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Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 726

Sep 10, 2018

Researchers Identify Molecule With Anti-Aging Effects On Vascular System

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, neuroscience

ATLANTA—A molecule produced during fasting or calorie restriction has anti-aging effects on the vascular system, which could reduce the occurrence and severity of human diseases related to blood vessels, such as cardiovascular disease, according to a study led by Georgia State University.

“As people become older, they are more susceptible to disease, like cancer, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Ming-Hui Zou, senior author of the study, director of the Center for Molecular and Translational Medicine at Georgia State and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Medicine. “Age is the most important so-called risk factor for human disease. How to actually delay aging is a major pathway to reducing the incident and severity of human disease.

”The most important part of aging is vascular aging. When people become older, the vessels that supply different organs are the most sensitive and more subject to aging damage, so studying vascular aging is very important. This study is focused on vascular aging, and in old age, what kind of changes happen and how to prevent vascular aging.”

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Sep 10, 2018

The Fate of Free Will: When Science Crosses Swords with Philosophy

Posted by in categories: neuroscience, science

In some domains the two knowledge systems are complementary, but in others they might be headed for conflict.

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Sep 9, 2018

The Alzheimer’s Hypothesis

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

A detailed analysis of Alzheimer’s disease.


Alzheimer’s disease was first discovered in 1907 in a 51 year old woman by the German physician Alzheimer. One of the first changes noticed was an eruption of jealous feelings towards her husband. It wasn’t long before symptoms of rapid memory impairment were observed. The impairments prevented her from finding her way out of her home, She hid herself, she would drag objects to and fro, and occasionally screamed because she believed people were out to kill her.

When she was institutionalized her gestures would show a complete helplessness. As common in most Alzheimer’s patients, she was disoriented as to time and place. At times she would state that she didn’t understand anything, felt confused, and totally lost. When the doctor came in to see her she would consider it as an official visit and would apologize for not having finished her work. Other times she would be terrified and start to yell that the doctor wanted to operate on her. Other times she would send him away in complete indignation uttering phrases indicating that she was afraid that the doctor wanted to damage her woman’s honor. At times she would become completely delirious, dragging her blankets and to and fro, calling for her husband and daughter, and seeming to experience auditory hallucinations. She would often scream for hours and hours in a horrible voice. Mental regression advanced quite steadily. After four and a half years of illness the patient finally died.

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Sep 9, 2018

The Alzheimer’s Hypothesis

Posted by in categories: aging, genetics, health, neuroscience, science

The Alzheimer’s Hypothesis

Introduction

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Sep 7, 2018

DARPA’s New Brain Chip Enables Telepathic Control of Drone Swarms

Posted by in categories: computing, drones, military, neuroscience

The US military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has created a brain-computer interface that enables a person to control everything from a swarm of drones to an advanced fighter jet using nothing but their thoughts and a special brain chip.

Life imitates art, in defense tech no less than in society. In the 1982 techno-thriller film “Firefox,” Clint Eastwood steals a fictional Soviet fighter jet called the “MiG-31 Firefox,” a Mach 6-capable stealth fighter he piloted with his thoughts. But now in 2018, the US military has gone even further: you can control a whole group of drones or fighter jets with your thoughts.

A F-22 Raptor fighter jet of the 95th Fighter Squadron from Tyndall, Florida approaches a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 100th Air Refueling Wing at the Royal Air Force Base in Mildenhall in Britain as they fly over the Baltic Sea towards the newly established NATO airbase of Aemari, Estonia September 4, 2015.

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Sep 7, 2018

Elon Musk: I’m about to announce a ‘Neuralink’ product that connects your brain to computers

Posted by in categories: computing, Elon Musk, neuroscience

Elon Musk smoked pot and drank whiskey on the Joe Rogan podcast and said he’s going to soon announce a new “Neuralink” product that can make anyone superhuman.

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Sep 6, 2018

New Synthetic Protein May Kill Cancer Cells Without Harming Healthy Tissue

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

The new protein combined with a fat molecule could be particularly effective in fighting brain cancer.

Destroy cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.

That’s the goal of cancer treatment.

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Sep 6, 2018

A brain boost to fight Alzheimer’s disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the biggest medical challenges of our time. About 30 million people worldwide are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and the numbers are predicted to increase to 100 million by 2050 if we do not find effective prevention or treatment strategies (1). Substantial evidence suggests that leading a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, may lower the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. However, the mechanisms through which exercise protects the brain and whether we could bottle these as a treatment remain controversial. On page 991 of this issue, Choi et al. (2) reveal that in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, exercise improves memory through a combination of encouraging neurogenesis in the hippocampus and increasing the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a growth factor that supports neuronal survival. Their findings suggest that agents that promote both BDNF signaling and neurogenesis might be effective in preventing or treating Alzheimer’s disease.

http://www.sciencemag.org/about/science-licenses-journal-article-reuse

This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License.

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Sep 5, 2018

L.A. County Launches Tracking Program to Locate People With Dementia, Others Who Wander

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, neuroscience

Los Angeles County officials launched a program Wednesday to help locate people with autism, Alzheimer’s disease or dementia who may wander off and go missing.

The program, called L.A. Found, will make use of bracelets that can be tracked through radio frequency by sheriff’s deputies. It will also create a new office, housed within the department of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services, to coordinate a countywide response when somebody goes missing.

“If you get lost, we will help find you,” county Supervisor Janice Hahn, who championed the initiative, said at a news conference.

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Sep 5, 2018

Globally, 1.4 billion adults at risk of disease from not doing enough physical activity

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

More than a quarter (1.4 billion) of the world’s adult population were insufficiently active in 2016, putting them at greater risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and some cancers, according to the first study to estimate global physical activity trends over time. The study was undertaken by researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO) and published in The Lancet Global Health journal.

Together, these estimates demonstrate that there has been little progress in improving levels between 2001 and 2016. The data show that if current trends continue, the 2025 global activity target of a 10% relative reduction in insufficient physical activity will not be met.

“Unlike other major global health risks, levels of insufficient physical activity are not falling worldwide, on average, and over a quarter of all adults are not reaching the recommended levels of physical activity for good health,” warns the study’s lead author, Dr. Regina Guthold of the WHO, Switzerland.

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