Lifeboat Foundation

A device the size of a matchstick, implanted next to the brain’s motor cortex, could one day help paralysed people move their limbs.

Interesting.

Futurists are accustomed to launching headfirst into some very complex subjects, but even the most high-minded and enthusiastic of prognosticators may take a pass when it comes to dealing with the future of sleep.

That’s no cop out.

Continue reading “We talked to futurists about what sleep will be like in 2030” »

Awesome.

Researchers have developed a new gene editing tool that is more efficient and easier to use. CRISPR-EZ addresses the issue of target RNA accuracy and embryo viability in IVF transgenic mice.

( andrew modzelewski/lin he | university of california berkeley )

Continue reading “More Efficient CRISPR Gene Editing May Potentially Help Cure Diseases” »

When nerve cells have to communicate with each other in our brains, it involves release of neurotransmitters acting as messengers at neural synapses. Here the released neurotransmitter is bound and registered by receptors at the surface of the receiving nerve cell. This will, in turn, trigger a signal which is sent on to other nerve cells. The circuits in the brain using the neurotransmitters noradrenaline, dopamine, GABA and serotonin are known to play an important role in mood, reward and mental well-being, and they also have a key role to in mental disorders such as addiction and depression.

After release of neurotransmitters between nerve cells, they must, however, be removed again to end the signal. This is done by a family of transport proteins which function as molecular vacuum cleaners in the cell membrane of the nerve cell where they pump the neurotransmitter back into the nerve cell for later reuse. This transport is of great importance to the signaling between the nerve cells, but happens relatively slowly. A collaborative project between researchers from Aarhus University has made it possible to explain what happens in the crucial rate-limiting step in the transport process for neurotransmitters such as serotonin, noradrenaline, GABA and dopamine which are all transported by related proteins with the same mechanism.

Continue reading “New discovery from the molecular machinery for depression and addiction” »

Interesting.

The cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman believes that evolution and quantum mechanics conspire to make objective reality an illusion.

The cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman uses evolutionary game theory to show that our perceptions of an independent reality must be illusions.

Interesting read on Chemo’s impact on the brain and brain functioning known as Chemo Brain.

During and after chemotherapy, many cancer patients describe feeling a mental fog, a condition that has been dubbed “chemo brain.” Why this happens is unclear, but researchers have found a new clue to understanding this syndrome. A study in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience reports that chemotherapy in rats affects their chemical messengers dopamine and serotonin, which are associated with cognition.

Not surprised;

A long line of research links poverty and depression. Now, a study by Duke University scientists shows how biology might underlie the depression experienced by high-risk adolescents whose families are socio-economically disadvantaged.

The study, published May 24, 2016 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, combined genetics, brain imaging and behavioral data gathered as adolescents were followed for more than three years as part of a larger study.

Continue reading “Poverty marks a gene, predicting depression” »

Imagine implanting electrodes in the hippocampus to help brain-injured patients process memories. That’s what the Defense Department is attempting.