Columbia research demonstrates that the brain’s primitive sensory region also participates in sophisticated learning THE ZUCKERMAN INSTITUTE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY NEW YORK — Columbia neuroscientists have revealed that a simple brain region, known for processing basic sensory information, can also guide complex feats of mental activity. The new study involving mice demonstrated that cells in...
Tag: <span>brain</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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New insight into the process of generation of new neurons in the adult brain
Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, in collaboration with research groups in Finland, Canada, and Slovenia, have discovered a novel and unexpected function of nestin, the best known marker of neural stem cells. IMAGE: THE PICTURE SHOWS ASTROCYTES IN RED AND GREEN, THE AREAS WHERE INDIVIDUAL ASTROCYTES INTERCONNECT ARE YELLOW. A SINGLE...
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Wiring diagram of the brain provides a clearer picture of brain scan data
Already affecting more than five million Americans older than 65, Alzheimer’s disease is on the rise and expected to impact more than 13 million people by 2050. Over the last three decades, researchers have relied on Neuroimaging—brain scans such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or positron emission tomography (PET) – to study Alzheimer’s disease and...
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Your brain on imagination: It’s a lot like reality, study shows
Imagine a barking dog, a furry spider or another perceived threat and your brain and body respond much like they would if you experienced the real thing. Imagine it repeatedly in a safe environment and soon your phobia–and your brain’s response to it–subsides. That’s the takeaway of a new brain imaging study led by University...
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Computer-brain link helps ‘locked in’ people chat, surf web
These are activities taken for granted by most, but denied to paralyzed people who’ve lost the use of their arms and hands. Now, thanks to a brain implant, a small group of paralyzed patients can directly operate an off-the-shelf tablet device just by thinking about it. BrainGate trial participant plays Beethoven on digital piano. Credit:...
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Playing high school football changes the teenage brain
A single season of high school football may be enough to cause microscopic changes in the structure of the brain, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The researchers used a new type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)...
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Researchers discover new clues on how sleep works in the brain
Star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes appear to play an essential role in sleep, a new study by scientists from the Washington State University Sleep and Performance Research Center confirms. Published today in PLOS Genetics, their study shows that astrocytes communicate to neurons to regulate sleep time in fruit flies and suggests it may do the...
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THE HEROES OF SCIENCE WHO ARE UNLOCKING THE BRAIN
AI Gardner and his brother-in-law built the house in Mount Kisco, New York, back in 1984—two stories, three bedrooms, with a sweet little porch overlooking a sunny backyard. At the time, Gardner had worked in construction management for years. He had, in fact, been mechanically inclined ever since he was a kid, when he helped...