Human Brain with No Wrinkles?

A brain with no wrinkles or folds was discovered by Adam Voorhes in a closet with human brains stored away at the University of Texas. Voorhes spent over a year trying to find out more about this brain and the other 100 human brains in the collection that have been subsequently preserved in jars of formaldehyde for more than 20 years, forgotten. All of these rediscovered brains are considered disfigured or abnormal in some way, but the brain with so few folds and grooves is very rare. Though he spent over a year trying to find out more about it, nothing about the specific brain has come up.

This article caught my attention because it almost sounds like a mystery novel of sorts. It’s very interesting how basically nothing is known about this brain that was found along with several others in a closet forgotten about for so many years. Who was the one that stored so many human brains in the closet 20 years ago and why did people forget about it? Was the human brain collection something that has being collected in secret? And where did all the brains come from and why are they all not “normal” brains? There are so many questions that this article rises. 20 years ago, this person, or persons that were collecting these brains, why didn’t they bring these human brains to light and to the public to figure out how there can be a brain that doesn’t have an wrinkles? What in the world could have caused a brain not to have any wrinkles?

In class we talked briefly about Lissencephaly, which means smooth brain, a lack of sulci and gyri, and how it is a very rare and gene-linked brain malformation. An article that was referenced in this article talks about how most children with this diseases die before they are 10-years-old but the brain that was found with no wrinkles is the brain of an adult! It is extremely confusing how such a rare brain would be found in a closet and how there is nothing known on how this brain came to be and why it wasn’t brought to public attention sooner.

Source:

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/lost-and-found-smooth-human-brain

New Treatment for Dementia Discovered

Scientists at NTU Singapore found a new way to treat dementia by sending electrical impulses to specific areas in the brain to enhance the growth of new brain cells. This procedure is therapeutic because it turns out that this procedure has already been used in some parts of the world to treat various neurological conditions such as tremors or Dystonia. The scientists discovered that this deep brain simulation can be used to enhance growth of brain cells which mitigates the harmful effects of dementia-related conditions and improves short and long-term memory. By stimulating the front part of the brain involved in memory retention with very small amounts of electricity, new brain cells or neurons can be formed. The increase in brain cells will then reduce anxiety and depression and promote improved learning and boosts overall memory formation and retention.

I don’t know anyone with dementia personally, but the fact that scientists have found that they are able to enhance growth of new brain cells by stimulating specific parts of the brain with electrical impulses is amazing. Because through finding this out, it could lead to so many new research opportunities! Not only to help people with dementia, but with enhanced growth of brain cells, many diseases that have to do with the brain can be helped and possibly cured like with depression. The article mentions that it could come to help reduce depression as well as anxiety. I learned in class that there is medication for people with depression, but some people have negative side effects from the medication like an increase in anxiety. With this new finding, people with depression will be able to have an enhanced growth of brain cells to reduce both their depression and anxiety which would help a couple friends I know with depression.
 

The article mentions that this research has also opened new opportunities for developing novel treatment solutions for patients suffering from memory loss due to dementia-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s and even Parkinson’s disease! So through finding out that these electrical impulses can stimulate growth of brain cells is such a great benefit in so many ways because of how many diseases link to the brain in general.

Source:

http://media.ntu.edu.sg/NewsReleases/Pages/newsdetail.aspx?news=3d353059-1195-496d-967d-56e72c527e77

Bypassing the Spinal Cord! Paralyzed Limbs Move!

Using a device called the Neurobridge, a man who was once paralyzed, 23-year old Ian Burkhart, can move again using his own thoughts. The Neurobridge is an electronic neural bypass for spinal cord injuries and it is able to reconnect the brain directly with the muscles. This allows for a person to be able to voluntarily and functionally control the paralyzed limb. The Neurobridge technology combines algorithms that are able to learn and decode a user’s brain activity. They have a high-definition muscle simulation sleeve that translates neural impulses from the brain to transmit new signals to the paralyzed limb and in this way, brain signals are able to bypass the injured spinal cord and a paralyzed hand in Burkhart’s case can move again.

I find it amazing how a paralyzed person can move again with his or her own thoughts using this device called the Neurobridge! It is such a big stride in advances in technology to help those people. I don’t know anyone personally that has paralyzed limbs, but I’ve seen articles of people who become paralyzed after car accidents as well as in a couple Japanese dramas I’ve watched before. Through watching shows with people who have been paralyzed and try to recover from it, I have a grasp on how painful it is to suddenly not be able to move of your own free will and having to depend on other people to help you with things you could once do on your own on a daily basis. The fact that technology is moving forward and helping paralyzed people move again by bypassing the spinal cord is such great news because of how many people in the world this device would be able to help to recover from being paralyzed. They can then be able to move of their own free will again.

In the article, they also mentioned how the technology can one day help patients affected by various brain and spinal cord injuries such as strokes and traumatic brain injuries. This really catches my attention because my Grandpa has had a stroke before and he can’t walk very well or speak very well anymore. With advances in this technology, the Neurobridge, can give way to even more advances in technology that can help even more people like my Grandpa.

Source:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140625130137.htm

The Vagus Nerve and Sensory Neurons

In the past year, I have learned about the vagus nerve on more than one occasion in several of my classes. It has been discussed in relation to the respiratory system, the cardiac system, and even the nervous system, so I have come to believe that the vagus nerve is quite important to our bodies. This nerve helps with our heart rate, breathing, and even regulating our eating behavior, which are all functions that help the body get through everyday. I chose this study because the research done by Harvard Medical School gives insight to how the vagus nerve is involved with our respiratory system.

Going into the study the researchers understood that the vagus nerve’s structure was not the same throughout it, so it would not be possible to stimulate the whole nerve and expect one specific result. They started out by deconstructing the nerve and screened it for sensory neurons by looking for the expression of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). From this they went on to find out that certain GPCRs were found on different groups of neurons. Bioengineering allowed the scientists to make the GPCRs able to be manipulated with light to study the different groups of neurons. Two groups of the neurons stood out that extended to the lungs, one fanned out onto the airways and the other on in the alveolar space. By activating these specific neurons, they found that one causes breathing to stop and stay in a state of exhalation. The other neurons caused shallow and quick breaths that were thought to be a defense against a lung irritant.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article because not only did it discuss the results of the study, but it also gave background information of the topic and provided the methodology. It is fascinating to think that just one type of neuron could be involved in the different functions of the vagus nerve. I would have suspected that hundreds of different groups of neurons would be involved in order to carry out the different processes. Its sounds like this research could help with many of health problems that people deal with everyday and I hope to see that this research continues.

www.neurosciencenews.com/vagus-nerve-neurons-respiration-1965/

Sleep and Memory

Before college, I remember getting around eight hours of sleep every night. I can’t tell you how many times I have been told by professors, parents, and even doctors that without sleep we won’t be able to function as well in school. I admit (along with probably most of the school population) that I do not get the suggested eight hours of sleep every night anymore now that I am in college. I always thought the biggest problem with limited sleep was that we wouldn’t be able to think as quickly from being tired, but a study by the University of London have proved me very wrong.

The participants of the study were taught words of a fictional language, which had a rule relating words to each other that was not taught. Participants were able to learn the new language easily, but they were unable to use it to apply to words that they had not been trained for until they had a weeks rest. The results from the study were thought to suggest a relationship between processing rule-based information and sleep and that sleeping allows for consolidating and understanding new information.

I enjoyed reading about this study because it had a very specific type of learning that the researchers believed was important to be processed during sleep instead of just talking about learning as a whole. I would be interested to read more about further findings in the study and if they discover why the brain needs sleep to process rule-base information.

Sleeping is obviously a very big issue for college students who are staying up late every week to study for tests or finishing projects. I think this study is a very good representation of why we need to work harder to get sleep because in the end by staying up to study we are diminishing our ability to actually learn the material. I would suggest any student to read this article so they too can understand that we are not helping ourselves by not sleeping enough.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150417085218.htm   

Diabetes, Depression, and Dementia

Diabetes, Depression, and Dementia

This past summer I volunteered in a hospital to work with elderly patients. Each day a group of volunteers would go to different room’s of patients and discuss different ways to help keep their mind active and awake. Before we would visit rooms, we would talk to the nurses in order to see what type of mindset their patient was dealing with. We were often told that patients were diagnosed with some sort of dementia, these patients had a hard time holding a conversation with us or even understanding where they were and what they were doing in a hospital. I understood that the actual cause of dementia was completely understood, but a study performed by Dimitry Davydow, M.D., M.P.H., from the Univeristy of Washington School of Medicine helped provide some possible answers for this terrible disease.

The study investigated depression and type 2 diabetes mellitus as risk factors that contribute to the probability of developing dementia in older age. They chose a population of Danish citizens who had depression, type 2 diabetes or both diseases. Then they compared these groups with a group of people who did not have either condition or dementia, and followed their health for a period. The results showed that having either condition showed a very high risk (up to 83%) of developing dementia. The results of having both type 2 diabetes and depression and linking it to developing dementia was as high as 117%. Although these results show these factors could pose a serious risk to developing the disease, many more studies need to be made.

I was surprised to see that type 2 diabetes was shown to be a possible factor leading to dementia, I couldn’t see a clear connection between diabetes and memory loss. However, I understand that depression can lead to decreased neurogenesis within the brain and maybe that could lead to decreased connections in the brain and cause long-term damage and memory loss.

I chose this article because I wanted a better understanding of this disease and overall, I did enjoy this study, but I would have preferred a more in depth explanation of why they thought these diseases were risk factors. I think an explanation would have made the article more interesting as well as leave the readers with a better understanding of the disease and how it is caused.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150415125813.htm