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Category: neuroscience – Page 845

Neuroprosthetics: Medicine of the future

Neuroprosthesis is the process of using direct electric stimulation to enable proper functioning of the nervous system. Neuroprosthetic devices supplements the input or the output signals to the neural system, enabling the individual to carry out proper functioning and physical activities. Some of the purposes which involve the use of neuroprosthetics include, techniques for bladder and bowel control, deep brain stimulation, and restoration of mobility and respiration to paralyzed individuals.

Get PDF sample copy of study @ http://bit.ly/39hTnku

Brain disorders exhibits a considerable social and economic burden in Europe. According to WHO survey, brain disorders are responsible for 35% of Europe’s total disease burden. This burden is increasing due to increasing number of aging population in Europe, and requires a considerable attention to address the treatment issues as all the cases does not respond to medication therapy.

We all know taking away screens and reading to our children during their formative years is the best thing for their brains

We all know taking away screens and reading to our children during their formative years is the best thing for their brains. Now, there is new incredible science to back it up. We asked Jessica Ewing, CEO of subscription book club Literati and graduate of Stanford University in Cognitive Science, every question we could think of about kids, brains, and books.

The latest science, as explored by Literati CEO Jessica Ewing.

Study pinpoints two workouts that give brain plasticity a big boost

Scientific studies continue to show us how exercise can bring a range of cognitive benefits, from limiting the risk of Alzheimer’s to giving an immediate boost to our learning capabilities. Researchers working in this area at the University of South Australia have turned their attention to neuroplasticity, finding two styles of workout in particular that give this key brain function the biggest boost.

Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to rewire the neural connections as we go through life, whether that be in response to certain experiences, building memories, learning new skills or adapting to new environments. In this way, it is seen as critical to the development of a healthy brain from infancy all the way through to adulthood, and the authors of this new study set out to dig into how exercise can influence these vital pathways.

“We already know that engaging in regular aerobic exercise is good for the brain, improving memory, attention and learning,” says co-author Dr Ashleigh Smith. “However, we need to understand why it is so beneficial and what the best exercise, intensity and duration is.”

“The quest for immortality”, Dead Brain Reawakened in Jar

A Yale University experiment, led by neuroscientist Nenad Sestanwhich reawakened the brains of slaughtered pigs has raised speculation that human trials could be next, renewing ethical concerns over the pursuit of immortality. In the experiments, the pigs did not regain consciousness but Sestan acknowledged that restoring awareness is a possibility and that the technique could work on humans, keeping the brain alive indefinitely.

Nottingham Trent University ethics researcher Benjamin Curtis says ending up as a disembodied brain might just be a “living hell.” Writing in The Conversation he suggested that living without any actual contact with reality could be a fate worse than death. “Some have argued that even with a fully functional body, immortality would be tedious. With absolutely no contact with external reality, it might just be a living hell,” Curtis wrote.

Curtis explained that the brain is highly integrated with the rest of the body in both humans and animals. It is constantly receiving and sending signals from and to it. “We have no idea what experiences would occur within a disembodied brain. But those experiences may well be deeply disturbing,” he said.

Mitochondria study could help boost understanding of diabetes and aging

In a surprising study, Oregon State University researchers found that no matter how much stress they placed on mice from either a high-fat diet or strenuous exercise, the animals’ mitochondria were able to adapt and continue their normal processes.

The findings could have major implications for the study of diseases like diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, all of which are associated with an impairment in the breaking-down and clearance of damaged mitochondria.

Mitochondria are the structures that house cellular respiration, the process used to turn nutrients into energy. Dysfunction in mitochondria may lead to lower energy production, greater inflammation and tissue damage. Yet as central as mitochondria are to living organisms, scientists still don’t know exactly what keeps them healthy—or makes them unhealthy.

The human brain’s meticulous interface with the bloodstream now on a precision chip

A scrupulous gatekeeper stands between the brain and its circulatory system to let in the good and keep out the bad, but this porter, called the blood-brain barrier, also blocks trial drugs to treat diseases like Alzheimer’s or cancer from getting into the brain.

Now a team led by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology has engineered a way of studying the barrier more closely with the intent of helping drug developers do the same. In a new study, the researchers cultured the human on a , recreating its physiology more realistically than predecessor chips.

The new chip devised a healthy environment for the barrier’s central component, a brain cell called the , which is not a neuron, but which acts as neurons’ intercessors with the circulatory system. Astrocytes interface in with cells in the vasculature called endothelial cells to collaborate with them as the blood-brain barrier.