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Proteins behind mad-cow disease also help brain to develop. N.

Proteins behind mad-cow disease also help brain to develop

Engl. J. Med. 344, 1516-1526 (2001). Prion proteins cause pathologies such as hamster scrapie when they misfold (right) — but the same protein has benign functions when folded correctly (left). Prions are best known as the infectious agents that cause ‘mad cow’ disease and the human versions of it, such as variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. The team reports in the Journal of Neuroscience1 that prions are involved in developmental plasticity, the process by which the structure and function of neurons in the growing brain is shaped by experience.

Prions come in two main forms: the normal version and the misfolded, infectious version. But the molecule is abundant in neurons themselves, especially during development. They used electrodes to stimulate individual cells at the same time as the networks of young neurons showed bursts of spontaneous electrical activity, or to simultaneously stimulate pairs of cells that are connected to each other. 2013/04/05 > BE Pologne 22 > Une découverte sans précédent confirme la grande plasticité du cerveau humain. NeurosciencesUne découverte sans précédent confirme la grande plasticité du cerveau humain Des neuroscientifiques polonais et français ont démontré que la spécialisation du cerveau en centres fonctionnels n'est pas forcément une caractéristique innée et qu'elle peut être obtenue grâce à l'apprentissage.

2013/04/05 > BE Pologne 22 > Une découverte sans précédent confirme la grande plasticité du cerveau humain

Les recherches, qui ont ciblé la capacité du cerveau à lire, ont été publiées le 5 Février dernier dans la revue "Neurology", avec en premier auteur le Dr Marcin SZWED de l'Université Jagellonne à Cracovie et le Dr. Carlos HAMAME de l'Université d'Aix-Marseille. Les recherches cliniques et l'imagerie par résonance magnétique nous ont appris que le cerveau humain est hautement spécialisé tant d'un point de vue anatomique que fonctionnel. Chaque petite région du cortex - la couche externe du cerveau - est dédiée à une fonction spécifique (mémorisation, vision, langage ...) et peut être considérée comme un micro-cerveau spécialisé dans le traitement d'informations particulières.

Sensitive data in human brain successfully extract by Hackers. It is now possible to hack the human brain ?

Sensitive data in human brain successfully extract by Hackers

YES ! This was explained researchers at the Usenix Conference on Security, held from 8 to 10 August in Washington State. Unlock Your Inner Rain Man by Electrically Zapping Your Brain. Imagine a creativity cap.

Unlock Your Inner Rain Man by Electrically Zapping Your Brain

A device that would free you, if only momentarily, from your mindsets, from your prejudices, from the mental blocks to creativity. These words are emblazoned on the website Creativitycap.com, and they represent the vision of neuroscientist Allan Snyder. Snyder believes we all possess untapped powers of cognition, normally seen only in rare individuals called savants, and accessing them might take just a few jolts of electricity to the brain.

It sounds like a Michael Crichton plot, but Snyder, of the University of Sydney, Australia, says he wouldn’t be surprised to see a prototype of the creativity cap within a couple of years. His research suggests that brain stimulation improves people’s ability to solve difficult problems.

Neuromarketing

Start-up attempts to convert Prof Hawking's brainwaves into speech - Pentadactyl. Music benefits babies' brains. Babies who receive musical training smile more, communicate better and react more calmly to unfamiliar or unfavourable situations, according to new research out of Ontario's McMaster University.

Music benefits babies' brains

The study involved one-year-olds and their parents who spent six months participating in one of two types of music-related activities. One group played with toys while music played in the background. The other group learned to play percussion instruments and sing lullabies, nursery rhymes and songs with actions. The interactive group showed more sophisticated responses to music, but what surprised researchers even more was the non-musical differences between the two groups.

Babies from the interactive classes showed better early communication skills, like pointing at objects that are out of reach or waving goodbye, the study found. Binging on sweets may make you stupid - Times Of India - Pentadactyl. Dementia patients reveal how we construct a picture of the future - Pentadactyl. (Medical Xpress) -- Our ability to imagine and plan our future depends on brain regions that store general knowledge, new research shows.

Dementia patients reveal how we construct a picture of the future - Pentadactyl

Dr. Muireann Irish from Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) found that dementia patients who can no longer recall general knowledge – for example, the names of famous people or popular songs – are also unable to imagine themselves in the future. "We already know that if memory of past events is compromised, as is the case in Alzheimer's disease, then the ability to imagine future scenarios is also impaired,” says Dr. Nerve rewiring helps paralysed man move hand - Pentadactyl. 15 May 2012Last updated at 14:06 GMT By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News A paralysed man in the US has regained limited use of his hand after pioneering surgery to bypass damage to his spinal cord A paralysed man has regained limited use of his hand after pioneering surgery to bypass damage to his spinal cord.

Nerve rewiring helps paralysed man move hand - Pentadactyl

Music: It's in your head, changing your brain - CNN.com - Pentadactyl. Bassist Victor Wooten says you don't need to start with the rules of music in order to play an instrument.

Music: It's in your head, changing your brain - CNN.com - Pentadactyl

When you can't get a song out of your head, it means neural circuits are stuck in a loop Music, like sex, drugs and food, release the brain chemical dopaminePeople tend to agree on the emotions they hear in musicVictor Wooten, a famous bassist, approaches music as a language. DIY Kit Overclocks Your Brain With Direct Current - Technology Review - Pentadactyl. Brain Stimulation Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

DIY Kit Overclocks Your Brain With Direct Current - Technology Review - Pentadactyl

The Brain. Amping Up Brain Function: Transcranial Stimulation Shows Promise in Speeding Up Learning: Scientific American - Pentadactyl. WASHINGTON, D.C.

Amping Up Brain Function: Transcranial Stimulation Shows Promise in Speeding Up Learning: Scientific American - Pentadactyl

—One of the most difficult tasks to teach Air Force pilots who guide unmanned attack drones is how to pick out targets in complex radar images. Pilot training is currently one of the biggest bottlenecks in deploying these new, deadly weapons. So Air Force researchers were delighted recently to learn that they could cut training time in half by delivering a mild electrical current (two milliamperes of direct current for 30 minutes) to pilot's brains during training sessions on video simulators. The current is delivered through EEG (electroencephalographic) electrodes placed on the scalp. Biomedical engineer Andy McKinley and colleagues at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright–Patterson Air Force Base, reported their finding on this so-called transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) here at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting on November 13. Subjects definitely register the stimulation, but it is not unpleasant.

Neuroscience. Neuroscience.