Evidence early, but emerging, that gamma rhythm stimulation can treat neurological disorders
From Picower Institute at MIT 08/01/24 A surprising MIT study published in Nature at the end of 2016 helped to spur interest in the possibility that light flickering at the frequency of a particular gamma-band brain rhythm could produce meaningful therapeutic effects for people with Alzheimer’s disease. In a new review paper in the Journal […]
Researchers identify new coding mechanism that transfers information from perception to memory
From Dartmouth College 03/01/24 Our memories are rich in detail: we can vividly recall the color of our home, the layout of our kitchen, or the front of our favorite café. How the brain encodes this information has long puzzled neuroscientists. In a new Dartmouth-led study, researchers identified a neural coding mechanism that allows the […]
Does a brain in a dish have moral rights?
From Cortical Labs 20/09/23 No longer limited to the realm of science fiction, bio-computing is here, so now is the time to start considering how to research and apply this technology responsibly, an international group of experts says. The inventors of DishBrain have partnered with bioethicists and medical researchers to map such a framework to […]
Discovery of new kind of brain cell shakes up neuroscience and AI
From University of Lausanne 07/09/23 Neuroscience is in great upheaval. The two major families of cells that make up the brain, neurons and glial cells, secretly hid a hybrid cell, halfway between these two categories. For as long as Neuroscience has existed, it has been recognized that the brain works primarily thanks to the neurons […]
Digitising smell: AI describes odor from molecules better than humans
From Monell Chemical Senses Center 03/09/23 A main crux of neuroscience is learning how our senses translate light into sight, sound into hearing, food into taste, and texture into touch. Smell is where these sensory relationships get more complex and perplexing. To address this question, a research team co-led by the Monell Chemical Senses Center and start-up Osmo, […]
Mindfulness gets spherical: The shape-shifting ball that mimics your breath
From University of Bath 01/09/23 A soft ball that ‘personifies’ breath, expanding and contracting in synchronicity with a person’s inhalations and exhalations, has been invented by a PhD student at the University of Bath in the UK. The ball is designed to support mental health, giving users a tangible representation of their breath to keep […]
Microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, cause behavioral changes
From University of Rhode Island 29/08/23 Neuroscience, Pharmacy Professor Jaime Ross’ study finds potential for serious health consequence, including Alzheimer’s. Plastics—in particular, microplastics—are among the most pervasive pollutants on the planet, finding their way into the air, water systems and food chains around the world. While the prevalence of microplastics in the environment is well […]
How our tastes influence our creativity
From Institut du Cerveau (Paris Brain Institute) 21/08/23 What drives us to develop new ideas rather than settling for standard methods and processes? What triggers the desire to innovate at the risk of sacrificing time, energy, and reputation for a resounding failure? Creativity is based on complex mechanisms that we are only beginning to understand […]
Brain-Computer Interface and AI enable paralysed woman to talk again
From University of California – San Francisco 24/08/23 Researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley have developed a brain-computer interface (BCI) that has enabled a woman with severe paralysis from a brainstem stroke to speak through a digital avatar. It is the first time that either speech or facial expressions have been synthesized from […]
Mind reading: Innovators capture Pink Floyd song by decoding brain activity
From PLOS 16/08/23 Researchers led by Ludovic Bellier at the University of California, Berkeley, US, demonstrate that recognizable versions of classic Pink Floyd rock music can be reconstructed from brain activity that was recorded while patients listened to the song. Published August 15th in the open access journal PLOS Biology, the study used nonlinear modeling […]