Brain Blast | Scientists’ Creative Solutions
The latest news on the brain and beyond.
To overcome some of the greatest challenges in their field, neuroscientists are getting creative. They’re using sugar to transport brain implants and near-infrared light to measure brain blood flow. Read the stories behind these ingenious solutions and more.
Linking impulse control and motor skills
Using EEG technology, researchers found that children who were born prematurely generally had less impulse control than children who were born at term. However, premature children with strong motor skills had impulse control levels that were comparable to those of children born at term. Providing motor skills training to premature children may, therefore, be a way to improve their cognition.
Understanding how anesthesia works
Instead of powering the brain down, anesthesia works by changing the brain’s rhythms. Consciousness is the product of brain communication between the thalamus and cortical regions along frequency bands from 4 to 100 hertz. Propofol, a common anesthetic, works by bringing this coordination of brain regions down to slower frequencies around 1 hertz. Brain rhythms like these are measurable via EEG, giving researchers an objective way to know when a person enters and leaves an unconscious state.
Analyzing the effects of brain damage
In an effort to better understand the impact of brain damage on cognitive function, scientists looked at the brain scans of hundreds of individuals with brain lesions caused by strokes or traumatic brain injuries. Their findings? Damage to connected regions of gray brain matter was not strongly linked to poor performance in cognitive tasks. On the other hand, damage to connected regions of white matter was strongly associated with poor cognitive performance. These results may help doctors identify proper rehabilitation methods for patients who have experienced brain damage.
Designing a more flexible brain implant
Traditional brain implants are harder than brain matter. As a result, the human brain generally identifies such implants as foreign bodies, triggering an immune response which results in the formation of scar tissue around the implant. Scarring limits the effectiveness of brain implants. To solve this issue, a research team recently used silicone polymers to create the world’s softest brain implant. The researchers covered this implant in a sugar needle which naturally dissolved after being implanted in a rat’s brain. Results from this study indicate that these soft brain implants triggered less of a foreign body response than hard implants.
Seeking the causes of emotional sensitivity
People with a biological trait called sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) are more likely to experience anxiety and overstimulation; they’re also more likely to be creative and empathetic. Using an fMRI scanner, researchers found that the brains of highly sensitive people process emotional events more deeply than those of less sensitive people. Additionally, individuals with SPS have weaker connections in the areas of the brain associated with regulating pain and processing emotions.
Using light to measure brain blood flow
Cheaper than fMRI, functional interferometric diffusing wave spectroscopy (fiDWS) is a new way to measure blood flow in the brain. In fiDWS, a near-infrared laser is shone on the forehead of the patient. The light is scattered by blood cells and reflects back out of the skull. By looking at the fluctuations of the light that is reflected back, doctors can learn about the blood flow in the patient’s brain. This non-invasive method can be used to assess brain damage following stroke or traumatic brain injury.
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