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New research reveals that prolonged mental load weakens brain connectivity, but compensatory mechanisms keep cognitive performance steady.

Summary: A recent study shows that prolonged mental exertion weakens connectivity between the brain’s frontal and parietal lobes, impacting cognitive efficiency. However, the brain has built-in compensatory mechanisms that adjust neural connections to preserve function under fatigue.

Researchers observed this in participants completing memory tasks of varying difficulty; while fatigue slowed performance on simple tasks, complex tasks triggered compensatory adjustments. Findings suggest that these mechanisms allow the brain to optimize resources based on task complexity.

Continue reading “Mental Fatigue Triggers Compensatory Brain Mechanisms” »

2024 Market Research from Morgan Stanley pegs the market for BCI at $400B in the US alone. Synchron, Neuralink, Paradromics, Precision, InBrain, ONWARD and more.

UC Santa Barbara researchers discovered that single, vigorous exercise sessions, especially under 30 minutes, improve cognitive functions like memory and executive function. Future studies will explore whether combining physical activity with cognitive tasks yields even greater benefits.

Years of research on exercise have long supported the idea that consistent workouts over time lead to both physical and cognitive benefits. But what about short, intense bursts of exercise? A team of scientists at UC Santa Barbara has taken a closer look.

Their study was recently published in the journal Communications Psychology.

New research underscores the role of the immune system in depression, linking inflammation to poor response to standard antidepressants and highlighting the importance of personalized medicine in addressing different biological patterns in depressed individuals.

A collaborative study between researchers from the UK and Italy has uncovered new insights into the biological mechanisms of major depressive disorder (MDD), with a particular focus on the role of the immune system.

The researchers examined “gene expression,” which refers to the process by which the instructions in our genes are activated, influencing bodily functions.

Research reveals how antibodies affect brain receptors in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis, a condition often misdiagnosed as schizophrenia.

The disease, vividly described in Susannah Cahalan’s memoir “Brain on Fire,” can lead to severe neurological symptoms similar to those of mental health disorders. The study underscores the importance of personalized medicine and improved diagnostics to accurately treat and diagnose this rare disease.

The startling diagnosis of susannah cahalan.

Finding ways to connect the human body to technology could have broad applications in health and entertainment. A new “electric plastic” could make self-powered wearables, real-time neural interfaces, and medical implants that merge with our bodies a reality.

While there has been significant progress in the development of wearable and implantable technology in recent years, most electronic materials are hard, rigid, and feature toxic metals. A variety of approaches for creating “soft electronics” has emerged, but finding ones that are durable, power-efficient, and easy to manufacture is a significant challenge.

Continue reading “‘Electric Plastic’ Could Merge Technology With the Body in Future Wearables and Implants” »

Aging senescent cells do not become hypometabolic.

Instead they become HYPERmetabolic, burning energy faster than their younger selves.

This likely steals energy for other useful cellular functions, possibly accounting for their aberrant behaviors.

Continue reading “The brain–body energy conservation model of aging” »

Estrogen, the major female ovarian hormone, can trigger nerve impulses within milliseconds to regulate a variety of physiological processes. At Baylor College of Medicine, Louisiana State University and collaborating institutions, researchers discovered that estrogen’s fast actions are mediated by the coupling of the estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-alpha) with an ion channel protein called Clic1.

Clic1 controls the fast flux of electrically charged chloride ions through the cell membrane, which neurons use for receiving, conducting and transmitting signals. The researchers propose that interacting with the ER-alpha-Clic1 complex enables estrogen to trigger fast neuronal responses through Clic1 ion currents. The study appears in Science Advances.

“Estrogen can act in the brain to regulate a variety of physiological processes, including female fertility, sexual behaviors, mood, reward, stress response, cognition, cardiovascular activities and body weight balance. Many of these functions are mediated by estrogen binding to one of its receptors, ER-alpha,” said co-corresponding author Dr. Yong Xu, professor of pediatrics—nutrition and associate director for basic sciences at the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor.

Newly published research from Colorado State University answers fundamental questions about cellular connectivity in the brain that could be useful in the development of treatments for neurological diseases like autism, epilepsy or schizophrenia.