Positive Technology Journal

From the news release 

New research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows that training re-ignites key areas of the brain, offsetting some age-related declines and boosting performance. The findings, involving functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), provide the first visible evidence for a relationship between behavioral performance and cortical processors involved in dual-task processing, said Arthur F. Kramer, a professor of psychology and researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

The study, published online this month in advance of regular publication by the journal Neurobiology of Aginng, also adds to other emerging data that refute the idea that opposite brain areas become activated to help aging people compensate for a loss of cognition. Older studies, Kramer said, did not look at the impacts of training. For the new study, researchers in Kramer's lab looked at areas of the brain known to be associated with executive control - scheduling, planning, juggling multiple tasks and working memory. These areas, the ventral and dorsal prefrontal cortexes, are tied to cognitive declines in aging.

Read full article here 

Cyberpsychol Behav. 2006 Feb;9(1):30-45

Authors: Baumgartner T, Valko L, Esslen M, Jäncke L

Using electroencephalography (EEG), psychophysiology, and psychometric measures, this is the first study which investigated the neurophysiological underpinnings of spatial presence. Spatial presence is considered a sense of being physically situated within a spatial environment portrayed by a medium (e.g., television, virtual reality). Twelve healthy children and 11 healthy adolescents were watching different virtual roller coaster scenarios. During a control session, the roller coaster cab drove through a horizontal roundabout track. The following realistic roller coaster rides consisted of spectacular ups, downs, and loops. Low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) and event-related desynchronization (ERD) were used to analyze the EEG data. As expected, we found that, compared to the control condition, experiencing a virtual roller coaster ride evoked in both groups strong SP experiences, increased electrodermal reactions, and activations in parietal brain areas known to be involved in spatial navigation. In addition, brain areas that receive homeostatic afferents from somatic and visceral sensations of the body were strongly activated. Most interesting, children (as compared to adolescents) reported higher spatial presence experiences and demonstrated a different frontal activation pattern. While adolescents showed increased activation in prefrontal areas known to be involved in the control of executive functions, children demonstrated a decreased activity in these brain regions. Interestingly, recent neuroanatomical and neurophysiological studies have shown that the frontal brain continues to develop to adult status well into adolescence. Thus, the result of our study implies that the increased spatial presence experience in children may result from the not fully developed control functions of the frontal cortex.

Mind-operated devices: mental control of a computer using biofeedback.

Cyberpsychol Behav. 2006 Feb;9(1):1-4

Authors: Parente A, Parente R

Via BrainBlog 

Nintendo has developed a brain-training game, "Brain Age", which presents quick mental tasks that should help keeping the brain in shape.

 
From the Nintendo website:

Activities include quickly solving simple math problems, counting people going in and out of a house simultaneously, drawing pictures on the Touch Screen, reading classic literature out loud, and more. You can also play Sudoku, the number puzzle game which has become an extremely popular feature in U.S. newspapers Brain Age is inspired by the research of Professor Ryuta Kawashima, a prominent Japanese neuroscientist. His studies evaluated the impact of performing certain reading and mathematic exercises to help stimulate the brain. 

A workshop held in conjunction with the ">17th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence, ECAI-2006

Riva del Garda, Italy, August 28th - September 1st, 2006

April 1st, 2006: Deadline for paper and demos submission

From the workshop website:

Baram, Yoram PhD; Miller, Ariel MD, PhD

Neurology. 66(2):178-181, January 24, 2006.

Via Smart Mobs

The software has been designed by Hannes Högni Vilhjálmsson of the University of Southern California (USC) Information Sciences Institute.

read full article here

Humans Ignore Motion and Stereo Cues in Favor of a Fictional Stable World.

Curr Biol. 2006 Feb 21;16(4):428-432

Authors: Glennerster A, Tcheang L, Gilson SJ, Fitzgibbon AW, Parker AJ

As we move through the world, our eyes acquire a sequence of images. The information from this sequence is sufficient to determine the structure of a three-dimensional scene, up to a scale factor determined by the distance that the eyes have moved . Previous evidence shows that the human visual system accounts for the distance the observer has walked and the separation of the eyes when judging the scale, shape, and distance of objects. However, in an immersive virtual-reality environment, observers failed to notice when a scene expanded or contracted, despite having consistent information about scale from both distance walked and binocular vision. This failure led to large errors in judging the size of objects. The pattern of errors cannot be explained by assuming a visual reconstruction of the scene with an incorrect estimate of interocular separation or distance walked. Instead, it is consistent with a Bayesian model of cue integration in which the efficacy of motion and disparity cues is greater at near viewing distances. Our results imply that observers are more willing to adjust their estimate of interocular separation or distance walked than to accept that the scene has changed in size.

Via Brain Blog

The US National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have launched a new initiative, called Cognitive and Emotional Health Project. The goal of the initiative is to evaluate the state of the art in research on demographic, social and biologic determinants of cognitive and emotional health in aging adults.

From the website

Via Science Daily

Science and Consciousness Review has interviewed brain researcher Sara Lazar on how meditation affects the brain. Lazar is the author of a recent study, in which magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess cortical thickness in 20 participants with extensive Insight meditation, a technique that involves focusing attention on internal experiences. Findings showed that brain regions associated with attention, interoception and sensory processing were thicker in meditation participants than matched controls, including the prefrontal cortex and right anterior insula. According to Lazar and her colleagues, these results provide preliminary evidence for experience-dependent cortical plasticity associated with meditation practice.

Via STS Italia 

First National Conference of STS Italia – Italian Society for Science and Technology Studies

9th-10th June 2006

Tiscali Auditorium, Cagliari (Sardinia)

Organizing Committee: Davide Bennato (Università di Roma “La Sapienza”), Alessandro Mongili (Università di Cagliari), Federico Neresini e Giuseppe Pellegrini (Università di Padova), Giuseppina Pellegrino (Università della Calabria).

Scientific Advisory Board: Davide Bennato (Università di Roma “La Sapienza”), Massimiamo Bucchi (Università di Trento), Luca Guzzetti (Università di Genova), Alessandro Mongili (Università di Cagliari), Federico Neresini (Università di Padova), Giuseppe Pellegrini (Università di Padova), Paolo Volontè (Università di Bolzano).

Sponsored by: Regione Autonoma della Sardegna – Assessorato per gli Affari generali, Dipartimento di Ricerche Economiche e Sociali dell’Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Banco di Sardegna, Tiscali SpA.

Exploring spike transfer through the thalamus using hybrid artificial-biological neuronal networks.

J Physiol Paris. 2004 Jul-Nov;98(4-6):540-58

Authors: Debay D, Wolfart J, Le Franc Y, Le Masson G, Bal T

We use dynamic clamp to construct "hybrid" thalamic circuits by connecting a biological neuron in situ to silicon- or software-generated "neurons" through artificial synapses. The purpose is to explore cellular sensory gating mechanisms that regulate the transfer efficiency of signals during different sleep-wake states. Hybrid technology is applied in vitro to different paradigms such as: (1) simulating interactions between biological thalamocortical neurons, artificial reticular thalamic inhibitory interneurons and a simulated sensory input, (2) grafting an artificial sensory input to a wholly biological thalamic network that generates spontaneous sleep-like oscillations, (3) injecting in thalamocortical neurons a background synaptic bombardment mimicking the activity of corticothalamic inputs. We show that the graded control of the strength of intrathalamic inhibition, combined with the membrane polarization and the fluctuating synaptic noise in thalamocortical neurons, is able to govern functional shifts between different input/output transmission states of the thalamic gate.

Tadiran LifeCare, an Israeli company, has presented a compact wearable mobile communication and safety device (SKeeper™)  for the elderly. The device