Lifeboat Foundation

Interesting find on hippocampus and ingestive control.

In animals, a Western style diet–high in saturated fat and added sugar–causes impairments in hippocampal-dependent learning and memory (HDLM) and perception of internal bodily state (interoception). In humans, while there is correlational support for a link between Western-style diet, HDLM, and interoception, there is as yet no causal data. Here, healthy individuals were randomly assigned to consume either a breakfast high in saturated fat and added sugar (Experimental condition) or a healthier breakfast (Control condition), over four consecutive days. Tests of HDLM, interoception and biological measures were administered before and after breakfast on the days one and four, and participants completed food diaries before and during the study. At the end of the study, the Experimental condition showed significant reductions in HDLM and reduced interoceptive sensitivity to hunger and fullness, relative to the Control condition. The Experimental condition also showed a markedly different blood glucose and triglyceride responses to their breakfast, relative to Controls, with larger changes in blood glucose across breakfast being associated with greater reductions in HDLM. The Experimental condition compensated for their energy-dense breakfast by reducing carbohydrate intake, while saturated fat intake remained consistently higher than Controls. This is the first experimental study in humans to demonstrate that a Western-style diet impacts HDLM following a relatively short exposure–just as in animals. The link between diet-induced HDLM changes and blood glucose suggests one pathway by which diet impacts HDLM in humans.

Citation: Attuquayefio T, Stevenson RJ, Oaten MJ, Francis HM (2017) PLoS ONE 12: e0172645. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0172645

Continue reading “A four-day Western-style dietary intervention causes reductions in hippocampal-dependent learning and memory and interoceptive sensitivity” »

Are you over sleeping? If yes, be careful.

Sleeping for extended amounts of time may be an early indicator of cognitive decline in older people, especially among those with lower education levels, researchers report.

Elderly participants who consistently slept more than 9 hours a night had double the dementia risk over a decade of follow-up in an analysis of data from the Framingham Heart Study.

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Well, in my immediate family; we get science, math, and futurists talents from my dad. And, there does seem to be a pattern in my immediate family with this; not sure about others. Would love to know though.

SALT LAKE CITY — Most kids say they love their mom and dad equally, but there are times when even the best prefers one parent over the other. The same can be said for how the body’s cells treat our DNA instructions. It has long been thought that each copy — one inherited from mom and one from dad — is treated the same. A new study from scientists at the University of Utah School of Medicine shows that it is not uncommon for cells in the brain to preferentially activate one copy over the other. The finding breaks basic tenants of classic genetics and suggests new ways in which genetic mutations might cause brain disorders.

In at least one region of the newborn mouse brain, the new research shows, inequality seems to be the norm. About 85 percent of genes in the dorsal raphe nucleus, known for secreting the mood-controlling chemical serotonin, differentially activate their maternal and paternal gene copies. Ten days later in the juvenile brain, the landscape shifts, with both copies being activated equally for all but 10 percent of genes.

Continue reading “Playing favorites: Brain cells prefer one parent’s gene over the other’s” »

BMI is coming fast and will replace many devices we have today. Advances we making in deep brain development are huge markers that pushes the BMI needle forward for the day when IoT, Security, and big data analytics is a human brain’s and a secured Quantum Infrastructure and people (not servers sitting somewhere) owns and manages their most private of information. I love calling it the age of people empowerment as well as singularity.

Small study in 16 people suggests technique is safe and might help improve mood, anxiety and wellbeing, while increasing weight.

Deep brain stimulation might alter the brain circuits that drive anorexia nervosa symptoms and help improve patients’ mental and physical health, according to a small study published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Continue reading “Deep brain stimulation for patients with chronic anorexia is safe and might improve symptoms” »

There is way more coming in BMI.

Researcher Dr. Luan and his interdisciplinary team from the University of Texas at Austin have developed an ultra flexible nanoelectronic thread (NET) that has the potential to offer a new type of the long-term neural implants. Neural probes are used to directly measure or even stimulate electrical activity in specific regions of the brain. However, despite the many advances in the field, issues with biocompatibility have limited the prospects and usefulness of the technology. Conventional probes induce scarring around the implant over time, which in turn increasingly impairs the devices’ ability to measure electrical impulses. This scarring is a result of conventional probes’ width, material, and lack of flexibility.

Due to the micrometer dimensions of the NET and its insulation, the implant doesn’t trigger the development of scar tissue and continues working for months at a time. Publishing in the journal Science Advances, the researchers describe the NET from 7 nm nanoprobes layered together and two to three layers of insulation. The layers together total to about 1 µm in thickness, which grants the probe flexibility that is almost 1000 times greater than conventional probes. This flexibility allows the device to remain in place without hindering the movement of or displacing surrounding tissue.

Continue reading “Nano Thread Enables Scientists to Extend Length of Brain Implant Efficacy” »

A new day for imaging.

Optical microscopes that use lenses to bounce photons off objects have trouble distinguishing nanometer-scale objects smaller than the imaging beam’s wavelength, such as proteins and DNA. An innovative ‘hyperlens’ designed at A* STAR can overcome optical diffraction limits by capturing high-resolution information held by short-lived or evanescent waves lurking near a target’s surface.

Hyperlens devices — composed of thin stacks of alternate metal and plastic layers — have raised prospects for capturing living biological processes in action with high–speed optics. Key to their operation are oscillating electrons, known as surface plasmons, that resonate with and enhance evanescent waves that appear when photons strike a solid object. The narrow wavelengths of evanescent beams give nanoscale resolution to images when the hyperlens propagates the images to a standard microscope.

Continue reading “Spiky Nanostructures Capture Life’s Fine Details” »

Harvesting energy from carbon emissions.

Washington: Scientists have developed tiny nano particles that turned carbon dioxide into fuel using light.

Researchers said that carbon dioxide converts into methane, a key building block for many types of fuels, by using only ultraviolet light as an energy source.

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With Hanford Site; I would hope and imagine so after all this time.

A Washington State University study of the chemistry of technetium-99 has improved understanding of the challenging nuclear waste and could lead to better cleanup methods.

The work is reported in the journal Inorganic Chemistry. It was led by John McCloy, associate professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and chemistry graduate student Jamie Weaver. Researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the Office of River Protection and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory collaborated.

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And, we just started. Just wait — in the next 6 to 8 months; I will some amazing news to share on QBS and BMI. smile

An explosion of nanotechnology research and development is occurring as newly identified forms of carbon, including graphene, carbon nanotubes and nano-diamonds, pave the way for new products and industries.

This article is sponsored by Flinders University.

Continue reading “Nano-size revolution is getting bigger” »