Through a glass, darkly: Testing the [largely correlative] methods of neuroscience on [6502] computer chips
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21714978-cautionary-tale-about-promises-modern-brain-science-tests-suggest
Canonical genetic signatures [across 132 structures] of the adult human #brain [in 6 individuals]
http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.4171.html HT @ozgunharmanci
QT:{{”
We applied a correlation-based metric called differential stability to assess reproducibility of gene expression patterning across 132 structures in six individual brains, revealing mesoscale genetic organization. The genes with the highest differential stability are highly biologically relevant, with enrichment for brain-related annotations, disease associations, drug targets and literature citations.
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A Dying Young Woman’s Hope in Cryonics & a Future http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/us/cancer-immortality-cryogenics.html Glioma sufferer opts for $80K Alcor crowdfunded, brain preservation
QT:{{"
“If the $80,000 fee for neuropreservation seemed steep, they learned that about a third of it pays for medical personnel to be on call for death, while another third is placed in a trust for future revival. The investment income from the trust also pays for storage in liquid nitrogen, which is so cold that it can prevent decay in biological tissue for millenniums.
Some of what they found out gave them pause. Alcor’s antifreeze, once pumped through the blood vessels, transitions into a glassy substance before ice can form and do damage. The process, called vitrification, is similar to that used to store sperm, eggs and embryos for fertility treatments. But that glassy substance has been known to crack, likely causing damage of a different kind.
"}}
Scents of #Smell Rooted in Math
http://www.wsj.com/articles/scents-of-smell-rooted-in-math-1431079201 electrical spiking in #neurons simply (linearly) related to amount of odorant
Spacetime wiring specificity supports…selectivity in the retina http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v509/n7500/full/nature13240.html @eye_wire citizenscience traces neural connectivity
finds a time lag circuit
Jinseop S. Kim,
Matthew J. Greene,
…
H. Sebastian Seung
& the EyeWirers
Nature 509, 331–336 (15 May 2014) doi:10.1038/nature13240
#Neuroscience, Ethics & National Security http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001289
Interrogations w/ oxytocin truth serum, No-lie fMRI & p300 waves. Scary!
QT:{{"
National security agencies are also mining neuroscience for ways to advance interrogation methods and the detection of deception. The increasing sophistication of brain-reading neurotechnologies has led many to investigate their potential applications for lie detection. Deception has long been associated with empirically measurable correlates, arguably originating nearly a century ago with research into blood pressure [24]. Yet blood pressure, among other modern bases for polygraphy like heart and breathing rates, indicates the presence of a proxy for deception: stress. Although the polygraph performs better than chance, it does not reliably and accurately indicate the presence of deception, and it is susceptible to counter measures. ….
“Brain fingerprinting” utilizes EEG to detect the P300 wave, an event-related potential (ERP) associated with the perception of a recognized, meaningful stimulus, and it is thought to hold potential for confirming the presence of “concealed information” [25]. The technology is marketed for a number of uses: “national security, medical diagnostics, advertising, insurance fraud and in the criminal justice system” [26]. Similarly, fMRI-based lie detection services are currently offered by several companies, including No Lie MRI [27] and Cephos [28]. DARPA funded the pioneering research that showed how deception involves a more complex array of neurological processes than truth-telling, and that fMRI arguably can detect the difference between the two [29]. No Lie MRI also has ties to national security: they market their services to the DoD, Department of Homeland Security, and the intelligence community, among other potential customers [30].
…
In addition to questions of scientific validity, these technologies raise legal and ethical issues. Legally required brain scans arguably violate “the guarantee against self-incrimination” because they differ from acceptable forms of bodily evidence, such as fingerprints or blood samples, in an important way: they are not simply physical, hard evidence, but evidence that is intimately linked to the defendant’s mind [32]. Under US law, brain-scanning technologies might also raise implications for the Fourth Amendment, calling into question whether they constitute an unreasonable search and seizure [33].”
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Neuroscience
Scientific American 310, 70 – 77 (2014)
Published online: 18 March 2014 | doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0414-70
The Genetic Geography of the Brain
Ed Lein & Mike Hawrylycz
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/genetic-maps-of-the-brain-lead-to-surprises
The New Century of the Brain: Nice overview of some new #brain mapping technologies & the government’s big initiative
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/technologies-for-hacking-brain
http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v310/n3/full/scientificamerican0314-38.html
Brain-Mapping Milestones: 1st mention of the BrainSpan.org project in
the Times! http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/science/brain-mapping-milestones.html #Neuroscience & #Genomics
How the… Octopus Can Help us Understand the Human #Brain: Intelligent but with very different, decentralized wiring http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/how-the-freaky-octopus-can-help-us-understand-the-human-brain
(Intelligent enough to open childproof tops)