Neural Evidence for Sudden Insight

The ability of animals and humans to infer and apply new rules in order to maximize success relies on frontal lobes. Recent study indicates that in neural dynamics, roups of frontal cortex neurons in rat brains switch from encoding a familiar rule to a completely novel rule that could only be deduced from trail and error. The research also focused on the behaviour of the neurons when adapting to the new activity.

Reference: Science Daily

Observing Brain in the Act of Seeing

Neuroscientists have shown that individual neurons carry out significant aspects of sensory processing. The method allows for the first time to observe individual synapses, small differences between nerve contact sites.

Reference: Science Daily

fMRIS Reveal how the Brain Handles Low-priority Ideas

When human beings process low-priority ideas, it moves to the area of the brain called "the default-mode network" where it will retain the information. The default-mode network relate to interpersonal interactions and social decision making, the brain's back burner. Recent research indicates that genetics plays a role in the back-burner setup. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are used to map eight anatomically distinct regions within the network. A longer term goal is to evaluate whether other intrinsically connected networks are also under genetic control.

Reference: Science Daily

Altered Perception of Hands

The space within reach with our hands is named "action space". Research has shown that visual information in this area is organized in hand-centered coordinates, representation of objects in the human brain depends on their physical location with respect to the hand. New research shows that amputation of the hand results in distorted visuospatial perception.

Reference:
Amputees %u2018Neglect%u2019 the Space Near Their Missing Hand. Psychological Science, January 2010

Scans Show Learning 'Scripts' the Brain's Connections

Spontaneous brain activity formerly thought to be "white noise" is subject to change after an individual learns a new task. Scientists report that the degree of change reflects how well subjects have learned to perform the task. Even during sleep or anesthesia, the brain's spontaneous activity is not random, but organized patterns of correlated activity that occur in anatomically and functionally connected regions.

Reference:
Lewis et al. Learning sculpts the spontaneous activity of the resting human brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0902455106

Deciphering the Human Brain

New research indicates that the brain processes information more flexibly than previously thought, where overlapping of thoughts and deciphering information occur frequently at high speed. The underlying theory of "liquid computing" was developed by Henry Markham and Maass and published in the journal Nature Reviews in Neuroscience.

Reference:
Victor et al. Distributed Fading Memory for Stimulus Properties in the Primary Visual Cortex. PLoS Biology, 2009; 7 (12): e1000260 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000260

Brain-Machine Interface Research

Brain-computing with a prosthetic device is gaining ground on research and development. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center is working on a real-time interface with a full-body exoskeleton to be controlled by signals from a paraplegics brain. Their ultimate goal is to enable a paralyzed individual to walk again by the end of 2012.

Four years ago, the project began with the implantation of electrodes in a rhesus monkey's brain that detects the movement of an arm. The initial process is decoding the brain signals from the monkey's cerebral cortex while it held a joystick to move a single shape in a video game. Eventually, the monkey was able to use its mind to move the object without the joystick. Three years later, a different rhesus monkey was implanted with a new BMI in the motor and sensory cortex to control a computer-screen image of a human-like figure walking on treadmill. The monkey was rewarded for walking in sync with the robot. The treadmill was turned off after an hour, but the monkey was able to direct the robot to walk another few minutes. This research indicates that part of the monkey's brain is adapted to control the robot movement. Therefore it is possible to establish connections between the brain and a computational device, which will lead to the ability to control the movement of limbs.

Reference: IEEE Institute

Idling Mind is Important

Brain scientists are beginning to suspect that daydreaming is crucial to solving problems in our personal lives. For years, it was believed that daydreaming is a lapse in cognition, but recent studies show that temporal lobes - associated with long-term memories - are functioning (data-storage work). The wandering mind also utilizes the prefrontal cortex, part of the brain that involved in problem solving.

Reference: Wired

Forgotten Memories Still in Your Brain

A recent study indicates that brain imaging detected patterns of activation that corresponded to memories people thought they’d lost. When a person recalls a memory, it triggers neurological patterns encoded when the memory was formed. However, the in-depth details of memories are still unknown.

Reference: Wired

Visualization of Simulated Brain

For the first time, scientists are able to see the brain electrically prodded at the cellular level. For years, electrical stimulation has been used to treat the human brain and has helped identify regions responsible for specific neural functions. Originally it is difficult to measure the small currents produced by neurons due to the high voltages applied to stimulate the brain. The solution is a new form of optical imaging called two-photon microscopy, tracking calcium levels of neurons. Since calcium levels spike every time a neuron fires, the team could monitor which neurons were being triggered.

Interestingly, neural response to electrical currents isn't localized and not all neurons surrounding an electrode fire at once. These findings will appear in the August 27 issue of "Neuron".

Reference: Science Daily