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Cool brain facts
This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation .
Thehuman brainis the most complex and least understood biological structure in the known existence .
To advance psyche science , President Obama in April 2012 announced the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies ( BRAIN ) Initiative , which is co - led by the National Science Foundation ( NSF ) .
BRAIN , NSF enthrone in cardinal brain inquiry that produced amazing uncovering concern to humans and creature . Here are 10 late finding from NSF - funded learning ability research , running the gamut from insight about the brains of dinosaurs and octopuses to discoveries involving Alzheimer ’s , brainpower - controlled machines and more .
Surprise! Some types of wrinkles are good
Our human brain is comparatively large for our body sizing and more wrinkled than the brains of other animals . Brain size of it and crinkle Book of Numbers correlate with intelligenceacross species .
The out layer of the human brain is covered by wrinkle , and the more of them the estimable . Why ? Because these wrinkles increase the surface area available for nerve cell ( the operational building block of data processing ) without increase nous size , which is honest for women during childbirth . Human brain wrinkles are intend to be almost as hereditary as human tallness .
Elizabeth Atkinson of Washington University in St. Louis recently identified chromosome segments and genes that correlate with wrinkle numbers in about 1,000 baboon , which are genetically similar to humans . The next step : nail exactly where in these genetic regions fold patterns originate , which would cater insight into the evolution of the human brain .
Dinosaurs: Not big and dumb, after all — just big?
A Modern map of a generalized dinosaur brain evoke the potential existence of a cerebrum , a brain part that controls complex cognitive behavior in mammals . Although scientist do n’t know what functions dinosaur cerebrums may have controlled , their macrocosm would suggest that dinosaurs may have performed more complex doings than antecedently think — such as mold societal radical and possibly communicating .
The map is based on inference from the genetic science and governance of crocodile and bird brains . Crocodiles pre - date many dinosaurs and are their closest living relatives , while bird post - date dinosaur .
Because crocodiles , dinosaurs and birds take shape an evolutionary string , scientists believe that these brute ' brain social structure shared authoritative traits , and so key feature of dinosaur brains may be deduced from crocodile and bird head .
The brainiac single-valued function is also based on fossilized dinosaur skull tooth decay , which yield implications about the shape of dinosaur genius . Such evidence provide the beneficial clues to the dinosaur brain in the absence seizure of any lie with fossilise wit tissue from dinosaurs . The dinosaur brain map was created by a squad led byErich Jarvisof Duke University .
A possible explanation for Einstein’s intelligence
Studies of Einstein ’s brain conducted in the 1980s break that Einstein had an remarkably large number of nous cells , call glia , in his cerebral cerebral mantle , and that one type of his glia was unusually large and complexly shaped . Though lacking statistical import , these discipline helped sire interest in glia .
Glia had long been send away as connective tissue that does n’t add to learnedness and memory , as do nerve cell . This estimate had become entrenched because glia do n’t generate electrical signals — considered to be the centre of brain subroutine — as do neuron .
laborious evidence of the neuroglia ’s influence on intelligence includes a 2013 study involving the injection of human neuroglia into the brains of newborn mouse . As adult , the injected mice became riotous learners than control subjects .
Also , tworecentpaperspromoted a new consensus among leading brain scientists about the importance of glia — which may even raise hear . How ? Brain imagination bespeak that when multitude learn new skills , from juggle to playing computer game , the structure of specific brain regions changes . These changes may be due to the glia ’s formation of myelin , a fatty insulating substance , around axons ( heart fibers ) , which speeds the transmission of electric signals from axons .
In mind-computer melds, brains still important
A head / computer connection is a partnership : A human brain tells a political machine what to do and the machine react consequently .
When this eccentric of partnership works , a brain and motorcar may accomplish awe-inspiring things together . For example , in experiments , studentsflew model helicoptersusing their cerebration via special headspring chapiter that were equip with sensors that decoded their brain activity . In similar setup , mass with strong-arm disability used arobotic arm to snap up cups of umber .
But humans often struggle to control their mechanical married person , partly because it takes significant fourth dimension to discover how to do so . One way to reduce this training time may be to meliorate mind / body knowingness — as indicated by a recent discipline moderate byBin He , Director of the Center for Neuroengineering at the University of Minnesota . His result exhibit that that grooming in mind / body awareness through praxis such as yoga or speculation enabled people to master a brain - calculator port almost five times quicker than untrained people did .
Even as brain / computer connecter are made more exploiter - friendly , He ’s results emphasize the continue importance of the human constituent for these system .
Scientists may be able to predict when you’ll be primed for risky business
late progression in brainpower imaging engineering may allow investigator to predict whether someone will make a good or a risky financial decision based oncertain type of brain bodily process prior to deciding .
concord toBrian Knutson and Charlene C. Wu of Stanford University , people who anticipate to win large show increased activity in certain brain regions , including the nucleus accumbens , which is associated with reward and pleasure , whereas those who ask to suffer show increased bodily function in the anterior insula , which is linked to anxiety and disgust .
The more money at stake , the more activeness is seen in those regions . But while more activity in the lens nucleus accumbens encourage risk of exposure - pickings , more activity in the prior insula cut hazard taking .
These finding incriminate that when masses are more excited , they will take big risks . In fact , recollective - shot wins ( like potential drawing wins ) strongly increase both excitement and nucleus accumbens bodily process , encouraging people to take risks , even as they drift from the selection of a " rational " person .
Studying people ’s head while they study their risk - pickings choice unveil insights about why the great unwashed make certain financial decisions . These finding have implications for individual patterns of risk - pickings — such as saving for a 401 cat valium — as well as for basic theories that distinguish radical behavior .
Cell-based therapy may ultimately help beat back brain cancers
Brain tumors are the second - chair cause of U.S. Cancer the Crab - related deaths , with 70,000 diagnoses of this constantly mortal disease made annually .
Now , Stefan Bossmann and Deryl Troyer of Kansas State University are working to improve a type of call electric cell therapy that has yet to be used successfully . The researchers ' therapy would work by collecting a Crab patient ’s blood line ; refurbishing choose white blood line cubicle with " cargo holds " or closed cavities that would be filled with anticancer drugs ; and then re - injecting the patient ’s parentage to return drugs at once to tumors .
Previous attempt to develop this type of cell therapy produced washy , leaky medicative cavities that kill carrier cells , not tumour . But the research worker are ameliorate these cavities by develop a new type of material for them that forms something consanguine to a ego - assembling artificial house of cards — designed to be selectively absorbed by the right type of livid blood cubicle , stay inviolable enough to book medicinal drug and naturally ego - destruct upon pass on tumors .
cellular telephone therapy deliver significantly more anticancer drugs to tumors than does conventional chemotherapy and nanotherapy , without damaging the dead body ’s immune organisation .
With preliminary experiments in mouse contend , the therapy will before long be used to specifically direct mouse tumor for the first meter , with the hope that this therapy will at long last be able to be successfully used on human brain tumors .
The octopus: The eyes have it — literally
The octopus is a successful vulture , partly because it has excellent eyesight — the best of any invertebrate — which enables it to visually zero in and focus on its target .
What ’s more , each of the octopus ’s eight agile , boneless arms is equipped with about 44 million nerve cells almost 10 per centum of all of its neurons ) . These arm neuron are connected to the animal ’s encephalon .
When an octopus recognize a tasty - look fish , resulting visual information jaunt from the animal ’s eye to its brain . This information then travels through its branch neuron to help these lenient - bodied contortionists determine how to snatch the meal .
Conversely , tactile information , such as the feel of a crab ’s rough eggshell , travels back through the octopus ’s arm to its wit ’s scholarship and memory board centers to help these cagey brute improve their hunting skills .
A team lead by Clifton Ragsale of the University of Chicago is the first to use modern molecular techniques to examine how the devilfish ’s unparalleled queasy scheme processes optic information , and if the octopus ’s processing arrangement significantly differs from that of vertebrates . If such differences are discover , they may let out alternative ways for brains to action ocular info and read . Resulting insights may give important applications for robotics and image spotting devices .
Birds' responses to climate change: It’s all in their heads
dissimilar bird coinage employ dissimilar cues to learn when to migrate and to reproduce . Whether any particular species will be capable to adjust its timing of such activities fast enough to keep up with clime variety may partly count on which cues it employ .
To varying level , all bird species use mean solar day length as a cue . They measure day and look to seasonal change via light - activated receptors locate late in their brains . The light penetrates their skulls without even inevitably passing through their center .
Because day duration is untouched by climate modification , some farsighted - distance migrators , such as the pied - true flycatcher , whose principal migratory cue is Clarence Shepard Day Jr. length , have maintained fairly consistent arrival time at their spring rearing land . Yet , fountain temperatures now be given to increase earlierin the class because of climate variety . So such migrators now tend to get at their breeding grounds recently relative to premature springs — and therefore now drop insect population peaks upon which they antecedently feasted . With less to eat , such migrators are now producing fewer chicks , which may cause universe decline .
Some bird species augment day duration cues for migrating and/or breed with other cues , like temperature changes , which are in all likelihood also work in their brain . Changes in the timing of the migrant activities of some temperature - sensitive shuttlecock species correlate with climate change - link up temperature change .
But most studies of the processing of day length by boo have address only males . Now Nicole Perfito of the University of California , Berkeley is studying how females of two bird species process day distance and other cue stick that act upon the timing of egg laying — an significant factor in their potential reaction to mood change .
Still wanted: A complete parts list of the human brain
The human brain has about 100 billion nerve cell . But scientist do n’t yet have a consummate inventory of the many type of brain jail cell that exist and their functions . They also do n’t understand how electrical and chemical signals from neuron produce thought , behaviors and actions .
Without such knowledge , scientists can not yet explain how traumatic injuries and neurodegenerative diseases deflower mentality function or should be do by . By comparison , imagine a mechanic trying to fix a car engine without a complete parts leaning and/or an understanding of how its engine runs !
Yet , new types of head cells are often being key , partly because of unexampled mental capacity imaging technique that can soar in on the brain to reveal increase particular , just as Google Maps can soar upwards in on neighborhoods .
But without a universal categorisation system , cell types that have already been discovered may have been mention and separate according to discrepant criteria , such as shape , role or location . Therefore , some freshly " let out " prison cell type may really be rediscover , renamed cell types .
To standardise the naming of neurons and create a universally accept inventory of neuron types , Edward Boyden of MIT and othersare working withthe Allen Institute for Brain Scienceto make the first comprehensive database of types of brain cells .
Designer antibodies may ultimately help fight Alzheimer’s
Antibodies , which are protein traditionally made by the eubstance ’s resistant system in response to invaders , are already demonstrate allies in our fight against the influenza virus and other harmful entity . Now , they are being engineered to handle and peradventure protect us against disease - linked protein , such as those associated withAlzheimer ’s disease .
Such engineering take designing antibody that have uttermost targeting capabilities so that they can be directed to go where and do exactly what is needed . Antibodies used for therapeutic or experimental reasons are usually taken from vaccinate animals or enormous antibody libraries . So it ’s hard to custom - fiat them .
Peter Tessierof Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy , New York is exploit to engineer antibodies that have precise properties . By placing DNA succession of the target protein within antibodies , Tessier may plan antibodies to bind to select protein , such as genus Beta - amyloid memorial tablet , a protein linked with Alzheimer ’s . Further research may take to the development of antibodies that recognize and transfer toxic particles before they do harm .
