Doctors rewired Johnny Matheny’s nerves to work directly with his new prosthetic arm, which works exactly like a real arm.
Category: neuroscience – Page 1,190
Memory capacity of brain is 10 times more than previously thought
In a computational reconstruction of brain tissue in the hippocampus, Salk and UT-Austin scientists found the unusual occurrence of two synapses from the axon of one neuron (translucent black strip) forming onto two spines on the same dendrite of a second neuron (yellow). Separate terminals from one neuron’s axon are shown in synaptic contact with two spines (arrows) on the same dendrite of a second neuron in the hippocampus. The spine head volumes, synaptic contact areas (red), neck diameters (gray) and number of presynaptic vesicles (white spheres) of these two synapses are almost identical. (credit: Salk Institute)
Salk researchers and collaborators have achieved critical insight into the size of neural connections, putting the memory capacity of the brain far higher than common estimates. The new work also answers a longstanding question as to how the brain is so energy efficient, and could help engineers build computers that are incredibly powerful but also conserve energy.
“This is a real bombshell in the field of neuroscience,” says Terry Sejnowski, Salk professor and co-senior author of the paper, which was published in eLife. “We discovered the key to unlocking the design principle for how hippocampal neurons function with low energy but high computation power. Our new measurements of the brain’s memory capacity increase conservative estimates by a factor of 10 to at least a petabyte (1 quadrillion or 1015 bytes), in the same ballpark as the World Wide Web.”
DARPA wants to build wetware so we can mind control computers
Hot damn, our Ghost in the Shell future is getting closer by the day. DARPA announced on Tuesday that it is interested in developing wetware — implantable brain-machine interfaces (BMI) that will allow their users to control computers with their thoughts. The device, developed as part of the Neural Engineering System Design (NESD) program, would essentially translate the chemical signals in our neurons into digital code. What’s more, DARPA expects this interface to be no larger than two nickels stacked atop one another.
“Today’s best brain-computer interface systems are like two supercomputers trying to talk to each other using an old 300-baud modem,” Phillip Alvelda, the NESD program manager, said in a statement. “Imagine what will become possible when we upgrade our tools to really open the channel between the human brain and modern electronics.”
The advanced research agency hopes the device to make an immediate impact — you know, once it’s actually invented — in the medical field. Since the proposed BMI would connect to as many as a million individual neurons (a few magnitudes more than the 100 or so that current devices can link with), patients suffering from vision or hearing loss would see an unprecedented gain in the fidelity of their assistive devices. Patients who have lost limbs would similarly see a massive boost in the responsiveness and capabilities of their prosthetics.
Lab Grown Neural Networks Could Repair Axonal Damage With Minimal Brain Tissue Disruption
New researcher suggests engineered neural networks have the ability to replace and repair lost axonal tracks in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and those with brain injuries.
Weak electrical field found to carry information around the brain
Researchers have identified slow-moving brainwaves they say could be carried only by the brain’s gentle electrical field, a mechanism previously thought to be incapable of spreading neural signals on its own.
15 Hottest Models Who Live With Chronic Diseases or Disabilities
Do you look at models and just think that they are the lucky ones who were just born perfect? Well think again! Models are just like us. Sure, they are super-duper attractive and make a lot of money for posing and wearing expensive clothes…but other than that, many fashion models could be our next-door neighbors! Case in point: these 20 Hottest Models Who Live with Chronic Diseases. Many of these people are breaking boundaries and challenging the long-held norms and beliefs that are attached to the modeling industry.
It truly is an inspiration to see these people changing the landscape of who can be a model. We have people here who have debilitating diseases, have overcome mental illnesses, and have accomplished so much for the marginalized groups of people that have just as much right to happiness as average folks. They span the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and beyond. Their presence and accomplishments range from the past and segue into the future. We can’t wait to see how the modeling scene continues to change.
If you ever thought that you couldn’t be as flawless as a supermodel, think again. The truth is that no one is flawless, and our imperfections and struggles are what make us human!
A self-assembling molecular nanoswitch
Interesting article about nanoswitches and how this technology enables the self-assembly of molecules. This actually does help progress many efforts such as molecular memory devices, photovoltaics, gas sensors, light emission, etc. However, I see the potential use in nanobot technology as it relates to future alignment mappings with the brain.
Molecular nanoswitch: calculated adsorption geometry of porphine adsorbed at copper bridge site (credit: Moritz Müller et al./J. Chem. Phys.)
Technical University of Munich (TUM) researchers have simulated a self-assembling molecular nanoswitch in a supercomputer study.
As with other current research in bottom-up self-assembly nanoscale techniques, the goal is to further miniaturize electronic devices, overcoming the physical limits of currently used top-down procedures such as photolithography.
Tiny electronic implants monitor brain injury, then melt away
Another interesting find from KurzweilAI.
Artist’s rendering of bioresorbable implanted brain sensor (top left) connected via biodegradable wires to external wireless transmitter (ring, top right) for monitoring a rat’s brain (red) (credit: Graphic by Julie McMahon)
Researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a new class of small, thin electronic sensors that can monitor temperature and pressure within the skull — crucial health parameters after a brain injury or surgery — then melt away when they are no longer needed, eliminating the need for additional surgery to remove the monitors and reducing the risk of infection and hemorrhage.
Similar sensors could be adapted for postoperative monitoring in other body systems as well, the researchers say.
The US Military Wants a Chip to Translate Your Brain Activity Into Binary Code
It’s been a weird day for weird science. Not long after researchers claimed victory in performing a head transplant on a monkey, the US military’s blue-sky R&D agency announced a completely insane plan to build a chip that would enable the human brain to communicate directly with computers. What is this weird, surreal future?
It’s all real, believe it or not. Or at least DARPA desperately wants it to be. The first wireless brain-to-computer interface actually popped up a few years ago, and DARPA’s worked on various brain chip projects over the years. But there are shortcomings to existing technology: According to today’s announcement, current brain-computer interfaces are akin to “two supercomputers trying to talk to each other using an old 300-baud modem.” They just aren’t fast enough for truly transformative neurological applications, like restoring vision to a blind person. This would ostensibly involve connect a camera that can transmit visual information directly to the brain, and the implant would translate the data into neural language.
To accomplish this magnificent feat, DARPA is launching a new program called Neural Engineering System Design (NESD) that stands to squeeze some characteristically bonkers innovation out of the science community. In a press release, the agency describes what’s undoubtedly the closest thing to a Johnny Mneumonic plot-line you’ve ever seen in real life. It reads:
Bridging the Bio-Electronic Divide
A new DARPA program aims to develop an implantable neural interface able to provide unprecedented signal resolution and data-transfer bandwidth between the human brain and the digital world. The interface would serve as a translator, converting between the electrochemical language used by neurons in the brain and the ones and zeros that constitute the language of information technology. The goal is to achieve this communications link in a biocompatible device no larger than one cubic centimeter in size, roughly the volume of two nickels stacked back to back.
The program, Neural Engineering System Design (NESD), stands to dramatically enhance research capabilities in neurotechnology and provide a foundation for new therapies.
“Today’s best brain-computer interface systems are like two supercomputers trying to talk to each other using an old 300-baud modem,” said Phillip Alvelda, the NESD program manager. “Imagine what will become possible when we upgrade our tools to really open the channel between the human brain and modern electronics.”