Researchers are closer to growing chicken nuggets in the lab, thanks to the use of tiny hollow fibers that mimic blood vessels.
While cultured meat has been advancing for some time now, it’s been limited to thin strips of less than a millimeter. Creating a thicker product with a familiar appeal has so far proven elusive.
“Replicating the texture and taste of whole-cut meat remains difficult,” explains biomedical engineer Shoji Takeuchi from The University of Tokyo.
As the first generation that interacted with digital technology reaches an age where dementia risks emerge, scientists have asked the question: Is there a correlation between digital technology use and an increased risk of dementia? With the phrases “brain rot” and “brain drain” circulating on social media, it would appear that most people would assume the answer is yes.
However, a new study in Nature Human Behavior by neuroscientists at Baylor University and the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School reveals the opposite—digital technologies are actually associated with reduced cognitive decline.
The study, “A meta-analysis of technology use and cognitive aging,” was sparked by the ongoing concern about the passive activity of digital technologies and their relation to accelerating risks of dementia. Study co-authors are Jared F. Benge, Ph.D., clinical neuropsychologist and associate professor of neurology at Dell Medical School and UT Health Austin’s Comprehensive Memory Center within the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences, and Michael K. Scullin, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor.
The world is full of tips and tricks on how to live longer—some say it’s about eating clean, others swear by cutting stress. But when someone who has crossed the 100-year mark speaks, the world listens. Dr John Scharffenberg, a preventive medicine specialist who lived a rich and active life into his 100s, offered a perspective that turns many popular beliefs on their head.
His message was simple, sincere, and backed by years of real-life observation. The secret, he said, isn’t food or relaxation—it’s something far more practical and often overlooked.
A team of neuroscientists at the School of Medicine at UCLA have demonstrated that they can strengthen memory in human patients by stimulating the entorhinal cortex. While studying patients with electrodes implanted in their brains, the researchers used a video game to test whether deep-brain stimul
Could help determine which patients are likely to benefit from new Alzheimer’s drugs. A newly developed blood test for Alzheimer’s disease not only aids in the diagnosis of the neurodegenerative condition but also indicates how far it has progressed, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Lund University in Sweden.
Several blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease are already clinically available, including two based on technology licensed from WashU. Such tests help doctors diagnose the disease in people with cognitive symptoms, but do not indicate the clinical stage of the disease symptoms — that is, the degree of impairment in thinking or memory due to Alzheimer’s dementia. Current Alzheimer’s therapies are most effective in early stages of the disease, so having a relatively easy and reliable way to gauge how far the disease has progressed could help doctors determine which patients are likely to benefit from drug treatment and to what extent. The new test can also provide insight on whether a person’s symptoms are likely due to Alzheimer’s versus some other cause.
The study is published March 31 in Nature Medicine.