Tracking Health and Wellness Applications of Brain Science

Neuroimaging, big data and mental health: A survey of the land

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This fig­ure shows how dif­fer­ent brain net­works func­tion togeth­er; the lines mea­sur­ing the strength of com­mu­ni­ca­tion among var­i­ous net­works. By using such dis­plays, we can eval­u­ate what is called the human func­tion­al connectome—and also how men­tal ill­ness is dis­rupt­ed. [Fig­ure cour­tesy of Vince Calhoun]

Men­tal and degen­er­a­tive dis­or­ders are among the most cost­ly and com­mon caus­es of dis­abil­i­ty in soci­ety today. Because the brain is the most com­plex organ in the human body, diag­nos­ing and treat­ing prob­lems when things go wrong pos­es enor­mous chal­lenges. Even before the 1990s was des­ig­nat­ed the Decade of the Brain, the poten­tial of neuroimaging—the tech­nol­o­gy that makes it pos­si­ble to see inside the work­ing brain—was a major focus in [Read more…] about Neu­roimag­ing, big data and men­tal health: A sur­vey of the land

Neurostimulation device GammaSense by Cognito Therapeutics secures FDA Breakthrough Device Designation to explore Alzheimer’s Disease applications

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Cred­it: The Picow­er Insti­tute @ MIT

Cog­ni­to Ther­a­peu­tics nets FDA break­through label for light, sound ther­a­py for Alzheimer’s dis­ease (Fierce Biotech):

Using spe­cif­ic fre­quen­cies of flash­ing lights and sounds to stim­u­late the brain’s elec­tri­cal activ­i­ty, Cog­ni­to Ther­a­peu­tics believes it can help treat Alzheimer’s dis­ease by ener­giz­ing neu­rons and reac­ti­vat­ing the immune system.

[Read more…] about Neu­rostim­u­la­tion device Gam­maSense by Cog­ni­to Ther­a­peu­tics secures FDA Break­through Device Des­ig­na­tion to explore Alzheimer’s Dis­ease applications

The new frontier in neurocognitive monitoring and dementia screening: the Apple Watch

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Bio­gen to Launch Pio­neer­ing Study to Devel­op Dig­i­tal Bio­mark­ers of Cog­ni­tive Health Using Apple Watch and iPhone (press release):

Bio­gen Inc. (Nas­daq: BIIB) today announced a new vir­tu­al research study, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Apple, to inves­ti­gate the role Apple Watch and iPhone could play in mon­i­tor­ing cog­ni­tive per­for­mance and screen­ing for decline in cog­ni­tive health includ­ing mild cog­ni­tive impair­ment (MCI). [Read more…] about The new fron­tier in neu­rocog­ni­tive mon­i­tor­ing and demen­tia screen­ing: the Apple Watch

Fun brain teaser to test your cognitive skills during International Brain Teaser Month

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Mem­o­ry relies most­ly on the tem­po­ral lobes (see green area) and also the frontal lobes (red), Temporal lobe Frontal Lobeso those are the areas that will get some good neu­ronal acti­va­tion when read­ers raised in the US try to remem­ber the miss­ing words in the Amer­i­can proverbs below.

Now, if you were raised out­side the US and are not famil­iar with those proverbs you will have to use your rea­son­ing skills more than your mem­o­ry skills — In that case, frontal lobe acti­va­tion will be wider and more intense.

Con­verse­ly, if you were raised in the US you will find the inter­na­tion­al proverbs below to be more chal­leng­ing. You will not be able to remem­ber them, as you prob­a­bly nev­er learned them, but you should be able to fig­ure them out for extra frontal lobe, cog­ni­tive exercise.

Here’s the task: Guess the miss­ing words of each US and inter­na­tion­al proverb below. Get a pen and piece of paper and write your answers before you check the solutions 🙂

Ready, Set, Go! [Read more…] about Fun brain teas­er to test your cog­ni­tive skills dur­ing Inter­na­tion­al Brain Teas­er Month

Machine learning study finds standardized brain scan biomarker to detect depression with 66% accuracy

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New Study Brings Bio­mark­ers For Depres­sion Clos­er To The Clin­ic (Forbes):

Sci­en­tists have been study­ing bio­log­i­cal signs of depres­sion in the brain, look­ing for mark­ers that could be used to iden­ti­fy the dis­or­der. A team of sci­en­tists recent­ly devel­oped a tech­nique using machine learn­ing that can iden­ti­fy whether a giv­en patien­t’s brain scan shows one of depres­sion’s neur­al sig­na­tures [Read more…] about Machine learn­ing study finds stan­dard­ized brain scan bio­mark­er to detect depres­sion with 66% accuracy

Tip: To manage stress, sleep better. To sleep better, keep a good routine and manage stress.

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Dis­rupt­ed rou­tines and wor­ries about coro­n­avirus have made it hard­er for us to sleep this year. For exam­ple, reports sug­gest there was a 15% increase in pre­scrip­tions for sleep med­ica­tion pre­scrip­tions at the begin­ning of the pan­dem­ic in the U.S., and a 37% increase in insom­nia in China.

Impor­tant­ly, if you’ve been feel­ing out of sorts over the past few months, the lack of sleep could be part­ly to blame. [Read more…] about Tip: To man­age stress, sleep bet­ter. To sleep bet­ter, keep a good rou­tine and man­age stress.