MEDIA ROOTS — Like many customs handed down to us by ‘experts‘ we often uncritically accept, sleep is yet another custom we may be misinformed about. Daily, millions of people struggle with the simplest of biorhythms—sleep. And we are often led to believe this has always been so. Insomniacs are stigmatised and branded inadequate and defective. But what if everyone … Read More
MEDIA ROOTS- Ten years ago, the concept of visually mapping out one’s thoughts, dreams or memories seemed like far-fetched science fiction. Now, it’s a looming reality. UC Berkeley scientists have made a mind-blowing technological breakthrough by developing a system that collects visual activity in the human brain and roughly remodels it as digital video clips. After the process is perfected … Read More
NPR– The letters O-C-D have become a punch line to describe people who make lists or wash their hands a lot. But for some people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, the intrusive thoughts and rituals are severely disabling and don’t respond to drugs or behavioral therapies. So doctors have been trying a new treatment for OCD: deep brain stimulation. Deep brain stimulation … Read More
KURZWEILAI– University of Michigan Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems professor Euisik Yoon and colleagues are developing a next-generation design for a brain-computer interface (BCI): a brain implant called BioBolt. This patent-pending invention could someday allow some disabled patients to control an arm muscle (or other muscles) by just thinking about the movement — without wires keeping them immobilized in a … Read More
SCIENCE DAILY– We all know that people at opposite ends of the political spectrum often really can’t see eye to eye. Now, a new report published online on April 7th in Current Biology, reveals that those differences in political orientation are tied to differences in the very structures of our brains. Individuals who call themselves liberal tend to have larger … Read More
