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Study of How Brain Corrects Perceptual Errors Has Implications For Brain Injuries, Robotics

By Guest PostMarch 24, 2011Sciencebiological and artificial systems, brain, david bowie, david wozny, flash of light, ladan shams, mars rovers, milliseconds, NASA, perception of the sound, perceptual systems, radio static, rehabilitation from brain injuries, robotic recalibration, sensory recalibration, shams, shams and wozny, spatial map, static environments, ventriloquist illusion

“Don’t you wonder sometimes about sound and vision?” — David Bowie

New research provides the first evidence that sensory recalibration — the brain’s automatic correcting of errors in our sensory or perceptual systems — can occur instantly.

“Until recently, neuroscientists thought of sensory recalibration as a mechanism that is primarily used for coping with long-term changes, such as growth during development, brain injury or stroke,” said Ladan Shams, a UCLA assistant professor of psychology and an expert on perception and cognitive neuroscience. “It appeared that extensive time, and thus many repetitions of error, were needed for mechanisms of recalibration to kick in. However, our findings indicate we don’t need weeks, days, or even minutes or seconds to adapt. To some degree, we adapt instantaneously. (more…)

Does Social Anxiety Disorder Respond to Psychotherapy? Brain Study Says Yes

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2011Culture, Healthbrain, brain electrical interactions, capital punishment, delta beta coupling, diane santesso, disorder, eegs, electroencephalograms, emotion, hamilton, louis schmidt, martin antony, medication, nervous system, neurological effects, ontario, ontario mental health foundation, physiologic change, psychotherapy, randi mccabe, real-time, rene sommer, same-sex marriage, social anxiety, vladimir miskovic

When psychotherapy is helping someone get better, what does that change look like in the brain? This was the question a team of Canadian psychological scientists set out to investigate in patients suffering from social anxiety disorder. Their findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association of Psychological Science.

Social anxiety is a common disorder, marked by overwhelming fears of interacting with others and expectations of being harshly judged. Medication and psychotherapy both help people with the disorder. But research on the neurological effects of psychotherapy has lagged far behind that on medication-induced changes in the brain. (more…)

‘Brain Can Learn to Overcome Sleep Apnea’

By Guest PostFebruary 3, 2011Healthairways, brain, brain chemical, breathe, depth of breathing, enhance breathing, john peever, noradrenaline, normal lung activity, north americans, obstructive sleep apnea, respiratory muscles, sleep apnea

*From sound science to sound sleep*

New research from U of T could provide some restful nights for the 18 million North Americans who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea.

In a recent study that appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience, U of T scientists demonstrated that repeated obstruction of the airways requires release of the brain chemical noradrenaline. The release of this chemical helps the brain learn to breathe more effectively and purposefully. (more…)

Research Indicates Green Tea Protects Against Alzheimer’s and Cancer

By PravdaJanuary 10, 2011Health, Sciencealzheimer, ancient chinese remedy, beta amyloid, brain, Britain, cancer, dementia, development of alzheimer, diseases, ed okello, green tea, hydrogen peroxide, intestinal enzymes, models, newcastle university, polyphenols, protein, tea, tumor cells

A study by Newcastle University in Britain, indicates that green tea may protect the brain from diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. The research, published in the journal Phytomedicine, also suggests that the ancient Chinese remedy that has been popularized throughout the world may also have an important role in protecting the body against cancer.

In the study, scientists investigated whether the beneficial properties of green tea, which had already been proven in newly prepared and undigested tea, were still active once the tea was digested. (more…)

UCLA Researchers Identify Molecular Program for Brain Repair Following Stroke

By Guest PostNovember 13, 20101 commentHealth, Scienceadult brain, atrx, axons, brain, brain stroke, carmichael, cells, DNA, drug, gene, giovanni coppola, healing process, molecular cascade, mouse, neurons, peri infarct tissue, s thomas carmichael, stroke

Mouse Stroke. An MRI of a mouse brain after stroke. The mouse section has been stained to show cell bodies. Image credit: University of California

A stroke wreaks havoc in the brain, destroying its cells and the connections between them. Depending on its severity and location, a stroke can impact someone’s life forever, affecting motor activity, speech, memories, and more.

The brain makes an attempt to rally by itself, sprouting a few new connections, called axons, that reconnect some areas of the brain. But the process is weak, and the older the brain, the poorer the repair. Still, understanding the cascade of molecular events that drive even this weak attempt could lead to developing drugs to boost and accelerate this healing process.

Now researchers at UCLA have achieved a promising first step. Reporting in the current online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience, senior author Dr. S. Thomas Carmichael, a UCLA associate professor of neurology, and colleagues have, for the first time, identified in the mouse the molecular cascade that drives the process of reconnection or sprouting in the adult brain after stroke. (more…)

‘Study Reveals Why Brain Has Limited Capacity for Repair After Stroke’

By Guest PostNovember 4, 2010Health, Scienceadult disability, brain, brain cells, brain repair, chemical system, neurological recovery, phasic inhibition, recovery, stroke, stroke damage, tom carmichael, tonic inhibition

Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability, due to the brain’s limited capacity for recovery. Physical rehabilitation is the only current treatment following a stroke, and there are no medications available to help promote neurological recovery.

Now, a new UCLA study published Nov. 3 in the journal Nature offers insights into a major limitation in the brain’s ability to recover function after a stroke and identifies a promising medical therapy to help overcome this limitation.

Researchers interested in how the brain repairs itself already know that when the brain suffers a stroke, it becomes excitable, firing off an excessive amount of brain cells, which die off. The UCLA researchers found that a rise in a chemical system known as “tonic inhibition” immediately after a stroke causes a reduction in this level of excitability. (more…)

Breakthrough: Scientists Harness the Power of Electricity in the Brain

By Guest PostNovember 1, 2010Health, Sciencebiomedical engineering, brain, brain impulses, brain waves, daniel ferris, electrical brain activity, electrode, harnesses, joe gwin, mri-based model, neuroscience, orchestra, paralyzed patient, power of electricity, robotic exoskeleton, symphony

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A paralyzed patient may someday be able to “think” a foot into flexing or a leg into moving, using technology that harnesses the power of electricity in the brain, and scientists at University of Michigan School of Kinesiology are now one big step closer.

Researchers at the school and colleagues from the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego have developed technology that for the first time allows doctors and scientists to noninvasively isolate and measure electrical brain activity in moving people. (more…)

IBM Analytics Helps Medical Researchers Detect Complication In Stroke Patients

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2010Health, Technologyanalytics technology, bleeding stroke, brain, brain injury, columbia university medical center, delayed ischemia, early warning signs, ibm, ibm research labs, ibm streaming analytics analyzes, michael schmidt, nagui halim, ruptured brain aneurysm, treatment

IBM Corporate Headquarters, Armonk NY. Image credit: IBM

LAS VEGAS, – 26 Oct 2010:

IBM today announced a new project in which researchers at Columbia University Medical Center will utilize IBM’s streaming analytics technology to potentially detect severe complications in brain injured patients up to 48 hours earlier than traditional methods.

For patients that have suffered a bleeding stroke from a ruptured brain aneurysm, recovery can involve serious complications. One of the most severe and frequent complications is delayed ischemia, a life threatening condition in which the brain does not get enough blood to function properly. Currently, detectable symptoms only appear once blood flood has been significantly reduced, forcing medical professionals to be reactive instead of preventative in their treatment. In 20 percent of patients with this complication, there are no observable symptoms at all and it is only after it is too late that their doctor realizes that the patient needed treatment. (more…)

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