Lifeboat Foundation

Physical exercise is great for a mouse’s brain, and for yours. Numerous studies conducted in mice, humans and laboratory glassware have made this clear. Now, a new study shows it’s possible to transfer the brain benefits enjoyed by marathon-running mice to their couch-potato peers.

Stanford School of Medicine researchers have shown that blood from young adult mice that are getting lots of exercise benefits the brains of same-aged, sedentary mice. A single protein in the blood of exercising mice seems largely responsible for that benefit.

The discovery could open the door to treatments that—by taming brain inflammation in people who don’t get much exercise—lower their risk of neurodegenerative disease or slow its progression.

Researchers from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and Saratov State University have come up with an inexpensive method for visualizing blood flow in the brain. The new technique is so precise it discerns the motions of individual red blood cells — all without the use of toxic dyeing agents or expensive genetic engineering. The study was published in The European Physical Journal Plus.

To understand more about how the brain’s blood supply works, researchers map its blood vessel networks. The resulting visualizations can rely on a variety of methods. One highly precise technique involves injecting fluorescent dyes into the blood flow and detecting the infrared light they emit. The problem with dyes is they are toxic and also may distort mapping results by affecting the vessels. Alternatively, researchers employ genetically modified animals, whose interior lining of blood vessels is engineered to give off light with no foreign substances involved. Both methods are very expensive, though.

Researchers from Skoltech and Saratov State University have devised an inexpensive method for visualizing even the smallest capillaries in the brain. The method — which integrates optical microscopy and image processing — is dye-free and very fine-grained, owing to its ability to detect each and every red blood cell travelling along a blood vessel. Since the number of RBCs in capillaries is not that high, every cell counts, so this is an important advantage over other methods, including dye-free ones.

Harvard University on Tuesday launched the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence, a new University-wide initiative standing at the intersection of neuroscience and artificial intelligence, seeking fundamental principles that underlie both human and machine intelligence. The fruits of discoveries will flow in both directions, enhancing understanding of how humans think, perceive the world around them, make decisions, and learn, thereby advancing the rapidly evolving field of AI.

The institute will be funded by a $500 million gift from Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, which was announced Tuesday by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The gift will support 10 new faculty appointments, significant new computing infrastructure, and resources to allow students to flow between labs in pursuit of ideas and knowledge. The institute’s name honors Zuckerberg’s mother, Karen Kempner Zuckerberg, and her parents — Zuckerberg’s grandparents — Sidney and Gertrude Kempner. Chan and Zuckerberg have given generously to Harvard in the past, supporting students, faculty, and researchers in a range of areas, including around public service, literacy, and cures.

“The Kempner Institute at Harvard represents a remarkable opportunity to bring together approaches and expertise in biological and cognitive science with machine learning, statistics, and computer science to make real progress in understanding how the human brain works to improve how we address disease, create new therapies, and advance our understanding of the human body and the world more broadly,” said President Larry Bacow.

Elon Musk says Neuralink is just waiting on FDA approval for its first human trials, which will be conducted among those with severe spinal injuries. Musk said he is sure the chip will help them walk.

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Summary: A ten-minute run increases activation of the bilateral prefrontal cortex, improving mood and cognitive function.

Source: University of Tsukuba

Running may be a useful activity to undertake for better mental health. University of Tsukuba researchers have found that only ten minutes of moderate-intensity running increases local blood flow to the various loci in the bilateral prefrontal cortex —the part of the brain that plays an important role in controlling mood and executive functions.

Are we there already?

Less than a year has passed since we saw Pager play Ping-Pong using Neuralink. The company’s owner, Elon Musk has now said that he is confident of testing the chip in humans next year.

Founded in July 2016, the company is busy building an implantable chip that will allow the human brain to interact with computers directly. The company made headlines when its experimental macaque played Ping-Pong telepathically, without the help of a joystick. The company seems to have made rapid progress in its technology since its founder is quite optimistic about human testing.

Continue reading “Elon Musk Says It Is Possible to Test Neuralink on Humans Next Year” »

What if the next global health crisis is a mental health pandemic? It is here now.

According to Gallup, anger, stress, worry and sadness have been on the rise globally for the past decade — long before the COVID-19 pandemic — and all reached record highs in 2020.

People die from COVID-19 — they also die from depression and anxiety disorders. The U.S. has seen spikes in deaths from suicide and “deaths of despair.”

Continue reading “The Next Global Pandemic: Mental Health” »

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝘼𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚.

𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲:

Continue reading “The Placebo Effect and God May Live in the Same Brain Region” »