Paralyzed woman uses thoughts to sip coffee
Posts tagged "brain"
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The PXP Bike Lets You Switch Gears Using Brainwaves →
The PXP bike is a revolutionary carbon-fiber bicycle concept that will allow you to change gears with your mind. Although it doesn’t actually mean that all cycles will soon do away with physical switches, it does pave the way for more uses of brain-controlled products.
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Powerful function of single protein that controls neurotransmission discovered →
Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered that the single protein — alpha 2 delta — exerts a spigot-like function, controlling the volume of neurotransmitters and other chemicals that flow between the synapses of brain neurons. The study, published online in Nature, shows how…
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Deep brain stimulation may hold promise for mild Azheimer’s disease →
A study at the University of Toronto on a handful of people with suspected mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) suggests that a device that sends continuous electrical impulses to specific “memory” regions of the brain appears to increase neuronal activity.
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Swiss scientists create mind-controlled robot for disabled patients →
A team of scientists at Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have developed a robot that can be controlled using only your mind. The new technology was demonstrated earlier this week, and involved a quadriplegic man wearing a cap to record his brain signals, which were then transferred to a small wheeled robot that he could move left and right simply by thinking it.
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Brain Implant Helps Paralyzed Hand Move →
The dream of true cybernetics — merging man with machine — just got a bit closer. Scientists at Northwestern University built a device that can send signals from the brain directly to paralyzed muscles, causing them to move by thought. This technology could help patients who have suffered spinal cord injuries regain the use of their limbs.
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Mini-sensor measures magnetic activity in human brain →
A miniature atom-based magnetic sensor developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has passed an important research milestone by successfully measuring human brain activity. Experiments reported this week verify the sensor’s potential for biomedical applications such as studying mental processes and advancing the understanding of neurological diseases.
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Distinct 'God spot' in the brain does not exist, study shows →
Scientists have speculated that the human brain features a “God spot,” one distinct area of the brain responsible for spirituality. Now, University of Missouri researchers have completed research that indicates spirituality is a complex phenomenon, and multiple areas of the brain are responsible for the many aspects of spiritual experiences. Based on a previously published study that indicated spiritual transcendence is associated with decreased right parietal lobe functioning, MU researchers replicated their findings. In addition, the researchers determined that other aspects of spiritual functioning are related to increased activity in the frontal lobe.
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Studying States of Consciousness →
The puzzle of consciousness is so devilish that scientists and philosophers are still struggling with how to talk about it, let alone figure out what it is and where it comes from.
One problem is that the word has more than one meaning. Trying to plumb the nature of self-awareness or self-consciousness leads down one infamous rabbit hole. But what if the subject is simply the difference in brain activity between being conscious and being unconscious?
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Fine-scale analysis of the human brain yields insight into its distinctive composition →
Scientists at the Allen Institute for Brain Science have identified similarities and differences among regions of the human brain, among the brains of human individuals, and between humans and mice by analyzing the expression of approximately 1,000 genes in the brain. The study, published online April 12 in the journal Cell, sheds light on the human brain in general and also serves as an introduction to what the associated publicly available dataset can offer the scientific community.
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Genetic Atlas Yields a Brainbow of Cognitive Information →
Scientists have created the first genetic “atlas” of the human brain, and the result is a very pretty Skittles-esque map of the brain as a rainbow. A brainbow.
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Neuroscientists Battle Furiously Over Jennifer Aniston →
A few years ago, a UCLA neurosurgeon named Itzhak Fried, while operating on patients who suffer from debilitating epileptic seizures, discovered what he now calls the “Jennifer Aniston Neuron.”
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Scientists create mice that automatically label new memories for easy reactivation →
Finding a specific memory in your brain is not easy. Is it held within a particular group of neurons? If so, which ones? Are they clustered together, or spread throughout the brain? In science-fiction, a goofy helmet and a fancy operating system is all it takes. In real life, we need a subtler and cleverer technique.
Two independent groups of scientists have devised just such a method, and used it to awaken specific memories in mice. One group even planted a slightly artificial memory. These techniques have great promise. They will allow us to study how memories are formed, how our existing memories affect the creation of new ones, and what happens during the simple act of remembering.
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Researchers prove that memories reside in specific brain cells →
In a new MIT study, researchers used optogenetics to show that memories reside in very specific brain cells, and that simply activating a tiny fraction of brain cells can recall an entire memory — explaining, for example, how Marcel Proust could recapitulate his childhood from the aroma of a once-beloved madeleine cookie.
“We demonstrate that behavior based on high-level cognition, such as the expression of a specific memory, can be generated in a mammal by highly specific physical activation of a specific small subpopulation of brain cells, in this case by light,” says Susumu Tonegawa, the Picower Professor of Biology and Neuroscience at MIT and lead author of the study reported online today in the journal Nature.
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Nerve cells grow on nanocellulose - the first steps towards a 3D brain model →
Researchers from Chalmers and the University of Gothenburg have shown that nanocellulose stimulates the formation of neural networks. This is the first step toward creating a three-dimensional model of the brain. Such a model could elevate brain research to totally new levels, with regard to Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, for example.
