Tag: Brain
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New microfluidic system using artificial membrane keep brain tissue viable for a longer duration
Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research in Japan have developed a new system for keeping tissue viable for long-term study once transferred from an animal to a culture medium. The new system uses a microfluidic device made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with a porous membrane that can keep tissue from both drying out…
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Researchers find possible link between autism and nuclear receptor protein LXRβ
Research by University of Houston scientists discovered a possible link between nuclear receptor protein LXRβ (Liver X receptor Beta) and autism spectrum disorder. They found that nuclear receptor LXRβ deletion causes poor development of dentate gyrus, a part of brain’s hippocampus. The dentate gyrus, or DG, is responsible for emotion and memory and is known…
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A new algorithm to solve memory problems in large-scale human brain simulations
Researchers have come closer towards advancing technology to create computer simulations of the brain networks using exascale-class supercomputers. Their findings are published in journal Frontiers in Neuroinformatics. Credit: Forschungszentrum Jülich The human brain is a complex network composed of approximately 100 billion neurons. With current computing power, it is impossible to simulate 100 percent working brain.…
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Glassy carbon electrodes advances brain-computer interface technology
The Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering-a collaboration of San Diego State University with the University of Washington and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is working on an implantable brain chip that can record neural electrical signals and transmit them to receivers in the limb. Results of the research study utilizing above technology are published in…
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Protein Wnt5a is important in sustaining adult neuron structure in mice hippocampus
Humans and other vertebrates depend on a portion of the brain called the hippocampus for learning, memory and their sense of location. Nerve cell structures in the adult hippocampus are sustained by factors whose identities have remained largely mysterious so far. Now, research led by a Johns Hopkins University biologist Dr. Kuruvilla sheds light on…
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Using focused magnetic stimulation of brain to improve precision memory
Northwestern Medicine scientists showed for the first time that non-invasive brain stimulation can be used like a scalpel, rather than like a hammer, to cause a specific improvement in precise memory. This is an individual receiving noninvasive brain stimulation (‘high-frequency, repetitive, transcranial electromagnetic stimulation’). Credit: Northwestern University Precise memory, rather than general memory, is critical…
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Role of retroviruses in evolution of human brain
Over millions of years, retroviruses have been incorporated into our human DNA, where they today make up almost 10 percent of the total genome. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has now discovered a mechanism through which these retroviruses may have an impact on gene expression. This means that they may have played…
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Research shows musicians have faster reaction to sensory stimuli
According to a new study by Université de Montréal’s School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, part of UdeM’s medical faculty learning to play musical instrument help elderly to react faster and to stay alerted. The study is published in journal Brain and Cognition. The study shows that musicians have faster reaction times to sensory stimuli than…
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Increased brain connectivity seen in endurance runners.
University of Arizona researchers discovered that MRI scans of endurance runners’ brains have greater functional connectivity than the brains of more sedentary individuals. Researchers compared brain scans of young adult cross country runners to young adults who don’t engage in regular physical activity. The runners, overall, showed greater functional connectivity or connections between distinct brain…
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Magnetoencephalography and computational analysis to accurately diagnose concussions
Simon Fraser University researchers have found that high-resolution brain scans, coupled with computational analysis, could play a critical role in helping to detect concussions that conventional scans might miss. In a study published in PLOS Computational Biology, Vasily Vakorin and Sam Doesburg show how magnetoencephalography (MEG), which maps interactions between regions of the brain, could…
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