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Category: neuroscience – Page 493

A recent study from researchers at the University of California, Irvine found that the removal of cilia from the striatum region of the brain negatively impacted time perception and judgement, opening the possibility for new therapeutic targets for mental and neurological conditions such as schizophrenia, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, autism spectrum disorder.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder that affects how a person communicates and interacts with others. It is characterized by difficulty with social communication and interaction, as well as repetitive behaviors and interests. ASD can range from mild to severe, and individuals with ASD may have a wide range of abilities and challenges. It is a spectrum disorder because the symptoms and characteristics of ASD can vary widely from person to person. Some people with ASD are highly skilled in certain areas, such as music or math, while others may have significant learning disabilities.

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Year 2022 😗

Experts believe it is destined to become the world’s fifth major cancer treatment after surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy.

The light-activated therapy forces cancer cells to glow in the dark, helping surgeons remove more of the tumours compared with existing techniques – and then kills off remaining cells within minutes once the surgery is complete. In a world-first trial in mice with glioblastoma, one of the most common and aggressive types of brain cancer, scans revealed the novel treatment lit up even the tiniest cancer cells to help surgeons remove them – and then wiped out those left over.

Trials of the new form of photoimmunotherapy, led by the Institute of Cancer Research, London, also showed the treatment triggered an immune response that could prime the immune system to target cancer cells in future, suggesting it could prevent glioblastoma coming back after surgery. Researchers are now also studying the new treatment for the childhood cancer neuroblastoma.

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God, they say, is in the details. But could God also be in our frontal lobes? Every culture from the dawn of humankind has imagined planes of existence beyond the reach of our senses, spiritual domains that shape our Earthly experiences. Why do beliefs of the fantastic hold such powerful sway over our species? Is there something in our evolutionary history that points to an answer? Does neuroscience hold the key? Straddling the gap between science and religion, Brian Greene is joined by renowned neuroscientists, anthropologists, and evolutionary biologists, to explore one of the most profound mysteries of our existence.

PARTICIPANTS: Lisa Barrett, Barbara J. King, Zoran Josipovic, Steven Pinker.

MODERATOR: Brian Greene.

MORE INFO ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND PARTICIPANTS: https://www.worldsciencefestival.com/programs/believing-brai…-instinct/

This program is part of the BIG IDEAS SERIES, made possible with support from the JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION.

- SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel and “ring the bell” for all the latest videos from WSF

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Connectome harmonic decomposition (CHD) generalises the mathematics of the Fourier transform to the network structure of the human brain. The traditional Fourier transform operates in the temporal domain (Fig. 1a): decomposition into temporal harmonics quantifies to what extent the signal varies slowly (low-frequency temporal harmonics) or quickly (high-frequency temporal harmonics) over time (Fig. 1b). Analogously, CHD re-represents a spatial signal in terms of harmonic modes of the human connectome, so that the spatial frequency (granularity) of each connectome harmonic quantifies to what extent the organization of functional brain signals deviates from the organization of the underlying structural network (Fig. 1c, d). Therefore, CHD is fundamentally different from, and complementary to, traditional approaches to functional MRI data analysis. This is because CHD does not view functional brain activity as composed of signals from discrete spatial locations, but rather as composed of contributions from distinct spatial frequencies: each connectome harmonic is a whole-brain pattern with a characteristic spatial scale (granularity)—from an entire hemisphere to just a few millimetres.

On one hand, this means that CHD is unsuitable to address questions pertaining to spatial localisation and the involvement of specific neuroanatomical regions; such questions have been extensively investigated within the traditional framework of viewing brain activity in terms of spatially discrete regions, and several previous studies have implicated specific neuroanatomical regions in supporting consciousness33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49. On the other hand, CHD enables us to consider how brain activity across states of consciousness is shaped by the brain’s distributed network of structural connections, reflecting the contribution of global patterns at different spatial scales—each arising from the network topology of the human connectome. We emphasise that neither approach is inherently superior, but rather they each provide a unique perspective on brain function: one localised, the other distributed.

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CRISPR gene editing created the G795A amino acid which was introduced to microglia derived from human stem cells. Researchers were able to transplant the donor microglia immune cells into humanized rodent models while administering an FDA-approved cancer drug called pexidartinib. The inclusion of the amino acid cause the donated microglia to thrive and resist the drug, while the host microglia died. The findings open the door for new methods of using microglia to treat a range of neurodegenerative disorders.

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(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.

Sections:
00:00 — Intro.
4:30 — Intro 1st block.
11:35 — Pamela Lyon.
33:40 — Luis Puelles.
1:01:30 — Paul Cisek.
1:28:55 — Robert Yang.
1:58:40 — Discussion 1st block.
2:29:10-Intro 2nd block.
2:36:10 — Linda Wilbrecht.
3:02:45 — Ida Momennejad.
3:34:40 — Dayu Lin.
3:57:05 — Anthony Zador.
4:21:55 — Discussion 2nd block.
4:51:15 — Closing remarks.

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/evolving-nns/home

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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

Program:
0:00 Introduction.
3:05 Ben Hayden Intro.
8:35 Lisa Feldman Barrett.
35:50 Q&A Lisa Feldman Barrett.
42:15 Luiz Pessoa.
1:11:10 Q&A Luiz Pessoa.
1:21:15 Barbara Finlay.
1:59:50 Discussion.
2:24:15 Joseph LeDoux.
3:02:50 Q&A Joseph LeDoux.
3:04:15 Paul Cisek.
3:31:45 Q&A Paul Cisek.
3:39:55 Patricia Churchland.
4:17:35 Discussion.

Visit the web for more information:

https://sites.google.com/view/neuroscienceneedsevolution/home.

And follow us in twitter for more events:

Continue reading “Systems Neuroscience Through the Lens of Evolutionary Theory Workshop” | >