Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 446
Aug 16, 2021
Chronic pain might affect how your brain processes emotions
Posted by Jason Blain in category: neuroscience
Aug 15, 2021
Brain Cholesterol Regulates Alzheimer’s Plaques
Posted by Jason Blain in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
“We showed that cholesterol is acting essentially as a signal in neurons that determines how much Aβ gets made—and thus it should be unsurprising that apoE, which carries the cholesterol to neurons, influences Alzheimer’s risk,” says study co-senior author Scott Hansen, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research, Florida.
Summary: A new advanced imaging technique shows how cholesterol regulates the production of Alzheimer’s associated amyloid beta proteins in astrocytes.
Source: Scripps Research Institute
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Aug 15, 2021
Virtual reality boosts brain rhythms crucial for neuroplasticity, learning and memory
Posted by Raphael Ramos in categories: biotech/medical, computing, engineering, neuroscience, virtual reality
This is interesting. 😃
A new discovery in rats shows that the brain responds differently in immersive virtual reality environments versus the real world. The finding could help scientists understand how the brain brings together sensory information from different sources to create a cohesive picture of the world around us. It could also pave the way for “virtual reality therapy” for learning and memory-related disorders ranging including ADHD, Autism, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and depression.
Aug 14, 2021
Brain-Computer Interfaces Aim to Bring New Therapeutical Advances to Treating Neural Conditions, Paralysis, Speech Problems
Posted by Kelvin Dafiaghor in categories: computing, neuroscience
Aug 14, 2021
Brain-computer interfaces are making big progress this year
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: computing, neuroscience
Eight months in, 2,021 has already become a record year in brain-computer interface (BCI) funding, tripling the $97 million raised in 2019.
Aug 14, 2021
How a Specific Synapse Type Regulates Anxiety-Like Behavior
Posted by Jason Blain in categories: genetics, neuroscience
“Our research may help us understand how abnormalities in anxiety-like behavior occur and design circuit-based therapeutic approaches for correcting them,” remarks Professor Ji Won Um from the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at DGIST, who led the study.
Summary: Study identifies the role a specific protein plays in regulating the development of inhibitory synapses in the hippocampus in the context of anxiety-related behaviors.
Source: DGIST
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Aug 13, 2021
Modeling of emergent memory and voltage spiking in ionic transport through angstrom-scale slits
Posted by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz in category: neuroscience
Most memory resistor (“memristor”) systems use electrons as the charge carrier, but it may also be possible to use ionic carriers, similar to the way that neurons work. Robin et al. studied an aqueous electrolyte confined into a pseudo two-dimensional gap between two graphite layers (see the Perspective by Hou and Hou). The authors observed a current–voltage relation that exhibits hysteresis, and the conductance depends on the history of the system, also known as the memresistor effect. Using simulations of their system, they can model the emission of voltage spikes characteristic of neuromorphic activity.
Science, abf7923, this issue p. 687; see also abj0437, p. 628
Recent advances in nanofluidics have enabled the confinement of water down to a single molecular layer. Such monolayer electrolytes show promise in achieving bioinspired functionalities through molecular control of ion transport. However, the understanding of ion dynamics in these systems is still scarce. Here, we develop an analytical theory, backed up by molecular dynamics simulations, that predicts strongly nonlinear effects in ion transport across quasi–two-dimensional slits. We show that under an electric field, ions assemble into elongated clusters, whose slow dynamics result in hysteretic conduction. This phenomenon, known as the memristor effect, can be harnessed to build an elementary neuron. As a proof of concept, we carry out molecular simulations of two nanofluidic slits that reproduce the Hodgkin-Huxley model and observe spontaneous emission of voltage spikes characteristic of neuromorphic activity.
Aug 13, 2021
Neural recording and stimulation using wireless networks of microimplants
Posted by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz in categories: computing, neuroscience
Wirelessly powered microchips, which have an ~1 GHz electromagnetic transcutaneous link to an external telecom hub, can be used for multichannel in vivo neural sensing, stimulation and data acquisition.
Aug 13, 2021
Researchers take step toward next-generation brain-computer interface system
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, computing, neuroscience
A new kind of neural interface system that coordinates the activity of hundreds of tiny brain sensors could one day deepen understanding of the brain and lead to new medical therapies.