Lifeboat Foundation

Memory, or the ability to store information in a readily accessible way, is an essential operation in computers and human brains. A key difference is that while brain information processing involves performing computations directly on stored data, computers shuttle data back and forth between a memory unit and a central processing unit (CPU). This inefficient separation (the von Neumann bottleneck) contributes to the rising energy cost of computers.

MONDAY, March 18, 2024 (HealthDay News) — In people with type 1 diabetes, fluctuations in blood sugar levels can affect thinking skills in various ways, new research shows.

Researchers looked specifically at what’s known as cognitive processing speed (how fast people process incoming information) and attention.

“Our results demonstrate that people can differ a lot from one another in how their brains are impacted by glucose,” said study co-senior author Laura Germine.

Year 2023 😗😁

Famed musician and former Elon Musk boo Claire “Grimes” Boucher wanted a brain-computer interface (BCI) for her birthday — and one of Neuralink’s apparent competitors was happy to comply.

After Grimes tweeted about getting a “non invasive brain computer interface” for her birthday, AJ Keller, the CEO of the startup Neurosity, confirmed in an interview with Insider that his firm had indeed made a custom brain gadget for the “Kill V. Maim” singer.

Continue reading “Grimes Using Custom Brain Interface From Elon Musk Competitor” »

Summary: Adolescents engaging in “transcendent thinking”—the practice of looking beyond the immediate context to understand deeper meanings and implications—can significantly influence their brain development. The study highlights how this complex form of thinking fosters coordination between the brain’s executive control and default mode networks, crucial for psychological functioning.

Analyzing high school students’ responses to global teen stories, researchers found that transcendent thinking not only enhances brain network coordination over time but also predicts key psychosocial outcomes in young adulthood. These groundbreaking findings underline the potential of civically minded education in supporting adolescents’ cognitive and emotional development.

In the first clinical trial of a targeted pharmacologic therapeutic for mild traumatic brain injury in pediatric patients, scientists from the Minds Matter Concussion Frontier Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found preliminary evidence that adolescents and young adults with concussion who take a specific formulation of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplements after injury experience faster symptom reduction and return to physical activity.

Two new treatments for Alzheimer’s – lecanemab and donanemab – have been hailed as breakthroughs. In reality, they will have little effect.

Johns Hopkins researchers have found genes associated with an important placental function tied to schizophrenia risk.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that genes associated with schizophrenia risk may impact the placenta, not just the brain.

Read this fascinating case study on the impact of physical rehabilitation using X-Sens Inertial Technology feedback for Posterior Cerebral Artery Infarcts! 🧠.

Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) affecting the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) represents a unique clinical challenge, necessitating a multifaceted approach to rehabilitation. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of physiotherapeutic interventions tailored specifically for individuals with AIS involving the PCA territory. The PCA supplies critical areas of the brain responsible for visual processing, memory, and sensory integration. Consequently, patients with PCA infarcts often exhibit a distinct set of neurological deficits, including visual field disturbances, cognitive impairments, and sensory abnormalities. This case report highlights evidence-based physiotherapy strategies that encompass a spectrum of interventions, ranging from early mobilization and motor training to sensory reintegration and cognitive rehabilitation.

The stress-induced mechanisms that cause our brain to produce feelings of fear in the absence of threats have been mostly a mystery. Now, neurobiologists at the University of California San Diego have identified the changes in brain biochemistry and mapped the neural circuitry that cause such a generalized fear experience. Their research, published in the journal Science on March 15, 2024, provides new insights into how fear responses could be prevented.

In their report, former UC San Diego Assistant Project Scientist Hui-quan Li, (now a senior scientist at Neurocrine Biosciences), Atkinson Family Distinguished Professor Nick Spitzer of the School of Biological Sciences and their colleagues describe the research behind their discovery of the neurotransmitters — the chemical messengers that allow the brain’s neurons to communicate with one another — at the root of stress-induced generalized fear.

Studying the brains of mice in an area known as the dorsal raphe (located in the brainstem), the researchers found that acute stress induced a switch in the chemical signals in the neurons, flipping from excitatory “glutamate” to inhibitory “GABA” neurotransmitters, which led to generalized fear responses.