Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: neuroscience – Page 28

Large language models surpass human experts in predicting neuroscience results, according to a study published in Nature Human Behaviour.

Scientific research is increasingly challenging due to the immense growth in published literature. Integrating noisy and voluminous findings to predict outcomes often exceeds human capacity. This investigation was motivated by the growing role of artificial intelligence in tasks such as protein folding and drug discovery, raising the question of whether LLMs could similarly enhance fields like neuroscience.

Xiaoliang Luo and colleagues developed BrainBench, a benchmark designed to test whether LLMs could predict the results of neuroscience studies more accurately than human experts. BrainBench included 200 test cases based on neuroscience research abstracts. Each test case consisted of two versions of the same abstract: one was the original, and the other had a modified result that changed the study’s conclusion but kept the rest of the abstract coherent. Participants—both LLMs and human experts—were tasked with identifying which version was correct.

Read more | >

Polygenic scores (PGS) are metrics used to estimate the genetic predisposition of people to developing specific mental health conditions, personality traits or diseases. In recent years, these metrics have often been used to investigate the intricate connections between genes and environmental factors.

Researchers at the JJ Peters VA Medical Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and other institutes recently carried out a study aimed at determining whether neuropsychiatric could predict the professional categories that individuals belong to. Their findings, published in Nature Human Behaviour, suggest that these scores weakly predict the professional category that people belong to.

“Neuropsychiatric disorders are both common and highly heritable, yet they remain heavily stigmatized,” Georgios Voloudakis, first author of the paper, told Medical Xpress.

Read more | >

Leading A Government-Wide Response To Long COVID — Dr. Ian Simon, Ph.D. — Director, Office of Long COVID Research and Practice, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Dr. Ian Simon, Ph.D. is the Director for the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice (https://www.hhs.gov/longcovid/index.html), in the Office of Science and Medicine, in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health \& Human Services.

The Office of Science and Medicine harnesses the power of collaboration, scientific analysis, data-driven innovation, and emerging technologies for advancing initiatives across the Department, including not just Long COVID, but in the areas of behavioral health, health equity, kidney disease, infection-associated chronic conditions, mother-infant dyad, sickle cell disease, and traumatic brain injury.

Continue reading “Dr. Ian Simon, PhD — Director, Office of Long COVID Research and Practice, U.S. HHS” | >

Stimulating dopamine-producing brain cells wirelessly with gold nanoparticles has proven effective at treating mice with Parkinson’s disease, even reversing a portion of their neurological damage.

Researchers from the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China (NCNST) say it’s a significant step forward for using brain simulation to tackle Parkinson’s in humans, a neurodegenerative condition that affects more than 10 million people worldwide.

Deep inside the brains of those with the condition, dopamine-producing neurons take a major hit as insoluable clumps of a protein called alpha-synuclein accumulate, gradually depriving patients of an ability to control their movements.

Read more | >

Link :

Glioblastoma, an aggressive and often fatal form of brain cancer, has long posed a formidable challenge to doctors and patients alike. Yet, a groundbreaking clinical trial is offering a glimmer of hope, capturing global attention for its potential to revolutionize cancer treatment. A 62-year-old engineer, faced with a grim prognosis, has experienced something extraordinary—his tumour has shrunk significantly in a matter of weeks. This remarkable outcome marks the beginning of a journey that could redefine how we treat one of the most challenging cancers. What makes this approach so promising, and how could it change the future for patients?

Glioblastoma, often referred to as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive and common form of primary brain cancer in adults. Originating from glial cells—specifically astrocytes that support nerve cells—this malignancy is notorious for its rapid growth and diffuse infiltration into surrounding brain tissue, making complete surgical removal challenging.

Continue reading “Man sees deadly brain tumour shrink by half thanks to new treatment” | >

While research continues on the potential of psychedelics as a clinical treatment, a recent study highlights the need to better understand their adverse effects.

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800−368−5777 (in the U.S.) or 703−907−7322 (outside the U.S.).

Continue reading “Hallucinogen-Related Emergencies Associated With Schizophrenia Risk” | >

Many cells in our body have a single primary cilium, a micrometer-long, hair-like organelle protruding from the that transmits cellular signals. Cilia are important for regulating cellular processes, but because of their small size and number, it has been difficult for scientists to explore cilia in brain cells with traditional techniques, leaving their organization and function unclear.

In a series of papers appearing in Current Biology, the Journal of Cell Biology, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus, the Allen Institute, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School used super high-resolution 3D electron microscopy images of mouse brain tissue generated for creating connectomes to get the best look yet at .

Read more | >

Researchers have developed a reliable and reproducible way to fabricate tapered polymer optical fibers that can be used to deliver light to the brain. These fibers could be used in animal studies to help scientists better understand treatments and interventions for various neurological conditions.

The tapered fibers are optimized for neuroscience research techniques, such as optogenetic experiments and fiber photometry, which rely on the interaction between genetically modified neurons and delivered to and/or collected from the .

“Unlike standard optical fibers, which are cylindrical, the tapered fibers we developed have a conical shape, which allows them to penetrate the tissue with more ease and to deliver light to larger volumes of the brain,” said research team member Marcello Meneghetti from the Neural Devices and Gas Photonics group at the Technical University of Denmark.

Read more | >

Researchers discovered that electrical synapses filter sensory signals in animals, enabling context-specific decision-making—a finding with broad implications for neuroscience.

Scientists from Yale University

Established in 1701, Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is organized into fourteen constituent schools: the original undergraduate college, the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and twelve professional schools. It is named after British East India Company governor Elihu Yale.

Read more | >