El blog de Rubén Carvajal Santana

El caso del paciente H.M. vuelve a sacudir la neurociencia Antonio Martínez Ron ·           ·           Una operación le dejó sin hipocampo y su caso ayudó a comprender el papel de este núcleo en la memoria. ·          El análisis post mortem de su cerebro arroja una sorpresa: a H.M. no le quitaron todo el hipocampo.    El cerebro de H.M. dentro un bloque de gelatina  - Foto:  Jacopo Annese El cerebro que ves sobre estas líneas es historia de la neurociencia. Durante más de 50 años su dueño vivió recluido y era visitado regularmente por decenas de investigadores, para quienes se convirtió en una referencia.  Henry Molaison , conocido durante años solo como  el paciente H.M ., fue intervenido por un neurocirujano en 1953, cuando tenía 27 años, para terminar con sus ataques de epilepsia. En la operación, el médico le extirpó una pequeña parte del cerebro en la que iba incluido su hipocampo. Y las consecuencias de la operación le dejaron marcado de por vida. Aunque Henr

Investigadores del Hospital McLean, en Belmont, Massachusetts, Estados Unidos, informan en un artículo en la revista ‘Plos One’ del 27 de agosto de 2014 que el gas xenón, que se utiliza en los seres humanos para la anestesia y el diagnóstico por imagen, tiene el potencial de ser un tratamiento para el trastorno de estrés postraumático (PTSD) y otros problemas relacionados con la memoria. “En nuestro estudio, hemos visto que el gas xenón tiene la capacidad de reducir los recuerdos de eventos traumáticos”, sentencia uno de los autores, Edward G. Meloni, psicólogo en el Hospital McLean y profesor asistente de Psiquiatría en la Escuela de Medicina de Harvard, Estados Unidos. “Es un gran avance, ya que tiene el potencial de ser un nuevo tratamiento para las personas que sufren de trastorno de estrés postraumático”, añade. En el trabajo, Meloni y Marc J. Kaufman, director del Laboratorio de Imagen del Hospital McLean, examinaron si una baja co

Violinist plays during brain surgery Felicity Nelson    Saturday, 16 August 2014 Musician Roger Frisch underwent deep brain stimulation to fix tremors in his hands and played the violin throughout the process. In any other profession minor shaking would barely be noticed, but in concert violinist Roger Frisch's line of work, it was devastating. In 2009, after 40 years working as a professional musician, Roger found he could no longer bow smoothly. After some convincing, he agreed to undergo deep brain stimulation at the Mayo Clinic  Neural Engineering Lab to try to fix the problem. Deep brain stimulation is a technique used to aid people with Parkinson's disease, dystonia (neurological movement disorder) and essential tremors, as well as people suffering from OCD, major depression or chronic pain. During the procedure, surgeons place electrodes inside the deepest parts of the brain and use electric pulses t

Brain-to-brain interface transmits information from one rat to another Electronically linked brains could facilitate rehabilitation and revolutionize computing Image: Katie Zhuang/ Miguel Nicolelis/ Duke University In Star Trek , the Borg is a menacing race of cybernetically-enhanced beings who conquer other races and assimilate them. They do not act as individuals, but rather as an interconnected group that makes decisions collectively. Assimilation involves integrating other life forms into the Collective, using brain implants that connect them to the "hive mind," such that their biology and technology can help the Borg to become the perfect race. This is a popular concept that can be found elsewhere in science fiction, but scientists have now moved a step closer to making it a reality. Earlier this month, Miguel Nicolelis of Duke University Medical Center and his colleagues repo

Do Sciences and Humanities Students’ Brains Differ? August 4, 2014 5:05 pm Scholars on both sides of the science-humanities divide have been known to feel that their counterparts just don’t think in the same way. But could it be that their brains are actually different? Yes, it could, say J apanese neuroscientists Hikaru Takeuchi and colleagues, who have just published a paper about Brain structures in the sciences and humanities They report that there are significant group differences in brain structure between undergraduate students studying sciences vs. humanities subjects. Specifically, the scientists had more grey matter in the medial prefrontal cortex (p=0.035), but their humanist counterparts had a higher white matter density around the right hippocampus (p=0.018). On average. These data came from a large study of 491 undergrads, all of whom had a structural MRI scan. Age, sex, and overall brain volume were controlled for in the analyses – whi

Mathematical equation to predict happiness: Doesn't depend on how well things go, but on whether things are better than expected Date: August 4, 2014 Source: University College London Summary: The happiness of over 18,000 people worldwide has been predicted by a mathematical equation, with results showing that moment-to-moment happiness reflects not just how well things are going, but whether things are going better than expected.         As part of the Great Brain Experiment smartphone app, users are periodically asked how happy they feel. Credit: Robb Rutledge, UCL The happiness of over 18,000 people worldwide has been predicted by a mathematical equation developed by researchers at UCL, with results showing that moment-to-moment happiness reflects not just how well things are going, but whether things are going better than expected. The new equation accurately predicts exactly how happy people