Dr Trevor Clark, National Director of Aspect Research Centre for Autism Practice, explains what savant skills and twice exceptional (2e) mean, and how these terms relate to people on the autism spectrum with Orion Kelly.
Category: neuroscience – Page 735
How Social Media Addiction Destroys Your Brain
The rise of social media has changed our day to day lives. But more and more reports show that social media and especially social media can impact our brain. Social media addiction might also to a decline in mental health. How does social media changes us? And are the effects by social media addiction reversal?
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Social media has been developed to connect people. However, quite early, scientists found that social media (and social media addiction) can lead to changes in the brain such an enlarged amygdala. First reports surfaced showing that people compare their lives to lives they see on social media and report a decline of mental health upon heavy social media use. It seems like our brains cannot distinguish between social media and the real world. Social media also led to an attention span crisis meaning that we have a harder time to focus if we spend much time on social media. Moreover, social media is able to feed into the reward system of our brains. Everytime we perceive something good dopamine producing cells in the brain release dopamine which leads to a good feeling. Social media has used this mechanism to provide us with a constant stream of good feelings. Social media algorithms have been optimize to show more social media content in a shorter period of time leading to more dopamine. As a result, some argue that social media addiction should be recognized as a mental disorder.
Besides negatively impacting our brains on an individual level social media and social media addiction also impacts society. Last year, a sharp rise in tic symptoms have been reported among teenagers in the US. It seems like that tic-related content on tiktok together with anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to this rise in tic-like symptoms. So what should we do about social media? And how can we ensure that our brains are not negatively impacted by the constant stream of dopamine? Well, sometimes the best thing is just to avoid social media for a while.
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6502424/
https://fortune.com/2022/03/31/teen-girls-tourette-tics-tiktok/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpc.15932
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214014870
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/adb.12570
https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.0903620106
https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.2724?luicode=10000011&lfi.…2724.html.
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-22977-002
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/cyber.2021.0324
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40519-017-0364-2
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02673843.2019.1590851
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224545.2019.1578725
https://movementdisorders.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mds.28778
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2018.0701
Images:
Most videos and images are derived from: pixabay.com, pexels.com and videvo.net.
How a Baseball Injury Made A Genius (Savant Syndrome)
Savant syndrome is a strange condition that gives people unique abilities. Although savant syndrome is very rare reported cases gain genius-like abilities in narrow domains. But how can we explain savant syndrome? And could we induce savant syndrome in normal people?
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Savant syndrome is characterized by unique skills in art, music, mechanics, calendar calculation or maths. Savant syndrome can be acquired through injuries or frontotemporal dementia or be developed in people with autism spectrum disorder. In acquired savant syndrome and autism spectrum disorder, unique connections in the brain led to the condition. In savant syndrome, we often find that the left hemisphere is damaged and the right brain hemisphere has to compensate for this. Based on this observation, we can partially induce savant syndrome like abilities through transcranial magnetic stimulation. Many questions concerning savant syndrome remain but this condition is truly amazing.
0:00–1:10 Intro.
1:10–1:56 What is Savant Syndrome?
1:56–4:02 Acquiring Savant Syndrome.
4:02–5:46 Savant Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder.
5:46–8:39 Can we Induce Savant Syndrome?
Images:
How Exercise Creates Super-Brains
We all know that exercise is good for our health. But besides lowering the risk of obesity or type II diabetes, exercise has also been shown to benefit our brain. More precisely, exercise modifies parts of the brain and improves memory, attention and improves mood. Regular exercise further lowers the risk to suffer from dementia or depression. But how does exercise benefit our brains?
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Philosophers have speculated for centuries that exercise promotes our brain functionality but only a few decades ago, scientists uncovered that this is true. Studies have shown that children who are more athletic perform better in creativity, concentration, maths verbal and IQ tests. These children also tend to have a larger hippocampus and basal ganglia both of which are important for memory and attention span. Adults who started to workout regularly also have changes in their brain and perform better in various tests. There are several mechanisms which explain this phenomenon. When we exercise, brain cells release VEGF which helps to supply the brain with oxygen. Moreover, neurotrophins are released when we workout which helps the survival of brain cells. Exercise also seems to improve neuroplasticity through the same pathways. Since exercise leads to the release of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, workouts also have been used to treat mental disorders such as depression. In various studies it was seen exercise helps to alleviate the symptoms of people who suffer from major depression.
The literature suggests roughly 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week might be optimal to curb the risk of heart disease and 19 other chronic diseases. Concerning brain health, 120 minutes of moderate exercise a week might be enough to get all the benefits we have seen before. But even if you do less you might see a difference in the long run. In general, aerobic exercise seemed to have the best impacts on your brain. Jogging, running, swimming and all other forms of aerobic sports might give the benefits we have seen in this video!
References:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-018-0275-4
https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.0905307106
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20693803/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025619616300477
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02658/full.
https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/ajp.2007.164.2.350a.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes…1404097110
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702700/pdf/nihms117644.pdf.
https://stanford.library.sydney.edu.au/archives/spr2020/entr…stPhilSpor.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00762/full.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23259671211001129
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00509/full.
https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/features/physical-activity-brain-health/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6943756/pdf/main.pdf.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5457513/pdf/ncomms15557.pdf.
https://positivepsychology.com/exercise-neurological-benefits/
00:00–00:53 Intro.
Scientists discover a rare neurological disease involving cellular recycling
The new disease could provide insights into how the cell’s recycling system contributes to a healthy brain. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered a new neurological condition characterized by issues with motor coordination and speech. They identified three children with the condition, two siblings and an unrelated child.
Adults, Children Do Not Experience Time in the Same Way; Here’s Why
While time may be a worldwide constant, it can be quite tricky. Several individuals have felt like childhood summers were extremely long in comparison to how they experience the same 3 months as adults. Though individuals can argue about time perception and the factors that dilate and compress time, it is possible to look into it experimentally.
Time Perception Is Different For Adults and Children
A team of researchers proceeded to do just that. According to Neuroscience News, the scientists looked into how eventfulness impacts estimates of duration across various cognitive development milestones.
Fighting brain cancer with bioadhesive nanoparticles
A team of researchers from Yale and the University of Connecticut (UConn) has developed a nanoparticle-based treatment that targets multiple culprits in glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer.
The results are published in Science Advances (“Anti-seed PNAs targeting multiple oncomiRs for brain tumor therapy”).
A new treatment developed by Yale researchers uses bioadhesive nanoparticles that adhere to the site of the tumor and then slowly release the synthesized peptide nucleic acids that they’re carrying. In this image, the nanoparticles (red) are visible within human glioma tumor cells (green with blue nuclei). (Image: Yale Cancer Center)
Nanotechnology meets Neuroscience — Nicholas Melosh at BrainMind
Dr. Nick Melosh at the BrainMind Summit hosted at Stanford, interviewed by BrainMind member Christian Bailey.
Nick Melosh is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University. Nick’s research at Stanford focuses on how to design new inorganic structures to seamlessly integrate with biological systems to address problems that are not feasible by other means. This involves both fundamental work such as to deeply understand how lipid membranes interact with inorganic surfaces, electrokinetic phenomena in biologically relevant solutions, and applying this knowledge into new device designs. Examples of this include “nanostraw” drug delivery platforms for direct delivery or extraction of material through the cell wall using a biomimetic gap-junction made using nanoscale semiconductor processing techniques. We also engineer materials and structures for neural interfaces and electronics pertinent to highly parallel data acquisition and recording. For instance, we have created inorganic electrodes that mimic the hydrophobic banding of natural transmembrane proteins, allowing them to ‘fuse’ into the cell wall, providing a tight electrical junction for solid-state patch clamping. In addition to significant efforts at engineering surfaces at the molecular level, we also work on ‘bridge’ projects that span between engineering and biological/clinical needs. My long history with nano-and microfabrication techniques and their interactions with biological constructs provide the skills necessary to fabricate and analyze new bio-electronic systems.”
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What is the Readiness Potential?
Is it a choice before a choice?#freewill #neuroscience #consciousness #documentary #documentaryfilm
Scientists Transplant Human Brain Organoids Into Adult Rats — And They Respond to Visual Stimuli
In a study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell on February 2, researchers show that brain organoids—clumps of lab-grown neurons—can integrate with rat brains and respond to visual stimulation like flashing lights.
Decades of research has shown that we can transplant individual human and rodent neurons into rodent brains, and, more recently, it has been demonstrated that human brain organoids can integrate with developing rodent brains. However, whether these organoid grafts can functionally integrate with the visual system of injured adult brains has yet to be explored.
“We focused on not just transplanting individual cells, but actually transplanting tissue,” says senior author H. Isaac Chen, a physician and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania. “Brain organoids have architecture; they have structure that resembles the brain. We were able to look at individual neurons within this structure to gain a deeper understanding of the integration of transplanted organoids.”