Lifeboat Foundation

A multinational research team has now been able to increase their understanding of species-specific variations in the architecture of cortical neurons thanks to high-resolution microscopy.

Researchers from the Developmental Neurobiology research group at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, led by Professor Petra Wahle, have demonstrated that primates and non-primates differ in an important aspect of their architecture: the origin of the axon, which is the process responsible for the transmission of electrical signals known as action potentials. The results were recently published in the journal eLife.

Archived histological material from tracing studies, immunohistochemistry, and Golgi impregnations allowed to discover a so far unrecognized structural difference, potentially of functional importance, between neocortical pyramidal neurons of rodent, carnivore, and ungulate as compared to monkey and man.

Summary: Researchers have identified a new type of retinal ganglion cells.

Source: Northwestern University.

Northwestern Medicine investigators have identified a new type of retinal ganglion cell, the neurons in the retina that encode the visual environment and transmit information back to the brain, according to a study published in Neuron.

Summary: Zooming out to image larger areas of the brain while using fMRI technology allows researchers to capture additional relevant information, offering a better understanding of neural interplay.

Source: Yale.

Researchers have learned a lot about the human brain through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a technique that can yield insight into brain function. But typical fMRI methods may be missing key information and providing only part of the picture, Yale researchers say.

In the middle of the night, the world can sometimes feel like a dark place. Under the cover of darkness, negative thoughts have a way of drifting through your mind, and as you lie awake, staring at the ceiling, you might start craving guilty pleasures, like a cigarette or a carb-heavy meal.

Plenty of evidence suggests the human mind functions differently if it is awake at nighttime. Past midnight, negative emotions tend to draw our attention more than positive ones, dangerous ideas grow in appeal and inhibitions fall away.

Some researchers think the human circadian rhythm is heavily involved in these critical changes in function, as they outline in a new paper summarizing the evidence of how brain systems function differently after dark.

Continue reading “The Human Mind Is Not Meant to Be Awake After Midnight, Scientists Warn” »

Circa 2018

New research has opened doors to using the gene-editing tool CRISPR to stop cancer cells from dividing indefinitely.

Continue reading “Scientists Uncover the Secret of Brain Cancer’s ‘Immortality Switch’” »

Innovative Solutions For Unmet Needs Of Older Adults & Their Caregivers — Keith Camhi, Managing Director, Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator — A Partnership With Melinda Gates Pivotal Ventures.

Keith Camhi is Managing Director, Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator (https://www.techstars.com/accelerators/longevity), a program, run in partnership with Pivotal Ventures (https://www.pivotalventures.org/), an investment and incubation company created by Melinda French Gates, focusing on innovative solutions to address the unmet needs of older adults and their caregivers. The longevity accelerator core program themes include: Caregiver Support, Care Coordination, Aging in Place, Financial Wellness and Resilience, Preventive Health (both Physical and Cognitive), and Social Engagement.

Continue reading “Keith Camhi — Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator — Innovative Solutions For Older Adults” »

Unlike existing treatments that focus on rehabilitation or reducing the risk of an additional stroke, the experimental drug targets the “stickiness” that can prevent injured brain tissue from functioning as it should.

Researchers who previously revived some brain cells in dead pigs succeeded in repeating the process in more organs.