Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 673
Apr 4, 2020
If Your Brain Were Cut in Half, Would You Still Be One Person?
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: neuroscience
The implications of split-brain research have been widely debated. Scientists and philosophers have long argued over what is known as the mind-body quandary, the relationship between our mind and the physical brain. Some scientists saw the work of Sperry and others as supporting the notion that the brain operates almost entirely mechanically, and that consciousness, reasoning and free will have almost no effect. But Sperry strongly felt otherwise…
What this meant to Sperry was that free will, and responsibility, were no illusion. “It is possible to see today,” he believed, “an objective, explanatory model of brain function that neither contradicts nor degrades but rather affirms age-old humanist values, ideals, and meaning in human endeavor.”
It’s fair to say that the true significance of the split-brain experiments goes far beyond the significance of the lateralization of the brain; it also points to the immaterial nature of the mind.
Apr 4, 2020
The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience
The human cerebral cortex is important for cognition, and it is of interest to see how genetic variants affect its structure. Grasby et al. combined genetic data with brain magnetic resonance imaging from more than 50,000 people to generate a genome-wide analysis of how human genetic variation influences human cortical surface area and thickness. From this analysis, they identified variants associated with cortical structure, some of which affect signaling and gene expression. They observed overlap between genetic loci affecting cortical structure, brain development, and neuropsychiatric disease, and the correlation between these phenotypes is of interest for further study.
Science, this issue p. eaay6690.
Apr 4, 2020
Sleep apnea linked with Alzheimer’s–like changes to the brain
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
A recent study published in JAMA Neurology identifies certain neurological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease in the brains of older adults with sleep apnea.
Apr 3, 2020
‘Rebooting the brain’: Our fight to bring people back from the dead
Posted by Lola Heavey in categories: biotech/medical, computing, neuroscience
Studies of hibernating animals suggest that the molecular and synaptic integrity of neurons in the cerebral cortex that underlie self and consciousness is maintained in many cases when from the outside the brain appears dead.
A striking feature of medicine over the past few centuries has been our growing ability to bring people back from the “dead.” For most of human history, patients who were unconscious and not breathing were treated as though they had died. But the concept of resuscitation emerged as doctors grew to understand the basic function of the lungs and airways. That led to new techniques and tools capable of restoring both breathing and heartbeat — and the realization that cardiac arrest was not always a death sentence. That, in turn, gave rise to a distinction between what’s now called clinical death versus brain death.
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Apr 3, 2020
How Brain Implants Could Give Us Superhuman Abilities
Posted by Paul Battista in category: neuroscience
Brain implants are neural implants that are used to stimulate the parts & structures of the nervous system. These implants are technical systems that communicate with the nervous system and help to enhance senses, physical movement, and memory after a stroke or other head injuries. Deep brain stimulation and spinal cord stimulation are used to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and epilepsy, among other neural disorders.
Technology has touched all aspects of our lives in this 21st century world that we live in and has, in fact, become an integral part of our lives. So much so that we start feeling incomplete as soon as we manage to get away from it.
No doubt, it has enhanced our lives in many different ways and today we can do things that we couldn’t have even imagined a few decades ago. I mean, sending a text to someone half way around the world in an instant? Almost feels like magic, doesn’t it?
Apr 3, 2020
COVID-19–associated Acute Hemorrhagic Necrotizing Encephalopathy: CT and MRI Features
Posted by Nicholi Avery in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
This is the first reported case of COVID-19–associated acute necrotizing hemorrhagic encephalopathy. As the number of patients with COVID-19 increases worldwide, clinicians and radiologists should be watching for this presentation among patients presenting with COVID-19 and altered mental status.
Home Radiology Recently Published PreviousNext Reviews and CommentaryFree AccessImages in Radiology COVID-19–associated Acute Hemorrhagic Necrotizing Encephalopathy: CT and MRI FeaturesNeo Poyiadji, Gassan Shahin, Daniel Noujaim, Michael Stone, Suresh Patel, Brent Griffith Neo Poyiadji, Gassan S…
Apr 3, 2020
Scientists Discover New Neurodegenerative Disorder That May Provide Clues to Alzheimer’s
Posted by Nicholi Avery in categories: biotech/medical, food, genetics, neuroscience
Dr. Susan White and her genetics team treated two triplets from a family who had an undiagnosed neurodegenerative disorder in 2014. After one year of age, the children’s developmental skills declined. They lost visual coordination. Feeding and swallowing food became impossible. The children developed intractable seizures.
Exactly what led to their neurodegeneration was a mystery.
“As you can imagine, that was just a horrendous experience for their family and we suspected a genetic condition because of that pattern of problems occurring in both children,” White, an associate professor at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and Victorian Clinical Genetics Services (VCGS), said in an interview with Being Patient.
Apr 3, 2020
Disembodied pig brains revived: Your questions answered
Posted by Paul Battista in categories: cryonics, life extension, neuroscience
From consciousness to cryonics, Nature’s news team answers reader questions about a remarkable piece of research.
Apr 2, 2020
Our brains as hard drives – could we delete, modify or add memories and skills?
Posted by Lola Heavey in categories: computing, genetics, neuroscience, virtual reality
Given the rapid development of virtual reality technology, we may very well be moving toward a time when we’re able to manage the brain’s memories.
Could we develop a similar capability? That may depend heavily upon a handful of ambitious attempts at brain-computer interfacing. But science is moving in baby steps with other tactics in both laboratory animals and humans.
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