Neuroscience – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Mar 23
2023

Telomere shortening—a sign of cellular aging—linked to signs of Alzheimer’s in brain scans

Changes in the brain caused by Alzheimer’s disease are associated with shortening of the telomeres—the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that shorten as cells age—according to a new study led by Anya Topiwala of Oxford Population Health, part of the University of Oxford, UK, published March 22 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

Telomeres on chromosomes protect DNA from degrading, but every time a cell divides, the telomeres lose some of their length. Short telomeres are a sign of stress and cellular aging, and are also associated with a higher risk of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Currently, little is known about the links between telomere length and changes that occur in the brains of people with neurological conditions. Understanding those relationships could offer insights into the biological mechanisms that cause neurodegenerative disorders.

In the new study, researchers compared telomere length in white blood cells to results from brain MRIs and electronic health records from more than 31,000 participants in the UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical database and research resource containing anonymized genetic, lifestyle and health information from half a million UK participants.

Mar 22
2023

Growing Neurons to Heal Brain Damage

Watch as primordial neural cells dance across, grow into, and even move 3D scaffolds engineered to heal brain injury from stroke and other trauma. Decorating the scaffold with various nutrients and biochemical signals allow researchers to control what types of brain tissues they become.

Mar 22
2023

Experts Warn: Brain-Computer Interfaces Will Usher In the Singularity

A pair of philosophers sounded the alarm on the dystopian applications they see being ushered in by brain-computer interface (BCI) technology.

Mar 22
2023

New ‘biohybrid’ implant will restore function in paralyzed limbs

“This interface could revolutionize the way we interact with technology.”

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have created a new type of neural implant that could restore limb function in paralyzed limbs.

There have been former attempts at using neural implants to restore limb function, but these mostly failed. This is because scar tissue can envelop the electrodes over time, disrupting the connection between the device and the nerve.

University of Cambridge.

The developed device works in sync between the brain and paralyzed limbs — it combines flexible electronics and human stem cells to “better integrate” with the nerve and drive limb function, according to a press release.

Mar 22
2023

What if a brain was given technology?

What if you could control a device, not with your hand, but with your mind? Physician and entrepreneur Tom Oxley talks about the implantable brain-computer interface that can change the way we think.

Mar 22
2023

NDERF Home Page

Near Death Experience Research Foundation the largest collection of Near Death Experiences (NDE) in over 23 Languages. With thousands of full-text near death experiences posted. Share your near death experience, research, spiritually transforming events, consciousness studies, extensive information and research.

Mar 22
2023

Place cells: How your brain creates maps of abstract spaces

In this video, we will explore the positional system of the brain — hippocampal place cells. We will see how it relates to contextual memory and mapping of more abstract features.

OUTLINE:
00:00 Introduction.
00:53 Hippocampus.
1:27 Discovery of place cells.
2:56 3D navigation.
3:51 Role of place cells.
4:11 Virtual reality experiment.
7:47 Remapping.
11:17 Mapping of non-spatial dimension.
13:36 Conclusion.

_____________
REFERENCES:

1) Anderson, M.I., Jeffery, K.J., 2003. Heterogeneous Modulation of Place Cell Firing by Changes in Context. J. Neurosci. 23, 8827–8835. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-26-08827.

2) Aronov, D., Nevers, R., Tank, D.W., 2017. Mapping of a non-spatial dimension by the hippocampal–entorhinal circuit. Nature 543719–722. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21692

3) Bostock, E., Muller, R.U., Kubie, J.L., 1991. Experience-dependent modifications of hippocampal place cell firing. Hippocampus 1193-205. https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.

Continue reading “Place cells: How your brain creates maps of abstract spaces” | >

Mar 21
2023

Immune signals that contribute to addiction vulnerability identified in the brain

For individuals suffering from drug addiction, certain cues—whether it’s specific people, places or things—can trigger powerful cravings for repeated use.

A new University of Michigan study has identified brain signals, traditionally associated with inflammation, contributing to people’s vulnerability to addiction. With repeated drug use with the same exposure to cues, some individuals develop an inability to control their drug use, even in the face of negative consequences.

The study is published in the journal eNeuro.

Mar 21
2023

Wearable microscopes show HD images of pain processed

The study authors claim their microscope can provide colored real-time images of hard-to-reach parts of the spinal cord that couldn’t be accessed previously.

Pain is a powerful feeling but have you ever wondered how pain works on a cellular level? Well, a team of scientists at the San Diego-based Salk Insitute has actually figured out a way to see the internal neural mechanism associated with pain.

In their recently published study, they propose wearable microscopes using which they were able to check how nerve cells in the spinal cord of mice process pain signals.

Salk Institute.

Mar 21
2023

Scientists unlock effect of psychedelic drug DMT on the human brain

The powerful psychedelic can give you a near-death experience. Here is how it affects your brain on the inside.

Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, is a powerful psychedelic whose effect on the human brain lasts for only some minutes, but in that short span of time, the user experiences some high-level mental changes.

The researchers examined the brain activity of the participants before, during, and after the DMT test. Here is what they found.

Agsandrew/iStock.

For the first time, a team of researchers from the Imperial College of London has monitored these changes in detail. They administered a high dose of DMT to 20 healthy individuals who voluntarily participated in their study.