All posts tagged: brains

How early human brains expanded over time

How early human brains expanded over time

Published by skeptic

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. Encephalization — the increase in brain size relative to the body — is a key feature in human evolution, but exactly how this process occurred is still unclear. Looking at studies comparing the cranial capacity of early modern humans to other hominin species, some researchers have concluded that brain size grew gradually over time. Others have argued that the human brain grew in spurts separated by long periods.  To complicate matters, there is confusion over how evolutionary processes, such as the branching of lineages and the splitting of an ancestral species into two distinct species, contributed to the diversification of brain size seen in early humans and other hominins.   Now, new research provides fresh insights into the patterns of brain expansion within and between the hominins. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that brain size increased within lineages comprising a single species, with …

New neuroscience research shows COVID-19 leaves mark on young adult brains

New neuroscience research shows COVID-19 leaves mark on young adult brains

Published by José

A new study published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity has found that young adults who have recovered from COVID-19 show distinct patterns of brain activity during cognitive tasks, even if they perform normally on those tasks. These brain activity changes are similar to those seen in much older adults and are particularly pronounced in individuals reporting “brain fog.” The research suggests that COVID-19 may have subtle, yet significant, effects on brain function that are not always captured by standard cognitive tests. Scientists have been increasingly concerned about the long-term effects of COVID-19, especially on cognitive function. Since the emergence of the virus in late 2019, it has spread globally, infecting hundreds of millions of people. While older adults and individuals with pre-existing conditions are known to be more vulnerable to severe illness from COVID-19, young adults have been disproportionately affected by infection rates, partly due to the role of university campuses as potential hubs for virus transmission. Adding to these concerns, a significant number of individuals who recover from COVID-19 report experiencing ongoing cognitive problems, …

Study finds microplastics in our brains are accumulating, with unknown outcomes on our health

Study finds microplastics in our brains are accumulating, with unknown outcomes on our health

Published by Sam

Dr. Matthew Campen, a professor at the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy, has been searching the brains of dead people to find something virtually all of us have polluting inside our skulls: Tiny particles of plastic known as micro and nanoplastics. But despite the ubiquity of microplastics in the human body, they’re not always easy to find. Microplastics have been found everywhere in the human body, including blood, breast milk, testicles, heart tissue, lung tissue and various other organs. So it’s not entirely a surprise that these “shard-like fragments” have made their way into our brains as well. But the authors of a recent study in the journal Nature Medicine are the first to actually visualize these particles, as well as help document their cumulative effect on human health. A big issue is that the amount of plastics in our brains seems to be growing. To demonstrate this, Campen’s colleague Dr. Eliane El Hayek figured out how their research team could visualize these cerebral  nanoplastics. Through analysis of more than 20 years of …

Purple exists only in our brains

Purple exists only in our brains

Published by skeptic

acronym: A word made by combining some of the starting letter or groups of letters from a number of words. For instance, STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Radar is an acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging. Even laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. activate: (in biology) To turn on, as with a gene or chemical reaction. cell: (in biology) The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Typically too small to see with the unaided eye, it consists of a watery fluid surrounded by a membrane or wall. cones: (in biology) A type of eye cell that is part of the retina inside the back of the eye. These cells can sense red, green or blue light. Recent research has uncovered evidence that many can sense white light — but only white light. electromagnetic: An adjective referring to light radiation, to magnetism or to both. electromagnetic radiation: Energy that travels as a wave, including forms of light. Electromagnetic radiation is typically classified by its wavelength. The …

Scientists show how common sleep aid disrupts brain’s natural cleaning process

Scientists show how common sleep aid disrupts brain’s natural cleaning process

Published by José

Scientists have discovered that rhythmic oscillations of a specific neurotransmitter play a vital role in clearing toxic proteins from the brain during non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep. These oscillations drive the glymphatic system by powering the coordinated movement of cerebrospinal fluid and blood. However, the commonly prescribed sleep aid zolpidem (commonly marketed as Ambien) disrupts this process, potentially impairing the brain’s ability to clear waste. The findings have been published in the journal Cell. The glymphatic system is a network in the brain responsible for clearing waste products, such as amyloid and tau proteins, which are associated with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Unlike other organs, the brain lacks traditional lymphatic vessels for waste removal. Instead, it relies on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to flush out toxins through specialized spaces surrounding blood vessels. “When we started this study, we already knew that the glymphatic system is vital for cleaning the brain, that it relies on brain fluid (CSF) flushing through the brain, and that it is activated during sleep. However, we did not know how sleep was …

The brain’s reward system and PTSD: New insights from research

The brain’s reward system and PTSD: New insights from research

Published by José

Researchers have recently uncovered new insights into how the brain’s reward system functions in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its relationship with psychological resilience and metabolic syndrome. The study, published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, highlights distinct patterns of brain activity in areas associated with reward processing. These patterns were influenced by PTSD, depression severity, resilience, and trauma exposure. While psychological resilience appeared to positively affect reward-related brain activity, metabolic syndrome showed limited associations. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of health conditions that collectively increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke. These conditions include high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels, and excess fat around the waist. While each condition is problematic on its own, their combination amplifies the risk of serious health issues. Lifestyle factors such as poor diet, lack of physical activity, and obesity are primary contributors to metabolic syndrome, but genetic predispositions and stress also play significant roles in its development. Individuals with PTSD are at a heightened risk for developing metabolic syndrome compared …

Could Humans Have a Brain Microbiome?

Could Humans Have a Brain Microbiome?

Published by skeptic

The human gut microbiome plays a critical role in the body, communicating with the brain and maintaining the immune system through the gut-brain axis. So it isn’t totally far-fetched to suggest that microbes could play an even larger role in our neurobiology. Fishing for Microbes For years, Irene Salinas has been fascinated by a simple physiological fact: The distance between the nose and the brain is quite small. The evolutionary immunologist, who works at the University of New Mexico, studies mucosal immune systems in fish to better understand how human versions of these systems, such as our intestinal lining and nasal cavity, work. The nose, she knows, is loaded with bacteria, and they’re “really, really close” to the brain—mere millimeters from the olfactory bulb, which processes smell. Salinas has always had a hunch that bacteria might be leaking from the nose into the olfactory bulb. After years of curiosity, she decided to confront her suspicion in her favorite model organisms: fish. Salinas and her team started by extracting DNA from the olfactory bulbs of trout …

People who are good at reading have different brains

People who are good at reading have different brains

Published by skeptic

The number of people who read for fun appears to be steadily dropping. Fifty percent of UK adults say they don’t read regularly (up from 42% in 2015) and almost one in four young people aged 16-24 say they’ve never been readers, according to research by The Reading Agency. But what are the implications? Will people’s preference for video over text affect our brains or our evolution as a species? What kind of brain structure do good readers actually have? My new study, published in Neuroimage, has found out. I analysed open-source data from more than 1,000 participants to discover that readers of varying abilities had distinct traits in brain anatomy. The structure of two regions in the left hemisphere, which are crucial for language, were different in people who were good at reading. One was the anterior part of the temporal lobe. The left temporal pole helps associate and categorise different types of meaningful information. To assemble the meaning of a word such as leg, this brain region associates the visual, sensory and motor …

Newborn brains reveal innate ability to process complex sound patterns

Newborn brains reveal innate ability to process complex sound patterns

Published by José

A new study published in PLOS Biology provides evidence that newborns possess the ability to learn and process sound patterns that follow complex, language-like rules. Researchers found that even in their first days of life, infants can identify relationships between non-adjacent sounds—a crucial building block for language acquisition. This innate capacity, previously observed only in older infants and non-human primates, highlights the remarkable auditory and cognitive capabilities present from birth. Human language is intricately structured, with dependencies between words or sounds that often span non-adjacent elements. For instance, in the sentence “The boy who is running wins the race,” the subject “boy” connects to the verb “wins” despite intervening words. This ability to understand such connections is critical for mastering language. While prior studies demonstrated that infants as young as five months can detect these non-adjacent dependencies, it was unclear whether this skill is present at birth or develops later. The researchers aimed to address two key questions: Are humans born with the ability to detect these complex patterns? And which brain regions support this …

Implant made with living neurons connects to mouse brains

Implant made with living neurons connects to mouse brains

Published by skeptic

This brain implant contains tens of thousands of lab-engineered neurons Science Corporation An experimental brain implant containing tens of thousands of living neurons can form cell connections with the brains of mice. Such a device could eventually enable sophisticated control over millions of neurons on the level of individual cells – but without relying on surgically implanted electrodes that penetrate and destroy brain tissue. The biohybrid implant, developed by California-based start-up Science Corporation, differs from many other brain-computer interface devices, which usually contain arrays of electrodes that penetrate the brain and sometimes damage cells. In comparison, Science Corporation’s implant is… Source link