Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 717
Jun 7, 2019
Life — after life: Does consciousness continue after our brain dies?
Posted by Paul Battista in category: neuroscience
How can people brought back from death after cardiac arrest report having experienced lucid and vivid memories and recollections without a functioning brain? The study of near-death experiences is challenging the idea our consciousness fades to black when our body expires.
Jun 7, 2019
How old are your organs? To scientists’ surprise, organs are a mix of young and old cells
Posted by Paul Battista in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, neuroscience
LA JOLLA—(June 6, 2019) Scientists once thought that neurons, or possibly heart cells, were the oldest cells in the body. Now, Salk Institute researchers have discovered that the mouse brain, liver and pancreas contain populations of cells and proteins with extremely long lifespans—some as old as neurons. The findings, demonstrating “age mosaicism,” were published in Cell Metabolism on June 6, 2019. The team’s methods could be applied to nearly any tissue in the body to provide valuable information about lifelong function of non-dividing cells and how cells lose control over the quality and integrity of proteins and important cell structures during aging.
Jun 7, 2019
The Next Big Phones Could Bring a Billion People Online
Posted by Derick Lee in categories: internet, mobile phones, neuroscience
Nowhere is that clearer than in Africa, which has the world’s lowest share of people using the internet, under 25%. The cohort of 800 million offline people spread across the continent’s 54 countries is younger and growing faster than most, but incomes are lower and a larger share of residents live in rural areas that are tough to wire for internet access—or, for that matter, electricity. Now, however, a handful of phone purveyors are trying in greater earnest to nudge internet-ready upgrades into African markets, with models designed with an eye toward rural priorities (first those of rural India, where they’re already hits), rather than battered thirdhand flip phones from the heyday of the Spice Girls.
About half of humanity don’t have internet access, and a lot of those people are in Africa. Enter a $20 device with smartphone brains and a five-day battery.
Jun 6, 2019
The Crucial Role of Brain Simulation in Future Neuroscience
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: futurism, neuroscience
“Do we have a chance of ever understanding brain function without brain simulations?” So asked the Human Brain Project (HBP), the brainchild of Henry Markram, in a new paper in the prestigious journal Neuron.
The key, the team argued, is to consider brain simulators in the vein of calculus for Newton’s laws—not as specific ideas of how the brain works, but rather as a programming language that can execute many candidate neural models, or programs, now and in the future. When viewed not as a vanity project, but rather as the way forward to understand—and eventually imitate—higher brain functions, the response to brain simulation is a resounding yes.
Because of the brain’s complexity and chaotic nature, the authors argue, rather than reining in simulation efforts, we need to ramp up and develop multiple “brain-simulation engines” with varying levels of detail.
Continue reading “The Crucial Role of Brain Simulation in Future Neuroscience” »
Jun 6, 2019
Scientists identify gene that helps people live to a ripe old age
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience
Researchers at Amsterdam’s UMC have identified a rare gene that halves people’s chances of developing dementia in old age.
People with the genetic variant, which occurs in around 1% of the population, are also more likely to live longer. The researchers studied 16 different sample populations in Europe and North America, including a number of people over the age of 100, for the study published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica.
The discovery could potentially be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative illnesses such as frontotemporal and Lewy body dementia.
Continue reading “Scientists identify gene that helps people live to a ripe old age” »
Jun 5, 2019
China Has Released A Computer Chip That ‘Talks’ To Your Brain
Posted by Paul Battista in categories: computing, neuroscience
Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) promise to allow communication between brains and computer devices. The “Brain Talker” is a new model that looks set to make the technology go mainstream.
Jun 5, 2019
Pfizer had clues its blockbuster drug could prevent Alzheimer’s but kept it secret
Posted by Paul Battista in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
Why didn’t it tell the world? Drug companies frequently have been pilloried for not fully disclosing negative side effects of their drugs. What happens when the opposite is the case?
A team of researchers inside Pfizer made a startling find in 2015: The company’s blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis therapy Enbrel, a powerful anti-inflammatory drug, appeared to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 64 percent.
The results were from an analysis of hundreds of thousands of insurance claims. Verifying that the drug would actually have that effect in people would require a costly clinical trial — and after several years of internal discussion, Pfizer opted against further investigation and chose not to make the data public, the company confirmed.
Jun 5, 2019
Death redefined: how pig brain function was restored after slaughter
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: neuroscience
Brain death isn’t the end… at least, not for the slaughtered pigs who had their brains revived, thanks a new technique.
Jun 4, 2019
Bill Andrews — Gene Editing, Stem Cells, NAD, Parabiosis, Senolytics
Posted by Montie Adkins in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, neuroscience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-5o980D9QM&feature=share
I didn’t know Bill Andrews created the treatments Liz Parrish took. Also, he has an Alzheimer’s human test next month.