Brain

Using a newly developed imaging technique, researchers in the U.K. have for the first time observed what happens to the brain as it loses consciousness. The method known as "functional electrical impedance tomography by evoked response" (fEITER) uses a 32 electrode array to scan the brain at a rate of 100 times a second and by applying this as an anaesthetic drug takes effect, researchers are able to build a real-time 3-D video that will aid in better understanding of how the brain functions and the nature of consciousness. Read More

In the future, people who are prone to seizures may get an array of electrodes implanted in their brains. These electrodes would be capable of detecting the onset of a seizure, and then releasing medication to prevent it from happening. While it might sound far-fetched, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have already demonstrated the technology on lab rats. Read More

In order to lessen the frequency and severity of their headaches, migraine sufferers are sometimes instructed to wear eyeglasses with precision-tinted lenses. These are known as prescribed precision ophthalmic tints, or POTs. Up until recently, however, the science behind the POTs/headache relationship wasn’t clearly understood. Now, a team of scientists have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to gain an understanding of just what is taking place. Read More

Until recently a purely lab based technology, brainwave (electroencephalograph or EEG) headsets are trickling into the marketplace in a number of different guises. But what exactly do these devices do, how do they differ from each other and - with potential applications ranging from medicine to gaming and market research – who will use them and for what purpose? Dr. Max Sutherland takes a closer look. Read More

One of the theories regarding the cause of schizophrenia suggests that, due to an excessive release of dopamine, the brain remembers too many irrelevant things. Schizophrenics are then overwhelmed by the vast amounts of facts, thoughts and memories all crammed together in their heads, and start processing them into conclusions that aren't based in reality. It's called the hyperlearning hypothesis, and researchers at the University of Texas in Austin recently tried to see if they could simulate it – in a computer. Read More

Whether caused by strokes in seniors or hypoxia in newborn infants, brain injuries can cause the brain to overheat, which in turn causes its cells to die. While there are cooling therapies that can bring its temperature down, doctors first need to establish that the brain is indeed warmer than the rest of the patient’s body. While doing so has previously involved invasive techniques, researchers from Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters (CHKD) in Norfolk, Virginia have recently created a small device that sits on top of the patient’s head, and measures their brain’s temperature non-invasively. Read More

Imagine a Wii that lets you play a musical instrument with your brain without touching strings or a keyboard. That's exactly what this "proof of concept" brain-computer-music-interface (BCMI) is designed to do – it uses brain waves and eye movement to sound musical notes, so even a person with "locked-in-syndrome" could participate in creative activity analogous to learning to play a musical instrument. Developed by a team headed by Eduardo Miranda, a composer and computer music specialist from the UK's University of Plymouth, the BCMI can be set up on a laptop computer for under $3,500 (including the computer). For people who are disabled, assistive technology usually aims at day-to-day functioning and largely ignores the unique aspect of being a human – creativity. This is different. Read More

It's probably still going to be a while before autonomous, self-aware androids are wandering amongst us. That scenario has come a little closer to reality, however, with researchers from the University of Southern California having created a functioning synapse circuit using carbon nanotubes. An artificial version of the connections that allow electrical impulses to pass between neurons in our brains, the circuit could someday be one component of a synthetic brain. Read More

"Connectomics" is an area of neuroscience that aims to map the brain's connections, known as synapses, to gain an understanding of how information flows through the circuits of the brain. With an estimated 100 billion nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain, each connected to thousands of other nerve cells, adding up to an estimated 150 trillion synapses, the creation of such a map is no small task – but a new technique is bringing scientists a step closer to developing a computer model of the brain. Read More