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Category: neuroscience – Page 1,353

Freezing People After Heart Attacks Could Save Lives

To reduce the damage to his brain and organs, Brooks was rushed to the University of Pennsylvania, where Dr. Lance Becker and his team cooled the young man’s core temperature to below 90 degrees Fahrenheit—a process called “induced hypothermia.” This is often done to cardiac arrest patients, either by injecting them with a cold saline solution or placing ice packs on them to increase their chances of complete recovery.

The dose of cold saved his life. Brooks had no brain damage, a remarkable feat that has led doctors to explore more ways to use induced hypothermia in emergency settings.

Now Dr. Sam Tisherman and his team at the University of Maryland, in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh, plan to put 10 patients into a more severe form of hypothermia than what Brooks got, something known as “suspended animation.” They’ll flush their bodies with a cold fluid, cooling (and therefore preserving) tissue. The experimental trial, known as emergency preservation and resuscitation for cardiac arrest from trauma ( EPR-CAT), is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, and it is the first time doctors are harnessing profound hypothermia (pushing body temperatures to as low as 50 degrees) to save lives.

Study shows how ‘love hormone’ oxytocin spurs sociability

Why is it so much fun to hang out with our friends? Why are some people so sociable while others are loners or seemingly outright allergic to interactions with others?

A new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine begins to provide an answer, pinpointing places and processes in the that promote socialization by providing pleasurable sensations when it occurs. The findings point to potential ways of helping people, such as those with autism or schizophrenia, who can be painfully averse to socializing.

The study, which will be published Sept. 29 in Science, details the role of a substance called oxytocin in fostering and maintaining sociability. The senior author is Robert Malenka, MD, PhD, professor and associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral science. The lead author is former postdoctoral scholar Lin Hung, PhD.

“Holy Grail” Microchip Might Surpass the Power of the Human Brain

Scientists from several universities published a paper in Science Advances, in which they reveal their progress toward the “holy grail” of computing: a light-based microchip that truly rivals the speed and parallel processing of the human brain.

Scientists at the University of Exeter have made a landmark breakthrough in the quest for the “holy grail” of computing: human-brain-mimicking microchips able to store and process information on par with homo sapiens, according to a new Science Advances release.

Increasing Human Life Expectancy through Stem Cell Rejuvenation

Dr. Mark Katakowski makes the case that rejuvenation of the bone marrow niche is a practical approach to life-extension today. Mark is President of the longevity company Forever Labs, and is a medical physicist with extensive experience developing stem cell therapies for neurological disease and injury.

Mark was first to demonstrate that microRNA functions as a communication molecule between brain tumor cells, a previously unknown mechanism of intercellular eukaryotic gene regulation. Based upon his use of stem cells to treat age-related disease, Mark surmises that rejuvenating the bone marrow provides significant opportunity to combat aging.

Researchers Have Developed Microchips That Behave Like Brain Cells

The human brain is used as a comparison for how computer’s function. But, honestly, computers are nothing like human brains. Not yet, at least.

That could change as researchers have developed computing technology that uses light to mimic the functionality of a nerve’s synapse, opening the way for hardware that combines the speed of modern processors with the efficiency of brainpower.

Brains and computers are both systems that can model, manipulate, and store information. From there, they don’t tend to have all that much in common.

Forget ‘live fast, die young’ – do the opposite instead

So far, the only intervention that is known to increase lifespan in multiple species is caloric restriction (CR). Caloric restriction is known to increase lifespan in the majority of mouse strains tested[1]. The effects of CR have even been shown to influence how primates age and reduce the incidence of diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and brain atrophy[2].

Science has known about the effects of CR since the 1930s, when rat experiments first showed researchers this phenomenon[3]. However, despite the various health benefits of CR, how it delays aging has remained a mystery. A new study suggests that epigenetic drift may be the answer.

Closing in on cancer

THE numbers are stark. Cancer claimed the lives of 8.8m people in 2015; only heart disease caused more deaths. Around 40% of Americans will be told they have cancer during their lifetimes. It is now a bigger killer of Africans than malaria. But the statistics do not begin to capture the fear inspired by cancer’s silent and implacable cellular mutiny. Only Alzheimer’s exerts a similar grip on the imagination.

Confronted with this sort of enemy, people understandably focus on the potential for scientific breakthroughs that will deliver a cure. Their hope is not misplaced. Cancer has become more and more survivable over recent decades owing to a host of advances, from genetic sequencing to targeted therapies. The five-year survival rate for leukemia in America has almost doubled, from 34% in the mid-1970s to 63% in 2006-12. America is home to about 15.5m cancer survivors, a number that will grow to 20m in the next ten years. Developing countries have made big gains, too: in parts of Central and South America, survival rates for prostate and breast cancer have jumped by as much as a fifth in only a decade.

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