Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 818
Jan 4, 2019
Immune cells from the gut found to reduce MS-related brain inflammation
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
The growing understanding of the link between the gut and brain inflammation is perhaps one of the most exciting new avenues in modern medical research. An incredible new study from researchers at the University of Toronto and UC San Francisco has provided a novel insight into the gut-brain connection, revealing the intestine may be the source of immune cells found to reduce brain inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers.
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Jan 3, 2019
Shocking the Brain Is the Future of Medicine
Posted by Marcos Than Esponda in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
Jan 3, 2019
Brains of 3 People Have Been Successfully Connected, Enabling Them to Share Thoughts
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: entertainment, neuroscience
Neuroscientists have successfully hooked up a three-way brain connection to allow three people to share their thoughts – and in this case, play a Tetris-style game.
The team thinks this wild experiment could be scaled up to connect whole networks of people, and yes, it’s as weird as it sounds.
It works through a combination of electroencephalograms (EEGs), for recording the electrical impulses that indicate brain activity, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), where neurons are stimulated using magnetic fields.
Jan 3, 2019
Intriguing new study finds molecular target to slow aging in worm neurons
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: life extension, neuroscience
Researchers at the University of Michigan have found a molecule that may be a potential target in new treatments to slow aging (Credit: ktsdesign/Depositphotos)
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Jan 2, 2019
How to build a brain interface — and why we should connect our minds
Posted by Montie Adkins in category: neuroscience
Jan 2, 2019
Controlling neurons with light—but without wires or batteries
Posted by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience
University of Arizona biomedical engineering professor Philipp Gutruf is first author on the paper Fully implantable, optoelectronic systems for battery-free, multimodal operation in neuroscience research, published in Nature Electronics.
Optogenetics is a biological technique that uses light to turn specific neuron groups in the brain on or off. For example, researchers might use optogenetic stimulation to restore movement in case of paralysis or, in the future, to turn off the areas of the brain or spine that cause pain, eliminating the need for—and the increasing dependence on—opioids and other painkillers.
“We’re making these tools to understand how different parts of the brain work,” Gutruf said. “The advantage with optogenetics is that you have cell specificity: You can target specific groups of neurons and investigate their function and relation in the context of the whole brain.”
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Jan 2, 2019
Could Altering Memories Help Treat Addiction?
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: neuroscience
Environmental cues can trigger powerful memories of substance use. What happens when those memories are disrupted?
01.02.19 5:19 AM ET
Jan 1, 2019
Mark Zuckerberg-Funded Researchers Test Implantable Brain Devices
Posted by John Gallagher in categories: biotech/medical, computing, Elon Musk, mobile phones, neuroscience
Mark Zuckerberg and his pediatrician wife Priscilla Chan have sold close to 30 million shares of Facebook to fund an ambitious biomedical research project, called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), with a goal of curing all disease within a generation. A less publicized component of that US$5 billion program includes work on brain-machine interfaces, devices that essentially translate thoughts into commands.
From a report: One recent project is a wireless brain implant that can record, stimulate and disrupt the movement of a monkey in real time. In a paper published in the highly cited scientific journal Nature on Monday, researchers detail a wireless brain device implanted in a primate that records, stimulates, and modifies its brain activity in real time, sensing a normal movement and stopping it immediately. Those researchers are part of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a non-profit medical research group within the CZI. Scientists refer to the interference as “therapy” because it is designed to be used to treat diseases like epilepsy or Parkinson’s by stopping a seizure or other disruptive motion just as it starts.
“Our device is able to monitor the primate’s brain while it’s providing the therapy so you know exactly what’s happening,” Rikky Muller, a co-author of the new study, told Business Insider. A professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, Muller is also a Biohub investigator. The applications of brain-machine interfaces are far-reaching: while some researchers focus on using them to help assist people with spinal cord injuries or other illnesses that affect movement, others aim to see them transform how everyone interacts with laptops and smartphones. Both a division at Facebook formerly called Building 8 as well as an Elon Musk-founded company called Neuralink have said they are working on the latter.
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