Lifeboat Foundation

The results of the clinical trial were published Dec. 4 in Nature Medicine.

More than 5 million Americans live with the lasting effects of moderate to severe traumatic brain injury — difficulty focusing, remembering and making decisions. Though many recover enough to live independently, their impairments prevent them from returning to school or work and from resuming their social lives.

Summary: A new study identified the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) as a central regulator in the brain’s inhibitory control circuit.

Using dynamic causal modeling and fMRI on a sample of 250 participants, the study reveals that the rIFG significantly influences the caudate nucleus and thalamus during response inhibition tasks. This research also shows gender differences in brain function: women have distinct neural patterns in the thalamus, and overall, better inhibitory control correlates with stronger neural communication from the thalamus to the rIFG.

These findings provide valuable insights for developing neuromodulation therapies for mental and neurological disorders with inhibitory control deficits.

Microrobots released into the body could bust up clots, deliver cancer drugs, and even guide listless sperm to their target.

The human body is a labyrinth of vessels and tubing, full of barriers that are difficult to break through.

This technology customizes treatment methods by testing them virtually on digital copies of individual patients, changing how medical care is personalized for people with strokes.

This personalized medical technology tailors treatments by virtually testing on digital patient replicas, revolutionizing personalized stroke care.

No specifications have been revealed, but officials have claimed that it surpasses the capabilities of the famous Tianhe-2 supercomputer.

The National Supercomputing Center (NSC) in Guangzhou, China, has unveiled the Tianhe Xingyi, a homegrown supercomputer, at an industrial event in Guangdong Province, which several media reports have confirmed. The NSC is the parent organization under whose guidance the Tianhe-2 supercomputer was also developed.

Supercomputers are a crucial component of a nation’s progress as they aid in solving the most complex and technical problems. The US has conventionally led the world in hosting the fastest supercomputers, as captured by the TOP500 listings, while also leading in the absolute number of supercomputers available to its researchers.

Continue reading “Tianhe Xingyi: China unveils the ‘fastest’ homegrown supercomputer” »

The FDA has approved two new gene therapies for sickle cell disease, a ‘functional cure’ for many patients.

A beating heart makes for a formidable surgical arena, but a new robotic catheter could someday equip surgeons to operate in the cardiac environment with greater ease.

The device, designed by a team of physicians and engineers at Boston University, possesses shape-shifting capabilities that allow it to be maneuvered through complex anatomy while maintaining enough stability to accomplish surgical objectives within the heart.

In a study published in Science Advances, the authors demonstrated the robot’s ability to assist with two mock cardiac procedures using animal tissue. The study authors suggest that, with further development, the robotic catheter could make many common heart surgeries far safer and less taxing on the body.

I describe the mechanisms by which different wavelengths of light impact the cells, tissues and organs of the human body, and how specifically timed light exposure of specific wavelengths can be used to improve sleep, enhance alertness, modulate hormone levels, and improve mood. I also explain the use of ultraviolet and infrared phototherapies to relieve pain increase testosterone and estrogen levels; improve skin health, appearance and wound healing; and how red light can be used to offset age-related vision loss and provide neuroprotection. Throughout the episode, I describe the mechanisms of light-based therapies and actionable tools that people can use positively impact mental and physical health.

Dr Carole Hooven is Co-director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and an author. Testosterone is a hell of a drug. It causes many things to happen in both men and women. But it’s dividing opinion even more than it’s dividing the sexes. This isn’t great for calming conversations, bridging differences or finding common ground however it’s a fascinating topic to dig into. Expect to learn what it’s like for women who go on testosterone to feel what male sex drive is like, why male deer in Scotland grow antlers and fight their best friends for a few months every year, whether maternal instinct is a myth, why testosterone even exists at all, the differences between male and female orgasms, whether sex is a spectrum and much more…