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Scientists from UCLA, Israel’s Technion Uncover Brain’s Code for Pronouncing Vowels

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2012Health, Scienceariel tankus, brain, brain cell, device, disease, electrode, frontal lobe, injury, institute of technology, Israel, itzhak fried, nature communication, neuro prosthetic, neurons, paralyze, single cell, speech, technion, temporal gyrus, ucla, unspoken word, vowel, vowel articulation

Discovery may hold key to restoring speech after paralysis

Diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease at 21, British physicist Stephen Hawking, now 70, relies on a computerized device to speak. Engineers are investigating the use of brainwaves to create a new form of communication for Hawking and other people suffering from paralysis.

—Daily Mail (U.K.)

Scientists at UCLA and the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology, have unraveled how our brain cells encode the pronunciation of individual vowels in speech.

Published in the Aug. 21 edition of the journal Nature Communications, the discovery could lead to new technology that verbalizes the unspoken words of people paralyzed by injury or disease. (more…)

Scientists Measure Communication between Stem Cell-Derived Motor Neurons, Muscle Cells

By Guest PostMay 10, 2012Science: walking, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, bennett g novitch, breathing, communication, electrode, genetic mutation, joy umbach, lou gehrigs disease, motor function, motor neuron, muscle cells, neurodegenerative diseases, neurological disorder, spinal muscular atrophy, synaptic activity, vitro system

In an effort to identify the underlying causes of neurological disorders that impair motor functions such as walking and breathing, UCLA researchers have developed a novel system to measure communication between stem cell–derived motor neurons and muscle cells in a Petri dish.

The study provides an important proof of principle that functional motor circuits can be created outside the body using these neurons and cells and that the level of communication, or synaptic activity, between them can be accurately measured by stimulating the motor neurons with an electrode and then tracking the transfer of electrical activity into the muscle cells to which the neurons are connected. (more…)

From Soil Microbe to Super-Efficient Biofuel Factory?

By Guest PostMay 5, 2012Environment, Scienceadvanced biofuel, arpa e program, berkeley lab, bioelectrochemical reactor, biofuel, bioplastic, chris chang, CO2, diesel fuel, electrode, electrofuel, energy source, harry beller, hydrocarbon, hydrogen, ketones, microbe, nathan hillson, organic compound, ralstonia eutropha, soil bacterium, steve singer, swapnil chhabra, team electrofuel, Technology

Berkeley Lab-led team explores a way to create biofuels, minus the photosynthesis

Is there a new path to biofuels hiding in a handful of dirt? Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) biologist Steve Singer leads a group that wants to find out. They’re exploring whether a common soil bacterium can be engineered to produce liquid transportation fuels much more efficiently than the ways in which advanced biofuels are made today.

The scientists are working with a bacterium called Ralstonia eutropha. It naturally uses hydrogen as an energy source to convert CO₂ into various organic compounds. (more…)

Migraine Patients Find Pain Relief in Electrical Brain Stimulation

By Guest PostApril 23, 2012Health, Sciencealexandre dasilva, analgesic resource, chronic migraine, chronic pain, computational model, electric current flow, electrical brain stimulation, electrode, headache, migraine therapy, motor cortex, noninvasive method, pain relief, tdcs, university of michigan, voluntary movement

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Chronic migraine sufferers saw significant pain relief after four weeks of electrical brain stimulation in the part of the brain responsible for voluntary movement, the motor cortex, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Harvard University and the City College of the City University of New York used a noninvasive method called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a preventative migraine therapy on 13 patients with chronic migraine, or at least15 attacks a month. After 10 sessions, participants reported an average 37 percent decrease in pain intensity. (more…)

Ions Control Shape of Nanofibers Grown on Clear Substrate

By Guest PostAugust 20, 2011Scienceacetylene, acetylene gas, ammonia gas, anatoli melechko, atoms, biomedical research tools, c2h2, carbon nanofibers, catalytic action, cfd research corporation, chromium grid, dale hensley, electrode, fused silicon, gene delivery tools, gene therapy, graphite, graphitic carbon nanofibers, hexagonal structure, ions, nanofiber coatings, nanofibers, nickel nanoparticles, north carolina state university, oak ridge national laboratory, positively charged atoms, pure silicon dioxide, ryan pearce, solar cells, transparent substrate, water repellent coatings

Researchers from North Carolina State University, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and CFD Research Corporation have found a new way to develop straight carbon nanofibers on a transparent substrate. Growing such nanofiber coatings is important for use in novel biomedical research tools, solar cells, water repellent coatings and others. The technique utilizes a charged chromium grid, and relies on ions to ensure the nanofibers are straight, rather than curling – which limits their utility.

“This is the first time, that I know of, where someone has been able to grow straight carbon nanofibers on a clear substrate,” says Dr. Anatoli Melechko, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. “Such nanofibers can be used as gene-delivery tools. And a transparent substrate allows researchers to see how the nanofibers interact with cells, and to manipulate this interaction.” (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…)

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