Month: <span>February 2024</span>

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Mind-reading devices are revealing the brain’s secrets
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Mind-reading devices are revealing the brain’s secrets

Implants and other technologies that decode neural activity can restore people’s abilities to move and speak — and help researchers to understand how the brain works. By Miryam Naddaf Scientists have studied how brain–computer interfaces, such as this non-invasive cap, change brain activity. Credit: Silvia Marchesotti Moving a prosthetic arm. Controlling a speaking avatar. Typing...

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Mapping potential pathways to motor neuron disease treatment

by Queensland Brain Institute Cells expressing a mutant protein, TDP-43, involved in MND pathology. Credit: Dr Rebecca San Gil at the Queensland Brain InstituteFor the first time, researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) have mapped out the proteins implicated in the early stages of motor neuron disease (MND). Dr. Rebecca San Gil from Associate...

Neuronal diversity impacts the brain’s information processing
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Neuronal diversity impacts the brain’s information processing

by Melissa Rohman, Northwestern University Spike threshold heterogeneity affects the function generation properties of spiking neural networks. (A) Reservoir computing architecture used for function generation. A pulse is fed into a recurrent neural network and a linear readout is trained to minimize the mean squared error between a target time-dependent function and a network output obtained...

Woman in ‘shock’ over $6,000 bill for lifesaving rabies treatment
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Woman in ‘shock’ over $6,000 bill for lifesaving rabies treatment

by Skyler Swisher, Caroline Catherman, Orlando Sentinel Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public DomainFollwoing a a suspected bat bite Caroline Ford, worried she may have been exposed to rabies, sought treatment from AdventHealth Altamonte Springs. She called her insurance company, Anthem Blue Cross, and expected she’d need to pay about $600 based on her conversation over the phone....

Immune system’s moonlighters point the way to a new therapeutic target
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Immune system’s moonlighters point the way to a new therapeutic target

by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Graphical abstract. Credit: Molecular Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2024.01.007Our immune system is remarkably powerful. It quickly assembles teams of cells to eliminate threats inside our bodies. But sometimes, it hits the wrong target. Autoimmune diseases like lupus and multiple sclerosis result from friendly fire—immune cells attacking healthy tissues and organs by mistake....

Prescription opioids found to increase the risk of falls, especially in those over 85
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Prescription opioids found to increase the risk of falls, especially in those over 85

by University of New South Wales Credit: cottonbro studio from PexelsA new study led by researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Center (NDARC), UNSW Sydney, has explored the association between prescription opioid use and falls. The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, examined falls that led to emergency department visits, hospital admissions, and death...

Large, diverse genetic study of glaucoma implicates vascular and cancer-related genes
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Large, diverse genetic study of glaucoma implicates vascular and cancer-related genes

by Vanderbilt University Medical Center Credit: CC0 Public DomainAn international genetic study using multiancestry biobanks has identified novel genetic locations associated with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), the most common type of glaucoma and the leading cause of irreversible blindness globally. The findings, published in Cell Reports Medicine, detail ancestry- and sex-specific genetic loci associated with POAG...

With regular exercise, medical weight loss treatment does not have to be permanent
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With regular exercise, medical weight loss treatment does not have to be permanent

by University of Copenhagen Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public DomainFor nearly a year, we have been debating weight loss drugs like Wegovy, Zepbound, Saxenda and similar products and what happens when people stop taking them. Are they able to maintain weight loss? A new Danish study sheds light on the matter. You have probably noticed that weight loss...

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Annual breast cancer screening beginning at 40 saves lives, study suggests

by Radiological Society of North America Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public DomainAnnual breast cancer screening beginning at age 40 and continuing to at least age 79 results in the highest reduction in mortality with minimal risks, according to a new study published in Radiology. Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death for women in...

Measles cases rose 79 percent globally last year: WHO
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Measles cases rose 79 percent globally last year: WHO

Illustration of the virus which causes measles. Credit: CDC/ Allison M. Maiuri, MPH, CHESThe World Health Organization voiced alarm Tuesday at the rapid spread of measles, with more than 306,000 cases reported worldwide last year—a 79-percent increase from 2022. “We in the measles world are extremely concerned,” said Natasha Crowcroft, a WHO technical adviser on...