#Brain-training game helps'minimise impact of schizophrenia on life'A rain traininggame improves the cognitive function of people with schizophrenia
The Wizard game will be included as a mode within the popular brain-training app, Peak, after it began a partnership with Cambridge in April 2015. his new app will allow the Wizard memory game to become widely available, inexpensively.
State-of-the-art neuroscience at the University of Cambridge combined with the innovative approach at Peak, will help bring the games industry to a new level
claims DARPA The US military agency DARPA says it has restored successfully a test subject's sense of touch using a prosthetic hand connected directly to the brain.
who was paralyzed after suffering a spinal cord injury more than a decade ago. An array of electrodes was placed in the volunteer's sensory cortex (part of the brain that identifies touch)
and connected to pressure sensors on a prosthetic hand, with electrical signals sent from the hand to the brain.
When blindfolded the subject was able to tell"with almost 100 percent accuracy"which of the mechanical fingers on the hand were being touched."
but without feedback from signals traveling back to the brain, it can be difficult to achieve the level of control needed to perform precise movements,
Massachusetts institute of technology, the brain trust from which CEI was hatched believes using Gan in data servers, electric vehicle inverters
and can affect brain chemicals, inducing antepartum depression and/or anxiety. According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, roughly 14-23 percent of women will struggle with symptoms of depression at some point during their pregnancy.
#New mechanism that can lead to blindness discovered An important scientific breakthrough by a team of IRCM researchers led by Michel Cayouette Phd is being published by The Journal of Neuroscience.
This process is crucial for neurons (nerve cells) to function properly. Compartments within a cell are much like different parts of a car explains Vasanth Ramamurthy Phd first author of the study.
A good example of compartmentalization is observed in a specialized type of light-sensing neurons found in the retina the photoreceptors which are made up of different compartments containing specific proteins essential for vision.
We wanted to understand how compartmentalization is achieved within photoreceptor cells says Dr. Cayouette Director of the Cellular Neurobiology research unit at the IRCM.
#The neuroscience of holding it: Involuntary link in brain between pelvic floor, other muscles Wherever you are right now:
squeeze your glutes. Feel that? You just also contracted your pelvic floor too whether you wanted to or not.
Scientists studying the source of chronic abdominal and pelvic floor pain found an unexpected connection in the brain between the pelvic floor--the muscle responsible for among other things keeping you from peeing your pants--and various muscles throughout the body.
but we didn't know what part of the nervous system was doing this said Jason Kutch corresponding author on a study about the research and an assistant professor in the Division of Biokinesiology & Physical therapy at the USC Ostrow School of dentistry.
Now we know that there are specific brain regions controlling involuntary pelvic floor contraction. Kutch collaborated with colleagues at USC Ostrow the Keck School of medicine of USC and Loma Linda University on the research.
Their findings were published on October 8 in the Journal of Neuroscience. The team used electromyographic recordings
They then used functional magnetic image resonance (fmri) imaging to show that a specific part of the brain (the medial wall of the precentral gyrus--a part of the primary motor cortex) activates both
and brains and all of the hard work going on in the pelvic floor muscles--without us even know it.
#Scientists create new protein-based material with some nerve Scientists at the University of California Berkeley have taken proteins from nerve cells
To create the biological equivalent of a polymer brush the researchers turned to neurofilaments pipe cleaner-shaped proteins found in nerve cells.
By acting as tiny cylindrical polymer brushes neurofilaments collectively assemble into a structural network that helps keep one end of the nerve cell propped open
#Research leads to brain cancer clinical trial Researchers at the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI)
and Southern Alberta Cancer Research Institute (SACRI) have made a discovery that could prolong the life of people living with glioblastoma--the most aggressive type of brain cancer.
When these human brain tumour-initiating cells were inserted into an animal model researchers discovered that when using a drug AZD8055 combined with Temozolomide (TMZ)--a drug already taken by most glioblastoma patients--the life of the animals was extended by 30 per cent.
Shutting off vital tumour growth processes can lead to the death of human brain tumour-initiating cells.
Our research has identified a key process in brain tumour growth that we were able to target with AZD8055 says Luchman from the university's Cumming School of medicine and a member of the HBI.
and therapies that can be tested in the clinic provides the greatest hope for brain cancer patients
and their families says Weiss leader of the university's Brain and Mental health strategic research priority.
Glioblastoma is the most common and deadly form of brain cancer among adults. The progression and complexity of the tumours are often difficult to treat.
#Scientists sniff out unexpected role for stem cells in the brain For decades scientists thought that neurons in the brain were born only during the early development period
and turn into new neurons in specific brain regions. The function of these neuroprogenitor cells remains an intense area of research.
Scientists at the National institutes of health (NIH) report that newly formed brain cells in the mouse olfactory system--the area that processes smells--play a critical role in maintaining proper connections.
The results were published in the October 8 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. This is a surprising new role for brain stem cells
and changes the way we view them said Leonardo Belluscio Ph d. a scientist at NIH's National Institute of Neurological disorders
The olfactory bulb is located in the front of the brain and receives information directly from the nose about odors in the environment.
Neurons in the olfactory bulb sort that information and relay the signals to the rest of the brain at which point we become aware of the smells we are experiencing.
Olfactory loss is often an early symptom in a variety of neurological disorders including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
In a process known as neurogenesis adult-born neuroprogenitor cells are generated in the subventricular zone deep in the brain
Dr. Belluscio who studies the olfactory system teamed up with Heather Cameron Ph d. a neurogenesis researcher at the NIH's National institute of mental health to better understand how the continuous addition of new neurons influences the circuit organization of the olfactory bulb.
and eliminate the stem cells that give rise to these new neurons in adults while leaving other olfactory bulb cells intact.
In the first set of mouse experiments Dr. Belluscio's team first disrupted the organization of olfactory bulb circuits by temporarily plugging a nostril in the animals to block olfactory sensory information from entering the brain.
if new neurons are prevented from forming and entering the olfactory bulb the circuits remain in disarray.
We found that without the introduction of the new neurons the system could not recover from its disrupted state said Dr. Belluscio.
To further explore this idea his team also eliminated the formation of adult-born neurons in mice that did not experience sensory deprivation.
According to Dr. Belluscio it is assumed generally that the circuits of the adult brain are quite stable
and that introducing new neurons alters the existing circuitry causing it to reorganize. However in this case the circuitry appears to be inherently unstable requiring a constant supply of new neurons
not only to recover its organization following disruption but also to maintain or stabilize its mature structure.
Dr. Belluscio and his colleagues speculate that new neurons in the olfactory bulb may be important to maintain
It's very exciting to find that new neurons affect the precise connections between neurons in the olfactory bulb.
Because new neurons throughout the brain share many features it seems likely that neurogenesis in other regions such as the hippocampus
This is an exciting area of science said Dr. Belluscio I believe the olfactory system is very sensitive to changes in neural activity
and given its connection to other brain regions it could lend insight into the relationship between olfactory loss and many brain disorders.
Laboratory studies conducted in the University's School of Medical sciences have confirmed that changes in brain water channels over time play a critical role in traumatic brain injury.
For his Phd at the University researcher Dr Joshua Burton tested two compounds that alter the natural flow of water activity in and out of the brain.
The research also has implications for treatment of brain swelling after stroke. One of the serious consequences of traumatic brain injury is an increase in brain moisture content and associated brain swelling which significantly impacts patients'neurological outcomes.
This swelling can occur for days after the initial injury and is frequently life-threatening Dr Burton says.
The water channels normally function to protect the brain but in the case of traumatic injury or stroke they become a pathway of vulnerability that allows swelling.
Unfortunately the swelling creates pressure within the skull--there's nowhere for the brain to expand to--decreasing oxygen levels and blood to the brain.
and an activator at the later stage--we're able to complement the brain's natural healing processes
because it clarifies the roles of aquaporins in the brain during the short and long-term responses to traumatic head injury.
Most current therapeutic approaches are limited in their ability to reduce injury-induced brain swelling and no treatments are available to resolve excess fluid at a later stage.
The brain's blood supply comes from the carotid arteries two large blood vessels that run through the neck.
In addition to short-term complications such as feeding intolerance intestinal obstruction and short-bowel syndrome surviving infants have poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes
They affect organs that require a lot of energy including the heart skeletal muscle and brain. They are devastating diseases
#Disputed theory on Parkinsons origin strengthened Parkinson's disease is linked strongly to the degeneration of the brain's movement center.
In 2003 the German neuropathologist Heiko Braak presented a theory suggesting that the disease begins in the gut and spreads to the brain.
Researchers at Lund University in Sweden now present the first direct evidence that the disease can actually migrate from the gut to the brain.
The so-called Braak's hypothesis proposes that the disease process begins in the digestive tract and in the brain's center of smell.
Researchers at Lund University have mapped previously the spread of Parkinson's in the brain. The disease progression is believed to be driven by a misfolded protein that clumps together
Professor Jia-Yi Li's research team has now been able to track this process further from the gut to the brain in rat models.
The experiment shows how the toxic protein alpha-synuclein is transported from one cell to another before ultimately reaching the brain's movement center giving rise to the characteristic movement disorders in Parkinson's disease.
We have now been able to prove that the disease process actually can travel from the peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system in this case from the wall of the gut to the brain.
The current study suggests that the protein is transferred during nerve cell communication. It is at this point of interaction that the researchers want to intervene
and pile up forming chains of lithium metal called dendrites Cui explained. The dendrites can penetrate the porous separator
and eventually make contact with the cathode causing the battery to short. Smart separatorin the last couple of years we've been thinking about building a smart separator that can detect shorting before the dendrites reach the cathode said Cui a member of the photon science faculty at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
at Stanford. To address the problem Cui and his colleagues applied a nanolayer of copper onto one side of a polymer separator creating a novel third electrode halfway between the anode and the cathode.
When the dendrites grow long enough to reach the copper coating the voltage drops to zero.
That lets you know that the dendrites have grown halfway across the battery. It's a warning that the battery should be removed before the dendrites reach the cathode and cause a short circuit.
The build up of dendrites is most likely to occur during charging not during the discharge phase
when the battery is being used. You might get a message on your phone telling you that the voltage has dropped to zero so the battery needs to be replaced Zhuo said.
Locating defectsin addition to observing a drop in voltage co-lead author Hui Wu was able to pinpoint where the dendrites had punctured the copper conductor simply by measuring the electrical resistance between the separator and the cathode.
He confirmed the location of the tiny puncture holes by actually watching the dendrites grow under a microscope.
and on the meninges: ARMC5 appears to belong to the group of so-called tumor suppressor genes.
Certain areas of the brain produce the hormone corticotropin as a stimulator of cortisol release;
As the concentration of cortisol in the blood rises the brain reduces the production of corticotropin.
#Sensor invented that uses radio waves to detect subtle changes in pressure Stanford engineers have invented a wireless pressure sensor that has already been used to measure brain pressure in lab mice with brain injuries.
In a more complex application they used this wireless device to monitor the pressure inside the skull of a lab mouse an achievement that could one day lead to better ways to treat human brain injuries.
Tse tested the wireless pressure sensor as a tool for managing patients with severe brain trauma.
The most devastating problem in such cases is brain swelling. Currently physicians diagnose brain swelling with imaging techniques such as CT SCANS or by monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP) directly.
ICP monitoring is done traditionally using probes that penetrate the skull and are linked to an external monitor via a cable.
There it could be used to measure pressure in the eye socket a relatively easy-to-obtain surrogate for tracking intracranial pressure on the brain.
#Multiple neurodevelopmental disorders have a common molecular cause Neurodevelopmental disorders such as Down syndrome and autism-spectrum disorder can have profound lifelong effects on learning
A study published by Cell Press October 9th in the American Journal of Human genetics shows that neurodevelopmental disorders caused by distinct genetic mutations produce similar molecular effects in cells suggesting that a one-size-fits-all therapeutic approach could be effective
Neurodevelopmental disorders are rare meaning trying to treat them is not efficient says senior study author Carl Ernst of Mcgill University.
A large fraction of neurodevelopmental disorders are associated with variation in specific genes but the genetic factors responsible for these diseases are very complex.
whether genetic mutations that cause neurodevelopmental disorders affect distinct molecular pathways or converge on similar cellular functions.
and his team used human fetal brain cells to study the molecular effects of reducing the activity of genes that are mutated in two distinct autism-spectrum disorders.
Our study suggests that one fundamental cause of disease is that neural stem cells choose to become full brain cells too early Ernst says.
#Gene that drives aggressive brain cancer found by new computational approach Using an innovative algorithm that analyzes gene regulatory and signaling networks,
Columbia University Medical center (CUMC) researchers have found that loss of a gene called KLHL9 is the driving force behind the most aggressive form of glioblastoma, the most common form of brain cancer.
Using brain scans from the ENIGMA Consortium and genetic information from The Mouse Brain Library he was able to identify a novel gene,
MGST3 that regulates the size of the hippocampus in both mouse and human, which is linked to a group of neurodegenerative diseases.
"There is already the'reserve hypothesis'that a person with a bigger hippocampus will have more of it to lose before the symptoms of Alzheimer's are spotted.
By using ENIGMA to look at hippocampus size in humans and the corresponding genes and then matching those with genes in mice from the BXD system held in the Mouse Brain Library database we could identify this specific gene that influences neurological diseases."
"He continues:""Ultimately this could provide another biomarker in the toolkit for identifying those at greatest risk of developing diseases such as Alzheimer's."
and contains brain images and gene information from nearly 25,000 subjects. The Mouse Brain Library, established by Professor Robert Williams based at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center,
contains data on over 10,000 brains and numerical data from just over 20,000 mice. David explains why combining the information held by both databases is so useful:"
"The key advantage of working this way is that it is much easier to identify a genetic variant in mice as they live in such controlled environments.
But patterns of electric signals are sent by a computer into nerves in his arm and to his brain,
""The work reactivates areas of the brain that produce the sense of touch, said Tyler, who is also associate director of the Advanced Platform Technology Center at the Cleveland VA
First, the nerves that used to relay the sense of touch to the brain are stimulated by contact points on cuffs that encircle major nerve bundles in the arm,
are read as different stimuli by the brain. The scientists continue to fine-tune the patterns
but they're familiar enough that the brain identifies what it is said, "he. Because of Vonderheuval's and Spetic's continuing progress, Tyler is hopeful the method can lead to a lifetime of use.
and new stimulation techniques may be useful in controlling tremors, deep brain stimulation and more o
it can also be used to send signals in the opposite direction--from the prosthetic arm to the brain.
Electrodes in the nerves can be used to send signals to the brain as sensations coming from the prostheses e
and maintenance of protein and organelle control in the central nervous system. MTORC1 is a critical protein complex that regulates energy consumption
and colleagues have shown that a lentivirus encoding let-7 injected into mouse neurons promotes the autophagic turnover of toxic misfolded proteins associated with neurodegenerative disease. e also demonstrate that treatment with anti-let-7 can block autophagy
Researchers at Inserm Unit 1073 Nutrition inflammation and dysfunction of the gut-brain axis (Inserm/University of Rouen) have demonstrated the involvement of a protein produced by some intestinal bacteria that may be the source of these disorders.
Sergueï Fetissov's team in Inserm Joint Research Unit 1073 Nutrition inflammation and dysfunction of the gut-brain axis (Inserm/University of Rouen) led by Pierre Déchelotte studies the relationships
and the brain that might explain this dysregulation. The mimic of the satiety hormone In this new study the researchers have identified a protein that happens to be a mimic of the satiety hormone (melanotropin.
#How rabies hijacks neurons to attack brain Rabies causes acute inflammation of the brain, producing psychosis and violent aggression.
For the first time, Tel aviv University scientists have discovered the exact mechanism this killer virus uses to efficiently enter the central nervous system,
was conducted by Dr. Eran Perlson and Shani Gluska of TAU's Sackler Faculty of medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience,
"Rabies not only hijacks the nervous system's machinery, it also manipulates that machinery to move faster,
"We have shown that rabies enters a neuron in the peripheral nervous system by binding to a nerve growth factor receptor, responsible for the health of neurons, called p75.
The difference is that its transport is very fast, even faster than that of its endogenous ligand, the small molecules that travel regularly along the neuron and keep the neuron healthy."
"Faster than a speeding train To track the rabies virus in the nervous system, the researchers grew mouse sensory neurons in an observation chamber
The researchers"saw"the virus hijack the"train"transporting cell components along a neuron and drove it straight into the spinal cord.
Once in the spinal cord, the virus caught the first available train to the brain, where it wrought havoc before speeding through the rest of the body,
Nerve cells, or neurons outside the central nervous system are highly asymmetric. A long protrusion called an axon extends from the cell body to another nerve cell or organ along a specific transmission route.
In addition to rapid transmission of electric impulses, axons also transport molecular materials over these distances.""Axonal transport is a delicate and crucial process for neuronal survival,
and when disrupted it can lead to neurodegenerative diseases, "said Dr. Perlson.""Understanding how an organism such as rabies manipulates this machinery may help us in the future to either restore the process
or even to manipulate it to our own therapeutic needs.""Hijacking the hijacker"A tempting premise is to use this same machinery to introduce drugs or genes into the nervous system,"Dr. Perlson added.
By shedding light on how the virus hijacks the transport system in nerve cells to reach its target organ with maximal speed and efficiency,
the researchers hope their findings will allow scientists to control the neuronal transport machinery to treat rabies and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Disruptions of the neuron train system also contribute to neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS.
According to Dr. Perlson,"An improved understanding of how the neuron train works could lead to new treatments for these disorders as well
#A glimpse into the 3-D brain: How memories form People who wish to know how memory works are forced to take a glimpse into the brain.
They can now do so without bloodshed: RUB researchers have developed a new method for creating 3d models of memory-relevant brain structures.
They published their results in the journal Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. The way neurons are interconnected in the brain is complicated very.
This holds especially true for the cells of the hippocampus. It is one of the oldest brain regions
and its form resembles a see horse (hippocampus in Latin). The hippocampus enables us to navigate space securely
and to form personal memories. So far the anatomic knowledge of the networks inside the hippocampus and its connection to the rest of the brain has left scientists guessing which information arrived where and when.
Signals spread through the brainaccordingly Dr Martin Pyka and his colleagues from the Mercator Research Group have developed a method
which facilitates the reconstruction of the brain's anatomic data as a 3d model on the computer.
This approach is quite unique because it enables automatic calculation of the neural interconnection on the basis of their position inside the space and their projection directions.
Biologically feasible network structures can thus be generated more easily than it used to be the case with the method available to date.
Deploying 3d models the researchers use this technique to monitor the way neural signals spread throughout the network time-wise.
They have for example found evidence that the hippocampus'form and size could explain why neurons in those networks fire in certain frequencies.
Information become memoriesin future this method may help us understand how animals for example combine various information to form memories within the hippocampus
in order to memorise food sources or dangers and to remember them in certain situations. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum.
So far it has supplied brain power to help 116 municipalities solve tough challenges. As you'll read below,
#Argentine greenhouse robot brings automation to the masses BUENOS AIRES--The new Trakür agricultural robot does not have the brains, firepower or complexity of one of the Transformers,
Every human brain has the capacity to learn a language the same way we learn our native tongue.
The brain is able to reproduce sounds, and they can pick up on their teacher s native accent.
So far, most (if not all of the products on the market use an external"brain, "a small computer that records data and communicates to a user's smartphone or other systems.
#A Better Way for Brains to Control Robotic Arms Erik Sorto had been paralyzed for 10 years
when he volunteered for a bold neural engineering experiment: He would receive a brain implant and try to use the signals it recorded to control a robotic arm.
Erik had no qualms about signing up for brain surgery, but his mother wasn happy about it. he was just being a mom,
Sorto says with a smile. he was like, our brain is the only part of your body that works just fine.
Why would you mess with that? Instead of reducing his capacities, the surgery gave Sorto superhuman abilities.
While a handful of paralyzed people have used previously brain-computer interfaces (BCIS) to control robotic limbs, those subjectsimplants recorded signals from the primary motor cortex,
which is linked directly to the spinal cord and muscles. Sorto implant was the first to record instead from the posterior parietal cortex,
a brain region involved in planning movements. human os iconlead researcher Richard Andersen, a neuroscience professor at Caltech,
says that tapping into a subject intentions may provide more intuitive control of the robotic limb,
the researchers first used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify two precise regions of his parietal cortex that activated when he imagined reaching and grasping motions.
each with 96 electrodes that could record the electrical activity of single neurons. The grids linked to two metal edestalsthat jutted out of Sorto skull.
From the population of neurons tapped by those electrodes, the researchers could distinguish cells whose activity coded for the location that Sorto wanted to reach, movement trajectories,
and picked up different neurons. ur decoding algorithms took that into account, Andersen says. If a given electrode was no longer contributing useful information to the decoding of a goal location
Most of the prior studies in which paralyzed people used implanted BCIS were conducted by John Donoghue, director of Brown University Institute for Brain science and a pioneer in the use of implants in the motor cortex.
Donoghue says that the new research advances our understanding of the parietal cortex role in generating movements
However, he not convinced it inherently a better signal than that provided by the motor cortex. ou get pretty good control from all these places
youe probably using 80 percent of your brain, Donoghue says. The parietal and motor cortices provide similar signals,
so some other brain region may hold the key information that would result in truly natural movement. t one of the great mysteries,
Donoghue says. here something we still haven detected about the way the brain does movement.
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