http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/04/02/brain-initiative-challenges-researchers-unlock-mysteries-human-mind Thank you, President Obama. Today at the White House, President Obama unveiled the “BRAIN” Initiative—a bold new research effort to revolutionize our understanding of the human mind and uncover new ways to treat, prevent, and cure brain disorders like Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, autism, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury. The Initiative promises to accelerate the invention of […]
Browsing Category: Brain
Brain
MIT’s Boyden wins European prize for Optogenetics research
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/31/health/boyden-brain-map/ Ed Boyden at MIT pioneered Optogenetics–using light to manipulate the brain. ApplySci described MIT’s latest Optogenetics chip in our post of 12/4/12. Today, at least 1,000 neuroscience groups worldwide are using Optogenetics to study the brain. Professor Boyden compares his work to that of a philosopher and is a recipient of the 2013 Grete Lundbeck […]
Brain / Sleep
Study shows babies, children and adults learn in their sleep
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226081155.htm Sleep helps us to learn. It may just be too hard for a brain to take in the flood of new experiences and make sense of them at the same time. Instead, our brains look at the world for a while and then shut out new input and sort through what they have seen. […]
Brain / Neural Computation
Neural circuitry-like advances in machine reliability
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-self-healing-microchips Redundancy is arriving to commercial electrical circuits. A circuit, reminiscent of neural computation, enables backup circuitry to be engaged when main functioning breaks.
Brain
NFL and GE partner to study the brain
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/11/us-nfl-concussion-idUSBRE92A0UT20130311 The National Football League and GE announced a $60 million effort to speed up research into brain injuries and the development of new technologies to help protect the brain from traumatic injury to benefit athletes, the military and the broader public. The initiative includes a $40 million research program into imaging technologies to improve […]
Brain / fMRI / Sensors
Researchers explain the goals of a new brain-mapping project
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/512141/the-brain-activity-map/ A proposed effort to map brain activity on a large scale, expected to be announced by the White House later this month, could help neuroscientists understand the origins of cognition, perception, and other phenomena. These brain activities haven’t been well understood to date, in part because they arise from the interaction of large sets […]
Brain
Brain stimulation might help some functions and hurt others
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/511916/brain-boosting-technique-might-help-some-functions-while-hurting-others/ Electrically stimulating the brain may improve memory, but impede with a person’s ability to react without thinking. The approach has previously been shown to enhance various brain functions, including working memory and attention, and is being used to help stroke patients regain lost language and motor skills (see “Repairing the Stroke-Damaged Brain”). But until […]
Brain / Sensors
Computer modeling may help soldiers, athletes, avoid concussions
http://hub.jhu.edu/2013/03/07/concussion-research-impact Johns Hopkins engineers have developed a powerful new computer-based process that helps identify the dangerous conditions that lead to concussion-related brain injuries. Professor K.T. Ramesh led a team that used a technique called diffusion tensor imaging, together with a computer model of the head, to identify injured axons, which are tiny but important fibers that […]
Brain
Ensuring meaningful fMRI data
http://www.stats.org/stories/2012/Dim_Data_jan18_13.html The possibility of confusing causation and correlation in fMRI analysis is explored.
Brain
Radiation in space might harm the brains of astronauts
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50334586/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.UOK82ak2_zI “This study shows for the first time that exposure to radiation levels equivalent to a mission to Mars could produce cognitive problems and speed up changes in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease,” study author Kerry O’Banion, a neuroscientist at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said in a statement.