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Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 300

May 30, 2022

Scientists used magnetic resonance imaging to show brain inflammation in vivo for the first time

Posted by in categories: innovation, neuroscience

May 30, 2022

Elon Musk versus the Woke Cartel

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, governance, government, law, neuroscience, sustainability, transhumanism

Many criticisms have been leveled against Elon Musk—that he’s part of the elite, that Tesla has been the beneficiary of government handouts and exemptions, that his transhumanist Neuralink is a brain-data-mining operation. Yet his planned purchase of Twitter, his supposed free-speech absolutism, and his subsequent renunciation of the Democratic Party as “the party of hate” have put Musk squarely in the crosshairs of the woke cartel.

Vitriolic Twitter storms, a New York Times-Financial Times biographical exposé, a slew of hit pieces and scaremongering segments in the legacy media, and allegations of sexual harassment have dogged the automobile magnate ever since his Twitter bid. In response, Musk announced on Twitter that he’s assembling a legal crew to sue defamers and defend Tesla (and likely himself) against lawsuits.

But the best indication that the woke cartel has really gone berserk is its removal of Tesla from the S&P 500’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Index. This last rebuff proves that “ESG is a scam.”

May 29, 2022

More life — Decoding the secret of aging | DW Documentary

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, education, genetics, life extension, neuroscience

This just came out, a day or so ago.


Can the aging process be reversed — or even halted, altogether? If we manage to decode this final mystery of our human biology, we might soon be able to eradicate age-related illnesses like cancer, dementia and heart problems.

Continue reading “More life — Decoding the secret of aging | DW Documentary” »

May 29, 2022

New method melds data to make a 3D map of cells’ activities

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, engineering, neuroscience

Just as it’s hard to understand a conversation without knowing its context, it can be difficult for biologists to grasp the significance of gene expression without knowing a cell’s environment. To solve that problem, researchers at Princeton Engineering have developed a method to elucidate a cell’s surroundings so that biologists can make more meaning of gene expression information.

The researchers, led by Professor of Computer Science Ben Raphael, hope the new system will open the door to identifying rare cell types and choosing cancer treatment options with new precision. Raphael is the senior author of a paper describing the method published May 16 in Nature Methods.

The basic technique of linking with a cell’s environment, called spatial transcriptomics (ST), has been around for several years. Scientists break down onto a microscale grid and link each spot on the grid with information about gene expression. The problem is that current computational tools can only analyze spatial patterns of gene expression in two dimensions. Experiments that use multiple slices from a single tissue sample—such as a region of a brain, heart or tumor—are difficult to synthesize into a complete picture of the cell types in the tissue.

May 28, 2022

Designer Neurons Offer New Hope for Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

Summary: Researchers have designed a new method of converting non-neural cells into functioning neurons that are able to form synapses, dispense dopamine, and restore the function of neurons undermined by Parkinson’s associated destruction of dopaminergic cells.

Neurodegenerative diseases damage and destroy neurons, ravaging both mental and physical health. Parkinson’s disease, which affects over 10 million people worldwide, is no exception. The most obvious symptoms of Parkinson’s disease arise after the illness damages a specific class of neuron located in the midbrain. The effect is to rob the brain of dopamine—a key neurotransmitter produced by the affected neurons.

In new research, Jeffrey Kordower and his colleagues describe a process for converting non-neuronal cells into functioning neurons able to take up residence in the brain, send out their fibrous branches across neural tissue, form synapses, dispense dopamine and restore capacities undermined by Parkinson’s destruction of dopaminergic cells.

May 28, 2022

COVID-19 in 2022—The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, neuroscience, singularity

Jesper AndersonNo. Nobody can “leave their body”. There is no evidence what so ever that this is possible.

What can be done is, copy many of your attributes and create a copy which behaves very much like you. But that’s simply an advanced method of writing a book. I… See more.

Craig Everett JonesAlthough neurons are much like transistors, our emotions are not just ones and zeroes. We feel things in our gut. I think singularity fans are grossly underestimating the dependencies between human consciousness and organic physiology. And, your b… See more.

Continue reading “COVID-19 in 2022—The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?” »

May 28, 2022

Magic mushrooms evolved to scramble insect brains, send them on wild, scary trips

Posted by in category: neuroscience

How psilocybin evolved has more to do with sending insects on terrifying trips than it does making Phish sound good.

May 27, 2022

Magnetic resonance imaging shows brain inflammation in vivo for the first time

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, mathematics, neuroscience

Research by Dr. Silvia de Santis and Dr. Santiago Canals, both from the Institute of Neurosciences UMH-CSIC (Alicante, Spain), has made it possible to visualize for the first time and in great detail brain inflammation using diffusion-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging. This detailed “X-ray” of inflammation cannot be obtained with conventional MRI, but requires data acquisition sequences and special mathematical models. Once the method was developed, the researchers were able to quantify the alterations in the morphology of the different cell populations involved in the inflammatory process in the brain.

An innovative strategy developed by the researchers has made possible this important breakthrough, which is published today in the journal Science Advances and which may be crucial to change the course of the study and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

The research demonstrates that diffusion-weighted MRI can noninvasively and differentially detect the activation of microglia and astrocytes, two types of cells that are at the basis of neuroinflammation and its progression.

May 27, 2022

Early Sound Exposure in the Womb Shapes the Auditory System

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Summary: Muffled sounds experienced in the womb prime the brain’s ability to interpret some sounds and may be key for auditory development.

Source: MIT

Inside the womb, fetuses can begin to hear some sounds around 20 weeks of gestation. However, the input they are exposed to is limited to low-frequency sounds because of the muffling effect of the amniotic fluid and surrounding tissues.

May 27, 2022

‘Brain-on-a-Chip’ Technology Advances Toward a New Form of Drug Screening

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

The Stem Cell Reports paper demonstrated the capability to grow and differentiate cortical neurons — known to be responsible for a majority of higher brain function — into fully mature and functional cells.

These neurons were then incorporated into a circuit functioning as a simulated system, where the researchers were able to induce long-term potentiation (LTP). LTP — which allows for memory formation — is a key phenomenon in the study of cognition, and one that has mostly evaded direct observation in human models.


A UCF researcher’s work to create a “brain-on-a-chip” aims to improve neurological disorder research by speeding up drug discovery and providing an alternative to animal testing.

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