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Mapping the brain to understand the mind

๐™‰๐™š๐™ช๐™ง๐™ค๐™จ๐™˜๐™ž๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™๐™–๐™ซ๐™š ๐™ก๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™–๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™ง๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ž๐™—๐™ก๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™š๐™จ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™™. ๐™Š๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ข๐™ค๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™จ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š๐™™ ๐™˜๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™—๐™ง๐™–๐™ก ๐™ฆ๐™ช๐™–๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™š๐™จ, ๐™ก๐™ž๐™ ๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™–๐™—๐™ž๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ , ๐™ฌ๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™š๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ฎ, ๐™›๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ก๐™ค๐™ซ๐™š ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ซ๐™ž๐™จ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™– ๐™๐™ž๐™œ๐™๐™š๐™ง ๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™–๐™ก ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™ก๐™ข, ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™œ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ง๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™—๐™ง๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ. ๐˜ฝ๐™ช๐™ฉ ๐™๐™ค๐™ฌ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™จ๐™ฆ๐™ช๐™ž๐™จ๐™๐™ฎ, ๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ ๐™ž๐™จ๐™-๐™œ๐™ง๐™–๐™ฎ, ๐™ฌ๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ ๐™กโ€ฆ See more.

The Neuro-Network.

๐Œ๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐›๐ซ๐š๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐

๐™‰๐™š๐™ฌ ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™˜๐™๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ก๐™ค๐™œ๐™ฎ ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™–๐™—๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ช๐™ง๐™ค๐™จ๐™˜๐™ž๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ข๐™–๐™ ๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™จ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™™๐™š๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ž๐™ก๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™™๐™ž๐™–๐™œ๐™ง๐™–๐™ข๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ช๐™ก๐™™ ๐™ฎ๐™ž๐™š๐™ก๐™™ ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ฌ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ž๐™œ๐™๐™ฉ๐™จ โ€ฆ See more.


New technology is enabling neuroscientists to make increasingly detailed wiring diagrams that could yield new insights into brain function.

By Monique Brouillette.

Scientists Find an Enzyme That May Stop Brain Activity Getting Out of Control

Our brains are awash with various unsung chemical heroes, making sure the electrical signals traveling all over the place donโ€™t get out of control.

A new mouse study has now detailed the function of a pair of proteins vital to maintaining this balance โ€“ this could help us better understand a range of neurological disorders from epilepsy to schizophrenia.

The two proteins โ€“ Rab3-interacting molecule 1 (RIM1) and an enzyme called serine arginine protein kinase 2 (SRPK2) โ€“ work together to modify the transmission of information across the gaps between nerves called synapses.

Will Rising Gas Prices Speed Up the Transition To A Zero-Emission Future?

Please welcome a second posting here at 21st Century Tech Blog, from Katie Brenneman. Katieโ€™s previous contribution looked at how individuals can practice sustainability to mitigate the threat of climate change. Her many interests include writing on lifestyle, mental health, and sustainability. You can follow her on Twitter.

In this contribution, Katie has chosen a timely topic: the increasing consumer interest in electric vehicles (EVs). The recent stratospheric rise in gasoline and diesel prices because of Russiaโ€™s invasion of Ukraine has made EVs far more attractive. That plus more announcements about new EV models, i.e., The Ford Lightning (an EV version of the F-150) may prove to be the moment when North Americans begin a rapid move away from fossil-fuel-powered vehicles?

As fuel prices continue to rise around the world, many consumers are taking another look at EVs as a potential solution for their transportation needs. This follows historical trends that show whenever there is a spike in gas and diesel costs it is accompanied by an increase in EV sales. Online searches for EVs continue to double with many in the renewable energy sector wondering if this is the watershed moment that will finally move us to take zero-emission actions seriously.

An ocean in your brain: Interacting brain waves key to how we process information

For years, the brain has been thought of as a biological computer that processes information through traditional circuits, whereby data zips straight from one cell to another. While that model is still accurate, a new study led by Salk Professor Thomas Albright and Staff Scientist Sergei Gepshtein shows that thereโ€™s also a second, very different way that the brain parses information: through the interactions of waves of neural activity. The findings, published in Science Advances on April 22, 2022, help researchers better understand how the brain processes information.

โ€œWe now have a new understanding of how the computational machinery of the brain is working,โ€ says Albright, the Conrad T. Prebys Chair in Vision Research and director of Salkโ€™s Vision Center Laboratory. โ€œThe model helps explain how the brainโ€™s underlying state can change, affecting peopleโ€™s attention, focus, or ability to process information.โ€

Researchers have long known that waves of electrical activity exist in the brain, both during sleep and wakefulness. But the underlying theories as to how the brain processes informationโ€”particularly , like the sight of a light or the sound of a bellโ€”have revolved around information being detected by specialized and then shuttled from one neuron to the next like a relay.

For Neurons, Where They Begin Isnโ€™t Necessarily Where They End

Summary: A new study sheds light on the movement of neurons throughout the brain during fetal development. Researchers also found the two hemispheres of the human cortex separated earlier in development than previously thought.

Source: UCSD

The making of a human brain remains a mostly mysterious process that races from an embryonic neural tube to more than 100 billion interconnected neurons in the brain of a newborn.

Interacting Brain Waves Key to How We Process Information

Summary: Study reveals the different ways the brain parses information through interactions of waves of neural activity.

Source: Salk Institute.

For years, the brain has been thought of as a biological computer that processes information through traditional circuits, whereby data zips straight from one cell to another. While that model is still accurate, a new study led by Salk Professor Thomas Albright and Staff Scientist Sergei Gepshtein shows that thereโ€™s also a second, very different way that the brain parses information: through the interactions of waves of neural activity.

Quantum Physics of Consciousness

Are quantum events required for consciousness in a very special sense, far beyond the general sense that quantum events are part of all physical systems? What would it take for quantum events, on such a micro-scale, to be relevant for brain function, which operates at the much higher level of neurons and brain circuits? What would it mean?

Free access to Closer to Truthโ€™s library of 5,000 videos: http://bit.ly/376lkKN

Watch more interviews on the Quantum Physics of Consciousness: https://bit.ly/37xFvYm.

Menas Kafatos is a physicist and the Director of the Center of Excellence and has served as Founding Dean, Schmid College of Science & Technology at Chapman University.

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Closer to Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the worldโ€™s greatest thinkers exploring humanityโ€™s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

Feeling Sensations, Including Ones Connected to Sadness, May Be Key to Depression Recovery

Summary: Suppressing or blocking out physical sensations related to emotions such as sadness can hinder recovery from depression symptoms and may cause a relapse into depression.

Source: University of Toronto.

The physical sensations that accompany sadness can feel as undesirable as they are intenseโ€”a constriction of the chest, watery eyes and a raw throat, to name a few.