Lifeboat Foundation

It’s estimated that anywhere from three to seven percent of school-age children may have dyslexia, a neurodevelopmental issue that affects reading, spelling, and writing. There are different ideas about why dyslexia occurs, although they relate to dysfunction in brain networks, and are likely due to multiple causes in affected individuals; the disorder may not have a singular underlying cause. Neuroimaging studies of dyslexic individuals have produced inconsistent results.

Since dyslexia has a heritable, and therefore, genetic component, scientists wanted to know more about how genetics and brain mapping could reveal more about the pathology of dyslexia. A new study has shown that carriers of genetic variants that increase the risk of dyslexia also have changes in brain structure, which occur in areas that are related to language, motor coordination, and vision. The findings have been reported in Science Advances.

The breakthrough marks a promising target for drug therapies that slow, possibly reverse, the disease’s development

NEW YORK, NY, December 23, 2024 — Researchers with the CUNY ASRC have unveiled a critical mechanism that links cellular stress in the brain to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The study, published in the journal Neuron, highlights microglia, the brain’s primary immune cells, as central players in both the protective and harmful responses associated with the disease.

Microglia, often dubbed the brain’s first responders, are now recognized as a significant causal cell type in Alzheimer’s pathology. However, these cells play a double-edged role: some protect brain health, while others worsen neurodegeneration. Understanding the functional differences between these microglial populations has been a research focus for Pinar Ayata, the study’s principal investigator and a professor with the CUNY ASRC Neuroscience Initiative and the CUNY Graduate Center’s Biology and Biochemistry programs.

As the universe evolves, scientists expect large cosmic structures to grow at a certain rate: dense regions such as galaxy clusters would grow denser, while the void of space would grow emptier.

But University of Michigan researchers have discovered that the rate at which these large structures grow is slower than predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.

They also showed that as dark energy accelerates the universe’s global expansion, the suppression of the cosmic structure growth that the researchers see in their data is even more prominent than what the theory predicts. Their results are published in Physical Review Letters.

Could Our Universe Have Been Born from a Black Hole?

Black holes are among the most mysterious and fascinating objects in the universe, known for their powerful gravitational pull that nothing can escape. Interestingly, if you were to compress all the matter in the universe into a single point, you would create a black hole roughly the size of the universe itself. While we do not live inside a black hole, the similarities between black holes and our universe raise intriguing questions about their connection.

Event horizons: no escape in both cases.

A new study from Northwestern Medicine reports that, much like a conductor harmonizes various instruments in an orchestra to create a symphony, breathing synchronizes hippocampal brain waves to enhance memory during sleep.

This is the first time breathing rhythms during sleep have been linked to these hippocampal brain waves — called slow waves, spindles, and ripples — in humans. Scientists knew these waves were linked to memory but their underlying driver was unknown.

Continue reading “According to Researchers, Your Breathing Patterns Could Hold the Key to Better Memory” »

Exercise improves cognitive performance for over 24 hours, especially when paired with good sleep. A study of older adults links physical activity and deep sleep to better memory, highlighting the importance of an active lifestyle for brain health.

Exercise provides a short-term boost to brain function that can last throughout the next day, according to a new study by researchers at University College London (UCL).

Earlier research conducted in controlled laboratory settings revealed that cognitive performance improves in the hours following exercise. However, the duration of these benefits remained unclear.

Quantum teleportation, once confined to the pages of science fiction, is steadily becoming a tangible scientific achievement. Advances in quantum mechanics over the last decade have transformed teleportation from a theoretical concept into an experimental reality.

These breakthroughs have revealed innovative methods for transmitting information instantaneously over vast distances, offering transformative possibilities for computing, communication, and cryptography. Scientists are now closer than ever to bridging the gap between imagination and reality in this cutting-edge field.

At its core, teleportation in the quantum world isn’t about physically transporting objects or people, as popularized by franchises like Star Trek. Instead, it involves transmitting quantum states—essentially the fundamental properties of particles like electrons or photons—without physical movement of the particles themselves.

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A research team including a University of Michigan scientist has discovered a new gold-sulfur complex that helps researchers understand how gold deposits are formed.

Gold in ore deposits associated with volcanoes around the Pacific Ring of Fire originates in Earth’s mantle and is transported by magma to its surface. But how that gold is brought to the surface has been a subject of debate. Now, the research team has used numerical modeling to reveal the specific conditions that lead to the enrichment of gold in magmas that rise from the Earth’s mantle to its surface.

Specifically, the model reveals the importance of a gold-trisulfur complex whose existence has been vigorously debated, according to Adam Simon, U-M professor of Earth and environmental sciences and co-author of the study.