A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience
Researchers can selectively remove a memory and predictably reactivate it by stimulating nerves in the brain.
The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers have erased and reactivated memories in rats, profoundly altering the animals’ reaction to past events.
Continue reading… “Scientists erase, then restore rats’ memories”
What makes us itch?
Scientists now know the secret. In what will be a boon for millions of people with chronic itch conditions, such as eczema and psoriasis, a small molecule released in the spinal cord has now been found to trigger a process that is later experienced in the brain as the sensation of itch.
Continue reading… “Scientists discover the secret to what makes us itch”
The Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation System, works by stimulating the nerve which controls the muscles of tongue.
Scientists have come up with a new pacemaker-style device which they claim when implanted underneath one’s tongue could help stop snoring. A team claims that the new implant, called the Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation System, works by stimulating the nerve which controls the muscles of tongue, thus helping reduce the severity of sleep apnoea, a major cause of snoring.
Continue reading… “Pacemaker under tongue may stop snoring”
Researchers have found specific nerve cells responsible for itchiness, a discovery that could lead to better treatments for skin conditions.
Continue reading… “Researchers Find Nerve Cells Responsible For Itch”
They have been blamed for damaging hearing and exposing users to harmful radiation. Now those who just can’t stop chatting into their handsets are facing a new menace – mobile phone elbow.
Continue reading… “Doctors Seeing Increase in Patients with Cell Phone Elbow”
The sun is a natural and effective source of Vitamin D that we need to protect our bones, protect us from auto-immune diseases, help prevent Alzheimers disease, and protect us from certain kinds of cancers. Deficiencies in vitamin D are highly-linked to these diseases. Now, researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have found that Vitamin D deficiency is also linked to Parkinson’s Disease.
Continue reading… “Vitamin D And Sun Exposure Play A Role In Disease Prevention”
When an object moves fast, we follow it with our eyes: our brain correspondingly calculates the speed of the object and adapts our eye movement to it. This in itself is an enormous achievement, yet our brain can do even more than that. In the real world, a car will typically accelerate or brake faster than, say, a pedestrian. But the control of eye movement in fact responds more sensitively to changes in the speed of fast moving objects than slow moving objects.
Continue reading… “How Our Eyes Adapt To Movement”
For many blind or partially sighted people, implants that stimulate healthy nerve cells connected to their retinas could help restore some normal vision. Researchers have been working on such implants since the 1980s but with only limited success. A major hurdle is making an implant that can stay in the eye for years without declining in performance or causing inflammation.
Continue reading… “Improved Retinal Implant Stimulates Neurons To Restore Sight”
Until recently, the promise of stem-cell therapy has centered on stem cells’ ability to morph into virtually any kind of cells. But researchers are finding that stem cells may have other healing effects. In recent studies, scientists have observed stem cells acting as anti-inflammatory agents, reducing swelling and even scarring when administered to injured tissue.
Continue reading… “Stem Cell Therapy Lessens Damage Caused By Stroke”
Drinking chamomile tea daily with meals may help prevent the complications of diabetes, which include loss of vision, nerve damage, and kidney damage, researchers in Japan and the United Kingdom are reporting.
Continue reading… “Chamomile Tea Could Help Prevent Complications Of Diabetes”
Many cancer patients leave surgery still harboring dangerous tumor cells, while others suffer painful aftereffects because a surgeon has removed too much healthy tissue or nicked a nerve. A new imaging system that highlights cancerous tissue in lurid colors should help surgeons remove every last trace of cancer without harming the surrounding tissue. The system, currently in early clinical trials, uses a new class of contrast agents that emit near-infrared light and can attach to virtually any kind of tissue, cancerous or a healthy–showing surgeons just where to cut.
Continue reading… “Surgical Imaging System Turns Cancer Cells Neon”
A snapshot of the retina could detect cell damage in the early stages of diabetes.
Diabetes messes with the body’s metabolism, which can result in devastating complications like nerve damage, kidney disease, and vision loss.
Continue reading… “Diabetes Detected By Eye Test”
