Toggle light / dark theme

The rise of social media has changed our day to day lives. But more and more reports show that social media and especially social media can impact our brain. Social media addiction might also to a decline in mental health. How does social media changes us? And are the effects by social media addiction reversal?

🔬 Subscribe for more awesome biomedical research: https://bit.ly/2SRMqhC

📾 IG: instagram.com/clemens.steinek.
🔬Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSteinek.

Social media has been developed to connect people. However, quite early, scientists found that social media (and social media addiction) can lead to changes in the brain such an enlarged amygdala. First reports surfaced showing that people compare their lives to lives they see on social media and report a decline of mental health upon heavy social media use. It seems like our brains cannot distinguish between social media and the real world. Social media also led to an attention span crisis meaning that we have a harder time to focus if we spend much time on social media. Moreover, social media is able to feed into the reward system of our brains. Everytime we perceive something good dopamine producing cells in the brain release dopamine which leads to a good feeling. Social media has used this mechanism to provide us with a constant stream of good feelings. Social media algorithms have been optimize to show more social media content in a shorter period of time leading to more dopamine. As a result, some argue that social media addiction should be recognized as a mental disorder.

Savant syndrome is a strange condition that gives people unique abilities. Although savant syndrome is very rare reported cases gain genius-like abilities in narrow domains. But how can we explain savant syndrome? And could we induce savant syndrome in normal people?

🔬 Subscribe for more awesome biomedical research: https://bit.ly/2SRMqhC

📾 IG: instagram.com/clemens.steinek.
🔬Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSteinek.

Savant syndrome is characterized by unique skills in art, music, mechanics, calendar calculation or maths. Savant syndrome can be acquired through injuries or frontotemporal dementia or be developed in people with autism spectrum disorder. In acquired savant syndrome and autism spectrum disorder, unique connections in the brain led to the condition. In savant syndrome, we often find that the left hemisphere is damaged and the right brain hemisphere has to compensate for this. Based on this observation, we can partially induce savant syndrome like abilities through transcranial magnetic stimulation. Many questions concerning savant syndrome remain but this condition is truly amazing.

We all know that exercise is good for our health. But besides lowering the risk of obesity or type II diabetes, exercise has also been shown to benefit our brain. More precisely, exercise modifies parts of the brain and improves memory, attention and improves mood. Regular exercise further lowers the risk to suffer from dementia or depression. But how does exercise benefit our brains?

🔬 Subscribe for more awesome biomedical research: https://bit.ly/2SRMqhC

📾 IG: instagram.com/clemens.steinek.
🔬Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSteinek.

Philosophers have speculated for centuries that exercise promotes our brain functionality but only a few decades ago, scientists uncovered that this is true. Studies have shown that children who are more athletic perform better in creativity, concentration, maths verbal and IQ tests. These children also tend to have a larger hippocampus and basal ganglia both of which are important for memory and attention span. Adults who started to workout regularly also have changes in their brain and perform better in various tests. There are several mechanisms which explain this phenomenon. When we exercise, brain cells release VEGF which helps to supply the brain with oxygen. Moreover, neurotrophins are released when we workout which helps the survival of brain cells. Exercise also seems to improve neuroplasticity through the same pathways. Since exercise leads to the release of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, workouts also have been used to treat mental disorders such as depression. In various studies it was seen exercise helps to alleviate the symptoms of people who suffer from major depression.

The new disease could provide insights into how the cell’s recycling system contributes to a healthy brain. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered a new neurological condition characterized by issues with motor coordination and speech. They identified three children with the condition, two siblings and an unrelated child.

Of the respondents, 28 percent said they were more likely than not to use gene editing to make their babies smarter, and 38 percent said they’d use polygenic screening. The researchers also noted what they called a bandwagon effect, where people who were told something along the lines of “everyone else is doing it” were more likely to say they’d do it too. This is logical; our comfort with decisions is buoyed by a sense that others in our shoes would choose similarly.

It’s important to note, though, that the survey made it clear that genetically enhancing embryos didn’t come with a guaranteed result of a smarter kid. “In this study, we stipulated a realistic effect—that each service would increase the odds of having a child who attends a top-100 college by 2 percentage points, from 3 percent to 5 percent odds—and lots of people are still interested,” said Michelle N. Meyer, chair of the Department of Bioethics and Decision Sciences at Geisinger and first author of the article.

The numbers—28 and 38 percent—don’t seem high. That’s a little below and a little above one-third of total respondents who would use the technologies. But imagine walking around in a world where one out of every three people had had their genes tweaked before birth. Unsettling, no? The researchers said their results point to substantial and growing interest in genetic technologies for offspring enhancement, and that now is the time to get a national conversation going around regulations.

A team of researchers from Yale and the University of Connecticut (UConn) has developed a nanoparticle-based treatment that targets multiple culprits in glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer.

The results are published in Science Advances (“Anti-seed PNAs targeting multiple oncomiRs for brain tumor therapy”).

A new treatment developed by Yale researchers uses bioadhesive nanoparticles that adhere to the site of the tumor and then slowly release the synthesized peptide nucleic acids that they’re carrying. In this image, the nanoparticles (red) are visible within human glioma tumor cells (green with blue nuclei). (Image: Yale Cancer Center)

For copyright contact: stienlemane2379(at)gmail.com.

Welcome to Futureunity, where we explore the fascinating world of science, technology, and the universe! From the inner workings of the human body to the outer reaches of space, we delve into the latest and most interesting discoveries that are shaping our world. Whether you’re a science buff or just looking for some mind-blowing facts, we’ve got you covered. Join us as we uncover the mysteries of the world around us and discover new frontiers in the fields of science and technology. Get ready for a journey that’s both educational and entertaining!

Disclaimer Fair Use:
1. The videos have no negative impact on the original works.
2. The videos we make are used for educational purposes.
3. The videos are transformative in nature.
4. We use only the audio component and tiny pieces of video footage, only if it’s necessary.
Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing.

Disclaimer:

Dr. Nick Melosh at the BrainMind Summit hosted at Stanford, interviewed by BrainMind member Christian Bailey.

Nick Melosh is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University. Nick’s research at Stanford focuses on how to design new inorganic structures to seamlessly integrate with biological systems to address problems that are not feasible by other means. This involves both fundamental work such as to deeply understand how lipid membranes interact with inorganic surfaces, electrokinetic phenomena in biologically relevant solutions, and applying this knowledge into new device designs. Examples of this include “nanostraw” drug delivery platforms for direct delivery or extraction of material through the cell wall using a biomimetic gap-junction made using nanoscale semiconductor processing techniques. We also engineer materials and structures for neural interfaces and electronics pertinent to highly parallel data acquisition and recording. For instance, we have created inorganic electrodes that mimic the hydrophobic banding of natural transmembrane proteins, allowing them to ‘fuse’ into the cell wall, providing a tight electrical junction for solid-state patch clamping. In addition to significant efforts at engineering surfaces at the molecular level, we also work on ‘bridge’ projects that span between engineering and biological/clinical needs. My long history with nano-and microfabrication techniques and their interactions with biological constructs provide the skills necessary to fabricate and analyze new bio-electronic systems.”

Learn more about BrainMind: https://brainmind.org/
Apply to BrainMind: https://brainmind.org/application

Gabriel Kreiman is a Professor at Harvard Medical School. He is on faculty at Children’s Hospital and the Center for Brain Science at Harvard University. He is Associate Director and Thrust Leader in the Harvard/MIT Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines. He received his MSc and PhD from the California Institute of Technology and pursued postdoctoral work with Professor Poggio at MIT.

The Kreiman laboratory combines behavioral metrics, neurophysiological recordings and computational models to understand cognitive function and to build biologically inspired Artificial Intelligence systems. Kreiman’s work has focused on two main themes: understanding the transformation of pixel-like inputs into rich and complex visual percepts; and elucidating the subjectively filters incoming inputs to create lasting narratives that constitute the fabric of our personal experiences and knowledge.