Clipmarks | Neuroscience Clips

SmartHand brings movement AND touch to amputees

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:56:21 GMT

clipped by: dylin17

SmartHand brings movement AND touch to amputees

Scientists have successfully wired a state-of-the-art artificial hand to existing nerve endings in the stump of a severed arm. Its creators say the device, called “SmartHand,” resembles a real hand in function, sensitivity and appearance. In order to develop such an intelligent artificial prosthetic hand with all the basic features displayed by a real one, the SmartHand team integrated recent advances in nanobioscience, cognitive neuroscience and information technologies.

The artificial SmartHand, built by a team of top European Union and Israeli scientists, features four electric motors and 40 sensors that are activated when the SmartHand touches an object, not only replicating the movement of a human hand, but also providing the wearer with a sensation of feeling and touch.

What are the main types of brain training

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:37:38 GMT

clipped by: murdimedia

Clip Source: www.ideamarketers.com

What are the main types of brain training

Brain training is the method of enriching the quality of your brain. It develops the memory power and produces good confidence level. As we all aware about the fact, that the keying organ of the body is the brain. Certainly it needs care like your body. There are many scientific researches done to improve the functioning quality of the brain. Many programs are designed on brain fitness. Lumosity is one of them. It is developed by the experts of cognitive psychology and neuroscience from USCF and Stanford universities. The idea behind lumosity is to enrich the cognitive functions in random form and to have control in clinical trials. This method is reserve to anyone in the family.

Mind-reading computer

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:29:44 GMT

clipped by: rj3sp

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Scary or sensational? A machine that can look into the mind

Scientists have developed a computerised mind-reading technique which lets them accurately predict the images that people are looking at by using scanners to study brain activity.

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Psychic 'mind-reading' computer will show your thoughts on screen

The device studies patterns of brainwave activity and turns them into a moving image on a computer screen.

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Computer Uses Brain Scans to Read Minds

Associate professor of psychology Jack Gallant and two researchers, Kendrick Kay and Thomas Naselaris, first trained a computer program to recognize which of a set of 1,750 photos Kay and Naselaris were looking at while their brains were scanned by an MRI machine of the sort ordinarily used in hospitals.

A computer display shows magnetic resonance scans of a human brain in Magdeburg, Germany in a 2005 file photo.

Clip Source: neuroscience.berkeley.edu

Jack Gallant

Professor (Psychology)

Research areas: Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience

Tags: mind, computer, science, brain

Hearing Our Heartbeat

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:15:02 GMT

clipped by: chestnut501

Clip Source: www.scientificamerican.com

The other day my 3-year old God son and I were pillow fighting when he sat down, panting, and said with surprise, “I can feel my heart beating!”

Sometimes it takes little kids to remind us just how amazing our bodies are.

Scientists believe that an area of the brain, the interior and anterior cingulate cortex, is involved in what is known as interoceptive awareness—the awareness of our own physiological sensations, like a heart beating deep within your body.

But recent research from the University of Iowa has shown that we can also use another separate pathway when we consciously experience our internal physical states.

This second pathway, they believe, runs from the skin to the somatosensory cortex, which is the part of the brain that maps the external body.

This study suggests that both brain pathways are involved in interoceptive awareness, which can cover anything from a panic attack, to the sick-feeling of rejection, to a pounding heart from an afternoon pillow fight.

Tags: science, health, heart, sensory, neuroscience, brain

Junk food can be addictive

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:13:35 GMT

clipped by: rj3sp

Clip Source: current.com

Junk Food as Addictive as Heroin - Rats Say

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

Binging Rats Get Hooked on Junk Food

Oct. 21, 2009 -- Junk food elicits addictive behavior in rats similar to the behaviors of rats addicted to heroin, a new study finds. Pleasure centers in the brains of rats addicted to high-fat, high-calorie diets became less responsive as the binging wore on, making the rats consume more and more food. The results, presented October 20 at the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting, may help explain the changes in the brain that lead people to overeat.

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Junk food as 'addictive as drugs'

Eating junk food can be addictive

Clip Source: www.express.co.uk

JUNK FOOD 'AS BAD AS HEROIN'

Clip Source: www.mnn.com

Junk food junkies

Chowing down on junk food makes rats act like heroin addicts.

Clip Source: www.scripps.edu

Paul Kenny

Tags: addiction, food, health

10代の薬物使用で後年記憶障害の可能性

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:16:17 GMT

clipped by: aramah

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

Rats develop memory loss in adulthood after receiving high doses of amphetamines during their "teen" years, new research shows.

Exposure to the drugs during adolescence has a more severe impact on short-term memory than being exposed as adults, researchers found in a study that was to be presented this week at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, in Chicago.

Mona Lisa's smile a mystery no more

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:42:31 GMT

clipped by: Jacob173

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Life

Mona Lisa's smile a mystery no more

If you have been puzzled by Mona Lisa's smile – how she's radiant one moment and serious the next instant – then your worries are over. It happens because our eyes are sending mixed signals to the brain about her smile.

Different cells in the retina transmit different categories of information or "channels" to the brain. These channels encode data about an object's size, clarity, brightness and location in the visual field.

"Sometimes one channel wins over the other, and you see the smile, sometimes others take over and you don't see the smile," says Luis Martinez Otero, a neuroscientist at Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante, Spain, who conducted the study along with Diego Alonso Pablos.

Whew! Good thing people are smarter than rats - grin.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:35:21 GMT

clipped by: nedhamson1
clipper's remarks: We don't need a canary to warn us about trouble in the fast food lane of life - we need a rat! Read on to see that rats react the same to heroin, as they do to bacon, cheesecake and HoHos. So why do you think they tested three of guy's favorite food groups?

Clip Source: www.sciencenews.org

Junk food turns rats into addicts

Bacon, cheesecake and Ho Hos alter pleasure centers in rats' brains

CHICAGO — Junk food elicits addictive behavior in rats similar to the behaviors of rats addicted to heroin, a new study finds. Pleasure centers in the brains of rats addicted to high-fat, high-calorie diets became less responsive as the binging wore on, making the rats consume more and more food. The results, presented October 20 at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting, may help explain the changes in the brain that lead people to overeat.

“This is the most complete evidence to date that suggests obesity and drug addiction have common neurobiological underpinnings,” says study coauthor Paul Johnson of the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla.

Tags: neo-science

Brain Tumor Survivors Shouldn't Take It Easy

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:58:19 GMT

clipped by: JackieDel
clipper's remarks: The mice that were able to exercise scored just as well on a memory test as normal mice did; however, the mice that did not have access to the exercise wheel did not.

"It was remarkable that the irradiated, running mice were just like the normal, non-irradiated mice that didn't exercise," lead researcher and graduate student Sarah Wong-Goodrich of the Duke Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, was quoted as saying. "We were expecting some memory retention issues with a longer delay and there weren't any."

The researchers believe exercise benefits the mind by improving blood flow to the hippocampus in the brain, a key area for learning and memory.

Clip Source: www.ivanhoe.com

Exercise after receiving radiation to the brain is key to improving memory and mood, new research shows.

Exercise appears to prevent the decline of erasable memory, which is similar to the memory problems patients with brain tumors experience following whole-brain radiation.

"This is the type of short-term memory people use to find their car after they have parked it in a large lot," Christina Williams, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the Duke University in Durham, N.C., was quoted as saying. "After radiation, this type of memory becomes impaired in many people."

In the scientists' experiment, one group of mice was kept in their cages following brain radiation, to live among other mice as they normally would -- eating and playing. A separate group of mice, however, was given access to a running wheel to use as they wanted.

Tags: brain, memory, learning, health

Want a brain that bounces back like a super ball?

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:36:17 GMT

clipped by: nedhamson1
clipper's remarks: This is looking really good for my running friends - while they may be killing their knees and hips, they are keeping their brains young! (I walk and occasionally job 15 miles a day)

One caveat though - the test was done on rhesus monkeys. So if you run a lot, have slightly longer arms than the rest of us and...

Clip Source: www.sciencenews.org

Exercise helps brains bounce back

The data, presented at a news briefing October 18 in Chicago at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting, adds to a growing body of evidence that shows exercise is good for the brain, too.

“This is sort of a quiet revolution that’s been occurring in neuroscience,” says Carl Cotman, a brain aging expert at the University of California, Irvine, “to realize that physical activity at a certain level impacts the brain in a really profound way.”

The new study highlights the importance of exercise for maintaining a healthy brain. Other studies presented at the meeting have found that exercise has a wide range of brain-protective roles

Jogging also had a protective effect, although slightly weaker than running’s, Cameron says. “This is really good news. It means that any little bit more activity you can do is positive for your brain,” says Cameron. “Your brain seems very sensitive to exercise.”

Tags: benefits, running, thinking

The Neuroscience of Sin! Why do we do it?

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:52:18 GMT

clipped by: ronhuxley
clipper's remarks: Reading this article made me think of the proverbial "chicken and the egg." The article suggests that we sin because our brains are evolutionarily designed to do so. This leaves us to conclude that you cannot manage sin as it is hardwired in. I don't agree with that. I think sin is the chicken! The article does a great job of illustrating how various emotions and motives play out in the brain not the other way around. The good news is the very last paragraph. Read it for yourself...enjoy!

Clip Source: discovermagazine.com

Brain researchers have found the sources of many of our darkest thoughts, from envy to wrath.

The most enjoyable sins engage the brain’s reward circuitry, including evolutionarily ancient regions such as the nucleus accumbens and hypothalamus; located deep in the brain, they provide us such fundamental feelings as pain, pleasure, reward, and punishment. More disagreeable forms of sin such as wrath and envy enlist the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). This area, buried in the front of the brain, is often called the brain’s “conflict detector,” coming online when you are confronted with contradictory information, or even simply when you feel pain. The more social sins (pride, envy, lust, wrath) recruit the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), brain terrain just behind the forehead, which helps shape the awareness of self.

When it comes to lust, neuroimaging confirms that the prurient urge is all-encompassing

Clip Source: discovermagazine.com

PRIDE

it takes less mental energy to puff ourselves up than to think critically

Tags: anger, brain, envy, lust, morality, neuroscience, pride, seven deadly sins, sin, sloth

What are the main types of brain training

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:30:52 GMT

clipped by: murdimedia

Clip Source: www.dirktietjen.com

What are the main types of brain training

Clip Source: www.dirktietjen.com

Laser Retinal

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:07:32 GMT

clipped by: amplifyralp
clipper's remarks: Retinal laser surgery is performed as a way of treatment to retinal diseases or eye disorders. It is commonly performed in our office where you must feel comfortable.

Clip Source: www.laserretinal.com

Tags: retinal implants, neuroscience, sight and vision, blindness, retinal detachment

Ear probe may solve mental illness mystery

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:24:19 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Melbourne researchers will today unveil a new tool that could revolutionise the way mental illnesses are diagnosed.

Mental illness costs the health system $20 billion a year but a new ear probe could provide early diagnosis, leading to better targeted treatment and could ease the strain on existing health system resources.

Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, from the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, says the new diagnostic tool heralds a novel relationship between psychiatry and engineering.

"It is an unlikely combination usually, but what we are doing is actually looking to somehow tackle the final frontier in understanding more about the brain in mental illness," he said.

"Brian Lithgow, who is an engineer and researcher, has developed a small probe that goes into the ear canal.

Professor Kulkarni says it is a significant move forward that neuroscience can be brought to bear on illnesses that many people still think of as a mystery.

Tags: health

A better way of learning?

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:10:53 GMT

clipped by: gilesvineu
clipper's remarks: Time spaced learning more effective than short intense learning

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Why One Way Of Learning Is Better Than Another

ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2009) — A new study from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) of McGill University reveals that different patterns of training and learning lead to different types of memory formation. The significance of the study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, is that it identifies the molecular differences between spaced training (distributed over time) and massed training (at very short intervals), shedding light on brain function and guiding learning and training principles.

Tags: learning