Feb 25, 2023
Why we can dream in more than one language
Posted by Dan Breeden in category: neuroscience
Sleep has a more powerful role in language-learning than was previously thought. What does this reveal about our night-time brain?
Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 318
Feb 25, 2023
A new epigenetic brain defense against recurrence of opioid use
Posted by Michael Taylor in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience
Substance use disorder (SUD) is an extremely difficult disorder to overcome, and many individuals with SUD return to regular use after repeated attempts to quit.
A return to regular drug use can be caused by the body’s physical dependence on the drug as well as experiences associated with prior drug use. Exactly how these drug associations are formed in the brain and how they trigger a return to drug use remain unclear.
“Individuals make long-lasting associations between the euphoric experience of the drug and the people, places and things associated with drug use,” said Christopher Cowan, Ph.D. professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and member of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Scientific Council.
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Feb 25, 2023
Synthetic hydrogels enable neuronal tissue growth in areas of brain damage
Posted by Dan Breeden in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
Synthetic hydrogels were shown to provide an effective scaffold for neuronal tissue growth in areas of brain damage, providing a possible approach for brain tissue reconstruction.
While growing brains may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, a cross-disciplinary team of researchers at Hokkaido University have made a step in that direction. They used hydrogel materials, in combination with neural stem cells, to grow new brain tissue. This is important since, when tissue in our brain is damaged, the neuronal tissue does not have the same regenerative capacity as other parts of our body such as skin.
The first step for researchers was to develop a hydrogel material in which neural stem cells could survive. They found that a neutral gel made with equal parts positively and negatively charged monomers resulted in the best cell adhesion. Researchers then adjusted the ratios of crosslinker molecules to achieve a stiffness similar to that of brain tissue; pores were then created in the gel in which cells could be cultured.
Genes cells and brain areas of intelligence.
Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again!
Feb 25, 2023
How scientists made this rat the oldest living lab rat — E5 rejuvenation?
Posted by Montie Adkins in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, life extension, neuroscience
Talking about E5.
Rats are also useful for aging research and for cooking ratatouille. But in all seriousness, take a look at this recent headline article — “We have the oldest living female Sprague Dawley rat,” said Dr Harold Katcher, a former biology professor at the University of Maryland, now chief scientific officer at Yuvan Research, a California-based startup.
Continue reading “How scientists made this rat the oldest living lab rat — E5 rejuvenation?” »
Feb 25, 2023
How Your Thoughts Change Your Brain, Cells, and Genes
Posted by Dan Breeden in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, neuroscience
Every minute of every day, your body is physically reacting, literally changing, in response to the thoughts that run through your mind.
It’s been proven over and over again that just thinking about something causes your brain to release neurotransmitters, chemical messengers that allow it to communicate with parts of itself and your nervous system. Neurotransmitters control virtually all of your body’s functions, from hormones to digestion to feeling happy, sad, or stressed.
Studies have shown that thoughts alone can improve vision, fitness, and strength. The placebo effect, as observed with fake operations and sham drugs, for example, works because of the power of thought. Expectancies and learned associations have been shown to change brain chemistry and circuitry which results in real physiological and cognitive outcomes, such as less fatigue, lower immune system reaction, elevated hormone levels, and reduced anxiety.
Feb 25, 2023
Transhumanism in the Age of ChatGPT: Five Thoughts from Transhumanist Zoltan Istavan
Posted by Zoltan Istvan in categories: biotech/medical, ethics, life extension, neuroscience, robotics/AI, singularity, transhumanism
Here’s a new story on my AI & ChatGPT ideas from Singularity Group (Singularity University). Special thanks Steven Parton & Valeria Graziani:
In episode 90 of the Feedback Loop Podcast: “The Current State of Transhumanism,” we catch up with one of our first guests on the show, çΩΩ≈ΩΩ
The swift progress in biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), and neuroscience has been a significant contributor to the growth of transhumanism. Nevertheless, despite the increasing interest in this field, many remain apprehensive about the consequences of employing technology to augment the human body and mind. Ongoing discussions revolve around the ethics of creating superhumans, the possible hazards of artificial intelligence, and the potential societal impact of these technologies.
Feb 25, 2023
How inflammation in the body may explain depression in the brain
Posted by Quinn Sena in category: neuroscience
Inflammation is a pathway to depression — and a potential avenue for treatment, research suggests.
Feb 25, 2023
Significance of mathematical modeling in understanding complex biological processes
Posted by Jose Ruben Rodriguez Fuentes in categories: biological, information science, mathematics, neuroscience
Humans and animals detect different stimuli such as light, sound, and odor through nerve cells, which then transmit the information to the brain. Nerve cells must be able to adjust to the wide range of stimuli they receive, which can range from very weak to very strong. To do this, they may become more or less sensitive to stimuli (sensitization and habituation), or they may become more sensitive to weaker stimuli and less sensitive to stronger stimuli for better overall responsiveness (gain control). However, the exact way this happens is not yet understood.
To better understand the process of gain control, a research team led by Professor Kimura at Nagoya City University in Japan studied the roundworm C. elegans. They found that, when the worm first smells an unpleasant odor, its nerve cells exhibit a large, quickly increasing, and continuous response to both weak and strong stimuli. However, after exposure to the odor, the response is smaller and slower to weak stimuli but remains large to strong stimuli, similar to the response to the first exposure to the odor. Because the experience of odor exposure causes more efficient movement of worms away from the odor, the nerve cells have changed their response to better adapt to the stimulus using gain control.
Then the researchers used mathematical modeling to understand this process. Mathematical modeling is a powerful tool that can be used to better understand complex biological processes. They found that the “response to first smell” consists of fast and slow components, while the “response after exposure” only consists of the slow component, meaning that the odor experience inhibits the fast component to achieve gain control. They further found that both responses could be described by a simple differential equation and that the slow and fast components correspond to the leaky integration of a first and second derivative term of the odor concentration that the worm senses, respectively. The results of this study showed that the prior odor experience only appears to inhibit the mechanism required for the fast component.
