NEWRON Volume VI, Issue VIII
NEWRON Admin
NeuroEngineering Weekly Review of News
Hey NEWRON Subscribers,
I hope everyone enjoyed the St. Patrick's Day festivities over the weekend!
Enjoy,
Mike Batista
NEWRON Editor and Manager
Reviews
Personalized brain transplants: skin cells to brain cells achieved in primates
Su-Chun Zhang, the first to convert embryonic stem cells (ESCs), and later induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into neurons, has now demonstrated that these iPSCs can be successfully introduced into the brain, achieving autologous (self to self), tumorless, indefinite, and functional neuro-transplantation. Zhang’s success depends on a rigorous procedure where adult skin cells are broken down into stem cells by genetic transformation and chemical reprogramming and built back up in culture to be neural cells.
Read more:
http://www.medgadget.com/2013/03/personalized-brain-transplants-for-parkinsons-gets-a-boost.html
Journal Article:
http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(13)00075-2
Non-invasive monitoring of brain development in newborns
A new research technique, pioneered by Dr. Maria Angela Franceschini, was published in JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments). Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School have developed a non-invasive optical measurement system to monitor neonatal brain activity via cerebral metabolism and blood flow.
Read more:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/257677.php
JOVE Article & Video:
Tickling the brain with magnetic stimulation improves memory in schizophrenia
Dr. Mera Barr and her colleagues at University of Toronto provide new evidence that stimulating the brain using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may be an effective strategy to improve cognitive function. Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a non-invasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells. It does not require sedation or anesthesia and so patients remain awake, reclined in a chair, while treatment is administered through coils placed near the forehead.
Read more: