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158 news posts in Neuroscience

Neuroscience

25 Oct 2016

Emerging Sensory Neuroprosthetics: Feasibility, Efficacy, and Metrics

  By Laura E. Perlini, Frontiers The first evidence of the capacity of the human being to conceive and manufacture an object that could replace a malfunctioning part of the body is dated between 1295 and 664 B.C. It is the “Greville Chester Great Toe”: a prosthetic toe made using linen, glue, and plaster. It was supposed to aid people who had lost their toe to walk or balance. From ancient Egyptian times, much progress has been made, and nowadays, we are able to make devices that replace or supplement the input and/or output of the nervous system and could ideally bypass neural deficits caused by a disease. This type of prosthesis is called “Neuroprosthesis.” In particular, “sensory neuroprostheses” are able to convert environmental stimuli into perceptions by capturing external inputs and translating them into appropriate stimuli (usually electrical) to the nervous system. The most representative success of sensory neuroprosthetics is the cochlear implant, used in rehabilitating neurosensory hearing loss. The success of cochlear implants has boosted the interest of the scientific community for sensory neuroprosthetics: the concept of using electrical stimulation to provide sensory input to the brain is now being investigated to restore all the five senses. Currently, […]

Neuroscience

07 Sep 2016

Emotionally invested parents give children a leg up in life

  By Mark Wartenberg, Frontiers Science Writer Emotionally invested parents can mean children are more likely to be successful later in life, a study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience shows. Looking at 27 children aged between four and six, the study examined the quality of the emotional bond to their parents, and their cognitive control including: resisting temptation, their ability to remember things, and whether they are shy or withdrawn. Maximizing children’s chances of success can seem daunting and an impossibly tall order. This research found a caring and emotionally attentive environment is liable to be a long-term game-changer. The study involved a combination of questionnaires, behavioral tasks and electrophysiological measurements.  The researchers looked at the quality of the emotional bond – referred to as emotional availability (EA) – between mothers and children. Second, the children’s executive functions were measured through a number of exercises.   Finally, the study measured the neural responses of children who were tasked to inhibit certain aspects of their behavior. This was achieved through EEG (Electrotroencephalography) by measuring small variations in voltage in certain key parts of the brain. Dr Schneider-Hassloff, a researcher on the study, noted: “this study investigated the association between emotional interaction […]

Neuroscience

06 Sep 2016

Relaxing your feet affects your hands

by Conn Hastings, Frontiers Science Writer By relaxing flexed muscles in your foot, you can reduce the ability of your hands to respond to stimulation known as excitability, a study published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found. Although this result might sound bizarre, movement in one limb interfering with movement in another is something you have probably discovered yourself. Anyone who has ever tried to rub their head while patting their belly can confirm this – failing at that wasn’t your fault either, although it was pretty humorous. The muscles in your body contract to pull on your bones and relax to release them again, in response to neural impulses. This forms the basis of movement. However, coordinating both muscle contraction and relaxation is essential for normal physical activity. Rapidly switching between these states is particularly important in activities where complex movements are required, like sports or playing musical instruments. While the balance between muscle relaxation and contraction is important, they are distinct processes in their own right. Brain imaging studies show that specific areas of the brain activate during muscle relaxation, indicating that it is an independent and active neurological process, and not merely the end or […]

Neuroscience

31 Aug 2016

An insecure childhood can make dealing with stress harder

by Srividya Sundaresan, Frontiers Science Writer Imagine two candidates at a high stakes job interview. One of them handles the pressure with ease and sails through the interview. The other candidate, however, feels very nervous and under-performs. Why do some people perform better than others under emotionally stressful conditions? The clue might lie in early childhood experiences, a recent study published in the open access online journal, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found. Emotional bonds with our primary caregiver or parent in early childhood are thought to be the basis of our ability to regulate our emotions as adults. “We know from other studies that our history of attachment directly influences how we act in social situations;” explained Dr. Christine Heinisch, one of the authors of the study; “but what about reaction to a neutral stimulus under emotional conditions?” A good example of this in daily life, says Dr. Heinisch, is when a car approaches a traffic light. Under neutral conditions, it is easy for the driver to follow the signal. But what happens under emotional conditions? “Usually, people tend to make more errors, like stopping too late or even driving through when the traffic light is red. Sometimes they stop although […]

Neuroscience

18 Aug 2016

Augmentation of Brain Function: Facts, Fiction and Controversy

By Silvia Cardellino, Frontiers Augmentation of brain function is no longer just a theme of science fiction. Due to advances in neural sciences, it has become a matter of reality that a person may consider at some point in life, for example as a treatment of a neurodegenerative disease. Currently, several approaches offer enhancements for sensory, motor and cognitive brain functions, as well as for mood and emotions. Such enhancements may be achieved pharmacologically, using brain implants for recordings, stimulation and drug delivery, by employing brain-machine interfaces, or even by ablation of certain brain areas. This exciting area of research has been deeply explored with the Frontiers Research Topic “Augmentation of Brain Function: Facts, Fiction and Controversy”, hosted by Dr Mikhail Lebedev, Dr Ioan Opris and Dr Manuel Fernando Casanova in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. We asked Dr Lebedev to tell us more about this topic. How has this topic idea been developed? “It all started with an invitation letter mailed from Frontiers to Dr. Opris. (Dr. Opris and I co-authored a Frontiers article, which probably prompted that invitation.) The timing was good because Dr. Opris and I were discussing an idea of editing a book. As I work in […]

Neuroscience

08 Aug 2016

Seasonal allergies could change your brain

by Reeteka Sud, Frontiersin.org Hay fever may do more than give you a stuffy nose and itchy eyes — seasonal allergies may change the brain, says a study published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. Scientists found that brains of mice exposed to allergen actually produced more neurons than controls, they did this using a model of grass pollen allergy. The research team examined the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for forming new memories, and the site where neurons continue be formed throughout life. During an allergic reaction, there was an increase in the numbers of new neurons in the hippocampus, raising the question: what could be the consequences of allergies on memory? The formation and functioning of neurons is linked to the brain’s immune cells, the microglia.  Scientists used to believe that immune cells are not active unless there is a threat such as injury or disease. That belief went out the window when it was discovered that microglia are in fact very active even in healthy brains, sculpting connections between neurons. The research team monitored the functioning of microglia in allergic animals. To the scientists surprise, they found that the same allergic reaction that kicks the […]

Neuroscience

01 Jun 2016

Understanding how humans make decisions

  By Damaris Critchlow, Frontiers Science writer Using human neuro-imaging techniques to observe the brain when making decisions, Hauke Heekeren’s research is concerned with perceptual decision making, the roles of motivation and affect in decision making, as well as cognitive and affective components in normal and disturbed social cognition. “When I was in med school in Munich in about 1994, I learned of a psychiatrist, Christoph Hoch and a neurologist, Arno Villringer who were using new methods to look at the intact human brain while it was at work. I was fascinated because these technologies actually allowed us to observe the human brain in action while people were speaking or perceiving things or thinking,” Professor Heekeren explains. “I saw all the wonderful techniques that were just about to be developed and that got me into it. I was hooked basically from that time on.” Heekeren is Professor of Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at Freie Universität Berlin and the Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. From those decisions taken in everyday social situations, to economic situations and those taken when we are stressed, Professor Heekeren’s research watches the brain in action. “My lab mainly investigates the neuroscience of […]

Neuroscience

01 Jun 2016

De-coding the character of a hacker

By K.E.D Coan, Frontiersin.org Malicious hacking online costs the private and corporate sectors up to $575 billion annually, according to internet security firm McAfee. While security agencies seek out “ethical” hackers to help combat such attacks, little is known about the personality traits that lead people to pursue and excel at hacking. A recent study published on Frontiers in Human Neuroscience now shows that a characteristic called systemizing provides insight into what makes and motivates a hacker. “We found a positive association between an individual’s drive to build and understand systems—called ‘systemizing’—and hacking skills and expertise,” says Dr. Elena Rusconi of the Division of Psychology at Abertay University in Dundee, UK, “In particular, we found that this drive is positively and specifically correlated with code-breaking performance.” In this study, Dr. Rusconi’s group found that volunteer “ethical” hackers performed far above average on a series of code-breaking challenges designed to assess their systemizing skills. According to a cognitive and behavioral survey, these hackers also self-reported characteristics that indicated a strong tendency towards systemizing. Systemizing is also frequently associated with autism and so Rusconi additionally profiled participants for other autistic-like behaviors and skills. Although none were actually autistic, hackers self-reported higher scores […]

Neuroscience

27 May 2016

Setting free the words trapped in our heads

By Mônica Favre, Ph.D.,  Frontiers Science Writer Neuroscientists are on their way to turn a person’s thoughts into speech producible by a device, to help victims of stroke and others with speech paralysis to communicate with their loved ones. Professor Robert T. Knight, M.D., and his team at UC Berkeley are working on finding a way to decode speech imagined in the human brain.  “We learned that hearing words, speaking out loud or imagining words involves mechanisms and brain areas that overlap. Now, the challenge is to reproduce comprehensible speech from direct brain recordings done while a person imagines a word they would like to say,” said Knight, who is also the Founding Editor of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Knight says the goal of the device is to help people affected by motor disease, such as paralysis and Lou Gehrig’s Disease. “There are many neurological disorders that limit speech despite patients being fully aware of what they want to say,” Knight said.  “We want to develop an implantable device that decodes the signals that occur in the brain when we think about a word, then turn these signals into a sound file that can be reproduced by a speech device.” […]

Neuroscience

24 May 2016

Fascination on how the brain works never waives for Idan Segev

By Michelle Ponto, Science Writer The brain and how it works is complex. It weighs only 1.5 kilograms, but inside are 100 billion microchips known as nerves cells.  It’s  how these nerve cells generate everything that we do and feel that has kept Professor Idan Segev captivated with his work for years. “These microchips connect to each other and generate a huge network of physical elements that eventually generate all of our behaviors, all of our feelings, all of our imagination, all our creativity, all our sadness, everything…I was fascinated already when I was a teenager that there were all these microchips that build a machine that can do all these things,” said Segev. Segev works at the Hebrew University where he is the head of the department of Neurobiology.  He’s in charge of brain research there, and says the best thing he did when he started was to understand the single cell as a unit of computation. “This was a little difficult to understand because what does it mean to compute? But the nerve cell is a real microchip that receives input from all of its neighbors and from there something wonderful happens,” he said. Segev says one of […]

Neuroscience

18 May 2016

Mind your busyness

Are you busy on an average day? Do you often have too many things to do to get them all done? Do you often have so many things to do that you go to bed later than your regular bedtime? If you are over 50 and the answer to these questions is a weary yes, here is some good news: older adults with a busy daily lifestyle tend to do better on tests of cognitive function than their less busy peers, shows a new study in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. The research is part of the Dallas Lifespan Brain Study, one of the most comprehensive studies of age-related changes in cognition and brain function in healthy adults currently underway in the USA. “We show that people who report greater levels of daily busyness tend to have better cognition, especially with regard to memory for recently learned information,” says Sara Festini, a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Vital Longevity of the University of Texas at Dallas and lead author of the study. “We were surprised at how little research there was on busyness, given that being too busy seems to be a fact of modern life for so many,” says […]

Neuroscience

11 May 2016

New brain research may help treat single-sided deafness

  By Abigail Pattenden, Frontiers Science Writer A new discovery could help people suffering with single-sided deafness (SSD) find a treatment quicker – and could potentially lead to a cure. SSD affects around 9,000 people per year in the UK, and around 60,000 per year in the US. It can be caused by a number of things – from viral infections to brain tumours – and is currently incurable and difficult to treat.  Symptoms of SSD include impaired hearing, difficulty filtering out background noise, and difficulty determining sound direction. A major stumbling block to finding the best treatment has been the current lack of biomarkers against which to measure a treatment’s efficacy, but Dr Srikantan Nagarajan – a specialty chief editor of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, along with Dr Steven Cheung, and a group of scientists based at the University of California have been looking at brain plasticity in response to the development of SSD.  Their recent discovery could pave the way to the development of such biomarkers, and potentially, a cure. Brain plasticity is the ability of the brain to modify its own structure and function in response to changes within the body (e.g., disease) or external factors. It is […]

Neuroscience

08 Apr 2016

Feeling helpless when under stress?

Stress – we’re all too familiar with it.  More of us than ever are feeling the relentless pressure of busy lives and it is taking its toll. In the US, stress related ailments cost the nation $300 billion every year in medical bills and lost productivity. But it seems some people are able to cope with this problem much better than others. Some individuals are resilient, while others succumb to despair. The reason, scientists have discovered, is all in the brain. Mapping the brain activity in mice when placed under stress, scientists have found that mice showing helpless behavior had vastly different brain activity from those displaying resilient behavior. Certain patterns were revealed in the stressed brain and the scientists identified a list of brain areas that might have a critical role to play in stress-induced depression. Looking at these brain activities the study, published in Frontiers in Neural Circuits, opens up possibilities for identifying new targets for the treatment of depression. They explain that with the exception of a few brain areas,  “mice showing ‘helpless’ behavior had an overall brain-wide reduction in the level of neuronal activation compared with mice showing ‘resilient’ behavior.” “In addition, the helpless mice showed […]

Neuroscience

07 Apr 2016

Imitation as therapy for Alzheimer’s patients

By K.E.D. Coan, Science Writer Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the Alzheimer’s Association. There is no cure and no way to slow or prevent the illness. But, patients can still benefit from both physical and cognitive rehabilitation, and researchers are learning that mimicry may be a useful tool to help them regain lost abilities. “Alzheimer’s patients are still able to voluntarily imitate the movement of an object, as well as that of a human being” said Dr. Ambra Bisio. “If this ability is still in place, a patient could relearn how to perform actions that have become difficult due to the disease.” Dr. Ambra Bisio is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Experimental Medicine at the University of Genoa. She specializes in how the brain responds to movement, particularly somebody else’s movements. In a collaboration with Professor Thierry Pozzo at INSERM-U1093, she showed that Alzheimer’s patients can still mimic a simple gesture by a human or a moving dot on a computer screen, suggesting that such exercises may complement current therapeutic strategies. Their results were published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. Copying what someone else is doing is a basic […]