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Mental health practitioners and meditation gurus have long credited intentional breathing with the ability to induce inner calm, but scientists do not fully understand how the brain is involved in the process. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electrophysiology, researchers in the Penn State College of Engineering identified a potential link between respiration and neural activity changes in rats.

Their results were made available online ahead of publication in eLife. The researchers used simultaneous multi-modal techniques to clear the noise typically associated with brain imaging and pinpoint where breathing regulated neural activity.

“There are roughly a million papers published on fMRI—a non-invasive imaging technique that allows researchers to examine brain activity in real time,” said Nanyin Zhang, founding director of the Penn State Center for Neurotechnology in Mental Health Research and professor of biomedical engineering.

Cheers!

𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐥𝐳𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧

𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙩, 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙨 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 “𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙮” 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙨. 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝘾𝙎 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙉𝙚𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙤𝙥 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣, 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙗 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨, 𝙞𝙣𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙢𝙮𝙡𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝘼𝙡𝙯𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 (𝘼𝘿).

Continue reading “Beer Ingredient May Inhibit Clumping of Alzheimer’s Protein” »

17:12 minutes.

After decades of research using sophisticated brain imaging, there’s a growing consensus among neuroscientists that understanding the connections between brain regions may be even more important than the functions of the regions themselves. When it comes to understanding human cognition, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Sea anemones are seemingly immortal animals. They seem to be immune to aging and the negative impacts that humans experience over time. However, the exact reasons for their eternal youth are not completely understood.

The genetic fingerprint of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis reveals that members of this incredibly ancient animal phylum employ the same gene cascades for neural cell differentiation as more complex organisms. These genes are also in charge of maintaining the balance of all cells in the organism during the anemone’s lifetime. These findings were recently published in the journal Cell Reports by a group of developmental biologists headed by Ulrich Technau of the University of Vienna.

Almost all animal organisms are made up of millions, if not billions, of cells that join together in intricate ways to create specific tissues and organs, which are made up of a range of cell types, such as a variety of neurons and gland cells. However, it is unclear how this critical balance of diverse cell types emerges, how it is regulated, and if the different cell types of different animal organisms have a common origin.

Being called birdbrained should be a compliment. bigsmile

In cognitive tests for recognizing certain types of patterns, crows outperformed monkeys.

For a portion of people who get COVID, symptoms continue for months or even years after the initial infection. This is commonly referred to as “long COVID”.

Some people with long COVID complain of “brain fog”, which includes a wide variety of cognitive symptoms affecting memory, concentration, sleep and speech. There’s also growing concern about findings that people who have had COVID are at increased risk of developing brain disorders, such as dementia.

Scientists are working to understand how exactly a COVID infection affects the human brain. But this is difficult to study, because we can’t experiment on living people’s brains. One way around this is to create organoids, which are miniature organs grown from stem cells.

University of Missouri researchers made the discovery while using bioluminescent imaging technology to study how nicotinamide riboside supplements work inside the body.

Commercial dietary supplements like nicotinamide riboside (NR), a form of vitamin B3, were linked to benefits related to cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurological health in previous studies. However, new research from the University of Missouri (MU) has found NR could actually increase the risk of serious disease, including developing cancer.

Supplements containing nicotinamide riboside are often marketed as NAD+ boosters claimed benefits including increased energy, anti-aging/longevity/healthy aging, improved cellular energy metabolism and repair, increased vitality, and improved heart health.

𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬

𝙄𝙣 𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞-𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛.𝙉𝙚𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙚—𝙂𝙧𝙚́𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙩 𝙀𝙋𝙁𝙇, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙅𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙮𝙣𝙚 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙝, 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙩 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙃𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 (𝘾𝙃𝙐𝙑)—𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙮𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙟𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.

Continue reading “Scientists identify neurons that restore walking after paralysis” »

Ever wonder why some 90-year olds don’t seem to slow down and seem. to retain the mental and physical capacity of someone half their age?
Do they have good genes? Or is there a way that all of us can get older without getting old?

That’s what Dr. Nir Barzilai, founder of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, set out to answer in his book, Age Later.

Continue reading “A discussion with Dr. Nir Barzaili on Age Later” »