Lifeboat Foundation

When neurons are activated in the hippocampus, not all are going to be firing at once.

Think of a time when you had two different but similar experiences in a short period. Maybe you attended two holiday parties in the same week or gave two presentations at work. Shortly afterward, you may find yourself confusing the two, but as time goes on that confusion recedes and you are better able to differentiate between these different experiences.

New research published in Nature Neuroscience reveals that this process occurs on a cellular level, findings that are critical to the understanding and treatment of memory disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Continue reading “Research into the nature of memory reveals how cells that store information are stabilized over time” »

In recent years, research has begun to reveal that the lines of communication between the body’s organs are key regulators of aging. When these lines are open, the body’s organs and systems work well together. But with age, communication lines deteriorate, and organs don’t get the molecular and electrical messages they need to function properly.

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identifies, in mice, a critical communication pathway connecting the brain and the body’s fat tissue in a feedback loop that appears central to energy production throughout the body. The research suggests that the gradual deterioration of this feedback loop contributes to the increasing health problems that are typical of natural aging.

The study—published in the journal Cell Metabolism—has implications for developing future interventions that could maintain the feedback loop longer and slow the effects of advancing age.

It is widely accepted that consciousness or, more generally, mental activity is in some way correlated to the behavior of the material brain. Since quantum theory is the most fundamental theory of matter that is currently available, it is a legitimate question to ask whether quantum theory can help us to understand consciousness. Several approaches answering this question affirmatively, proposed in recent decades, will be surveyed. There are three basic types of corresponding approaches: consciousness is a manifestation of quantum processes in the brain, quantum concepts are used to understand consciousness without referring to brain activity, and matter and consciousness are regarded as dual aspects of one underlying reality. Major contemporary variants of these quantum-inspired approaches will be discussed.

Whether end-spectral bias for red and blue in the visual cortex inherits from the pre-cortical stage or emerges within V1 remains incompletely understood. Here, the authors revealed a feedforward mechanism of end-spectral bias which is mainly transmitted through parvocellular pathway.

The possibility of direct interfacing between biological and technological information devices could result in a merger of mind and machine — Ultimate Computing. This book, a thorough consideration of this idea, involves a number of disciplines, including biochemistry, cognitive science, computer science, engineering, mathematics, microbiology, molecular biology, pharmacology, philosophy, physics, physiology, and psychology.

Silicon-based complementary metal-oxide semiconductors or negative differential resistance device circuits can emulate neural features, yet are complicated to fabricate and not biocompatible. Here, the authors report an ion-modulated antiambipolarity in mixed ion–electron conducting polymers demonstrating capability of sensing, spiking, emulating the most critical biological neural features, and stimulating biological nerves in vivo.

Summary: Researchers discovered that different layers of the brain’s cortex exhibit distinct electrical activity patterns, with rapid gamma waves in the upper layers and slower alpha and beta waves in the deeper layers. This pattern is consistent across various brain regions and species, including humans, suggesting a fundamental role in cortical function.

The research indicates that imbalances in these oscillations might be linked to neurological disorders like ADHD. This study not only deepens our understanding of brain function but also opens new possibilities for diagnosing and treating neuropsychiatric disorders.

Using a biosensor to detect cystic fibrosis as the test case, TU/e researchers have devised an innovative way to train neuromorphic chips as presented in a new paper in Nature Electronics.

Neuromorphic computers—which are based on the structure of the human brain—could revolutionize our future health care devices. However, their widespread use is hindered by the need to train neuromorphic computers using external training software, which can be time-consuming and energy inefficient.

Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and Northwestern University in the U.S. have developed a new neuromorphic biosensor capable of on-chip learning that doesn’t need external training. As a proof-of-concept, the researchers used the biosensor to diagnose cystic fibrosis based on sweat samples.

A solid theory of human consciousness eludes us, which is why seemingly fringe ideas such as those that rely on quantum effects in the brain are still worth pursuing.