NEWRON Volume VI, Issue IV
NEWRON Admin
NeuroEngineering Weekly Review of News
Hey NEWRON Subscribers,
I hope everyone caught the Game last Sunday. With a nod to the theme of the week all around Baltimore, article #3 discusses how the NFL is paying more and more attention to neuroengineering research.
Enjoy,
Mike Batista
NEWRON Editor and Manager
Reviews
New tool to help brain surgeons one step closer to operating room
A new tool that could allow for faster, more comprehensive testing of brain tissue during surgery, developed from a collaboration between Purdue University and Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, successfully identified the cancer type, grade and tumor margins in five brain surgery patients. The tool uses desorption electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (DESI-MS) in which a microscopic stream of charged solvent is sprayed onto the tissue surface to gather information about its molecular makeup and produces a color-coded image that reveals the nature and concentration of tumor cells.
Read more:
Abstract link:
http://www.pnas.org/content/110/5/1611.abstract?sid=f8de5ba0-0511-41ba-9108-8079164dedf9
Finding the way to memory: receptor plays key role in regulating plasticity of brain’s nerve cell connections
Our ability to learn and form new memories is fully dependent on the brain's ability to be plastic -- that is to change and adapt according to new experiences and environments. A new study from the Montreal Neurological Institute -- The Neuro, McGill University, reveals that DCC, the receptor for a crucial protein in the nervous system known as netrin, plays a key role in regulating the plasticity of nerve cell connections in the brain. The absence of DCC leads to the type of memory loss experienced by Dr. Brenda Milner's famous subject HM. Although HM's memory loss resulted from the removal of an entire brain structure, this study shows that just removing DCC causes the same type of memory deficit.
Read more:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130204142644.htm
NFL funding WSU research to fix injured brains with self-created nerve cells
Head injuries are putting the safety of NFL players — and really the game of football itself — in danger. But new research and technology could help reduce the amount of concussions that happen on the field and scientists at Washington State University are looking into ways to help the body self-create neurons to repair injured areas of the brain.
Read more:
http://www.geekwire.com/2013/nfl-funds-wsu-effort-fix-injured-brains-nerve-cells/