NEWRON Vol V, Issue XVII

[Natan Davidovics]

NeuroEngineering Weekly Review of News

Is there anything we can't learn from drugged up rats? Check out article 1 for what those little furry guys helped us learn about memory.

 

Interesting NeuroEngineering links:

Hopkins Neuroengineering web site: http://neuroengineering.bme.jhu.edu
New job blog: http://neuroengjobs.blogspot.com/
Blog for administrative questions: http://neuroengineering.blogspot.com
NEWRON on the web!: http://groups.google.com/group/newron?lnk=srg&pli=1

Enjoy,
Natan Davidovics
NEWRON Publishing Corporation

Scientists Turn Memories Off and On With Flip of Switch

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110617081543.htm

Researchers at Wake Forest University and the University of Southern California used a group of medicated rodents to demonstrate a method by which memory can be restored with the flick of a switch. The rats were outfitted with tiny, rat-sized electrodes and exposed to pharmacological substances, which caused them to forget the connection between pushing a lever and getting water. By turning the electronic switch on, the scientists restored the rats' memory of the task -- turning it off made them forget again. The next step in the process is testing the experiment out on primates and perhaps some day utilizing the research to benefit victims of strokes, Alzheimer's, or injury-induced memory loss.

Blind children of India helping scientists see into the brain

http://articles.boston.com/2011-05-23/business/29574897_1_blind-children-research-grants-junaid

Junaid was an impoverished child in Northern India who was not allowed to go to school because he could not see. A team of MIT neuroscientists offered to solve the then-12-year-old’s vision problem, by paying for surgeries to remove his cataracts. In exchange, the boy would help them in their research on understanding how the brain learns to see. But Junaid still could not go to school. Indian authorities turned him away again, this time because he was so far behind. Now, those neuroscientists are trying to raise enough money to reach 300,000 blind — but treatable — children across the Indian peninsula, and to establish a school where children like Junaid can catch up with their peers. Led by neuroscientist Pawan Sinha, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers say their work will help them learn more about how the brain processes visual information, and what goes wrong with that processing in conditions like autism.

Project simulates human brain to enhance computer power

http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/electronics/news/project-simulates-human-brain-to-enhance-computer-power/1008974.article#ixzz1PMwd5yxu

The researchers plan to create a virtual human brain on a large supercomputer, using the vast amount of existing research to build up mathematical models of how it works. Teams from nine European countries, including the UK, are contributing to proposals for €1bn of funding to support the Human Brain Project, which could also aid medical research into neurological conditions.