In a study of fruit flies, NIH scientists suggested that the body’s immune system may play a critical role in the damage caused by aging brain disorders. The results are based on experiments in which the researchers altered the activity of Cdk5, a gene that preclinical studies have suggested is important for early brain development...
Category: <span>Neuroscience</span>
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New Wireless ‘Pacemaker’ For The Brain May Prevent Seizures, Tremors In Patients With Epilepsy, Parkinson’s
A new “pacemaker” for the brain developed by engineers from the University of California, Berkeley, may help prevent debilitating seizures and tremors in patients with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s and epilepsy. Wireless Pacemaker For The Brain The device known as WAND, which stands for wireless artefact-free neuromodulation device, works by monitoring the brain‘s electrical activity and delivering electrical stimulation once it detects something is off. The device called WAND offers hope for patients with neurological conditions who suffer from...
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Can a video game-based ‘digital medicine’ help children with autism and co-occurring ADHD?
CHOP researchers evaluate feasibility, safety and benefit potential of project: EVO Platform CHILDREN‘S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA Philadelphia, January 3, 2019–Researchers at Children‘s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) evaluated a digital medicine tool designed as an investigational treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and co–occurring attention/deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The results of the study, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, confirmed the acceptability, feasibility, and...
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Brain activity predicts fear of pain
Neuroscientific approach may help reconcile self-reported emotions and their neural underpinnings SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE Researchers applied a machine learning technique that could potentially translate patterns of activity in fear-processing brain regions into scores on questionnaires used to assess a patient’s fear of pain. This neuroscientific approach, reported in eNeuro, may help reconcile self-reported emotions and their...
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Human blood cells can be directly reprogrammed into neural stem cells
Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the stem cell institute HI-STEM in Heidelberg have succeeded for the first time in directly reprogramming human blood cells into a previously unknown type of neural stem cell. These induced stem cells are similar to those that occur during the early embryonic development of the central...
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A tilt of the head facilitates social engagement, researchers say
Every time we look at a face, we take in a flood of information effortlessly: age, gender, race, expression, the direction of our subject’s gaze, perhaps even their mood. Faces draw us in and help us navigate relationships and the world around us. How the brain does this is a mystery. Understanding how facial recognition works...
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Magnetic Brain Stimulation: ‘Huge Amount of Promise’
TMS could still shift the psychiatric treatment paradigm, despite failure in VA trial In June, we reported on a disappointing trial of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for treatment-resistant depression, which found no advantage for the treatment over a sham version in a Veterans Affairs (VA) population. In this follow-up article, we take a look at...
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Thriving on teamwork: New research shows how brain cells filter information in groups
When we perceive the world around us, certain objects appear to be more noticeable than others, depending on what we do. For example, when we view a forest-covered mountain from a distance, the forest looks like a large green carpet. But as we get closer, we start noticing the individual trees, and the forest fades...
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Wireless ‘pacemaker for the brain’ could offer new treatment for neurological disorders
A new neurostimulator developed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, can listen to and stimulate electric current in the brain at the same time, potentially delivering fine-tuned treatments to patients with diseases like epilepsy and Parkinson’s. The device, named the WAND, works like a “pacemaker for the brain,” monitoring the brain’s electrical activity...
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Smelling in tiny houses: how ciliary electric currents keep olfaction reliable
Model provides new insight into the biological design and function of cilia, dendrites, and other small spaces within the nervous system MONELL CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER PHILADELPHIA (December 31, 2018) – Imagine trying to figure out how something works when that something takes place in a space smaller than a femtoliter: one quadrillionith of a liter....