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The Dartmouth
July 9, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Daily Debriefing

Dartmouth researchers conducted a study which proved that alcohol subdues the actions of the frontal and posterior parietal areas of the brain -- the regions of the brain which handle visual and motor response. The study, one of the first of its kind, was lead by John D. Van Horn, a research associate professor of psychological and brain sciences. For the analysis, eight individuals between the ages of 21 and 25 controlled a joy stick while sober and then with a blood alcohol level of .07 percent and the actions of their brains were monitored with functional magnetic resonance imaging.

"We found that the brain does a pretty good job at compensating for the effect that alcohol has on the brain's ability to process the visual information needed to adjust motor commands," Van Horn said. "Alcohol selectively suppresses the brain areas needed to incorporate new information into subsequent and correct motor function."

Van Horn added that this study was unique because it pinpointed the exact area of the brain integral to the effectiveness of visual and motor commands. The National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and three grants sponsored by Dartmouth provided the resources for the research. Van Horn also worked with Melana Yanos '04, Paul Schmidt '03 and Professor Scott Grafton of the department of psychological and brain sciences.

A mummified baby was found in the possession of a local Concord family, who claims it has been passed on through the generations. Charles Peavey, 41, said that his great-great uncle, a world traveler, fell in love with a Hawaiian woman who gave birth to his child -- a stillborn. The mummy, ensconced in material, was inside a box bearing the words "Sacred to the memory of our little Hawaiian home across the sea." Investigators were tipped off to the mummy's existence when Peavey's young niece told a friend that she had a murderer for an uncle because he had a dead baby in his house. After learning that police spoke to the girl's mother and were shown a picture of the mummy, Peavey called the police and explained the situation. A forensic anthropologist is now in the process of examining the mummy, which is an estimated 80 to 90 years old.

"My friends at work say that even though this is not weird to me, I have to understand that it is weird to other people," Peavey said. "But for me, it's something tangible to hold on to from my great-great uncle."