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Empathy Estimated Using Single-Cell Recordings in Human Brain

Can we measure empathy?

๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐ญ๐ก๐ฒ ๐„๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐”๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐’๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ž-๐‚๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐‘๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐‡๐ฎ๐ฆ๐š๐ง ๐๐ซ๐š๐ข๐ง

๐˜ผ ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™™๐™ฎ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™š๐™‡๐™ž๐™›๐™š ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ก๐™ฎ๐™ฏ๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ž๐™—๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ช๐™ก๐™– ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™–๐™—๐™ž๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ง๐™จ ๐™—๐™ฎ ๐™ง๐™š๐™˜๐™ค๐™ง๐™™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™›๐™ง๐™ค๐™ข ๐™š๐™ก๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ค๐™™๐™š๐™จ ๐™š๐™ข๐™—๐™š๐™™๐™™๐™š๐™™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™๐™ช๐™ข๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™—๐™ง๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™ข๐™š๐™–๐™จ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ช๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ก ๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™™๐™ž๐™ซ๐™ž๐™™๐™ช๐™–๐™ก ๐™˜๐™š๐™ก๐™ก๐™จ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™š๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™ก๐™š๐™ฅ๐™จ๐™ฎ ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™–๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™ซ๐™ž๐™š๐™ฌ๐™š๐™™ ๐™จ๐™๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ ๐™ข๐™ค๐™ซ๐™ž๐™š๐™จ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™จ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ. ๐™๐™๐™š ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™™๐™ฎ ๐™ž๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ซ๐™š๐™จ ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™™๐™ž๐™›๐™›๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™š๐™จ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™šโ€™๐™จ ๐™–๐™—๐™ž๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™š๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™ฏ๐™š ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ง๐™จ, ๐™–๐™จ ๐™ฌ๐™š๐™ก๐™ก ๐™–๐™จ ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™ข๐™š๐™˜๐™๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™จ๐™ข๐™จ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ก๐™–๐™˜๐™  ๐™ค๐™› ๐™š๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™๐™ฎ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™˜๐™š๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ช๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™จ๐™ฎ๐™˜๐™๐™ž๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ž๐™˜ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™™๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ.


Using intracranial electroencephalographic (iEEG) recordings and single-cell recordings from the human insulae in patients with epilepsy who have electrodes embedded in their brains, scientists have analyzed the contribution of the insula in our ability to understand the pain of others. The study improves our understanding of the inherent differences in peopleโ€™s ability to empathize and react to the pain of others, as well as potential mechanisms for the lack of empathy in certain neuropsychiatric conditions.

Nerve Cell Discovery May Lead to Better Treatment for Diseases of the Nervous System

Summary: Findings could have implications for new avenues of research for a range of neurodegenerative diseases including ALS and Alzheimerโ€™s.

Source: University of Bath.

A discovery that may improve treatment options for patients with neurodegenerative diseases has been made by scientists at Kingโ€™s College London and the University of Bath in the UK.

Researchers develop a material that mimics how the brain stores information

Universitat Autรฒnoma de Barcelona (UAB) researchers have developed a magnetic material capable of imitating the way the brain stores information. The material makes it possible to emulate the synapses of neurons and mimic, for the first time, the learning that occurs during deep sleep.

Neuromorphic computing is a new computing paradigm in which the behavior of the brain is emulated by mimicking the main synaptic functions of neurons. Among these functions is neuronal plasticity: the ability to store information or forget it depending on the duration and repetition of the electrical impulses that stimulate neurons, a plasticity that would be linked to learning and memory.

Among the materials that mimic neuron synapses, memresistive materials, ferroelectrics, phase change memory materials, and, more recently, magneto-ionic materials stand out. In the latter, changes in the are induced by the displacement of ions within the material caused by the application of an electric field.

The Future of Consciousness โ€” Andrรฉs Gรณmez Emilsson

Synopsis: In this talk we articulate a positive vision of the future that is both viable given what we know, and also utterly radical in its implications. We introduce two key insights that, when taken together, synergize in powerful ways. Namely, (a) the long-tails of pleasure and pain, and (b) the correlation between wellbeing, productivity, and intelligence. This informs us how to distribute resources if we want to maximize wellbeing. Given the weight of the extremes, it is important to take them into account. But because of the causal significance of more typical hedonic ranges, engineering our baseline is a key consideration. This makes it natural to break down the task of paradise engineering into three components:

Avoid negative extremes.
increase hedonic baseline, and.
achieve new heights of experience.

With regards to : the future of consciousness is anodyne. It lacks extreme suffering in any of its guises. We will see how, if we aim right, a significant proportion of extreme suffering can be prevented with pragmatic technologies already available. Even just applying what we know today would be as significant for the reduction of suffering as the advent of anesthesia was in the context of surgery.

On : the future of consciousness is engaging. From novelty generation to Buddhist annealing, baseline-enhancing interventions will change the way we think of life. It is not only about making everyday fun, but also the economics of it.

And : the future of consciousness is ecstatic. A science of ecstasy will allow us to safely and reliably sample from a wide range of time-tested ultra-blissful peak experiences. A common cause with other sentient beings, and indeed with the interests of consciousness at large, can be forged in the knowledge of such deep experiences.

They give you a genuine, non-sentimental, reason to live. Together, action on these three levels can significantly advance the cause of eliminating suffering and engineering paradise. And our assessment is: there is a lot of low-hanging fruit in this space. Letโ€™s pick it up!

The Gut Microbiome Helps Social Skills Develop in the Brain

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ฎ๐ญ ๐Œ๐ข๐œ๐ซ๐จ๐›๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐‡๐ž๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐’๐จ๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐’๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ซ๐š๐ข๐ง

๐™‰๐™š๐™ฌ ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™š๐™–๐™ง๐™˜๐™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™›๐™ž๐™จ๐™ ๐™จ๐™ช๐™œ๐™œ๐™š๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™œ๐™ช๐™ฉ ๐™ข๐™ž๐™˜๐™ง๐™ค๐™—๐™š๐™จ ๐™˜๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™๐™–๐™ซ๐™š ๐™– ๐™˜๐™ง๐™ช๐™˜๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™š๐™–๐™ง๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™›๐™ก๐™ช๐™š๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™š ๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™—๐™ง๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃโ€™๐™จ ๐™จ๐™ค๐™˜๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™™๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ก๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ.


New research in fish suggests that gut microbes can have a crucial early influence on the brainโ€™s social development.