Clipmarks | wildcat's 'neurology' clips

Will a Computer “Symbiote” be Implanted in Future Human Brains?

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:30:38 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Will future humans have computers implanted in their brains? Researchers are developing a neural implant that can think independently—just like the human brain does. Creepy? Yeah. Cool? Definitely. Scientists at the University of Florida aren’t just creating a neural implant that can translate human brain signals, but one that can act independently to increase its efficiency and synergy with the brain as it learns new things.

"In the grand scheme of brain-machine interfaces, this is a complete paradigm change," said Justin C. Sanchez, Ph.D., a UF assistant professor of pediatric neurology and the study's lead author. "This idea opens up all kinds of possibilities for how we interact with devices. It's not just about giving instructions but about those devices assisting us in a common goal. You know the goal, the computer knows the goal and you work together to solve the task."

These “brain computers” are programmed with complex algorithms that can interpret thoughts

Tags: brain, implants, future, neurology, interface

Neurologist Explores Music's Healing Power

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:02:42 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

NEW YORK (AP) - Noted neurologist Oliver Sacks has found common ground with the pastor of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church: Both men believe in the healing power of music.

Sacks, the best-selling author of "Awakenings" and "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," was to share the church stage Saturday with the famed gospel choir as part of the inaugural World Science Festival, a five-day celebration of science taking place in New York this week.

"It should be an exciting and unusual event," Sacks said in an interview this week. "I will talk about the therapeutic and beneficent power of music as a physician, and then their wonderful choir will perform. ... And the audience will make what they can of it."

Sacks' most recent book is "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain," which examines the relationship between music and the brain, including its healing effect on people suffering from such diseases as Tourette's syndrome, Parkinson's, autism and Alzheimer's.

Tags: neurology, healingmusic

Study Captures Brain's Activity Processing Speech

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:22:41 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Rad, Lad. You might be able to hear the difference, but to many children and adults, these words sound exactly the same. The problem isn’t that they can’t hear the sounds. The problem is that they can’t tell them apart.

One in 20 children in kindergarten has difficulties understanding speech that are not related to hearing or problems with their ears. The reason is that speech discrimination is a problem solved in the brain, not in the ear. How does the brain process speech sounds? Very little was known, until now.

“Now that we’ve cracked the door on this important problem, we should be able to understand the neural basis of many common speech processing disorders and use this information to develop new treatments,” said Dr. Kilgard.

The recordings showed that contrary to prior belief it’s not the quantity of neurons that fire in response to a speech sound that is important. It is which neurons are firing and exactly when they are firing – down to the millisecond – that is critical.

Tags: language, neurology, speech

Are You Brain Dead? Depends on the Hospital

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 09:35:12 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Top hospitals across the country follow different protocols for determining brain death, and often deviate from standards established by the American Academy of Neurology, a new survey finds.

The results, which will be published in the Jan. 22 issue of the journal Neurology, are based on surveys of top neurology and neurosurgery centers identified by U.S. News and World Report.

"We were surprised to find such significant differences among these hospitals in terms of their specified guidelines for brain death determination," said study leader David Greer of the Massachusetts General Hospital Neurology Service. "In reviewing the protocols, we would have anticipated more consistency with the American Academy of Neurology practice parameters."

In 1981, a Presidential Commission confirmed that brain death was the legal equivalent of more traditional standards, such as when a person's heart and lungs stop functioning.

Tags: neurology, brain death

Looking at the Sun Can Trigger a Sneeze

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:26:15 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Have you ever emerged from a matinee movie, squinted into the sudden burst of sunlight and sneezed uncontrollably? Up to a third of the population will answer this question with an emphatic "Yes!" (whereas nearly everyone else scratches their head in confusion). Sneezing as the result of being exposed to a bright light—known as the photic sneeze reflex—is a genetic quirk that is still unexplained by science, even though it has intrigued some of history's greatest minds.

Aristotle mused about why one sneezes more after looking at the sun in The Book of Problems: "Why does the heat of the sun provoke sneezing?" He surmised that the heat of the sun on the nose was probably responsible.

Bacon's best guess was that the sun's light made the eyes water, and then that moisture ("braine humour," literally) seeped into and irritated the nose.

So neurology steps in: Most experts now agree that crossed wires in the brain are probably responsible for the photic sneeze reflex.

Tags: sneezing

Why fish oil is good for you

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:18:51 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

It's good news that we are living longer, but bad news that the longer we live, the better our odds of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Many Alzheimer's researchers have long touted fish oil, by pill or diet, as an accessible and inexpensive "weapon" that may delay or prevent this debilitating disease. Now, UCLA scientists have confirmed that fish oil is indeed a deterrent against Alzheimer's, and they have identified the reasons why.

Reporting in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, now online, Greg Cole, professor of medicine and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and associate director of UCLA's Alzheimer Disease Research Center, and his colleagues report that the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) found in fish oil increases the production of LR11, a protein that is found at reduced levels in Alzheimer's patients and which is known to destroy the protein that forms the "plaques" associated with the disease.

Tags: fish oil, omega 3, brain, alzheimer

Decoding the Halle Berry cell

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:37:41 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

About 2 years ago, researchers reported the discovery of the so-called "Halle Berry cell" in the human brain. This, and similar cells which respond selectively to other well-known celebrities, famous landmarks or categories of objects are located on the medial surface of the temporal lobe.

The same group of researchers now report that they can decode the activity of these cells to predict what people are seeing. The ability to decode this neural activity will prove to be very useful in the development of brain-computer interfaces for amputees and paralyzed patients.

The cells in question were identified in epileptic patients who did not respond to drugs and were therefore treated surgically. Prior to the operation, clinicians electrically stimulate the brain of the conscious patient in order to determine the focus of the abnormal electrical activity causing the seizures.

The Halle Berry cell, for example, becomes active only when different photographs of that actress was shown

Tags: halle berry, cell, brain, temporal lobe, neurology

Transitivity- rational decision making

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:58:23 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: “Despite the maxim, we in fact can compare apples to oranges, and we do it all the time

Clip Source: physorg.com

Neurons in the frontal lobe may be responsible for rational decision-making

You study the menu at a restaurant and decide to order the steak rather than the salmon. But when the waiter tells you about the lobster special, you decide lobster trumps steak. Without reconsidering the salmon, you place your order—all because of a trait called “transitivity.”

“Transitivity is the hallmark of rational economic choice,” says Camillo Padoa-Schioppa, a postdoctoral researcher in HMS Professor of Neurobiology John Assad’s lab. According to transitivity, if you prefer A to B and B to C, then you ought to prefer A to C. Or, if you prefer lobster to steak, and steak to salmon, then you will prefer lobster to salmon.

“People make choices by assigning values to different options. If the values are menu invariant preferences will be transitive. The activity of these neurons does not vary with the menu options, suggesting that these neurons could be responsible for transitivity,” Padoa-Schioppa explains.

Tags: neurology, transitivity, decision making, choice

Normal ageing 'can addle brain'

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:32:17 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Scientists may have discovered why we tend to slow down mentally as we age.

Harvard University used medical imaging techniques to compare the brains of 93 healthy people aged 18 to 93.

The scans showed the brain gradually loses the material it needs for one major region to communicate effectively with another.

The study, published in Neuron, suggests this slowly undermines sophisticated "higher" cognitive functions such as memory and learning.

This may help to explain why advanced age is often accompanied by a loss of mental agility, even in an otherwise healthy individual.

Lead researcher Jessica Andrews-Hanna said: "This research helps us to understand how and why our minds change as we get older, and why some individuals remain sharp into their 90s, while others' mental abilities decline as they age.

"One of the reasons for loss of mental ability may be that these systems in the brain are no longer in sync with one another."

Tags: ageing, brain, neurology, health

Neurodiversity

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:21:12 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Neurodiversity is an idea that asserts that atypical (neurodivergent) neurological wiring is a normal human difference that is to be tolerated and respected as any other human difference.^[1] The concept of neurodiversity is embraced by autistic individuals and people with related conditions, who believe that autism is not a disorder, but a part of who they are, and that curing autistic people would be the same as destroying their original personalities. Proponents prefer the term over such labels as "abnormal" and "disabled". Some groups apply the concept of neurodiversity to ADHD, developmental speech disorders as well as dyslexic, dyspraxic and hyperactive people.

Neurodiversity may be every bit as crucial for the human race as biodiversity is for life in general. Who can say what form of wiring will prove best at any given moment? Cybernetics and computer culture, for example, may favor a somewhat autistic cast of mind.

Tags: neurodiversity, autism, neurology, difference, human

Migraine brains 'are different'

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 09:51:47 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Scientists have discovered differences in the sensory areas of the brains of people who develop migraines.

They found a part of the cortex is thicker than in people who are free from the debilitating headaches.

What is not clear is whether the difference causes, or is the result of migraine attacks.

The Neurology study, by Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, suggests the changes may make patients hyper-sensitive to pain in general.

The researchers, from the hospital's Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, compared 24 people who get migraines with 12 who do not suffer the condition.

They found the somatosensory cortex area of the brain was up to 21% thicker in the migraine sufferers.

"Most of these people had been suffering from migraines since childhood, so the long-term over-stimulation of the sensory fields in the cortex could explain these changes.

"It's also possible that people who develop migraines are naturally more sensitive to stimulation."

Tags: migraine, health, brain, neurology

REWIRING NEUROSCIENCE

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 10:30:39 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: much to read and learn:"No theory that attempts to explain how the nervous system works has ever broken past the problem of slow conduction. Von Helmholtz happened to measure a slow nerve – fast ones can conduct an impulse at 265 mph. But this is not, obviously, the speed of light.

Clip Source: nine-radical.blogspot.com

This blog explores the impact of a "smarter" neuron on vision, human memory and the brain. It argues that this hypothetical neuron is precisely the neuron we already have.

In the early 1990s, our long accepted (cc 1926) understanding of how a nerve encodes and conveys information was unexpectedly overturned by experiments on fast flying bats and insects. Around 1995, we began to realize we no longer knew what neurons actually do.

In the years since, many competing hypotheses have been advanced, suggesting various alternate neural encoding schemes. But the question of how a nerve communicates remains unanswered. It is a huge, gaping hole, at the most basic level, in our understanding of how the nervous system works.

The theoretical payoff is enormous. Suddenly the brain, which operates on impulses moving at velocities barely better than highway speeds – becomes in theory a dazzlingly fast and competent thinking machine. Which is, of course, exactly what the brain is in real life.

Tags: neurology, blogs, science, brain, memory

How Does the Brain Recognize a Face?

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:13:17 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

The smile of the Mona Lisa may remain forever ineffable, but at least now science can measure the difference between the real thing and its many imitations.

A team of neuroscientists including Irving Biederman, the holder of the Harold Dornsife Chair in Neurosciences in USC College, say they can predict with near-perfect accuracy whether two faces resemble each other enough to fool a human observer.

Their study provides rare insight into the hard rules guiding one of the most subjective of processes.

The study used a face recognition computer model, previously developed by Christoph von der Malsburg of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the College, to try to understand how human brains recognize faces.

“We knew that the model could do a good job at matching one image of a face to a different picture of the same person,” Biederman said, “but we did not know whether it was doing it in a manner that mimicked the way people were doing it.

Tags: brain, neurology, discrimination, observation, mind, face recognition

God on the Brain

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 12:16:35 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.betterhumans.com

[Video]

Rudi Affolter and Gwen Tighe have both experienced strong religious visions. He is an atheist; she a Christian. He thought he had died; she thought she had given birth to Jesus. Both have temporal lobe epilepsy.
Like other forms of epilepsy, the condition causes fitting but it is also associated with religious hallucinations. Research into why people like Rudi and Gwen saw what they did has opened up a whole field of brain science: neurotheology.

His work raises the prospect that we are programmed to believe in god, that faith is a mental state humans have developed. And temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) could help unlock the mystery.

Tags: atheism, brain, god, religion, neurology, epilepsy, neurotheology

Evolution in Your Brain

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:59:35 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Edelman is also chair of neurobiology at Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, California, and founder and director of the Neurosciences Institute, a research center dedicated to unconventional “high risk, high payoff” science

Clip Source: discovermagazine.com

Gerald Edelman says only the fittest neurons survive.

Some of the most profound questions in science are also the least tangible. What does it mean to be sentient? What is the self? When the discussion turns to these imponderables, many minds defer rather than get mired in such muddy issues. Neuroscientist Gerald Edelman dives right in. A physician and cell biologist who won a Nobel Prize for his work on the structure of antibodies, Edelman is now obsessed with the enigma of human

consciousness—except he doesn’t see it as a mystery. In Edelman’s grand theory of the mind, consciousness is a biological phenomenon. The developing brain undergoes its own process, similar to natural selection: Neurons proliferate and form connections in infancy; experience weeds out the useless from the useful, molding the adult brain in sync with its environment.

Tags: science, brain, evolution, neurology, edelman