By Jessica MasonMar 10th, 2021, 11:00 am
We’ve all looked at a pet or an animal and thought to ourselves, “What are they thinking?” Sure we can guess from purrs or bites or many other external indicators how an animal is doing, but we don’t really know for certain because we obviously can’t read their minds. Except now, thanks to science, we kind of can!
Scientists have developed a new mobile headband that allows them to detect brain waves in horses. Using this tool, they can look into the animal’s minds and know what they’re feeling. At least, that’s the idea. The technology isn’t exact but it is promising. The device is an electroencephalogram (EEG), which has been used on human brains for over a century, but only in recent decades have scientists used it to study how different feelings look in the brains of humans and in some animals. However, that previously took place in labs or with large machines; this new technology allows researchers to measure the brain
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MINNEAPOLIS - A new study of Medicare payments has found that over a five-year period, the payments for medications prescribed to people with neurologic conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson s disease and epilepsy increased by 50% while the number of claims for these prescription medications only rose by only 8%. The study is published in the March 10, 2021, online issue of
Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study, funded by the American Academy of Neurology, also found that most of the increase was due to rising costs for neuroimmunology drugs, mostly for multiple sclerosis. Previous research has shown that drugs prescribed for neurologic disease are the most expensive part of neurologic care for people on Medicare, said study author Adam de Havenon, MD, of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. Our study shows a dramatic increase in the prices of neurologic medic
Study reveals a neural basis for how the brain enables odors to elicit memories
Odors evoke powerful memories, an experience enshrined in literature by Marcel Proust and his beloved madeleine.
A new Northwestern Medicine paper is the first to identify a neural basis for how the brain enables odors to so powerfully elicit those memories. The paper shows unique connectivity between the hippocampus the seat of memory in the brain and olfactory areas in humans.
This new research suggests a neurobiological basis for privileged access by olfaction to memory areas in the brain. The study compares connections between primary sensory areas including visual, auditory, touch and smell and the hippocampus. It found olfaction has the strongest connectivity. It s like a superhighway from smell to the hippocampus.
Parkinson’s UK, University of Sheffield to develop new Parkinson’s drug
Parkinson s UK, the largest charitable funder of Parkinson s research in Europe, is investing up to £1.2 million into a pioneering one-year project in partnership with the University of Sheffield.
The project aims to refine a molecule that could be developed into a drug to protect dopamine-producing brain cells and slow down the progression of Parkinson s.
The funding boost comes via the charity s Parkinson s Virtual Biotech initiative, which is plugging the funding gap in drug development and fast-tracking the development of new treatments for people with Parkinson s.
Scientists at the University of Sheffield s Institute of Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) and Parkinson s UK have been developing molecules that can boost the function of the brain s energy-producing mitochondria, to halt Parkinson s - something no treatment can currently do.
The progressive decline in brain function that can follow traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with complement activation, part of the immune system that contributes to inflammation and clears damaged cells. Inhibiting complement even two months after injury reduced brain cell inflammation and reversed mental losses, report researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina in the