Weekly Neuroscience Update

June 12, 2015June 12, 2015Leave a comment

This image shows an overview of the Rehabilitation Gaming System. Image credit: Rehabilitation Gaming System.

Using virtual reality to increase a patient’s confidence in using their paralyzed arm may be critical for recovery, according to research published in the open-access Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

A pioneering study conducted by leading researchers at the University of Sheffield has revealed blood types play a role in the development of the nervous system and may cause a higher risk of developing cognitive decline. The findings seem to indicate that people who have an ‘O’ blood type are more protected against the diseases in which volumetric reduction is seen in temporal and mediotemporal regions of the brain like with Alzheimer’s disease for instance.

A star-shaped brain cell called an astrocyte appears to help keep blood pressure and blood flow inside the brain on a healthy, even keel, scientists report.

Thanks to advances in brain imaging technology, we now know how specific concrete objects are coded in the brain, to the point where we can identify which object, such as a house or a banana, someone is thinking about from its brain activation signature.

A new study finds some people can be trained to learn absolute pitch.

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown link between the brain and the immune system that could help explain links between poor physical health and brain disorders including Alzheimer’s and depression.

A team of neuroscientists has determined how a pair of growth factor molecules contributes to long-term memory formation, a finding that appears in the journal Neuron.

Our understanding of how a key part of the human brain works may be wrong. That’s the conclusion of a team at Oxford University’s Centre for Human Brain Activity (OHBA), published in journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Until now, it was thought that working memory – the way in which we deal with and respond to immediate demands – was underpinned by stable brain patterns. The OHBA team discovered that instead, the areas of the brain responsible for working memory are changing all the time.

A new study finds people with higher levels of moral reasoning have greater gray matter volume in brain regions linked to social behaviour, decision-making and conflict processing, compared with those who have lower levels of moral reasoning.

Genes linked to creativity could increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to new research.

One of the major challenges of cocaine addiction is the high rate of relapse after periods of withdrawal and abstinence. But new research reveals that changes in our DNA during drug withdrawal may offer promising ways of developing more effective treatments for addiction.

According to a piece of research by the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country, the capacity to recall specific facts deteriorates with age, but other types of memory do not.

Finally, this week, a new study has found that the brain shrinks over the course of the day, ending up smaller in the evening – before returning to its full size the next morning.

Weekly Neuroscience Update

May 22, 2015Leave a comment

A new study has found that while stereotypic shapes exist for this structure, individuals with a broader hippocampus tend to perform better on various tests that assess memory. The image is for illustrative purposes only. Image credit: Camillo Golgi.

New research challenges the long-held belief that a larger hippocampus is directly linked to improved memory function.

Premature birth can alter the connectivity between key areas of the brain, according to a new study led by King’s College London. The findings should help researchers to better understand why premature birth is linked to a greater risk of neurodevelopmental problems, including autistic spectrum disorders and attention deficit disorders.

Scientists have uncovered mathematical equations behind the way the brain forms – and even loses – memories.

New scanning methods which map the wiring of the brain could provide a valuable new tool to predict people at risk of schizophrenia, according to a new study.

People with depression may be more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, according to a large study published in Neurology.

Medical researchers have known for several years that there is some sort of link between long-term depression and an increased risk of stroke. But now scientists are finding that even after such depression eases, the risk of stroke can remain high.

A new study from the University of Cambridge has identified one of the oldest fossil brains ever discovered – more than 500 million years old – and used it to help determine how heads first evolved in early animals.

Researchers have succeeded in reconstructing the neuronal networks that interconnect the elementary units of sensory cortex — cortical columns. The scientists say that this study marks a major step forward to advance the understanding of the organizational principles of the neocortex and sets the stage for future studies that will provide extraordinary insight into how sensory information is represented, processed and encoded within the cortical circuitry.

Smokers who are able to quit might actually be hard-wired for success, according to a study from Duke Medicine.

Scientists are attempting to mimic the memory and learning functions of neurons found in the human brain. To do so, they investigated the electronic equivalent of the synapse, the bridge, making it possible for neurons to communicate with each other.

Finally this week, in a study using functional magnetic resonance imaging, scientists found that our inherent risk-taking preferences affect how we view and act on information from other people.

Why did the Edge walk off the edge? The answer might surprise you

May 16, 2015May 16, 2015Leave a comment

The music world was shaken briefly this week when lead guitarist with rock band U2, Dave ‘the Edge’ Evans, literally walked off the edge of the stage during a sell-out performance in Vancouver. Fortunately Dave survived the fall intact enough to joke about it later. It got me wondering what may have led to the fall? One possible explanation is a scientific one.

First a definition

Rod cells (or rods) – photoreceptor cells concentrated at the outer edges of the retina at the back of the eyeball which are sensitive to dim light and are almost entirely responsible for peripheral vision and/or night vision.

The human eye is built differently in men and women

The eye is an extension of the brain. The retina at the back of each eyeball contains about ninety million rod-shaped cells to handle vision in dim light including peripheral vision and/or night vision. It may surprise you but most men have less peripheral vision than most women. This is because men have less rod cells than women in the back of their eye balls. In fact, women are so sensitive to dim light that they find strong light stressful – painful even. That is why more women than men wear sunglasses. In contrast, most men are comfortable in bright light as it eliminates the need for them to rely on their weak peripheral vision.

Do women have eyes in the back of their head?

You’ve no doubt heard that women have eyes in the back of their heads. You may have grown up believing this was true of your Mother who seemed to know what you were doing, even when her back was turned. Most women’s peripheral vision is effective up to almost 180 degrees. It is weak or absent in most men. A man’s eyes are larger than a woman’s and his brain configures them for a type of long distance tunnel vision, which means he can see clearly and accurately directly in front of him and over great distances – almost like binoculars. This allows a man to focus clearly on a distant target while women can monitor everything going on around her. This is part of the reason why women can cook dinner and watch the kids at the same time – a recipe for disaster with many men.

Men stare – women don’t

The number of men injured or killed on our roads is more than double that of women. Not only will men will take more risks crossing the road than women, but as they get older their poorer peripheral vision increases their injury rate. Men tend to stare i.e. they concentrate on getting somewhere or something across the street and just don’t see the car coming. Car insurance statistics show that female drivers are less likely to be hit on the side than are male drivers. The lack of peripheral vision in men obstructs their ability to see traffic approaching from the side. Socks, shoes, car keys, wallets and even kerbs they’re all there, but men just can’t see them as well as women can – unless of course they stare. In fact, far from being bad manners, staring is a man’s way to compensate for their lack of peripheral vision.

Back to the edge

Chances are that the Edge simply walked off the edge because like most men of his age he just did not see it, due in part to the steady deterioration in a male’s already weak peripheral vision. I am happy to hear that Dave survived with only a few scratches.

Inside The Compassionate Brain

May 12, 2015Leave a comment

Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., is the science director of the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center. In this video for the Mindfulness and Compassion conference, Dr. Simon-Thomas explains the neurological mechanisms that support compassion – and why mindfulness meditation can help support the growth of compassion.

Those whom we love live on in our memory

May 11, 2015Leave a comment

“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

My father died this week. He was ninety-one years old.

My father was an entrepreneur with an uncanny ability to engage people and was a master of the art of conversation. He loved his job as a shopkeeper, and it was a job for which he was ideally suited.

During his brief illness I noticed how memories of him suddenly came flooding back and I literally became his child again, re-living my childhood trips with him to football matches, working with him in his shop and listening to his conversations with customers – so much so that sometimes the customers forgot what it was they came into the shop to buy. I could go on and on.

We are our memories

We literally are our memories; they define us and no better man than my father to instil my own childhood memories. In this way he helped to define who I am today and my brain is literally packed full of memories of him. Although the loss of my father is heart breaking, my memories of him are of some consolation and they will be cherished.

Childhood bereavement

While bereavement at any age is difficult, childhood bereavement can be particularly traumatic possibly because of the scarcity of those memories from which to derive any identity or consolation. Click below for valuable resources in helping children understand bereavement – Consolation for Life’s Darkest Hours: 7 Unusual and Wonderful Books that Help Children Grieve and Make Sense of Death

I will develop this theme of the brain and bereavement in greater detail including coping strategies in future posts. In the meantime my memories, dreams and reflections go to my father at this time.

May his soul be on God’s right hand.

Ar dheas Dé go raibh a anam. (Old Gaelic blessing)

Weekly Neuroscience Update

May 8, 2015Leave a comment

brain-scan-reveals-out-of-body-illusion-neuroinnovations

Brain regions in which the scientists could successfully decode the participants’ perceived self-location from patterns of neural activity. Credit: Malin Björnsdotter/Arvid Guterstam. Henrik Ehrsson , Arvid Guterstam , Malin Björnsdotter.

In a new study from Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, neuroscientists created an out-of-body illusion in participants placed inside a brain scanner. They then used the illusion to perceptually ‘teleport’ the participants to different locations in a room and show that the perceived location of the bodily self can be decoded from activity patterns in specific brain regions.

The brains of people with type 1 diabetes show signs of accelerated ageing that correlate with slower information processing, according to new research.

Researchers studying postpartum depression have found that the hormone oxytocin increased activation in a reward-sensitive area of the brain when women viewed images of crying infants, but not when they viewed images of smiling ones. The researchers say oxytocin might spark the motivation to help an upset baby.

New findings reveal how long term cosmic ray exposure causes lasting cognitive impairment in astronauts.

People with depression or bipolar disorder often feel their thinking ability has gotten “fuzzy”, or less sharp than before their symptoms began. Now, researchers have shown in a very large study that effect is indeed real – and rooted in brain activity differences that show up on advanced brain scans.

Researchers have shown for the first time that a common neurotransmitter acts via a single type of neuron to enable the brain to process information more effectively.

Finally this week, your genes may influence how sensitive you are to emotional information, according to research recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience. The study found that carriers of a certain genetic variation perceived positive and negative images more vividly, and had heightened activity in certain brain regions.

The (Neuro) Science of Genius

May 6, 2015Leave a comment

What do originality and invention look like in the brain? In this interview with New York Times columnist Carl Zimmer as part of Big Think’s partnership with 92Y’s Seven Days of Genius series, neuroscientist Heather Berlin explains current research into creative “flow states”, examining what happens in the brain when rappers and jazz musicians improvise.

This Is Your Brain On Alcohol

May 4, 2015Leave a comment

Find out how alcohol molecules alter your brain with this video.

Weekly Neuroscience Update

May 1, 2015Leave a comment

researchers have developed a method to map the circuitry of the brain with a “Neuronal Positioning System” (NPS) similar to how a Global Positioning System (GPS) triangulates our location on the planet. Image credit: Dr. Shlomo Tsuriel and Dr. Alex Binshtok, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In new research scientists have announced a “Neuronal Positioning System” (NPS) that maps the circuitry of the brain, similar to how a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver triangulates one’s location on the planet.

EPFL scientists have developed a new method that can accurately simulate the chemical modification of the protein behind Parkinson’s disease. The technique, has opened a new way of understanding Parkinson’s, and can be expanded to other proteins and diseases as well.

Neuroscientists have found a way to activate opioid receptors with light.

New research shows that chemotherapy can lead to excessive mind wandering and an inability to concentrate. Dubbed ‘chemo-brain,’ the negative cognitive effects of the cancer treatment have long been suspected, but the study is the first to explain why patients have difficulty paying attention.

A study provides new evidence that book sharing in early childhood may promote brain development supporting reading readiness.

An international team of scientists has discovered what amounts to a molecular reset button for our internal body clock. Their findings reveal a potential target to treat a range of disorders, from sleep disturbances to other behavioral, cognitive, and metabolic abnormalities, commonly associated with jet lag, shift work and exposure to light at night, as well as with neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression and autism.

New findings provide potential explanations for the very high percentage of post-traumatic disorders in combat.

Scientists have discovered that neurons are risk takers: They use minor “DNA surgeries” to toggle their activity levels all day, every day. Since these activity levels are important in learning, memory and brain disorders, the researchers think their finding will shed light on a range of important questions.

Women may have a more difficult time than men in recovering from concussion, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

Finally this week, researchers report a previously unappreciated phenomenon in which the location of injury to a neuron’s communication wire in the spinal cord — the axon — determines whether the neuron simply stabilizes or attempts to regenerate. The study, published by Neuron, demonstrates how advances in live-imaging techniques are revealing new insights into the body’s ability to respond to spinal cord injuries.

What actually makes us happy?

April 27, 2015April 27, 2015Leave a comment

Recently, Gallup surveyed people across 158 countries about their happiness and reported that Switzerland came out on top while four of the five least happy countries in the world were Rwanda, Benin, Burundi and Togo. Gallup also argued that most of the differences in happiness could be explained by just six factors:

Real GDP per capita
Healthy life expectancy
Having someone to count on
Perceived freedom to make life choices
Freedom from corruption,
Generosity

However, I believe that this survey missed something fundamental about the nature of individual human happiness.

Happiness is within you.

As I explained in previous posts, it is an astonishing fact that the recipe for individual human happiness can be summarized into just one sentence and here it is.

Your happiness is determined by an ability to engage and respond appropriately to the people, things and events that surround you.

Notice from this sentence, that your own individual happiness depends on YOU alone and not the people, things and events that surround you. Ultimately whether you are..