Lifeboat Foundation

MIT neuroscientists have published a key new insight on how working memory functions, in a study published in PLOS Computational Biology.

The researchers at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory compared measurements of brain cell activity in an animal performing a working memory task with the output of various computer models representing two theories on the underlying mechanism for holding information in mind.

The results favored the newer theory that a network of neurons stores information by making short-lived changes in the connections, or synapses, between them, rather than the traditional theory that memory is maintained by neurons remaining persistently active.

https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.21.

Community Detection in Brain Connectome using Quantum Annealer Devices:

Continue reading “Community Detection in Brain Connectome using Quantum Annealer Devices #quantum #brain #networks” »

A wild theory suggests that consciousness may explain quantum mechanics, by forcing the subatomic particles to choose one concrete outcome.

A significant step toward improved accessibility.

Neuroscientists from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine developed a new test to identify a sign of Alzheimer’s disease neurodegeneration in a blood sample, according to a press release.

“At present, diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease requires neuroimaging,” said senior author Thomas Karikari, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Pitt.

Continue reading “Neuroscientists developed a blood-based biomarker for Alzheimer’s diagnosis” »

Cognitive science sees the brain as a sort of computer, but how does education redesign these cerebral computers? Cognitive scientist, philosopher, and expert on consciousness Daniel Dennett explains.
Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/0GJa0xKKSOU
Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe.

Buy Daniel Dennet’s most recent book “From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds” — https://geni.us/4pTW46

Continue reading “If Brains are Computers, Who Designs the Software? — with Daniel Dennett” »

Ubik radio ads by Kobi LaCroix. Inspired by the Philip K. Dick novel “Ubik” (1969).

Kobi was nominated for a Logan Award for comedy music for his song “We Are The Vikings.” He was also featured on the Weird Al tribute album “Twenty-Six And A Half.” His music has been featured several times on the Dementia Top Twenty, Dementia Radio, the Mad Music Archive, and Dr. Demento. His website is at www.zencavern.com

Using this approach, researchers can map how light spreads in opaque environments.

Depression is a difficult illness. Not only does it make you feel like crap, but like so many primarily mental illnesses, it also comes with a bucketful of misinformation and misconceptions surrounding it. Even medical specialists, whom you’d expect to be the authorities on the matter, are stumped by some aspects of the disease – the truth is, while humanity may be more informed than ever on matters of the brain, we still really don’t know what’s going on inside of it when it glitches like this.

But that may soon change. Researchers based at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, claim to have developed what they call a “mood decoder” – a way of reading people’s emotional state just from looking at brain activity.

“This is the first demonstration of successful and consistent mood decoding of humans in these brain regions,” Baylor College neurosurgeon and project lead Sameer Sheth told MIT Technology Review. And the best part? The team have also found a way to stimulate a positive mood in patients’ brains.

Anatomical decision-making by cellular collectives: Bioelectrical pattern memories, regeneration, and synthetic living organisms.

A key question for basic biology and regenerative medicine concerns the way in which evolution exploits physics toward adaptive form and function. While genomes specify the molecular hardware of cells, what algorithms enable cellular collectives to reliably build specific, complex, target morphologies? Our lab studies the way in which all cells, not just neurons, communicate as electrical networks that enable scaling of single-cell properties into collective intelligences that solve problems in anatomical feature space. By learning to read, interpret, and write bioelectrical information in vivo, we have identified some novel controls of growth and form that enable incredible plasticity and robustness in anatomical homeostasis. In this talk, I will describe the fundamental knowledge gaps with respect to anatomical plasticity and pattern control beyond emergence, and discuss our efforts to understand large-scale morphological control circuits. I will show examples in embryogenesis, regeneration, cancer, and synthetic living machines. I will also discuss the implications of this work for not only regenerative medicine, but also for fundamental understanding of the origin of bodyplans and the relationship between genomes and functional anatomy.