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Brain

The free-energy principle explains the brain

January 17, 2022 by Editor Leave a Comment

The Riken Center for Brain Science (CBS) in Japan, along with colleagues, has shown that the free-energy principle can explain how neural networks are optimized for efficiency.

Published in the scientific journal Communications Biology, the study first shows how the free-energy principle is the basis for any neural network that minimizes energy cost. Then, as proof-of-concept, it shows how an energy minimizing neural network can solve mazes.

This finding will be useful for analyzing impaired brain function in thought disorders as well as for generating optimized neural networks for artificial intelligences. [Read more…] about The free-energy principle explains the brain

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    New deep learning models: Fewer neurons, more intelligenceArtificial intelligence has arrived in our everyday lives – from search engines to self-driving cars. This has to do with the enormous computing power that has become available in recent years.  But new results from AI research now show that simpler, smaller neural networks can be used to solve certain…
    Tags: network, neural, networks, news
  • Keeping weight off is up to your brain, not just willpower, Ben-Gurion U researchers discover
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    Keeping weight off is up to your brain, not just willpower, Ben-Gurion U researchers discoverWhat if an MRI scan could determine whether a weight loss program was likely to be effective? Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have discovered a neural subnetwork of connected regions between the brain and gastric basal electric frequency that correlates with future weight loss based on connectivity patterns.…
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Filed Under: Brain, News Tagged With: brain, decisions, free-energy, network, networks, neural, principle, rules

Our brains take a little while to update – like our social media feeds

January 17, 2022 by Editor Leave a Comment

Like our social media feeds, our brains are constantly uploading rich, visual stimuli. But instead of seeing the latest image in real time, we actually see earlier versions because our brain’s refresh time is about 15 seconds, according to new UC Berkeley research.

The findings, appearing today, Jan. 12, in the journal Science Advances, add to a growing body of research about the mechanism behind the “continuity field,” a function of perception in which our brain merges what we see on a constant basis to give us a sense of visual stability.

“If our brains were always updating in real time, the world would be a jittery place with constant fluctuations in shadow, light and movement, and we’d feel like we were hallucinating all the time,” said study senior author David Whitney, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology, neuroscience and vision science. [Read more…] about Our brains take a little while to update – like our social media feeds

Filed Under: Brain, News Tagged With: ages, author, berkeley, blindness, brain, brains, changes, constant, continuity, everyday, field, function, images, impression, input, manassi, psychology, real, study, time, uc, update, videos, visual, whitney

How the brain’s blue spot helps us focus our attention

January 9, 2022 by Editor Leave a Comment

The neurotransmitter noradrenaline regulates our brain’s sensitivity to relevant information

How can we shift from a state of inattentiveness to one of highest attention? The locus coeruleus, literally the “blue spot,” is a tiny cluster of cells at the base of the brain. As the main source of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline, it helps us control our attentional focus.

Synthesizing evidence from animal and human studies, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the University of Southern California have now developed a novel framework describing the way the blue spot regulates our brain’s sensitivity to relevant information in situations requiring attention.

Their findings have been published in an opinion article in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences. [Read more…] about How the brain’s blue spot helps us focus our attention

Filed Under: Brain, Features Tagged With: activity, alpha, article, attention, blue, brain, coeruleus, focus, helps, human, inattentiveness, neural, neurons, neurotransmitter, noradrenaline, oscillations, planck, pupil, regulates, rhythmic, sensitivity, size, spot, thalamus

Exercise alters brain chemistry to protect ageing synapses

January 9, 2022 by Editor Leave a Comment

When elderly people stay active, their brains have more of a class of proteins that enhances the connections between neurons to maintain healthy cognition, a UC San Francisco study has found.

This protective impact was found even in people whose brains at autopsy were riddled with toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

“Our work is the first that uses human data to show that synaptic protein regulation is related to physical activity and may drive the beneficial cognitive outcomes we see,” said Kaitlin Casaletto, PhD, an assistant professor of Neurology and lead author on the study, which appears in the January 7 issue of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. [Read more…] about Exercise alters brain chemistry to protect ageing synapses

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  • Human molecule blocking toxic forms of Parkinson's-related protein identified
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    Human molecule blocking toxic forms of Parkinson's-related protein identifiedThe death of neurons specialised in the synthesis of dopamine, one of the brain's main neurotransmissors, deteriorates the motor and cognitive capacities of those with Parkinson's disease. The loss of these neurons is related to alpha-synuclein aggregation. Recent studies show that oligomers, the initial aggregates of this protein, are the…
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Filed Under: Brain, News Tagged With: activity, adults, alzheimer, amyloid, appears, associated, author, brain, brains, casaletto, cognition, dementia, disease, elderly, honer, integrity, neurons, people, physical, proteins, study, synapses, synaptic, tau

Neuroscientists build ‘ultra detailed map’ of brain motor cortex, from mice to monkeys to humans

January 4, 2022 by Farhana Leave a Comment

Hundreds of neuroscientists have built a “parts list” of the motor cortex, laying groundwork to map the whole brain and better understand brain diseases.

Before you read any further, bring your hand to your forehead.

It probably didn’t feel like much, but that simple kind of motion required the concerted effort of millions of different neurons in several regions of your brain, followed by signals sent at 200 mph from your brain to your spinal cord and then to the muscles that contracted to move your arm. [Read more…] about Neuroscientists build ‘ultra detailed map’ of brain motor cortex, from mice to monkeys to humans

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  • Rules of brain architecture revealed in large study of neuron shape and electrophysiology
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    Rules of brain architecture revealed in large study of neuron shape and electrophysiologyTo understand our brains, scientists need to know their components. This theme underlies a growing effort in neuroscience to define the different building blocks of the brain – its cells. With the mouse's 80 million neurons and our 86 billion, sorting through those delicate, microscopic building blocks is no small…
    Tags: cell, brain, types, cells, neurons, news
  • Scientists discover a new class of memory cells in the brain
    48
    Scientists discover a new class of memory cells in the brainScientists have long searched in vain for a class of brain cells that could explain the visceral flash of recognition that we feel when we see a very familiar face, like that of our grandmothers. But the proposed "grandmother neuron" – a single cell at the crossroads of sensory perception…
    Tags: cells, brain, cell, neurons, news
  • What makes us human? The answer may be found in overlooked DNA
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    What makes us human? The answer may be found in overlooked DNAOur DNA is very similar to that of the chimpanzee, which in evolutionary terms is our closest living relative. Stem cell researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now found a previously overlooked part of our DNA, so-called non-coded DNA, that appears to contribute to a difference which, despite all…
    Tags: cells, cell, brain, news
  • Tick tock in the brain: Chinese scientists provide molecular insights into primate hippocampal aging
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    Tick tock in the brain: Chinese scientists provide molecular insights into primate hippocampal agingDeep inside our brain is a region called the hippocampus. It plays a crucial role in learning and memory, and its progressive deterioration with age is functionally linked to a variety of human neurodegenerative diseases. But what drives it down the path of aging? The hippocampus is a complex structure…
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  • Tracing the many paths of vision
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    Tracing the many paths of visionRetinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are the bottleneck through which all visual impressions flow from the retina to the brain. A team from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, University of California Berkeley and Harvard University created a molecular catalog that describes the different types of these neurons. In this way,…
    Tags: types, brain, cell, news

Filed Under: Brain, Features Tagged With: brain, cell, neurons, types

Sense of smell is our most rapid warning system

January 3, 2022 by Farhana Leave a Comment

The ability to detect and react to the smell of a potential threat is a precondition of our and other mammals’ survival. Using a novel technique, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have been able to study what happens in the brain when the central nervous system judges a smell to represent danger.

The study, which is published in PNAS, indicates that negative smells associated with unpleasantness or unease are processed earlier than positive smells and trigger a physical avoidance response.

“The human avoidance response to unpleasant smells associated with danger has long been seen as a conscious cognitive process, but our study shows for the first time that it’s unconscious and extremely rapid,” says the study’s first author Behzad Iravani, researcher at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet.

The olfactory organ takes up about five per cent of the human brain and enables us to distinguish between many million different smells. A large proportion of these smells are associated with a threat to our health and survival, such as that of chemicals and rotten food. Odour signals reach the brain within 100 to 150 milliseconds after being inhaled through the nose. [Read more…] about Sense of smell is our most rapid warning system

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  • What makes us human? The answer may be found in overlooked DNA
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    What makes us human? The answer may be found in overlooked DNAOur DNA is very similar to that of the chimpanzee, which in evolutionary terms is our closest living relative. Stem cell researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now found a previously overlooked part of our DNA, so-called non-coded DNA, that appears to contribute to a difference which, despite all…
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  • Our brains perceive our environment differently when we’re lying down
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    Our brains perceive our environment differently when we’re lying downYou’re agitated by the sound of a mosquito buzzing around your head. The buzzing stops. You feel the tiny pinprick and locate the target. Whack! It’s over. It’s a simple sequence, but it demands complex processing. How did you know where the mosquito was before you could even see it?…
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    Tags: study, researchers, human, author, brain, news
  • 'Feel good' brain messenger can be willfully controlled, new study reveals
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    'Feel good' brain messenger can be willfully controlled, new study revealsFrom the thrill of hearing an ice cream truck approaching to the spikes of pleasure while sipping a fine wine, the neurological messenger known as dopamine has been popularly described as the brain's "feel good" chemical related to reward and pleasure. A ubiquitous neurotransmitter that carries signals between brain cells,…
    Tags: researchers, study, news, brain

Filed Under: Brain, News Tagged With: avoidance, brain, bulb, human, institutet, karolinska, olfactory, sense, signals, smells

Russian researchers present ultra-precise brain imaging tool

August 19, 2021 by Editor

A joint team from the Russian Quantum Center, Skoltech, and the Higher School of Economics has presented a novel supersensitive solid-state magnetometer operating at room temperature. The researchers for the first time used it to detect and record brain electrical activity with a technique called magnetoencephalography, which could become dozens of times cheaper with the new device. The paper was published in Human Brain Mapping.

High accuracy is a key advantage of magnetoencephalography (MEG) over other similar techniques used for studying the electrical activity of the brain. Biological tissues are transparent for magnetic fields. However, only a very limited number of laboratories around the world have MEG equipment, which uses either extremely cold liquid helium or high-temperature gas and is very expensive and difficult to manufacture.

A team from the Russian Quantum Center (RQC) developed a new sensor using yttrium-iron garnet films. This is the first solid-state supersensitive room-temperature magnetometer in the world. It is based on a quantum sensor and is capable of registering very weak or deep electrical sources in the brain. Owing to its wide dynamic range, the device requires less magnetic shielding, which means a lower cost of both the hardware and the entire research infrastructure. [Read more…] about Russian researchers present ultra-precise brain imaging tool

Filed Under: Brain, News Tagged With: accuracy, activity, based, brain, center, device, economics, electrical, high, higher, including, magnetic, magnetometer, meg, quantum, researchers, russian, school, sensor, sensors, skoltech, solid-state, systems, team

Microbes turn back the clock as research discovers their potential to reverse aging in the brain

August 13, 2021 by Editor

As our population ages one of the key global challenges is to develop strategies to maintain healthy brain function.

This ground-breaking  research opens up a potentially new therapeutic avenues  in the form of microbial-based interventions to slow down brain aging and associated cognitive problems.

The work was carried out by researchers in the Brain-Gut-Microbiota lab in APC led by Prof John F. Cryan, Vice President for Research & Innovation, University College Cork as well as a Principal Investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland  an SFI Research Centre,  based in in University College Cork and Teagasc Moorepark. [Read more…] about Microbes turn back the clock as research discovers their potential to reverse aging in the brain

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    Tick tock in the brain: Chinese scientists provide molecular insights into primate hippocampal agingDeep inside our brain is a region called the hippocampus. It plays a crucial role in learning and memory, and its progressive deterioration with age is functionally linked to a variety of human neurodegenerative diseases. But what drives it down the path of aging? The hippocampus is a complex structure…
    Tags: aging, brain, therapeutic, function, study, news, health
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    Is sitting always bad for your mind? A new study suggests maybe notIt's generally accepted health advice that adults of all ages should sit less, move more, and engage in regular exercise to feel better and reduce the risk of chronic diseases. However, when it comes to the brain and cognition, a new study of older adults from Colorado State University suggests…
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Filed Under: Brain, News Tagged With: aging, aspects, brain, cognitive, cryan, function, gut, health, key, microbiome, potential, reverse, work

Our brains perceive our environment differently when we’re lying down

August 11, 2021 by Editor

You’re agitated by the sound of a mosquito buzzing around your head. The buzzing stops. You feel the tiny pinprick and locate the target. Whack! It’s over.

It’s a simple sequence, but it demands complex processing. How did you know where the mosquito was before you could even see it?

The human body is covered in about two square metres of skin, but somehow even before looking you knew the precise location of the spindly predator. After visual confirmation, your hand found its way to the scene of the crime and applied fatal force to the bug, but you didn’t hurt yourself in the process. [Read more…] about Our brains perceive our environment differently when we’re lying down

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  • Gut and heart signals affect how we see ourselves
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    Gut and heart signals affect how we see ourselvesNew research has discovered that the strength of the connection between our brain and internal organs is linked to how we feel about our appearance. Published in the journal Cortex, the study is the first to investigate, and first to identify, the association between body image and the brain’s processing…
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  • Empathy may be in the eye of the beholder
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    Empathy may be in the eye of the beholderEmpathy is talked about a lot these days. Against the backdrop of a global pandemic and a divisive political climate in the United States, calls for empathy have become louder and more urgent. We encourage empathy for those inflicted with Covid-19 and those struggling with unemployment. We reminisce about the…
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  • Neuroscientists build ‘ultra detailed map’ of brain motor cortex, from mice to monkeys to humans
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    Neuroscientists build ‘ultra detailed map’ of brain motor cortex, from mice to monkeys to humansHundreds of neuroscientists have built a “parts list” of the motor cortex, laying groundwork to map the whole brain and better understand brain diseases. Before you read any further, bring your hand to your forehead. It probably didn’t feel like much, but that simple kind of motion required the concerted…
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  • Sense of smell is our most rapid warning system
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    Sense of smell is our most rapid warning systemThe ability to detect and react to the smell of a potential threat is a precondition of our and other mammals' survival. Using a novel technique, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have been able to study what happens in the brain when the central nervous system judges a smell…
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Filed Under: Brain, News Tagged With: brain, external, lying, perception, senses, system

‘Feel good’ brain messenger can be willfully controlled, new study reveals

July 30, 2021 by Editor

From the thrill of hearing an ice cream truck approaching to the spikes of pleasure while sipping a fine wine, the neurological messenger known as dopamine has been popularly described as the brain’s “feel good” chemical related to reward and pleasure.

A ubiquitous neurotransmitter that carries signals between brain cells, dopamine, among its many functions, is involved in multiple aspects of cognitive processing. The chemical messenger has been extensively studied from the perspective of external cues, or “deterministic” signals.

Instead, University of California San Diego researchers recently set out to investigate less understood aspects related to spontaneous impulses of dopamine. Their results, published July 23 in the journal Current Biology, have shown that mice can willfully manipulate these random dopamine pulses. [Read more…] about ‘Feel good’ brain messenger can be willfully controlled, new study reveals

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  • Motivation depends on how the brain processes fatigue
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    Motivation depends on how the brain processes fatigueHow do we decide whether or not an activity which requires work is ‘worth the effort’? Researchers at the University of Birmingham & University of Oxford have shown that the willingness to work is not static, and depends upon the fluctuating rhythms of fatigue. Fatigue – the feeling of exhaustion…
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  • What makes us human? The answer may be found in overlooked DNA
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    What makes us human? The answer may be found in overlooked DNAOur DNA is very similar to that of the chimpanzee, which in evolutionary terms is our closest living relative. Stem cell researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now found a previously overlooked part of our DNA, so-called non-coded DNA, that appears to contribute to a difference which, despite all…
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  • AI-designed serotonin sensor may help scientists study sleep and mental health
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    AI-designed serotonin sensor may help scientists study sleep and mental healthSerotonin is a neurochemical that plays a critical role in the way the brain controls our thoughts and feelings. For example, many antidepressants are designed to alter serotonin signals sent between neurons. In an article in Cell, National Institutes of Health-funded researchers described how they used advanced genetic engineering techniques to…
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  • Human molecule blocking toxic forms of Parkinson's-related protein identified
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    Human molecule blocking toxic forms of Parkinson's-related protein identifiedThe death of neurons specialised in the synthesis of dopamine, one of the brain's main neurotransmissors, deteriorates the motor and cognitive capacities of those with Parkinson's disease. The loss of these neurons is related to alpha-synuclein aggregation. Recent studies show that oligomers, the initial aggregates of this protein, are the…
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Filed Under: Brain, News Tagged With: dopamine, impulses, mice, researchers, reward, study

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