Blog

Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 876

Apr 25, 2016

Interfering with brain pathway early could improve memory in Alzheimer’s patients

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

This makes me a little nervous because pathways are very fragile and just the smallest change can result is some very bad/ even devastating results in other areas of the brain/ body.


Alzheimer’s remains one of the costliest yet most mysterious conditions in the United States, where an estimated 5.1 million Americans are living with the incurable, progressive disease. But researchers at The Rockefeller University have found that manipulating a protein pathway linked with Alzheimer’s helped improve memory impairment in mice— a finding that offers hope for new treatment in humans. Memory loss is the hallmark symptom of the disease.

Scientists with the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University used a complex set of imaging technologies and experiments to identify an early trafficking protein pathway (COPI) that affects amyloid precursor protein (APP), which precedes the formation of amyloid plaques. Previous research on Alzheimer’s have targeted this plaque, but scientists haven’t successfully identified a way to halt its progression. There is currently no cure or effective treatment for the disease.

Continue reading “Interfering with brain pathway early could improve memory in Alzheimer’s patients” »

Apr 25, 2016

Thinking Outside the Brain – Why We Need to Build a Decentralized Exocortex

Posted by in categories: information science, neuroscience, Ray Kurzweil

What the bleep is an exocortex and why should we care?

Ray Kurzweil

Continue reading “Thinking Outside the Brain – Why We Need to Build a Decentralized Exocortex” »

Apr 24, 2016

Can we replicate the human brain? Scientists create nanoscale electronic synapses for neural networks

Posted by in categories: nanotechnology, neuroscience, robotics/AI

Russian scientists have managed to make nanoscale hafnium oxide-based memristors showcase synaptic properties.

Read more

Apr 23, 2016

EGFRvIII-Specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells Migrate to and Kill Tumor Deposits Infiltrating the Brain Parenchyma in an Invasive Xenograft Model of Glioblastoma

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience

Sharing for fellow researchers and others who have interest in GBM news.


Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults and is uniformly lethal. T-cell-based immunotherapy offers a promising platform for treatment given its potential to specifically target tumor tissue while sparing the normal brain. However, the diffuse and infiltrative nature of these tumors in the brain parenchyma may pose an exceptional hurdle to successful immunotherapy in patients. Areas of invasive tumor are thought to reside behind an intact blood brain barrier, isolating them from effective immunosurveillance and thereby predisposing the development of “immunologically silent” tumor peninsulas. Therefore, it remains unclear if adoptively transferred T cells can migrate to and mediate regression in areas of invasive GBM. One barrier has been the lack of a preclinical mouse model that accurately recapitulates the growth patterns of human GBM in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that D-270 MG xenografts exhibit the classical features of GBM and produce the diffuse and invasive tumors seen in patients. Using this model, we designed experiments to assess whether T cells expressing third-generation chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) targeting the tumor-specific mutation of the epidermal growth factor receptor, EGFRvIII, would localize to and treat invasive intracerebral GBM. EGFRvIII-targeted CAR (EGFRvIII+ CAR) T cells demonstrated in vitro EGFRvIII antigen-specific recognition and reactivity to the D-270 MG cell line, which naturally expresses EGFRvIII. Moreover, when administered systemically, EGFRvIII+ CAR T cells localized to areas of invasive tumor, suppressed tumor growth, and enhanced survival of mice with established intracranial D-270 MG tumors. Together, these data demonstrate that systemically administered T cells are capable of migrating to the invasive edges of GBM to mediate antitumor efficacy and tumor regression.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common form of primary malignant brain tumor in adults and remains one of the most deadly neoplasms. Despite multimodal therapy including maximal surgical resection, radiation, and temozolomide (TMZ), the median overall survival is less than 15 months [1]. Moreover, these therapies are non-specific and are ultimately limited by toxicity to normal tissues [2]. In contrast, immunotherapy promises an exquisitely precise approach, and substantial evidence suggests that T cells can eradicate large, well-established tumors in mice and humans [3] [7].

Continue reading “EGFRvIII-Specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells Migrate to and Kill Tumor Deposits Infiltrating the Brain Parenchyma in an Invasive Xenograft Model of Glioblastoma” »

Apr 23, 2016

Brave New World: Mind-Controlled Drones Revolutionizing Sports And Warfare

Posted by in categories: computing, drones, military, neuroscience

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Al5RhaJgxxU

Pretty cool!


As Brain-Computer Interface is rapidly developed worldwide, mind-controlled drones turn into sports and weapons of today.

Continue reading “Brave New World: Mind-Controlled Drones Revolutionizing Sports And Warfare” »

Apr 23, 2016

Brain Computer Interface (BCI) Market — Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 — 2023

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, neuroscience

Nice as long as we get hacking under control.


Brain Computer Interface (BCI) Market — Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 — 2023.

Read more

Apr 23, 2016

Europe plans giant billion-euro quantum technologies project

Posted by in categories: neuroscience, quantum physics

Nice


Third European Union flagship will be similar in size and ambition to graphene and human brain initiatives.

Read more

Apr 22, 2016

Scientists Closing in on Theory of Consciousness

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Probably for as long as humans have contemplated their navels, they have sought to understand consciousness. Now, neuroscientists are making strides in developing theories to explain the phenomenon.

Read more

Apr 22, 2016

Breathtaking Visualization of the Universe Will Make You Feel Like an Ant

Posted by in categories: information science, neuroscience, space

Ever notice how maps of the large structures of the Universe look like maps of the brain or a Pollock painting?


On the grandest scale, our universe is a network of galaxies tied together by the force of gravity. Cosmic Web, a new effort led by cosmologists and designers at Northeastern’s Center for Complex Network Research, offers a roadmap toward understanding how all of those tremendous clusters of stars connect—and the visualizations are stunning.

Continue reading “Breathtaking Visualization of the Universe Will Make You Feel Like an Ant” »

Apr 21, 2016

Patents remind us that Magic Leap is powered by tiny projectors, not magic

Posted by in categories: augmented reality, computing, neuroscience

Over the past few days, Wired has published some articles that give us the closest look yet at the ambitious, enigmatic augmented reality company called Magic Leap. They’ve left us with both a lot of fascinating possibilities and a lot of questions, because most of Magic Leap’s technological explanations are couched in the language of either science fiction or, well, magic. As poetic as “[talking] to the GPU of the brain” and “dreaming with your eyes open” sounds, this is probably the clearest and most interesting description of Magic Leap’s work in the piece:

Read more