Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 281
May 5, 2023
Simple Tests Predict Dementia Risk in Older Women Years in Advance
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
Dementia is a brain disease that affects around 55 million people worldwide and is characterized by the loss of cognitive functions like memory and reasoning.
The classic, early cognitive symptoms of dementia – like misplacing valuable objects, forgetting names, and finding planning difficult – can creep up slowly over time.
But there are other, more noticeable changes to the body that correlate with dementia risk and can be picked up over a decade before diagnosis. Recent research has found that hearing difficulties may be a warning sign of dementia that arises years before other symptoms of the disease.
May 5, 2023
Mind-reading technology has arrived
Posted by Shubham Ghosh Roy in category: neuroscience
May 4, 2023
Deep sleep may mitigate Alzheimer’s memory loss, research shows
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
A deep slumber might help buffer against memory loss for older adults facing a heightened burden of Alzheimer’s disease, new research from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests.
Deep sleep, also known as non-REM slow-wave sleep, can act as a “cognitive reserve factor” that may increase resilience against a protein in the brain called beta-amyloid that is linked to memory loss caused by dementia. Disrupted sleep has previously been associated with faster accumulation of beta-amyloid protein in the brain. However, the new research from a team at UC Berkeley reveals that superior amounts of deep, slow-wave sleep can act as a protective factor against memory decline in those with existing high amounts of Alzheimer’s disease pathology —a potentially significant advance that experts say could help alleviate some of dementia’s most devastating outcomes.
“With a certain level of brain pathology, you’re not destined for cognitive symptoms or memory issues,” said Zsófia Zavecz, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley’s Center for Human Sleep Science. “People should be aware that, despite having a certain level of pathology, there are certain lifestyle factors that will help moderate and decrease the effects.
May 4, 2023
Case report: Magic mushrooms may induce lasting improvements in color-blind vision
Posted by Shubham Ghosh Roy in categories: biotech/medical, health, law, neuroscience, policy
Researchers at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Center for Behavioral Health, Neurological Institute at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio have authored a case report on the positive effects of psilocybin on color blindness.
Published in the journal Drug Science, Policy and Law, the researchers highlight some implications surrounding a single reported vision improvement self-study by a colleague and cite other previous reports, illustrating a need to understand better how these psychedelics could be used in therapeutic settings.
Past reports have indicated that people with color vision deficiency (CVD), usually referred to as color blindness, experience better color vision after using lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or psilocybin (magic mushrooms). There is a lack of scientific evidence for these claims, as researching the effects of these drugs has been highly restricted.
May 4, 2023
Scientists have developed a new way to fight a nearly untreatable brain cancer
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
https://youtube.com/watch?v=KSDhqhKL-JQ
Sound waves can cross the blood-brain barrier and could deliver chemotherapy to complex and treatment-resistant glioblastomas.
May 4, 2023
Glioblastoma remodelling of human neural circuits decreases survival
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
High-grade gliomas functionally remodel neural circuits in the human brain, promoting tumour progression and impairing cognition.
May 4, 2023
Lilly drug slows Alzheimer’s
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
CHICAGO, May 3 (Reuters) — An experimental Alzheimer’s drug developed by Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) slowed cognitive decline by 35% in a late-stage trial, the company said on Wednesday, providing what experts say is the strongest evidence yet that removing sticky amyloid plaques from the brain benefits patients with the fatal disease.
Lilly’s drug, donanemab, met all goals of the trial, the company said. It slowed progression of Alzheimer’s by 35% compared to a placebo in 1,182 people with early-stage disease whose brains had deposits of two key Alzheimer’s proteins, beta amyloid as well as intermediate levels of tau, a protein linked with disease progression and brain cell death.
The study also evaluated the drug in 552 patients with high levels of tau and found that when both groups were combined, donanemab slowed progression by 29% based on a commonly used scale of dementia progression known as the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR-SB).
May 3, 2023
Mind-reading machines are here: is it time to worry?
Posted by Logan Thrasher Collins in categories: bioengineering, ethics, law, neuroscience
Neurotech will bring many amazing positive changes to the world, such as treating ailments like blindness, depression, and epilepsy, giving us superhuman sensory capabilities that allow us to understand the world in new ways, accelerating our ability to cognitively process information, and more. But in an increasingly connected society, neuroprivacy will represent a crucial concern of the future. We must carefully devise legal protections against misuse of “mind reading” technology as well as heavily invest in “neurocybersecurity” R&D to prevent violation of people’s inner thoughts and feelings by authorities and malignant hackers. We can capitalize on the advantages, but we must do establish safety mechanisms as these technologies mature. #neurotechnology #neuroscience #neurotech #computationalbiology #future #brain
Determining how the brain creates meaning from language is enormously difficult, says Francisco Pereira, a neuroscientist at the US National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. “It’s impressive to see someone pull it off.”‘
‘Wake-up call’
Continue reading “Mind-reading machines are here: is it time to worry?” »
May 3, 2023
Concussion: almost half of people still show signs of brain injury after six months
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
Our research found that concussion was associated with increased functional connectivity between the thalamus and the rest of the brain very shortly after injury, when compared to 76 healthy control subjects.
In other words, the thalamus was trying to communicate more as a result of the injury. This was despite routine MRI and CT imaging showing no structural changes in the brain.
While many of us would assume that more connectivity in the brain is a good thing, research looking at more severe head injuries indicates that greater connectivity between brain regions might actually be a sign of the brain trying to compensate and offset damage across the brain.