), while the other 2 examples are things the subjects have never seen in person - more personal.
  • greenroom628, on 09/05/2008, -0/+134"alright brain, i don't like you and you don't like me. so let's get this over with so i can go back to killing you with beer."
    • dehydratedbaby, on 09/07/2008, -0/+39shut up brain or I'll stab you with a Q-tip
    • tidu, on 09/07/2008, -18/+2You forgot to end that with "narf"
      • CaviMike, on 09/07/2008, -0/+13Umm, that was Homer talking to his brain, not Pinky talking to Brain.
    • j0etb, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3"That's it, I'm outta here"
  • foxxtrot23, on 09/07/2008, -14/+5Boring things are boring.
    • OpCzar, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2In that case, might as well bury your post - no point in keeping boring things around.
  • Sunscreen, on 09/07/2008, -3/+23Mmmmmmmmm..... Neurons
  • ivansusanin, on 09/07/2008, -0/+25the brain's probably remembering how many times its seen that same episode.
    • DivisibleByZero, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3Or if the test subject was like me, the 5 second clip would be enough to identify which episode it was, and remember every single joke it in.
  • palehorse864, on 09/07/2008, -2/+49We're embiggened by this cromulent study.
    • CYR1X, on 09/07/2008, -2/+2Big words on a Simpsons article?
      • goosegoosegoose, on 09/07/2008, -0/+6It's a perfectly cromulent sentence
  • wuvamber, on 09/07/2008, -5/+4Simpsons FTW
  • JingleHymrShmit, on 09/07/2008, -0/+18The Simpsons > Hollywood
  • Phatlip012, on 09/07/2008, -4/+1D'oh!
  • Sornos, on 09/07/2008, -0/+5There was article in Discover a while back about this. It was called the "Bill Clinton cell". You can probably find it on the Discover site.
    Edit:
    Here are:
    http://discovermagazine.com/2005/jun/single-brain- ...
    • filefly, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1That article is eerily like Michael Crichton's "The Terminal Man"... *shudders*
  • junkneo, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3Woo hoo
  • Xihix, on 09/07/2008, -1/+7You really don't think about it now, but for those who were fans back in the day (who wasn't, seriously?), The Simpsons had a huge effect on us. Every generation had it's thing, and the golden era of the show (first eight seasons plus parts of season nine) is part of our thing.
    • RobotBuddha, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2I certainly think about it a lot. There's only one or two episodes a season these days that I really like, but it's the only franchise from when I was a kid still churning out enjoyable new material. Not to mention something that my generation knows, my parents generation, and which even has significance to pretty much all the generations since mine. It's really amazing in a lot of ways.

      Also, I wear an onion on my belt.
  • textuality, on 09/07/2008, -0/+5The brain was probably thinking "Where the hell is Bart in this picture??"
    • DivisibleByZero, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2It's one of the older starting sequences. There wasn't enough room on the couch for all 5 family members so the pressure shot Bart up in the air. He landed in front of the TV.
    • vespagirl, on 09/07/2008, -0/+0Where's Marge too... If you look closely that's some grey haried lady holding Maggie.
      • DivisibleByZero, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1You're right. That's the episode where Homer's mom visits?
  • D1Foley, on 09/07/2008, -0/+6Really they responded more to a clip of a T.V. show than a clip of a boring landscape?
    • charm803, on 09/07/2008, -1/+3Probably the simplicity of it. The colors do stand out. And I agree, I think it could have been any show vs a landscape.

      But this study makes it sound like epilepsy patients have an IQ of a 5 year old. And they are normal people, just tend to have seizures.

      I had epileptic seizures when I was younger and I turned out fine.
      • RobotBuddha, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1I was going to disagree with you about epileptics being actual human beings. But then I remembered a very special episode of "Diff'rent Strokes" that tackled this issue, and will concede in Tv's favor.
  • majikmixx, on 09/07/2008, -0/+22Simpsons did it.
  • ElGubrush, on 09/07/2008, -0/+6(from Stargate)
    O'Neill: "I think I remember a man, he's bald, round and he means a lot to me. I think his name is . . . Homer"
  • holyskeleton, on 09/07/2008, -0/+15I don't remember a single episode of The Simpsons that didn't involve eating or drinking something, which is probably why I always get hungry when I'm watching it.
  • socoolisme, on 09/07/2008, -1/+2Yes, it was a good show.
  • Lucifugerising, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Would have made more sense to compare 3 cartoons, or 3 images of nature.
    Of course the brain is more concentrated on the item that is most different.
    • chris86, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3Is says they showed them 48 different clips, so presumably they included cartoons/TV shows/fiction as well as well known landscapes and other real places and things. Otherwise it wouldn't make much sense.
      • Lucifugerising, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2I wish they would have shown the whole thing then.
        Maybe something else is making the image more instant, like color.
      • RobotBuddha, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1One thing I've learned about experimental design. Never, ever, make an assumption that nobody involved noticed a seemingly obvious flaw. Peer review is there for a reason!
  • kishosingh, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Is it all about for patient?
  • Schmapdi, on 09/07/2008, -2/+17Can we see the point where my brain gets sad because the Simpsons got mediocre, then crappy, then really crappy, then coasted well past when it should have bowed out gracefully.

    • geoboy, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Well, I thought the movie was pretty good. But yeah, they should have retired the TV show at least 5 years ago.
  • nshady, on 09/07/2008, -0/+5Science is ***** awesome.
  • Mawds, on 09/07/2008, -0/+10IOU one brain, signed, God.
  • Qually, on 09/07/2008, -0/+5The graphic doesn't explain this, but this research *isn't* trying to show that people remember or care about the Simpsons more than the Statue of Libery or the Hollywood sign. The point is that they claim the particular neuron they were examining is a "Simpsons neuron," i.e. it fires only when the Simpsons comes on, and at no other time. Presumably, there is a "Statue of Liberty neuron" and "Hollywood sign neuron" also, which they could have examined instead.
  • jstearns, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2They all got epilepsy watching Pokemon and The Simpsons, so the images are burned into their memory..
  • Mitchellkohl, on 09/07/2008, -1/+2The reason the people remembered it is because it is something familiar, and the excitement is simply because they enjoy watching the simpsons... when is the last time you watched the statue of liberty for 30 minutes...
  • KillPenguin, on 09/07/2008, -3/+1I wonder how crazy the neuron would go while watching Family Guy. Those rapid and random flashbacks would probably cause a seizure.
  • Torley, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1D'ohlicious.
  • pinstripewizard, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3I was expecting this guy: http://www.geocities.com/gabrielwu84/pinky_brain.g ...
  • Gazzali, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Simpsons are great!!!
  • cquilliam, on 09/07/2008, -0/+4*annoyed grunt*
  • indubitably, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2i wonder how many neurons would fire if they showed clips from 'seinfeld'.
  • dellegazze, on 09/07/2008, -1/+0perhaps watching The Simpsons makes more neurons fire because of the pop culture references?
  • zhirsch, on 09/07/2008, -1/+0I'm pretty sure that the results have something to do with the fact that the image of The Simpsons is the only one of the bunch that is animated. It also has brighter colors and contains large and obvious facial features, which the brain is bound to respond more strongly to.
  • jamespurdy, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3I remember my teacher individually asking as many students as she could what brand of beer was on the simpsons, and everyone responded "Duff" i forgot the point she was trying to make, but interesting to see how insanely mainstream The Simpsons is
  • DeFex, on 09/07/2008, -1/+1nothing to do with the simpsons. any entertaining rather than extremely boring thing would work. it would probably work just as well with an animated giff of boobies bouncing.
    I mean those 2 other things are something many people have seen zillions of times. they are BOOORING
  • goosegoosegoose, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Maybe because the Simpsons is the greatest TV show of all time?
  • bigwillystyle, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1wheres bart in that picture?
  • russau, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1..and do you think the scientists had to 'break the law' to edit a 5-second clip of The Simpsons? Did they record it off TV, use a DeCSS application to get it off a DVD, or grab it off bittorrent/youtube?
  • cowsong, on 09/07/2008, -0/+0Very very cool capability but very short article. Aren't these reporting folks still paid by the word? Is the technique and equipment used for this mod miracle of sci assumed to be common knowledge or are they afraid of rampant copycat brain-scanning? A little clearer explanation of the overall point is probably in order as well - judging by the comments here it looks like about 50% of Joe Citizen just don't get it at all. (Maybe some brain thing's not firing right - what are those little deals called again?)
  • j0etb, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Oo, they have internet on computers now!
  • cowsong, on 09/07/2008, -0/+0Ah... OK, I answered my own question. For anyone else interested in any trifling nonsense like details, the whole article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/science/05brain. ...
  • ironpirate, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Does every NYTIMES article get dugg on here?
  • djphilos, on 09/11/2008, -0/+0Making a person with epilepsy watch fast moving images, that's F***ed up.
  •  

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