Dec 3, 2015
Antidepressant may help prevent memory loss, dementia
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
The prescription antidepressant escitalopram (trademarked as Lexapro) shows promise as a deterrent to dementia.
Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 893
Dec 1, 2015
New AI ‘Gabriel’ wants to whisper instructions in your ear
Posted by Phillipe Bojorquez in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience, robotics/AI
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are building an AI platform that will “whisper” instructions in your ear to provide cognitive assistance. Named after Gabriel, the biblical messenger of God, the whispering robo-assistant can already guide you through the process of building a basic Lego object. But, the ultimate goal is to provide wearable cognitive assistance to millions of people who live with Alzheimer’s, brain injuries or other neurodegenerative conditions. For instance, if a patient forgets the name of a relative, Gabriel could whisper the name in their ear. It could also be programmed to help patients through everyday tasks that will decrease their dependence on caregivers.
For the software to exist as a working wearable assistant, it will need a head-mounted device to latch onto. For now, the team is using Google Glass for demos like a ping pong assistant, where the programs tells the user to hit the ball to the right or left depending on the position of the ball in relation to the opponent. In the video below, when the user follows the guidance it makes it harder for the opponent to defend the ball in the game.
Dec 1, 2015
Biologists induce flatworms to grow heads and brains of other species
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience
Tufts biologists induced one species of flatworm —- G. dorotocephala, top left — to grow heads and brains characteristic of other species of flatworm, top row, without altering genomic sequence. Examples of the outcomes can be seen in the bottom row of the image. (credit: Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, Tufts University.)
Tufts University biologists have electrically modified flatworms to grow heads and brains characteristic of another species of flatworm — without altering their genomic sequence. This suggests bioelectrical networks as a new kind of epigenetics (information existing outside of a genomic sequence) to determine large-scale anatomy.
Besides the overall shape of the head, the changes included the shape of the brain and the distribution of the worm’s adult stem cells.
Nov 30, 2015
World’s first anti-ageing drug could see humans live to 120
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience
The world’s first anti-ageing drug will be tested on humans next year in trials which could see diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s consigned to distant memory.
Scientists now believe that it is possible to actually stop people growing old as quickly and help them live in good health well into their 110s and 120s.
Although it might seem like science fiction, researchers have already proven that the diabetes drug metformin extends the life of animals, and the Food and Drug Administration in the US has now given the go ahead for a trial to see if the same effects can be replicated in humans.
Nov 29, 2015
Watch a neural network describe what it sees on a stroll through Amsterdam
Posted by Phillipe Bojorquez in categories: computing, neuroscience, robotics/AI
The results are mixed, of course, but it’s fascinating to watch the neural network make mistakes (and sometimes correct itself) in real time. The open source program being used is called NeuralTalk and was first unveiled last year, with the researchers providing updates on the network’s capabilities since. Other companies and institutions are working on similar technology. Last month, for example, Facebook unveiled a prototype neural network that’s intended to help blind people by describing pictures.
Nov 25, 2015
‘Go’ Is the Game Machines Can’t Beat. Google’s Artificial Intelligence Whiz Hints That His Will — By Mark Bergen | Re/code
Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in categories: business, computing, innovation, machine learning, neuroscience, robotics/AI
“When the world’s smartest researchers train computers to become smarter, they like to use games. Go, the two-player board game born in China more than two millennia ago, remains the nut that machines still can’t crack.”
Nov 25, 2015
Stephen Hawking’s Legacy Could Be ‘Holy Grail’ Of Physics: Combining Gravity And Quantum Mechanics At Black Hole Horizons
Posted by Andreas Matt in categories: cosmology, neuroscience, nuclear energy, particle physics, quantum physics, sustainability
Interesting…
To suggest that quantum mechanics and gravity are on the verge of being reconciled would be, to the physics world at least, as significant as the discover of splitting the atom. While splitting the atom might have led to the nuclear bomb, it also led to the technology of nuclear power, i.e. nuclear fission, which, if harnessed properly, creates a renewable and sustainable energy resource. The problem has always been that quantum mechanics — the rules that govern sub-atomic particles — and gravity, the rule that governs mass as we know it (the stuff we can touch and feel), do not agree with each other. The question has always been, what is it that “unifies” these two theories? Is quantum mechanics God playing dice, as Einstein suggested?
“God doesn’t play dice with the universe.”
Nov 24, 2015
The Drug Lords of Tomorrow Will Be Biohackers
Posted by Zoltan Istvan in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
New article for Vice Motherboard on the future of drugs and implants:
Brain stimulation is the future of drugs.
Nov 24, 2015
Hacking the Brain — Restoring Lost Abilities With the Latest Neurotechnologies
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: biotech/medical, computing, cyborgs, genetics, nanotechnology, neuroscience, Ray Kurzweil
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Ray Kurzweil’s wild prediction that in the 2030s, nanobots will connect our brains to the cloud, merging biology with the digital world.
Let’s talk about what’s happening today.
Over the past few decades, billions of dollars have been poured into three areas of research: neuroprosthetics, brain-computer interfaces and optogenetics.
Nov 17, 2015
Experimental Dementia Drug May Have Anti-Aging Effects
Posted by Robert James Powles in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, neuroscience
Researchers at the Salk Institute working on an experimental Alzheimer’s drug have discovered it may have a host of anti-aging effects too.
Building on previous work
Research had already been conducted on the drug candidate, J147, with the aim of targeting Alzheimer’s. The results showed the drug could help prevent and even regenerate; reversing memory loss and a form of inherited Alzheimer’s disease in mice subjects. While this form comprises only 1% of Alzheimer’s cases, the biggest risk factor for the remainder is old age. If you could target brain aging itself, risk factors would be significantly reduced.
