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Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 311

Mar 9, 2023

Perovskite nanocrystal computer components inspired by brain cells

Posted by in categories: computing, mathematics, neuroscience

Researchers at Empa, ETH Zurich and the Politecnico di Milano are developing a new type of computer component that is more powerful and easier to manufacture than its predecessors. Inspired by the human brain, it is designed to process large amounts of data fast and in an energy-efficient way.

In many respects, the is still superior to modern computers. Although most people can’t do math as fast as a , we can effortlessly process complex sensory information and learn from experiences, while a computer cannot—at least not yet. And, the brain does all this by consuming less than half as much energy as a laptop.

One of the reasons for the brain’s energy efficiency is its structure. The individual brain cells—the neurons and their connections, the synapses—can both store and process information. In computers, however, the memory is separate from the processor, and data must be transported back and forth between these two components. The speed of this transfer is limited, which can slow down the whole computer when working with large amounts of data.

Mar 9, 2023

Fresh Understanding of Aging in the Brain Offers Hope for Treating Neurological Diseases

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

Summary: As the brain ages, microglia adopt dysfunctional states that increase the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Source: TCD

Scientists from the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI) have shed new light on aging processes in the brain. By linking the increased presence of specialised immune cells to conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury for the first time, they have unearthed a possible new target for therapies aimed at treating age-related neurological diseases.

Mar 9, 2023

Rewiring the Brain: The Promise and Peril of Neuroplasticity

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Human enhancement has long been depicted as having the potential to help but also harm humanity. Brian Greene talks with Neuroscientists Takao Hensch, John Krakauer and Entrepreneur Brett Wingeier about their experiments using brain plasticity to heal illness, improve cognitive and athletic performance. They also raise warning flags about the race to build a more perfect human.

This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

Continue reading “Rewiring the Brain: The Promise and Peril of Neuroplasticity” »

Mar 8, 2023

The future is now: Elon Musk says Neuralink is ready for human testing

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, Elon Musk, neuroscience, robotics/AI, transhumanism

Elon Musk’s company Neuralink has developed a technology that can link human brains to computers, and according to Musk, it is now ready for human testing. This groundbreaking technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we communicate and interact with machines, and could pave the way for new treatments for neurological disorders. With the announcement that Neuralink is ready for human testing, the future of human-computer integration is closer than ever before.

#neuralink #elonmusk #braincomputerinterface #humanenhancement #neurotechnology #futurismo #transhumanisme #neuroscience #innovation #technews #mindcontrol #cyborgs #neurologicaldisorders #futuretechnology #humanpotential #ai #neuralengineering #brainimplants #humanmachineinterface #brainresearch #brainwavesound

Mar 8, 2023

‘Upload your mind’ or alter genetics: Powerful billionaires are pouring money into life-extending technology — and they just might succeed

Posted by in categories: genetics, life extension, neuroscience

Reverse the aging process and live decades longer? Transfer your brain onto a database and achieve digital immortality? Humans one day may have such options.

Mar 8, 2023

Does God emerge from Boltzmann Brains in the fabric of reality?

Posted by in categories: evolution, neuroscience, quantum physics

The concept of Boltzmann Brain — a self-aware entity that emerges from random fluctuations in the fabric of reality— is intriguing. Perhaps God emerges from the evolution of a cosmic society of Boltzmann Brains?

I am referring to a generic “fabric of reality” but the concept can be formulated more precisely. For example, imagine a conscious, thinking being arising from random quantum fluctuations in the vacuum.

In the delightful “The Gravity Mine” short story, Stephen Baxter imagines the birth of a Boltzmann Brain:

Mar 8, 2023

Computational irreducibility in Wolfram’s digital physics, and free will

Posted by in categories: computing, neuroscience, physics

Rudy Rucker says:

I’m quite happy with this resolution of the conflict between determinism and free will…

Continue reading “Computational irreducibility in Wolfram’s digital physics, and free will” »

Mar 8, 2023

Things I have (sort of) changed my mind on (2): Life and consciousness

Posted by in categories: biological, neuroscience

Here’s another thing I have changed my mind on. Well, sort of. I used to make fun of “vitalism” and trade insults with my favorite archenemy Dale Carrico. Now I must repent or at least add important qualifications.

Vitalism is currently defined by Wikipedia as “the belief that living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things.”

If we eliminate a few words from this definition we are left with a statement that I don’t disagree with:

Mar 8, 2023

Organoid intelligence (OI): the new frontier in biocomputing and intelligence-in-a-dish

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, chemistry, computing, neuroscience

Recent advances in human stem cell-derived brain organoids promise to replicate critical molecular and cellular aspects of learning and memory and possibly aspects of cognition in vitro. Coining the term “organoid intelligence” (OI) to encompass these developments, we present a collaborative program to implement the vision of a multidisciplinary field of OI. This aims to establish OI as a form of genuine biological computing that harnesses brain organoids using scientific and bioengineering advances in an ethically responsible manner. Standardized, 3D, myelinated brain organoids can now be produced with high cell density and enriched levels of glial cells and gene expression critical for learning. Integrated microfluidic perfusion systems can support scalable and durable culturing, and spatiotemporal chemical signaling.

Mar 8, 2023

Modifying messenger RNA may provide a new target for Alzheimer’s disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Reducing the methylation of a key messenger RNA can promote migration of macrophages into the brain and ameliorate symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in a mouse model, according to a new study publishing March 7 in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Rui Zhang of Air Force Medical University in Xian, Shaanxi, China. The results illuminate one pathway for entrance of peripheral immune cells into the brain, and may provide a new target for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

A presumed trigger for the development of Alzheimer’s disease is the accumulation of proteinaceous, extracellular amyloid-beta plaques in the brain. High levels of amyloid-beta in mice leads to neurodegeneration and cognitive symptoms reminiscent of human Alzheimer’s disease, and reduction of amyloid-beta is a major goal in development of new treatments.

One potential pathway for getting rid of amyloid-beta is the of blood-derived into the brain, and their maturation into macrophages, which, along with resident microglia, can consume amyloid-beta. That migration is a complex phenomenon controlled by multiple interacting players, but a potentially important one is the methylation of messenger RNA within the cells.

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