Weekly Neuroscience Update

Could our neurological soundtrack reveal insights into our mental state? To answer that question scientists in China developed a method for converting two kinds of brain wave recordings into music.

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified a new pathway that appears to play a major role in information processing in the brain. Their research also offers insight into how imbalances in this pathway could contribute to cognitive abnormalities in humans.

Stanford researchers have designed the fastest, most accurate algorithm yet for brain-implantable prosthetic systems that can help disabled people maneuver computer cursors with their thoughts. The algorithm’s speed, accuracy and natural movement approach those of a real arm, and the system avoids the long-term performance degradations of earlier technologies.

Researchers have designed a light-sensitive molecule that can stimulate a neural response in cells of the retina and brain — a possible first step to overcoming degenerative eye diseases like age-related macular degeneration, or to quieting epileptic seizures.

A new study has found that participating in an 8-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating.

How the brain works

This video attempts to explain the working of the brain through mapping out the electrical activity of the brain – Electro-encephalogram (EEG)

What effect does alcohol have on the brain?

In this video, students explore how neuroscientists design and carry out research on the effects of alcohol on the human brain. Specifically, it focuses on the hippocampus, a brain structure that is involved in memory and spatial navigation. Studies of adult brains have found that the hippocampus is particularly vulnerable to heavy alcohol use. In the e-lab, students address these research questions: “Does alcohol also affect younger brains? If so, does it affect them in the same way?”

From neurons to networks

Both a young child’s brain and our young, global Internet brain are in highly creative, experimental, innovative states of rapid development — just waiting to make connections. So, here’s a question for the 21st century: How do we help shape both of these young, rapidly growing networks to set a course for a better future? These were the questions that led filmmaker, Tiffany Shlainme, to make this short film.

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Weekly Neuroscience Update

Scientists have located a specific set of neurons that indicate how time passes, confirming that the brain plays an essential role in how we experience the passage of time.

Neuroscientists have found that by training on attention tests, people young and old can improve brain performance and multitasking skills.

A gene that is associated with regeneration of injured nerve cells has been identified by scientists at Penn State University and Duke University.

When given early treatment, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) made significant improvements in behavior, communication, and most strikingly, brain function, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a new study.

Researchers have found some of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease, more than two decades before the first symptoms usually appear.

Latest research on PTSD shows smaller brain area regulating fear response

CAT scans. Recent combat veterans who are diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder have significantly smaller volume in an area of the brain critical for regulating fear and anxiety responses. (Credit: © svedoliver / Fotolia)

Recent combat veterans who are diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder have significantly smaller volume in an area of the brain critical for regulating fear and anxiety responses, according to research led by scientists at Duke University and the Durham VA Medical Center.

The finding, published Nov. 5, 2012, in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, for the first time provides clear evidence that smaller amygdala volume is associated with PTSD, regardless of the severity of trauma. But it’s not clear whether the physiological difference was caused by a traumatic event, or whether PTSD develops more readily in people who naturally have smaller amygdalas.

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Inside the unconscious brain

Inside the unconscious brain
The colored dots in this image represent locations of the electrodes used to measure brain activity. As the brain wave oscillations become more asynchronous relative to the position of the star, the colors fade from red to blue.
Image: Laura Lewis

A new study from MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) reveals, for the first time, what happens inside the brain as patients lose consciousness during anesthesia.

By monitoring brain activity as patients were given a common anesthetic, the researchers were able to identify a distinctive brain activity pattern that marked the loss of consciousness. This pattern, characterized by very slow oscillation, corresponds to a breakdown of communication between different brain regions, each of which experiences short bursts of activity interrupted by longer silences.

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Inside the child’s brain

This 7 minute video was created for school children to show them how to maximise their brains potential. It is part of an innovative teaching program by Thinkology® aimed at increasing student academic performance and reducing aggressive behaviours such as bullying and other disruptive behaviours. This video has had a significant impact on increasing students self – esteem, controlling bullying and increasing academic performance.