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59 news posts in Brain

Neuroscience

29 Nov 2016

How kids’ brains respond to a late night up

Sleep deprivation affects children’s brains differently than adults’, according to a new study By K.E.D. Coan, Science Writer Any parent can tell you about the consequences of their child not getting enough sleep. But there is far less known about the details of how sleep deprivation affects children’s brains and what this means for early brain development. “The process of sleep may be involved in brain ‘wiring’ in childhood and thus affect brain maturation,” explains Salome Kurth, first author of the study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, and a researcher at the University Hospital of Zurich. “This research shows an increase in sleep need in posterior brain regions in children.” This contrasts with what researchers know about the effects of sleep deprivation in adults, where the effect is typically concentrated in the frontal regions of the brain. After staying up too late, both children and adults need a period of deep sleep to recover. This recovery phase is characterized by an increase in an electrical pattern called slow-wave activity, which can be measured with a non-invasive technique called an electroencephalogram. With a large number of electrode channels distributed across the scalp, this method also detects which brain regions show […]

Neuroscience

26 Oct 2016

Can a Brain-Computer Interface Convert Your Thoughts to Text?

By Srividya Sundaresan, Science Writer Recent research shows brain-to-text device capable of decoding speech from brain signals  Ever wonder what it would be like if a device could decode your thoughts into actual speech or written words? While this might enhance the capabilities of already existing speech interfaces with devices, it could be a potential game-changer for those with speech pathologies, and even more so for “locked-in” patients who lack any speech or motor function. “So instead of saying ‘Siri, what is the weather like today’ or ‘Ok Google, where can I go for lunch?’ I just imagine saying these things,” explains Christian Herff, author of a review recently published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. While reading one’s thoughts might still belong to the realms of science fiction, scientists are already decoding speech from signals generated in our brains when we speak or listen to speech. In their review, Herff and co-author, Dr. Tanja Schultz, compare the pros and cons of using various brain imaging techniques to capture neural signals from the brain and then decode them to text. The technologies include functional MRI and near infrared imaging that can detect neural signals based on metabolic activity of […]

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 […]

Psychology

19 Jul 2016

Electric brain stimulation can improve mood and relieve stress

Feeling down? How about an electric pick-me-up for your brain? by K.E.D. Coan Electrical brain stimulation can improve the mood of healthy people as well as those suffering from depression, says study published in Frontiers in Psychology. More than 10% of American adults take antidepressants, according to the CDC’s last survey, but these drugs can come with a variety of unpleasant side effects. As an alternative, a team at Swansea University is developing an approach using electrical brain stimulation to alleviate stress and depression. Past studies have shown this method can relieve depression, but their most recent study presents the first evidence that it can also give healthy people a little boost when they’re feeling down. “We’ve shown that weak electric stimulation is effective to improve the mood of those who are not depressed, but are still affected by the consequences of a stressful, restless, and demanding lifestyle,” said Dr. Frederic Boy, Head of Translational and Consumer Neuroscience at Swansea. Although the idea of electric brain stimulation may give you pause for thought, researchers have safely used transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for over a decade. Last year, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) also approved tDCS for the treatment […]

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 […]

Life sciences

27 Apr 2016

Are brain-training apps effective?

By Tania FitzGeorge-Balfour, Frontiers science writer In recent years there has been an explosion in the number of smartphone apps aimed at ‘brain training’. These games often make confident statements about improving our mental performance, but there is little scientific evidence to show that they do. A new study in the open-access journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience has investigated why consumers decide to download these apps, how they use them and what they think their benefits may be. “While the evidence of the effectiveness of brain training remains controversial, our results suggest that the public is interested in learning more about the actual science behind the claims made by the app developers,”says Dr. John Torous, a clinical psychiatrist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, lead author of the study. Young people and those with internet access tend to have high rates of smartphone ownership, so Dr. Torous and his co-authors designed a survey targeted at this group. They asked participants about their thoughts, use and experience of brain-training apps. Over three thousand people responded, making this the largest internet survey to date asking consumers about these apps; the results were insightful. Over two thirds of those that responded […]