neuroscience

An international team of researchers has studied 241 brain-damaged people apparently unable to respond to external stimuli. Using techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalogram, they have detected signs of brain activity in 25 % of them that, according to the authors, ‘suggest that they may be interacting with the outside world’. The results are published in the journal NEJM. 

A brain study of 23 people with treatment-resistant depression while they listen to classical music has identified the antidepressant mechanisms of this music. Using intracranial recordings and electroencephalogrammes, the researchers concluded that listening to classical music synchronises neuronal oscillations between the auditory cortex - responsible for processing sensory information - and the reward circuit - responsible for processing emotional information. "The improvement of depressive symptoms was not linked to the emotion of the music itself but was correlated with the patient’s level of music enjoyment," says the study published in Cell Reports.

Both sex and gender are associated with distinct networks in the brains of boys and girls, according to an analysis of brain images of 4,757 children in the US. Understanding these neurobiological patterns is important for identifying how sex and gender influence health and for developing specific diagnostic tools, the research team writes in Science Advances.

A neuroprosthetic interface allows a bionic leg to respond to the nervous system of amputees to make walking faster and more natural, says a study published in Nature Medicine. The clinical trial involved 14 people with below-knee amputations: seven with a surgically attached bionic leg compared to seven without the interface.

Internet 'addiction' in adolescents is associated with changes in neural networks in their brains, a review of studies has found. The analysis published in PLoS Mental Health brings together the results of 12 previous functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, conducted in young people aged 10-19 in Asian countries (Korea, China and Indonesia).

The PsychENCODE consortium, established in 2015 and dedicated to illuminating the molecular mechanisms underlying schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism spectrum disorder, presents findings based on the examination of human brains at the cellular level. The studies are published today in the journals Science, Science Translational Medicine and Science Advances.

A clinical trial involving 60 people with upper and lower body paralysis showed that a non-invasive electrical spinal cord stimulation device - called ARCEX - helps improve hand and arm function in quadriplegic patients. The study, the results of which are published in Nature Medicine, showed that 43 of the people with paralysis experienced improved arm and hand strength and function after receiving electrical stimulation along with rehabilitation exercises.  

Two independent research teams have managed to regenerate brain circuits in mice using neurons cultivated from rat stem cells. Today, both studies were published in the journal Cell. The research, in which chimeras of different species were generated, delve into how brain tissue forms and present new opportunities for restoring lost brain function due to diseases and aging.

A study published in Nature in which researchers from the University of Valencia have participated has identified a neuron migration route that begins in the foetus around mid-gestation and continues until between two and three years of age. The route extends from the lateral ventricle, where these cells are born, to the entorhinal cortex, an area related to the regions where memory and learning are consolidated. There, neurons await signals that induce them to mature, providing plasticity to the brain after birth.

A team of researchers has developed a device that would allow individuals with amputations to perceive and respond to temperature by providing thermal information from the tip of the prosthetic finger to the amputee's stump. The device, called "MiniTouch," featured in the journal Med, can be integrated into commercially available prosthetic limbs and does not require surgery. The authors demonstrate that, thanks to the thermosensitive prosthetic hand, a 57-year-old male with below-elbow amputation was able to distinguish and manually classify objects of different temperatures and perceive bodily contact with other humans.