Lifeboat Foundation

A man left in a completely locked-in state by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been able to communicate with his family and carers thanks to an implant. The device helped the patient, who was unable to move any muscles or even open his eyes, contact the outside world using only his brain activity.

Rapid neurodegeneration

In the last decade, combinations of brain implants and brain-computer interfaces (BCI) have enabled people with severe brain injuries or neurodegeneration to regain communicative ability. The new study, published in Nature Communications by an international research team, is the first to be used successfully in a patient with such severe neurodegeneration.

The condition stays with you for life once diagnosed, but treatments and specialists can help to manage the condition and its symptoms.

Experts are still unsure exactly what triggers the condition that affects more than 130,000 people in the UK.

According to the MS Society, people are most likely to find out they have MS in their thirties, forties and fifties in Britain, and the condition affects almost three times as many women as men.

By isolating and reprogramming brain cells with dementia-causing genetic mutations, a team at JAX offers a powerful new research tool.

Understanding how we use our brain to make decisions is a daunting task, given our brain’s extensive webs of neural wiring and circuitry. Now, JAX researchers Erik Bloss and Kourtney Graham are using a surprising tool to investigate goal-directed behaviors: the rabies virus.

“Working memory” is a critical cognitive process.

The “secret code” the brain uses to create a key type of memory has finally been cracked.

This type of memory, called working memory, is what allows people to temporarily hold on to and manipulate information for short periods of time. You use working memory, for example, when you look up a phone number and then briefly remember the sequence of digits in order to dial, or when you ask a friend for directions to a restaurant and then keep track of the turns as you drive there.

Summary: People with depression who responded to psilocybin therapy showed an increase in brain connectivity for up to three weeks following treatment. The increased brain connectivity was correlated with self-reported improvements in depression symptoms.

Source: Imperial College London.

Psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, helps to “open up” depressed people’s brains, even after use, enabling brain regions to talk more freely to one another.

In a small trial, immune cells that fight the Epstein-Barr virus have stopped the progression of multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune condition that can lead to symptoms, such as difficulty walking, that worsen over time.

Summary: Researchers identified a genetic correlation between blood biomarkers and a range of mental health disorders. The study provides evidence some substance measures within the blood may be involved in the cause of mental illnesses. For example, immune system proteins may be involved in the development of depression, schizophrenia, and anorexia.

Source: The Conversation.

Mental health disorders including depression, schizophrenia, and anorexia show links to biological markers detected in routine blood tests, according to our new study of genetic, biochemical and psychiatric data from almost a million people.

Watch the full documentary on TUBI (free w/ads):
https://tubitv.com/movies/613341/consciousness-evolution-of-the-mind.

IMDb-accredited film, rated TV-PG
Director: Alex Vikoulov.
Narrator: Forrest Hansen.
Copyright © 2021 Ecstadelic Media Group, Burlingame, California, USA

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