Menu

Blog

Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 932

May 18, 2016

DARPA Speeds-up Work on ‘Soft Exosuit’ that will Strengthen US Soldiers

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, energy, engineering, military, neuroscience, robotics/AI, wearables

Pressure is on DARPA by US Military to speed up on completing the soft Exosuit.


The clothing-like Soft Exosuit has been described as a “Wearable Robot” by the U.S. Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) that’s commissioning universities and research institutions to advance this military technology. The DARPA Soft Exosuit is part of the agency’s Warrior Web program.

A prototype Soft Exosuit had a series of webbing straps around the lower half of the body with a low-power microprocessor and a network of flexible strain sensors. These electronics act as the “brain” and “nervous system” of the Soft Exosuit. They continuously monitor data signals, including suit tension, wearer position (walking, running, crouched) and more.

Continue reading “DARPA Speeds-up Work on ‘Soft Exosuit’ that will Strengthen US Soldiers” »

May 17, 2016

Size of Brain Region May Impact How Well Exposure Therapy Works for PTSD

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

Interesting read on PTSD. Wonder how much this plays into DARPA’s own research around memory removal on PTSD patients. hmmm.


New research suggests that PTSD patients with a larger region of the brain that helps distinguish between safety and threat are more likely to respond to exposure-based therapy.

The study expands upon prior research that discovered having a smaller hippocampus is associated with increased risk of PTSD.

Continue reading “Size of Brain Region May Impact How Well Exposure Therapy Works for PTSD” »

May 17, 2016

How nanotechnology could detect and treat cancer

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, nanotechnology, neuroscience

The crew of the Proteus has one desperate chance to save a man’s life. Shrunk to the size of a large bacterium, the submarine contains a team of scientists and physicians racing to destroy a blood clot in the brain of a Soviet defector. The group journeys through the body, evading giant white blood cells and tiny antibodies while traveling through the heart, the inner ear and the brain to reach and destroy the blockage.

Although events in the film Fantastic Voyage were far-fetched when it was released in 1966, they’re now being realized every day in labs around the world, particularly in cancer treatment. A growing field called nanotechnology is allowing researchers to manipulate molecules and structures much smaller than a single cell to enhance our ability to see, monitor and destroy cancer cells in the body.

Tens of thousands of patients have already received chemotherapy drugs delivered by nanoparticles called liposomes, and dozens of other approaches are currently in clinical trials. Within the next five to 10 years, our bodies’ biggest defenders may be tinier than we could have ever imagined.

Continue reading “How nanotechnology could detect and treat cancer” »

May 17, 2016

The bionic skin that can feel a tumor

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, neuroscience, transhumanism

Nice!


Our skin is our largest organ. A gateway between our brain and the rest of the world.

Imagine then a scene where skin could communicate what’s going on inside a human body. It could inform surgeons, provide alerts when our body is about to fall ill, or even diagnose diseases inside another human being, simply through the sense of touch.

Continue reading “The bionic skin that can feel a tumor” »

May 17, 2016

A Barefoot Run Might Be a Brain Booster

Posted by in categories: health, neuroscience

The next time that you decide to run barefoot in the rain, etc. there is a health benefit that you’re receiving in the form of enhancing your brain.


FRIDAY, May 13, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Runners who want to boost their brain function should consider taking their running shoes off, new research suggests.

The study found that after running barefoot, participants saw improvements in working memory, or the ability to recall or process information. Running in shoes, however, didn’t result in the same advantage, researchers said.

Continue reading “A Barefoot Run Might Be a Brain Booster” »

May 17, 2016

The US military is creating brain implants to restore lost memories

Posted by in categories: government, military, neuroscience

So, the US Military has developed a way to eliminate bad memories/ PTSD and another method to restore memories. Wish the US Government would make their minds up on this one — LOL.


A scientist in DARPA’s biological technologies offices explains how the agency is developing implants that could bring back memories.

Read more

May 16, 2016

MIT discovers the location of memories: Individual neurons

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Y triggering a single neuron, the researchers were able to force the subject to recall a specific memory. By removing this neuron, the subject would lose that memory.

Read more

May 14, 2016

Google a step closer to developing machines with human-like intelligence

Posted by in categories: computing, information science, neuroscience, robotics/AI

An algorithm developed by Google is designed to encode thought, which could lead to computers with ‘common sense’ within a decade, says leading AI scientist.

Read more

May 14, 2016

Thought-reading headset lets users speak their mind

Posted by in category: neuroscience

By combining a wireless connected EEG headset from Emotiv and an assistive communication app, California-based Smartstones is bringing the power of speech to those who have difficulty communicating verbally. The “think to speak” technology works by reading the brainwaves of the user and expressing them as phrases spoken through the app.

:prose is the app at the heart of it all, developed by Smartstones to help nonverbal people communicate by tapping or swiping on a mobile device. Like sign language, individual gestures and movements are linked to words and phrases: for example, swiping up could mean “I want”, and drawing a circular motion could mean “water”. The app recognizes the input and speaks aloud the complete sentence, “I want water.” The commands are customizable too, so a user can assign phrases to specific movements however they like.

Continue reading “Thought-reading headset lets users speak their mind” »

May 14, 2016

HRL receives DARPA award to STAMP learning into the brain with accelerated learning from low current brain stimulation

Posted by in category: neuroscience

What if low-current electrical brain stimulation could be used to accelerate learning and dramatically reduce training time and costs? The Biological Technologies Office (BTO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded HRL Laboratories, LLC, funding for a two-year project in the RAM Replay program to develop a man-portable system to boost learning during waking and memory consolidation during sleep, thereby increasing a person’s ability to quickly integrate and accurately recall information.

According to Dr. Praveen Pilly, project leader and research staff member in HRL’s Center for Neural and Emergent Systems, the team will be the first to employ next-generation electrode-embedded head caps to apply high-definition transcranial current stimulation (HD-tCS) in order to tag specific memories and skills during learning, and to increase the probability of reactivating those neural representations during sleep for improved consolidation. “We’ll develop a first-of-its-kind cognitive model of memory replays during sleep/wake stages to predict task performance that can be personalized to control the stimulation intervention for each user,” said Pilly.

Continue reading “HRL receives DARPA award to STAMP learning into the brain with accelerated learning from low current brain stimulation” »