Lifeboat Foundation

When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What’s going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians’ brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout.

Did you know that every time musicians pick up their instruments, there are fireworks going off all over their brain? On the outside, they may look calm and focused, reading the music and making the precise and practiced movements required. But inside their brains, there’s a party going on. How do we know this?

Continue reading “What is Going on Inside the Brain When We Listen to Music?” »

Do you get antsy when there’s nothing to do? Although this sample size is too small to draw a definitive conclusion, it’s a pretty interesting study to read.

Demis Hassabis, founder of DeepMind, says the future of AI lies in neuroscience. Aspects of neuroscience are key in artificial intelligence algorithms.

As we age the brain loses its flexibility, this in turn affects our ability to learn, to remember things and adapt to new situations. The classic theme is of an older person who is stuck in a rut and unable to change how they think.

This is also a common concern people raise when any discussion of healthy longer lives are mentioned. The concern is that we would have a world of people living more decades and becoming so set in their ways that society would stagnate.

However, many proponents of rejuvenation biotechnology refute this and suggest that mental plasticity could be rejuvenated just the same as cells and tissues could be. The new study we will discuss today offers us a hint of what might be possible, although the focus here is specifically on the visual cortex[1].

When you eat something loaded with sugar, your taste buds, your gut and your brain all take notice. This activation of your reward system is not unlike how bodies process addictive substances such as alcohol or nicotine — an overload of sugar spikes dopamine levels and leaves you craving more.

With this video prepared by TED-Ed, Nicole Avena explains why sweets and treats should be enjoyed in moderation.

• Using a drug already approved for clinical trials, researchers were able to reduce brain damage and boost the growth of new brain cells in mice suffering from strokes.
• The research offers new hope to those dealing with the aftermath of strokes, which are the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.

Researchers from the University of Manchester have developed a new treatment that could limit the damage caused by strokes and also promote repair in the affected area of the brain. What’s more, the drug they’re using has already been clinically approved.

In step forward for Elon Musk’s neural lace and transhumanists everywhere, a new paper published this month by researchers at Harvard University reports on the successful implantation of an electronic neuromorphic mesh in the brains of mice without triggering an immune response.

Neuroprostheses show promise in the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury and for the creation of brain-machine interfaces such as the neural lace, but a major stumbling block for researchers has been the propensity of these implants to induce an immune response, inflammation and scaring in the brain, severely limiting their potential use.

Continue reading “Study Shows Injectable Electronic Neural Lace Melds With Neurons Without Causing Immune Response” »

Dr. Lara Boyd, a physiotherapist and neuroscientist, and is a professor at the UBC MPT program in Vancouver, British Columbia, describes how neuroplasticity gives you the power to shape the brain you want.

“So how do we learn? And why does some of us learn things more easily than others? So, as I just mentioned, I’m Dr. Lara Boyd. I am a brain researcher here at the University of British Columbia. These are the questions that fascinate me.”

Continue reading “Neuroplasticity Gives You The Power To Shape The Brain You Want: Dr.Lara Boyd” »