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The University of Alberta is 3rd in the world for AI research.

Researchers meet the challenge of developing a model that uses speech traits to detect cognitive decline, paving the way for a potential screening tool.

Researchers are striving to make earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s dementia possible with a machine learning (ML) model that could one day be turned into a simple screening tool anyone with a smartphone could use.

The model was able to distinguish Alzheimer’s patients from healthy controls with 70 to 75 per cent accuracy, a promising figure for the more than 747,000 Canadians who have Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.

Continue reading “Machine learning model able to detect signs of Alzheimer’s across languages” | >

The study’s authors compared the influence of two components of the brain’s physical structure: the outer folds of the cerebral cortex — the area where most higher-level brain activity occurs — and the connectome, the web of nerves that links distinct regions of the cerebral cortex. The team found that the shape of the outer surface was a better predictor of brainwave data than was the connectome, contrary to the paradigm that the connectome has the dominant role in driving brain activity. “We use concepts from physics and engineering to study how anatomy determines function,” says study co-author James Pang, a physicist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

A model of the brain’s geometry better explains neuronal activity than a model based on the ‘connectome’.

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Opting for olive oil could reduce your risk of fatal dementia, according to a new study.

Participants who included half a tablespoon of olive oil in their daily diet were 28% less likely to die of dementia.

The study authors found that replacing a single teaspoon of margarine or mayonnaise with olive oil reduced the risk of fatal dementia by 8–14%.

Researchers have observed an association between daily consumption of olive oil — instead of margarine or mayonnaise — and a reduced risk of dying from dementia.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source, there are over 55 million people living with dementia globally. There are an estimated 10 million new cases yearly, and dementia is also the seventh leading cause of death among older adults.

Continue reading “Dementia: Daily dose of olive oil linked to better brain health” | >

Hearing diminishes as we age — about 50% of adults 75 and over in the United States have disabling hearing loss.

Age-related hearing loss cannot currently be stopped.

Researchers from the University of Guelph and Tufts.

University/Fatty Acid Research Institute have found a link between increased omega-3 fatty acids in the blood and less age-related hearing issues.

As we age, it is not uncommon for the effectiveness of some of our sensesTrusted Source — including vision, hearing, and tasteTrusted Source — to decrease.

Continue reading “Omega-3 fatty acids may slow age related hearing loss” | >

On a rush-hour train or a crowded flight, you might draw your limbs in close, shrinking as people fill the space. As it turns out, living cells behave similarly in confinement, adjusting their size while growing alongside other cells in sheets of tissue.

John Devany, then a graduate student in the lab of biophysicist Margaret Gardel, had been studying epithelial monolayers—sheets of cells that form barriers in skin and coat internal organs—when he noticed something interesting about how the cells were dividing.

“The way people think about division is that a cell will grow to twice its size, divide, and repeat the cycle,” says Devany, the first author of the study, published in Developmental Cell. But in the epithelial tissue he was observing, division was proceeding as usual, but the daughter cells were ending up smaller than the mother. The team, collaborating with researchers from New York University, decided to investigate the mechanisms that control cell growth and cycle duration in tissue and discovered that the two processes are not directly coupled.

Way cells grow and multiply—normally considered part of the same process—regulated separately, UChicago biophysicists find.

Continue reading “Cells in confinement and people in crowds have similar behaviors” | >

Like members of a street gang, male dolphins summon their buddies when it comes time to raid and pillage—or, in their case, to capture and defend females in heat. A new study reveals they do this by learning the “names,” or signature whistles, of their closest allies—sometimes more than a dozen animals—and remembering who consistently cooperated with them in the past. The findings indicate dolphins have a concept of team membership—previously seen only in humans—and may help reveal how they maintain such intricate and tight-knit societies.

Findings reveal the marine mammals have a sense of team membership.

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An analysis of data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development study, a large longitudinal study in New Zealand, showed that participants with a history of antisocial behavior had a significantly faster pace of biological aging. When these individuals reached the calendar age of 45, they were on average 4.3 years older biologically compared to those who had lower levels of antisocial behavior. The study was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Antisocial behavior refers to actions that consistently violate social norms, disregard the rights of others, and often involve a lack of empathy or remorse. It involves behaviors such as deceitfulness, aggression, theft, violence, lying, and other behaviors that are harmful, manipulative, or exploitative towards others.

Antisocial behavior is typically associated with youth. This type of behavior starts between the ages of 8 and 14, peaks between 15 and 19, and usually becomes less frequent between the ages of 20 and 29. Although it becomes less common with age, it seems to have a lasting negative impact on health. Studies have shown that individuals who exhibit antisocial behaviors in their youth tend to have worse health outcomes as adults compared to their peers.

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Mothers who eat apples and herbs in early pregnancy could be protecting the brain health of their children and grandchildren, a Monash University study using genetic models has found.

The discovery is part of a project that found a mother’s diet can affect not just her child’s brain but also those of her grandchildren.

Published in Nature CellBiology, the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute study found that certain foods could help protect against the deterioration of brain function.

More specifically, the study used roundworms (Caenorhabditis elegans) as the genetic model because many of their genes are also found conserved in humans, allowing insights into human cells.

The researchers… More.

Continue reading “A mother’s diet can protect her grandchildren’s brains: genetic model study” | >

In a world first, a quadriplegic man in the United States has regained touch and movement after surgeons successfully implanted microchips into his brain.

AI is then used to read, interpret and translate his thoughts into action.

Keith Thomas, 45, broke his neck in an accident and became paralysed from his chest down.

‘Fooling the nervous system to make it work’

Dr Ashesh Mehta, the surgeon who performed Thomas’ brain surgery said the wiring in Thomas’ brain was “broken”.

Continue reading “AI-powered brain implants restore touch and movement to paralysed man” | >

Low-grade inflammation contributes to age-related decline and impairment, but the precise pathways responsible for this inflammation and their impact on natural aging have until now remained elusive.

A study headed by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) has now shown that a molecular signaling pathway known as cGAS/STING plays a critical role in driving chronic inflammation and functional decline during aging. Andrea Ablasser, PhD, and colleagues found that blocking the STING protein suppressed inflammatory responses in human senescent cells and tissues, and reduced aging-related inflammation in multiple peripheral organs and in the brain in mice.

The researchers in addition studied the effects of blocking the STING protein in aged mice. As expected by its central role in driving inflammation, inhibiting STING alleviated markers of inflammation both in the periphery and in the brain. “Notably, various aging-related immune signature genes were significantly attenuated as a result of STING inhibition,” they stated. And importantly, animals receiving STING inhibitors displayed significant enhancements in spatial and associative memory, as well as improved muscle strength and physical endurance.

“Consistently, STING inhibition by H-151, a brain permeable compound, reduced the levels of immune-related signature genes in the brains of aged mice,” the scientists pointed out. “Together, these results establish STING as an important driver of aging-associated inflammation, both in the periphery and the CNS, promoting frailty and cognitive decline.”

Continue reading “Signaling Pathway Implicated in Inflammation and Functional Decline during Aging” | >