It’s obvious when a dog has been poorly trained. It doesn’t respond properly to commands. It pushes boundaries and behaves unpredictably. The same is true with a poorly trained artificial intelligence (AI) model. Only with AI, it’s not always easy to identify what went wrong with the training.
Research scientists globally are working with a variety of AI models that have been trained on experimental and theoretical data. The goal: to predict a material’s properties before taking the time and expense to create and test it. They are using AI to design better medicines and industrial chemicals in a fraction of the time it takes for experimental trial and error.
But how can they trust the answers that AI models provide? It’s not just an academic question. Millions of investment dollars can ride on whether AI model predictions are reliable.
UCLA researchers have made a significant breakthrough in stroke rehabilitation by developing a drug, DDL-920, that replicates the effects of physical therapy in mice. This discovery could pave the way for new treatments that enhance recovery for stroke patients.
Key Findings:
- Understanding Stroke-Induced Brain Disconnection: The study revealed that strokes can disrupt brain connections far from the initial damage site, particularly affecting parvalbumin neurons. These neurons are crucial for generating gamma oscillations—brain rhythms essential for coordinated movements.
- Role of Physical Rehabilitation: Physical therapy was found to restore gamma oscillations and repair connections in parvalbumin neurons, leading to improved motor functions in both mice and human subjects.
New research shows that the adult brain can generate new neurons that integrate into key motor circuits. The findings demonstrate that stimulating natural brain processes may help repair damaged neural networks in Huntington’s and other diseases.
“Our research shows that we can encourage the brain’s own cells to grow new neurons that join in naturally with the circuits controlling movement,” said a senior author of the study, which appears in the journal Cell Reports. “This discovery offers a potential new way to restore brain function and slow the progression of these diseases.”
It was long believed that the adult brain could not generate new neurons. However, it is now understood that niches in the brain contain reservoirs of progenitor cells capable of producing new neurons. While these cells actively produce neurons during early development, they switch to producing support cells called glia shortly after birth. One of the areas of the brain where these cells congregate is the ventricular zone, which is adjacent to the striatum, a region of the brain devastated by Huntington’s disease.
AI models could help fight disease—but they also pose a deadly risk if weaponized by non-experts.
