A neuromusculoskeletal hand prosthesis grants long-term stable neural control, sensory feedback, and skeletal attachment.
Previous research has implicated fungi in chronic neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, but there is limited understanding of how these common microbes could be involved in the development of these conditions.
Working with animal models, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and collaborating institutions discovered how the fungus Candida albicans enters the brain, activates two separate mechanisms in brain cells that promote its clearance, and, important for the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease development, generates amyloid beta (Ab)-like peptides, toxic protein fragments from the amyloid precursor protein that are considered to be at the center of the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The study appears in the journal Cell Reports.
“Our lab has years of experience studying fungi, so we embarked on the study of the connection between C. albicans and Alzheimer’s disease in animal models,” said corresponding author Dr. David Corry, Fulbright Endowed Chair in Pathology and professor of pathology and immunology and medicine at Baylor. He also is a member of Baylor’s Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. “In 2019, we reported that C. albicans does get into the brain where it produces changes that are very similar to what is seen in Alzheimer’s disease. The current study extends that work to understand the molecular mechanisms.”
Light is critical for transmitting visual information to the brain; but light also impacts non-visual processes in the body, such as circadian rhythms, hormone secretion, pupil size and sleep cycles, for example. Exposure to blue light is known to stimulate alertness and enhance cognitive performance, but the neural processes underlying this effect are not well understood. Now, researchers at the University of Liège in Belgium have used ultrahigh-field MRI to find out more about how light stimulates our brains, reporting their findings in Communications Biology.
Non-visual responses to light are mainly mediated by photosensitive retinal ganglion cells that express melanopsin, a photopigment that’s most sensitive to blue light at around 480 nm. These retinal neurons transfer light information to several areas of the brain associated with light-mediated behaviour. In particular, the pulvinar (a region of the posterior thalamus involved in attention control) is consistently activated in response to light, suggesting that the thalamus, a subcortical region, may play a key role in relaying non-visual light information to the cortex.
To investigate this hypothesis, first author Ilenia Paparella and colleagues in the GIGA-CRC laboratory used 7T functional MRI to record the brain activity of 19 healthy young participants while they completed an auditory oddball task known to elicit response in the posterior thalamus. During the task, in which random rare deviant tones were sounded amongst frequent standard tones, the volunteers were either in darkness or exposed to 30 s blocks of blue-enriched polychromatic or control orange light.
Summary: A new study illuminates the profound depth and adaptability embedded within Indigenous interpretations of consciousness, offering fresh perspectives and adaptive solutions for contemporary scientific discourse.
Instead of adhering to a singular, individualistic viewpoint, Indigenous concepts of consciousness often intertwine with environmental, relational, and spiritual facets, providing a holistic perspective that balances individual and global consciousness.
The study emphasizes that embracing this ancient wisdom could forge pathways toward a more inclusive, interconnected scientific understanding of consciousness, merging the physical and metaphysical. The findings not only promote cross-cultural appreciation but also underscore the vital necessity of preserving and respecting Indigenous knowledge systems.
The most detailed atlas of the human brain ever devised includes many cell types we’ve never seen before.
The Georgia Institute of Technology course teaches engineering students to create art using brainwaves, either their own or someone else’s.
An uncanny course is being taught in the halls of the Georgia Institute of Technology. While the course, called Arts and Geometry, itself isn’t uncanny, it’s the distinct approach taken by the professor that is making waves, literally and figuratively.
The course teaches engineering students to create art using brainwaves, either their own or someone else’s. When the ions and neurons go about their business inside our brains, brainwaves are created in a pattern of electrical activity in the brain.
In today’s world, there is much to be admired in someone who refuses to make a profit out of a good idea for the greater good. David Edquilang invented a new type of finger prosthesis called Lunet that has earned him awards around the world but he plans on making the design open access to benefit those who need it most.
Helping the greatest number of people
“Not every good idea needs to be turned into a business. Sometimes, the best ideas just need to be put out there,” said Edquilang in a statement issued by his university. “Medical insurance will often not cover the cost of a finger prosthesis, since it is not considered vital enough compared to an arm or leg. Making Lunet available online for free will allow it to help the greatest number of people.”
Full episode with Joscha Bach (Jun 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-2P3MSZrBM
Clips channel (Lex Clips): https://www.youtube.com/lexclips.
Main channel (Lex Fridman): https://www.youtube.com/lexfridman.
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The strange science experiment that blew a worm’s head off… and blew our minds.
This interview is an episode from @The-Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the @JohnTempletonFoundation.
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