Brain

A new moisture-proof sensor has been developed, to monitor cerebral pressure that can lead to dementia. It was created by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT in St. Ingbert in Germany. The sensor, that is similar to pressure sensors used by the auto industry, represents a shift from previous implants that allowed moisture to penetrate and destroy the device.  Read More

Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease can make a huge difference in the management of the disease, and this can be achieved by making testing procedures more easily accessible. For that reason, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers led by Ellen Yi-Luen Do have created a digital version of the Clock Drawing Test commonly used to detect cognitive impairment. The two-part evaluation does away with the paper and makes it easier for patients to get tested, besides giving doctors a more sophisticated tool for making assessments.  Read More

Honey bees are fascinating creatures. They live harmoniously in large communities, divided into different castes, with some of the worker bees heading out on daily expeditions to gather nectar and pollen from flowers. Already, a study has suggested that the efficient method in which bees visit those flowers could inspire the improvement of human endeavors such as the building of faster computer networks. Now, scientists from the Universities of Sheffield and Sussex hope to build a computer model of the honey bee’s brain, with the ultimate hope of using it to control tiny autonomous flying robots.  Read More

Developer Abelardo Gonzalez has created an open-source font designed to help people with dyslexia read more easily. Dubbed OpenDyslexic, the font is currently available as a free download, in the form of a Safari and Chrome extension, a bookmarklet, and a free iOS web-browsing app. OpenDyslexic has also been incorporated into several third-party apps, including popular read-it-later service Instapaper.  Read More

A new Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project crosses the line between man and machine, with a threat detection system that uses “mind reading.” No, the Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System (CT2WS) doesn’t pick up the thoughts of approaching baddies. Instead, it uses a combination of a digital imaging system, computer algorithms and an electroencephalogram (EEG) to help observers scan areas for threats with much greater accuracy by making them aware of things that they’ve seen, but aren’t consciously aware of.  Read More

We may sometimes joke that we lack the ability to make decisions, but the fact is that for people with certain types of brain damage, proper decision-making is indeed impossible. This isn’t so much about things like choosing between vanilla and chocolate, however. Instead, these individuals simply can’t decide on how to respond to everyday situations, so they either don’t respond, or they respond inappropriately. Help may be on the way, though, in the form of a brain-stimulating device that has been shown to work on monkeys.  Read More

A collaboration between Rice University, the University of Houston and TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital has led to MAHI-EXO II, a sophisticated exoskeleton that could help stroke victims regain movement in the arms by reading the patients' intended actions and nudging them along when needed. The robot wraps the arm from the fingertips to the elbow and uses a non-invasive EEG interface to anticipate gestures and help patients build up strength and accuracy over time.  Read More

Researchers based at Zhejiang University in China have produced a system for controlling a quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle with the mind. Dubbed "Flying Buddy 2", the system uses a standard, commercially-available Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset, a computer and a Parrot AR Drone. The computer processes the data received from the EEG and converts it into control commands which are beamed to the drone via a Wi-Fi connection.  Read More

Once the preserve of science fiction, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have advanced to the point where they can even be found in novelty headwear, which only makes an achievement of an international team of scientists more frightening. Using an off-the-shelf Emotiv BCI costing only a few hundred dollars, the team has shown that it's possible to "hack" a human brain and pull things like bank details straight out of your skull.  Read More