Both LiveScience.com and New Scientist are reporting today that a team of Italian and German neuroscientists working in conjunction with mobile chip maker Infineon have created a “neuro-chip,” a hybrid microchip that interfaces living neurons with traditional silicon circuitry. In addition to providing new insights into the brain’s inner workings, the groundbreaking work could one …
Tag: neuroscience
Mar 14 2006
Researchers Restore Sight in Blind Rodents
A team of neuroscientists and bioengineers from MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Center for Biomedical Engineering have been able to partially restore the vision of rodents whose visual neural pathways had been severed by injecting them with a tiny, biodegradable substrate on which brain cells were able to regrow and reconnect. The …
Mar 08 2006
Fraunhofer’s Brain Computer Interface
Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Architecture and Software Technology working in conjunction with the Department of Neurology at Berlin’s Charite hospital have developed a neural interface capable of intercepting neural impulses in the brain and using them to control a cursor and write sentences on a computer. The system, aptly dubbed the Brain …
Feb 27 2006
Priming the Brain for Memory Formation
A recent study carried out by researchers from the University College London in the United Kingdom has concluded that the brain is more successful at storing memories when it has been “primed” in advance to consider the meaning of what is to be stored. Neuroscientists already knew that neural activity during and immediately after an …
Feb 24 2006
Synchronized Neurons Focus Attention
According to a study published recently in Nature, neurons firing synchronously help to focus the brain’s attention on certain tasks and lead to quicker response times. When neurons fire independently their electrical output is nothing but noise, and no coherent signal is discernible in the static. When even a few neurons fire synchronously, their individual …
Feb 17 2006
Tough Decision? Sleep on it.
According to NewScientist.com, a recent study has concluded that the conscious mind is fine for making simple decisions, but for complex, important choices you are best off to “sleep on it” and let your unconscious mind mull it over and make the decision for you. Over thinking a critical decision with many factors often yields …
Feb 13 2006
Backwards Instant Replay Helps Rats Learn
Neuroscientists from the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT have discovered that after completing a task, a rat’s brain will mentally replay recent events, but in reverse order. They believe this process plays a key role in learning and memory and may explain why taking frequent breaks when studying is more effective for …
Feb 08 2006
That Movement’s All in Your Brain
Lifting an arm, picking up your foot, wiggling your fingers – most of us can do these things without giving them a second thought. Once your brain has set the movement in motion how do you know (without looking) that the appendage responded appropriately? It turns out that you can’t really tell. NewScientist.com is reporting …
Feb 02 2006
Memory Fragmentation: Your Thoughts are Scattered
LiveScience.com is reporting today that a new study by neuroscientists at the University of California, Irvine has confirmed the long held belief that different pieces of a single memory are stored in separate locations in the brain. This is the first time solid evidence has been collected verifying that what we recognize as a single …
Jan 20 2006
How the Brain Reassembles Visual Input
It happens automatically and so quickly that most people probably never question the process of vision. Although it starts with the eyes, the majority of the work is performed in stages by cooperating layers of neural regions in the brain. As such, the underlying mechanism behind seeing and recognizing objects has long been of interest …