Lifeboat Foundation

(see below for links to each of the sections)

The goal of the Evolving Neural Networks workshop is to bring together experts from Systems and Computational Neuroscience, Machine Learning and the Evo-Devo field to discuss if and how knowing the evolutionary history of neural circuits can help us understand the way the brain works, as well as the relative importance of learned VS innate neural mechanisms.

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The workshop discusses the recent issue Systems Neuroscience Through The Lens of Evolutionary Theory edited by Paul Cisek and Ben Hayden published by the Royal Society:

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/2022/377/1844

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Chinese scientists in a 10-year study found that people who adhered to the special six rules, the risk of dementia decreased by 90%. Even with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease. The study involved 29 thousand people over 60 years of age, who were divided into three groups.

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Persons with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) often engage in video gaming, one of the most common leisure activity in this population. Escapism, aimed at the avoidance of negative experiences or self-development, is considered as one of the main gaming motivations. Furthermore, escapism is a self-regulatory strategy used while suffering from autistic burnout, consisting of exhaustion, reduced social skills, anhedonia, and withdrawal. The goal of the current study was to determine predictors of escapism in video gaming among adult gamers with ASC. It was hypothesized that two types of escapism – self-suppression and self-expansion – would differentiate gaming motivations, affective outcomes, anhedonia, and autistic burnout rates. A total of 189 persons participated in the study (M_age = 27.52, SD_age = 7.25), including 105 females. The results obtained indicated that self-suppression escapism was predicted by introjected regulation, positive and negative affect, and hedonic tone (F = 8.760, p < .001), while self-expansion was predicted by identified and integrated gaming motivations, hedonic tone, and positive affect (F = 23.066, p < .001). PLS-SEM analysis revealed good fit of the model with autistic burnout predicting self-suppression escapism. These results acknowledge the two-dimensional approach to escapism and highlight potential risk factors of self-suppression, especially among persons presenting symptoms of autistic burnout. Future research and clinical application directions are outlined.

Some philosophers search for the mark of the cognitive: a set of individually necessary and jointly suΜcient conditions identifying all and only the instances of cognition. They claim the mark is necessary to answer diΜcult questions concerning the nature and distribution of cognition.

Here, I will argue that, as things stand, given the current landscape of cognitive science, we are not able to identify a mark of the cognitive. I proceed as follows. First, I clarify some factors motivating the search for the mark of the cognitive, thereby highlighting the desiderata the mark is supposed to satisfy. Then, I highlight a tension in the literature over the mark. Given the literature, it is not clear whether the search aims for a mark capturing the intuitive notion of cognition or a genuine scientiΞc kind.

Researchers have been working for many years to comprehend the relationship between brain structure, functional connectivity, and intelligence. A recent study provides the most comprehensive understanding to date of how different regions of the brain and neural networks contribute to a person’s problem-solving ability in a variety of contexts, a trait known as general intelligence.

The researchers recently published their findings in the journal Human Brain Mapping.

The research, led by Aron Barbey, a professor of psychology, bioengineering, and neuroscience at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and first author Evan Anderson, a researcher for Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. working at the Air Force Research Laboratory, employed the technique of “connectome-based predictive modeling” to evaluate five theories on how the brain leads to intelligence.

Scientists have developed a minuscule brain implant smaller than a human hair which allows people to control computers with their minds. The chip is developed by Precision Neuroscience and works along similar principles to those of Elon Musk’s Neuralink company, though the Precision chip sits on the brain rather than in the tissue.

Summary: Injecting the brain molecule into mouse models of multiple sclerosis increased the number of oligodendrocytes. The findings suggest fractalkine may help to slow the progression, or potentially halt multiple sclerosis.

Source: University of Alberta.

A University of Alberta researcher is one step closer to demonstrating the potential of a brain molecule called fractalkine to halt and even reverse the effects of multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Its impressive how adaptive the brain is to each situation. It can sense which portions of the brain need more blood flow depending on energy usage and makes the needed tiny adjustments.

Summary: Researchers identified a specific type of cell that sits on top of the brain’s smallest blood vessels that sense when their region of the brain is in need of energy.

Source: University of Maryland

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