9.29.2006
Play in Cognitive Labs orange
>
this is from stamen-an SF-based design and information architecture firm
Play to your heart's content with Splatter, a Flash-powered 'exploration' of computer-based fingerpainting.
Try it.
Download the tarball , zipped with license. (If you don't understand, just follow the link above)
Play to your heart's content with Splatter, a Flash-powered 'exploration' of computer-based fingerpainting.
Try it.
Download the tarball , zipped with license. (If you don't understand, just follow the link above)
// posted by neurofuture7:22 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games 
iWoz review
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Here's another review...from the SJ Mercury News this is longer and goes into more detail about how if Woz hadn't wrecked his pinto, dropped out of Berkeley to make some money, and hadn't gone to work, maybe he wouldn't have gotten started
// posted by neurofuture7:15 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
iWoz: remembering the PC genesis
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If you remember the beginning of the PC era, you might be interested in taking a look at Woz's (Steve Wozniak's) new book, iWoz.
He talks about the beginning of what has become a new way of life for people on this planet.
He talks about the beginning of what has become a new way of life for people on this planet.
// posted by neurofuture6:23 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
digg labs
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Digg Labs launches. This is where people can vote on content and stories.
They are working on an API so developers will be able to build 'visualizations' into their applications that incorporate the digg datastream, probably as an XML file that will make the JavaScript do something to act nifty on the client.
At Cognitive Labs we're always in a 'creative mode'
They are working on an API so developers will be able to build 'visualizations' into their applications that incorporate the digg datastream, probably as an XML file that will make the JavaScript do something to act nifty on the client.
At Cognitive Labs we're always in a 'creative mode'
// posted by neurofuture6:02 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
ZVUE on Nasdaq
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Just a couple of years ago, I sat with some of the principals of Handheld Entertainment in a VC's office on Alameda De Las Pulgas in Menlo Park.
That name means "Avenue of the Fleas"
The company went through its pitch but the VC's didn't really get it. Later on there was another meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel, pretty much focused on retail distribution, and a few others.
And now, very recently the company, Handheld Entertainment, has moved to Nasdaq. This represents the health and vitality of ingenuity and capitalism at its finest.
It just goes to show you what happens when you put your brain to work.
That name means "Avenue of the Fleas"
The company went through its pitch but the VC's didn't really get it. Later on there was another meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel, pretty much focused on retail distribution, and a few others.
And now, very recently the company, Handheld Entertainment, has moved to Nasdaq. This represents the health and vitality of ingenuity and capitalism at its finest.
It just goes to show you what happens when you put your brain to work.
// posted by neurofuture1:48 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
9.28.2006
5,000 people and some yummy stuff
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On Sunday we had our biggest "add" day yet with more than 5,000 people signing up. So you can see a significant number of people came to the site. Of course there's still time to register or encourage friends through the numerous tell-a-friend features. Did you know that one person submitted 1,100 friends? Basically everyone in their address book needed a brain tune up.
We have some nifty AJAX stuff on the drawing board which will let you take a test and put it in your pocket, so to speak, just by clicking on a little avatar. Yummy.
Not sure about the ETA, as we'll need some unbroken coding time.
We have some nifty AJAX stuff on the drawing board which will let you take a test and put it in your pocket, so to speak, just by clicking on a little avatar. Yummy.
Not sure about the ETA, as we'll need some unbroken coding time.
// posted by neurofuture3:57 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
9.27.2006
catch the brain wave
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The home page has changed into a large wave...symbolic of a brain wave or maybe, the film point break.
// posted by neurofuture7:49 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
9.26.2006
Researchers Measure Water Distribution in the Brain to Detect Alzheimer's
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Computer-assisted MRI detects water distribution in the brain
A new analysis technique may help spot early signs of Alzheimer's disease, according to recently completed research at UC-Irvine.
As Alzheimer's disease progresses, cells in the brain may become damaged, which allows water molecules to move throughout the brain more freely.
This process of cellular damage causes an increase in the "apparent diffusion coefficient," or ADC, which is a measurement used to study the distribution of water in the brain.
A new study included in the October issue of Radiology looked at 13 elderly people with mild cognitive impairment -- a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease -- and 13 people without mild cognitive impairment.
The participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and performed memory-recall tasks.
The MRIs used a new computer-aided analysis program to measure ADC values in different regions of the brain.
The University of California, Irvine researchers found that the participants with mild cognitive impairment had increased water content in certain regions of the brain, including white-matter areas, the hippocampus, temporal lobe gray matter and the corpus callosum.
The ADC values in the hippocampus were associated with worse memory-performance scores.
The new computer mapping technology may allow researchers to learn how Alzheimer's disease develops in the brain and come up with new strategies for treating the disease.
"Our methods may enable earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, allowing earlier intervention to slow down disease progression," said researcher Min-Ying Su.
The abstract is here
// posted by neurofuture8:36 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
digg as a game
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insightful piece about game theory, information cascades, and John "a Beautiful Mind" Nash - all relating to digg. Vote it up.
// posted by neurofuture9:24 AM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
Red Wine Reduces Alzheimer's Risk in Mice
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Study Presented at the Society for Neuroscience
Mice given a daily drink of red wine in the form of Cabernet Sauvignon are less likely to get Alzheimer's disease, according to new experiments. It is already known that red wine - in moderation - offers some protection from heart disease and there's some debate over whether this might be applicable to Alzheimer's disease as well. Now researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center offer some interesting new evidence.
They've been working with mice genetically modified to develop Alzheimer's disease, with the accompanying brain changes - which are chiefly the accumulation of amyloid protein deposits. In this new study, the mice were given red wine in the form of Cabernet Sauvignon in their drinking water. The red wine proved to ward off the expected memory deficits and also reduced amyloid pathology in the brain. This was compared to mice given either water alone or alcohol alone. Clearly there is some protective component in the Cabernet Sauvignon grape which may be able to protect against Alzheimer's disease. A daily glass of red wine might prove helpful in this respect.
Mice given a daily drink of red wine in the form of Cabernet Sauvignon are less likely to get Alzheimer's disease, according to new experiments. It is already known that red wine - in moderation - offers some protection from heart disease and there's some debate over whether this might be applicable to Alzheimer's disease as well. Now researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center offer some interesting new evidence.
They've been working with mice genetically modified to develop Alzheimer's disease, with the accompanying brain changes - which are chiefly the accumulation of amyloid protein deposits. In this new study, the mice were given red wine in the form of Cabernet Sauvignon in their drinking water. The red wine proved to ward off the expected memory deficits and also reduced amyloid pathology in the brain. This was compared to mice given either water alone or alcohol alone. Clearly there is some protective component in the Cabernet Sauvignon grape which may be able to protect against Alzheimer's disease. A daily glass of red wine might prove helpful in this respect.
// posted by neurofuture8:24 AM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
9.25.2006
New test available
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There is a new test that you haven't seen before....here it is
// posted by neurofuture9:14 AM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
9.23.2006
Anousheh Ansari blogs from space
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1st blog from space?
Recent space traveler and telecom entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari is going to be blogging from space.
Keep the brain fit for space
Use the platform independent, completely scalable solution from cognitivelabs.com
Recent space traveler and telecom entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari is going to be blogging from space.
Keep the brain fit for space
Use the platform independent, completely scalable solution from cognitivelabs.com
// posted by neurofuture9:16 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
number one on fark...
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cognitive labs hits front page of fark.com, this is like hitting number one on digg.com
// posted by neurofuture5:59 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
9.22.2006
Today's brain factoid: search is like mental chronometry (and the brain)
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"Chronometry led to the development of spreading activation models of memory wherein links in memory are not organized hierarchically but by 'relevance' instead."
--wikipedia
chronometry is the science of mental reaction time assessment
// posted by neurofuture8:23 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
stumbleupon.com does it again
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Cool site: stumbleupon.com
they picked up on the Cognitive Labs' research at Stanford/BrainAge/and our links to Dr. Ryuta 'learning therapy' Kawashima's work...
We hope to do some additional MRI in the near future. We've got an invite. Let's find out a) what your brain looks like taking cognitive labs tests b) eating blueberries or c) searching the web
let us know if you can think of anything else.
they picked up on the Cognitive Labs' research at Stanford/BrainAge/and our links to Dr. Ryuta 'learning therapy' Kawashima's work...
We hope to do some additional MRI in the near future. We've got an invite. Let's find out a) what your brain looks like taking cognitive labs tests b) eating blueberries or c) searching the web
let us know if you can think of anything else.
// posted by neurofuture11:20 AM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
Cognitive Changes of Spaceflight
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As promised, we are going to begin sharing some of the information we have collected on the physical and cognitive effects of spaceflight.
The following is available from NASA, other individuals who have been involved in conducting repeated physical exams on returning astronauts have discussed their data on physical changes: significant weight loss, loss of muscle mass, organ functioning changes, atrophy and lengthening of the extremities: it would be interesting to follow changes that occur once there is a semi-permanent base in space and individuals are effected for more than 1 year...and what, if any would be the effect on a second generation that was conceived and carried to gestation in space.
Current research on amphibians shows that upon return, space-born amphibians appear to be genetically encoded for the earth environment and return to 'normal' swimming behavior, but who knows how strong the encoding is and for what duration.
// posted by neurofuture10:52 AM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
32,000 'views'
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The site that you are helping with had around 32,000 page views yesterday, one of our top days: right about 1 million/month...
// posted by neurofuture10:46 AM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
Insulin Receptors May Control Progression of Alzheimer's
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By stimulating a receptor in the brain that controls insulin responses, scientists have been able to halt or diminish the neurodegeneration of Alzheimer's disease. The finding provides possible evidence that the disease can be treated in its early stages, according to researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School.
The activated receptor or agonist appears to block further abnormal cellular oxidation and accumulation of amyloid tangles.
Researchers have found that peroxisome-proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) agonists prevent several components of neurodegeneration and preserve learning and memory in rats with induced Alzheimer's disease (AD). They found that an agonist for PPAR delta, a receptor that is abundant in the brain, had the most overall benefit.
"This raises the possibility that you can treat patients with mild cognitive impairment who have possible or probable Alzheimer's disease. This is really amazing because right now, there's just no treatment that works," says lead author Suzanne M. de la Monte, MD, MPH, a neuropathologist at Rhode Island Hospital and a professor of pathology and clinical neuroscience at Brown Medical School in Providence, RI.
The study appears in the September issue (Volume 10, Issue 1) of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (http://www.j-alz.com).
In previous studies, the researchers demonstrated that Alzheimer's is a brain-specific neuroendocrine disorder, or a Type 3 diabetes, distinct from other types of diabetes. They showed that insulin and IGF-I receptors are produced separately in the brain, and begin to disappear early in Alzheimer's and continue to decline as the disease progresses. As insulin signaling breaks down, it leads to increased oxidative stress, impaired metabolism and cell death -- all causing neurodegeneration.
Scientists were also previously able to replicate Alzheimer's in rats with Streptozotocin (STZ), a compound that is known to destroy insulin producing cells in the pancreas and cause diabetes. When injected into the brains of rats, the compound mimicked the neurodegeneration of Alzheimer's disease -- plaque deposits, neurofibrillary tangles, diminished brain size, impaired cognitive function, cell loss and overall brain deterioration.
// posted by neurofuture9:42 AM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
9.21.2006
bonfire of the vanities
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Warning, this is a technology industry sort of post, and we generally don't recast the infinitely overexposed daily tech news...Mark Cuban, an individual who benefited from Internet radio, wonders if it might be just one person or firm, possibly, that profits in online video.
He points to the issue of bandwidth. In truth, streaming services can get very, very popular, whether audio or video, and feature mixes and mashes and other artistic siftings that people just like.
The greater the popularity, however, the more wood is thrown onto the bonfire til pretty soon the forest is clear cut and there is no more Lorax.
Is the popular service YouTube one of these bonfires?
He points to the issue of bandwidth. In truth, streaming services can get very, very popular, whether audio or video, and feature mixes and mashes and other artistic siftings that people just like.
The greater the popularity, however, the more wood is thrown onto the bonfire til pretty soon the forest is clear cut and there is no more Lorax.
Is the popular service YouTube one of these bonfires?
// posted by neurofuture10:18 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
Microsoft Targets Game Usability for the Aging
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Microsoft targets Game Usabilty for aging population....
"Microsoft's Brannon Zahand has been addressing the key issues of accessibility, from all aspects of game development, noting: 'The demand for accessibility will continue to grow as the gaming population ages. As people grow older, mild impairments can become more severe. Also, people are likely to develop new difficulties and impairments as they age..."slashdot/gamasutra
"Microsoft's Brannon Zahand has been addressing the key issues of accessibility, from all aspects of game development, noting: 'The demand for accessibility will continue to grow as the gaming population ages. As people grow older, mild impairments can become more severe. Also, people are likely to develop new difficulties and impairments as they age..."slashdot/gamasutra
// posted by neurofuture1:57 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
USC test a big hit
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The USC memory test is a big hit in Southern California today.
It could revitalize sports media by bringing the mash-up to the sports page, adding a little excitement to the post game recap.
The sound and thunder resonates and makes it a lot more interesting than just pix.
And if you don't like it, you can switch to your team's song and feel (psychologically) like you won the game.
It could revitalize sports media by bringing the mash-up to the sports page, adding a little excitement to the post game recap.
The sound and thunder resonates and makes it a lot more interesting than just pix.
And if you don't like it, you can switch to your team's song and feel (psychologically) like you won the game.
// posted by neurofuture1:36 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
Learn to Think Faster, HP
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New Think Faster test
for HP Mgmt
for HP Mgmt
// posted by neurofuture9:53 AM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
9.20.2006
Congratulations to Dr. Wes Ashford of Stanford/VA
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Dr. Wes Ashford told me he has just been named Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.
Congratulations, Wes! Onward to better and better games and tests. Here's to Memory Fitness!
Congratulations, Wes! Onward to better and better games and tests. Here's to Memory Fitness!
// posted by neurofuture6:39 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
Fanfare and Conquest added....
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Now you can hear Fanfare and Conquest all-in-one. The former sounds somewhat like the 20th Century Fox massed trumpet intro...., check back with that earlier post
// posted by neurofuture5:07 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
George Lucas Gives $175 Million to USC
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Filmmaker George Lucas is giving $175 Million to USC.
Also, Elan Amir's company Bivio Networks closed a new $8.5 M round of financing. (read the article)
Also, Cognitive Labs should pass 1.25 million users today...
if you can't get enough of the Trojans, jog your memory by seeing them beat Cal last year. Only thing missing from the test is 'Conquest' but we'll be adding that shortly....correction, it is added
// posted by neurofuture4:41 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
Facial Recognition
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We're hoping to look a little bit at the issue of facial recognition. There's the well-known Stanford study that documents the impact of staring eyes on transactional behavior.
The fact is, the number of transactions goes up. Even with a poster, as opposed to a real visage, this has been observed repeatedly.
Autarchs and autocrats have always known this: consider Saddam Hussein. And to a lesser extent, Mubarak. In the this scenario it is not transactional behavior as much as engagement.
I was surprised the last time I was in Egypt to see the staring face so much, particularly in public places.
This was known in ancient times as well. Consider late pharaonic and Roman period mummy portraits, some of the finest examples of art from ancient times.
Or, for propaganda value, the full-face portrait:
Some consider this gold coin (of Gallic emperor Postumus - read more) the finest example of portraiture in all of the Roman coinage, if not ever. (It served as the model for the gold-U.S. $1 coins of Sacajawea)
The fact is, the number of transactions goes up. Even with a poster, as opposed to a real visage, this has been observed repeatedly.
Autarchs and autocrats have always known this: consider Saddam Hussein. And to a lesser extent, Mubarak. In the this scenario it is not transactional behavior as much as engagement.
I was surprised the last time I was in Egypt to see the staring face so much, particularly in public places.
This was known in ancient times as well. Consider late pharaonic and Roman period mummy portraits, some of the finest examples of art from ancient times.
Or, for propaganda value, the full-face portrait:
Some consider this gold coin (of Gallic emperor Postumus - read more) the finest example of portraiture in all of the Roman coinage, if not ever. (It served as the model for the gold-U.S. $1 coins of Sacajawea)
// posted by neurofuture4:09 PM permanent link
tags:
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
9.18.2006
Innovator Profile: John Dobson
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We're going to be profiling some people that it would be worth reading up on because of the their influence. The first one is John Dobson. If you know about Astronomy then you have probably heard the term "Dobsonian."
This is a very simple kind of telescope that revolutionized astronomy by giving amateurs access to cheap, powerful telescopes. In a way, it mirrors the PC revolution, and happened almost at the same time. Around that time I (and probably many of you, too) were learning on a Commodore-64 at home and an Apple at school (a bit pricey for the home) I also read about the Dobsonian in Astronomy Magazine. So, I saved up from my paper route to get a mirror, then I bought some basic household supplies and in a couple of days - voila - I had an 8" reflecting telescope. With it you could see everything - the double cluster of stars in Perseus, the Orion Nebula, the Ring Nebula in Lyra, the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius and the mysterious and the numerous silvery mist galaxies in the constellation Ursa Major, starting with M-81 and continuing with those in the New General Catalogue. (NGC)
Reprint of NY Times story
John Dobson was an atheist through high school, but over time he became interested in the Universe and its workings. He enquired about joining a monastery in 1940, but was turned away at the time in order to complete his studies. He took a degree in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1943 and joined the Vedanta Monastery in San Francisco in 1944, becoming a monk of the Ramakrishna Order.
During his time at the monastery, his astronomy interest led to activities in telescope building in order to understand more of the Universe. To this end, he often offered assistance and corresponded about his work with those outside. Telescope building was not part of the curriculum at the monastery, however, and much of his correspondence had to be in code so as to attract less attention. For instance, a telescope was referred to as a "geranium", which is a type of flower. A "potted geranium" referred to a telescope that was in a tube and rocker, while a "geranium in bloom" referred to a telescope whose mirror was now aluminized.
Eventually he was given the option of either leaving the order, or to cease his telescope building. At the time he chose to cease building telescopes, but this decision did not last for long and he was eventually asked by his religious superiors to leave.
Promotion of astronomy
Having left the order in 1967, Dobson became a co-founder of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers, an organization that aims to popularize astronomy among people on the street. It was also at this time that his simple form of telescope, which came to be known as the Dobsonian, became well known.
He was later asked to speak at the Vedanta Society in Hollywood, and has continued to spend two months there each year teaching telescope and cosmology classes. He spends another two months at his home in San Francisco, and spends most of the rest of each year travelling as an invited guest for astronomical societies, where he speaks about telescope building, sidewalk astronomy, and his views of cosmology and the scientific establishment.
The Dobsonian telescope is a large, portable, inexpensive, and easy to manufacture altazimuth mount telescope. The design is named after Dobson because he is credited for being the first person to have applied the mount's principles to telescope design. He is reluctant to take credit, however, pointing out that he built it that way because it was all he needed. In his own words, he jokes that he was "too retarded" to build a more sophisticated telescope with an equatorial telescope mount. With its simplicity of construction and use, the Dobsonian has become a very popular design today, particularly for large amateur telescopes.
John Dobson co-founded the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers in coordination with two other people, having cheaply constructed several telescopes that were easy to use, including a 24-inch telescope that was built for approximately US$300. Rather than have regular meetings, the organisation simply set up telescopes on the sidewalk during clear evenings, offering to show and explain the night sky to people passing by.
This is a very simple kind of telescope that revolutionized astronomy by giving amateurs access to cheap, powerful telescopes. In a way, it mirrors the PC revolution, and happened almost at the same time. Around that time I (and probably many of you, too) were learning on a Commodore-64 at home and an Apple at school (a bit pricey for the home) I also read about the Dobsonian in Astronomy Magazine. So, I saved up from my paper route to get a mirror, then I bought some basic household supplies and in a couple of days - voila - I had an 8" reflecting telescope. With it you could see everything - the double cluster of stars in Perseus, the Orion Nebula, the Ring Nebula in Lyra, the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius and the mysterious and the numerous silvery mist galaxies in the constellation Ursa Major, starting with M-81 and continuing with those in the New General Catalogue. (NGC)
Reprint of NY Times story
John Dobson was an atheist through high school, but over time he became interested in the Universe and its workings. He enquired about joining a monastery in 1940, but was turned away at the time in order to complete his studies. He took a degree in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1943 and joined the Vedanta Monastery in San Francisco in 1944, becoming a monk of the Ramakrishna Order.
During his time at the monastery, his astronomy interest led to activities in telescope building in order to understand more of the Universe. To this end, he often offered assistance and corresponded about his work with those outside. Telescope building was not part of the curriculum at the monastery, however, and much of his correspondence had to be in code so as to attract less attention. For instance, a telescope was referred to as a "geranium", which is a type of flower. A "potted geranium" referred to a telescope that was in a tube and rocker, while a "geranium in bloom" referred to a telescope whose mirror was now aluminized.
Eventually he was given the option of either leaving the order, or to cease his telescope building. At the time he chose to cease building telescopes, but this decision did not last for long and he was eventually asked by his religious superiors to leave.
Promotion of astronomy
Having left the order in 1967, Dobson became a co-founder of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers, an organization that aims to popularize astronomy among people on the street. It was also at this time that his simple form of telescope, which came to be known as the Dobsonian, became well known.
He was later asked to speak at the Vedanta Society in Hollywood, and has continued to spend two months there each year teaching telescope and cosmology classes. He spends another two months at his home in San Francisco, and spends most of the rest of each year travelling as an invited guest for astronomical societies, where he speaks about telescope building, sidewalk astronomy, and his views of cosmology and the scientific establishment.
The Dobsonian telescope is a large, portable, inexpensive, and easy to manufacture altazimuth mount telescope. The design is named after Dobson because he is credited for being the first person to have applied the mount's principles to telescope design. He is reluctant to take credit, however, pointing out that he built it that way because it was all he needed. In his own words, he jokes that he was "too retarded" to build a more sophisticated telescope with an equatorial telescope mount. With its simplicity of construction and use, the Dobsonian has become a very popular design today, particularly for large amateur telescopes.
John Dobson co-founded the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers in coordination with two other people, having cheaply constructed several telescopes that were easy to use, including a 24-inch telescope that was built for approximately US$300. Rather than have regular meetings, the organisation simply set up telescopes on the sidewalk during clear evenings, offering to show and explain the night sky to people passing by.
// posted by neurofuture8:04 PM permanent link
tags:
tags:
tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
9.16.2006
Articificial Brain Envy
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In a few years, people may envy the power of those with artificial brains, according to a newsletter from the University of Calgary.
// posted by neurofuture9:05 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
Alzheimer's Linked to Rising Ocean Temperatures?
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A toxin associated with Alzheimer's disease and related ailments has been found in cyanobacteria, sometimes called blue-green algae, collected from around the world.
Based on research by Hawaii scientists, it is providing what may be the first indication that different cyanobacteria produce the same toxin. It also is raising the possibility of a potential threat to public health.
Researchers are recommending that public health agencies monitor waters that can have blooms of blue-green algae that can produce the algal neurotoxin, B-N-methylamino-L-alanine, or BMAA, which can affect the human nervous system.
"As rising global temperatures trigger more blooms of cyanobacteria in the planet's oceans and rivers, the health consequences of neurotoxins such as BMAA should be monitored," the scientists said in a report in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
In the research, Ethnobotanist Paul Allen Cox of Kauai's National Tropical Botanical Garden led a team of researchers that chased down an intriguing link between cyanobacteria and a class of apparently related nervous system diseases that include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gherig's disease.
Cox was looking into neurological disease among Guam natives. Those suffering from the disease had high levels of BMAA in their brain tissue, and many of those affected ate a traditional diet that included fruit bats. In tracking down the diet of the fruit bats, Cox and his team found the animals ate the seeds of cycad trees, and that cyanobacteria in the roots of the trees produce BMAA.
"We have recently discovered that potential human exposure to BMAA extends far beyond Guam," Cox said.
Researchers found that a small sample of people who died as a result of Alzheimer's disease in Canada — where there are no fruit bats or cycads — also had BMAA in their brain tissue. There were indications of similar patterns in people in parts of Japan, where there are cycads but no fruit bats.
Cox said the key seems to be neither the cycad nor the bat, but the cyanobacteria. "It's like a detective story," he said.
Scientists have long known that cyanobacteria can produce dangerous compounds, but this appears to be the first indication that very different cyanobacteria can produce the same poison.
Cox and his team of researchers looked into cyanobacteria samples from very different environments and found that in each of the five major types of these blue-green algae, some species produce BMAA.
Often, there is not much of the neurotoxin and it may take some kind of process to "biomagnify" the poison. Fruit bats in Guam may have done that by eating a lot of cycad seeds. A new question is what might be biomagnifying BMAA in other environments.
Cyanobacteria are among the oldest forms of life on the planet. They are single-celled organisms that behave like bacteria, but can conduct photosynthesis like plants. They generally live in water, but also can live inside plants.
Also contributing to the research were cyanobacterial experts Robert Bidigare and Georgia Tien at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Cox said.
// posted by neurofuture12:15 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
9.14.2006
Astronomers Discover New Planet-on-a-Rope
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Lighter than soap or even styrofoam, the largest gas giant yet discovered is in the constellation Lacerta that's "the lizard" and is so light it would float in a glass of water.....
The so-called HAT-P-1 orbits one of a pair of stars in the constellation Lacerta, about 450 light-years from Earth.
"This new planet, if you could imagine putting it in a cosmic water glass, it would float," said Robert Noyes, a research astrophysicist with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The planet, a gas giant, is probably a puffed up ball of hydrogen and helium.
HAT-P-1 is an oddball planet, since it orbits its parent star at just one-twentieth of the distance that separates Earth from our own sun. While Earth takes a year to orbit the sun, the newly found planet whips around its star once every 4.5 days.
--
It may be that some of these planets, like those discovered by UC-Berkeley's Geoffrey Marcy, are 'failed stars' like some groups of disenfranchised people make up the 'failed states' of political dialogue.
// posted by neurofuture5:40 PM permanent link
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Caffeine Protects Against Alzheimer's?
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In a study just published in Neuroscience, Caffeine appears to impact onset of Alzheimer's Disease -if you think that your daily cups of coffee only provide you with alertness after you wake up or during the day, think again. Long-term intake of caffeine, the major constituent in coffee and tea, has been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s in mice that develop the disease. In a study just published on-line in the journal Neuroscience, researchers at the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute in Tampa, Florida, are reporting that caffeine intake equivalent to five cups of coffee a day in humans, protects Alzheimer’s mice against otherwise certain memory impairment and reduces Alzheimer’s pathology in their brains.
An earlier study in humans hinted that caffeine was protective against Alzheimer’s disease by showing that Alzheimer’s patients consumed markedly less caffeine during the 20 years preceding disease diagnosis compared with age-matched individuals without Alzheimer’s disease.
"We wanted to test the ability of dietary caffeine intake to protect against Alzheimer’s disease in a highly controlled study in Alzheimer’s mice where the only variable that was different between groups was whether caffeine was in their drinking water or not," says Dr. Gary Arendash, Ph.D, lead researcher in the study. "We were surprised to find that Alzheimer’s mice given caffeine in their drinking water throughout adult life performed much better than Alzheimer’s mice not given caffeine and very similar to normal mice without the disease," adds Arendash.
Not only was the memory of Alzheimer’s mice protected by the human equivalent of five cups of coffee per day (500 mg/day), but levels of an abnormal brain protein that most researchers believe causes the disease were reduced. This abnormal protein, called beta-amyloid, is formed by the actions of two enzymes on a much larger protein called APP, which extends through the cell membrane of brain cells. The two enzymes (BACE and PS1) cut APP in specific places, resulting in beta-amyloid formation. Once formed, beta-amyloid molecules aggregate into "plaques" within the brain, causing death and dysfunction of cells, especially in brain areas important for learning and memory. The researchers found that caffeine reduces the level of both BACE and PS1 enzymes, thus resulting in much less of the dangerous beta-amyloid protein.
// posted by neurofuture8:46 AM permanent link
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9.13.2006
NASA: Polar Cap update
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NASA scientists state that ice caps appear to be melting...
// posted by neurofuture6:26 PM permanent link
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Forbes and memory loss
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Forbes picks up the story relating to brain-matter loss, and reiterates the need for early detection and monitoring. Self awareness is what it's all about. Some of the tools that can help you do this are here.
If you've thought about getting a paid membership to Cognitive Labs, join the club. Many people have signed up in September, so why not you? You can pay in almost in any currency: dollars, euros, yen etc., and you can also use paypal. For just $19.95 it's a great deal, and you don't have to puchase any hardware or a new game player to exercise your brain, plus, you get scientifically tested games standing behind published research (the result of our extensive R&D over several years) and if you're so inclined, sign up for memory and brain research here in the Bay Area, home of innovation. Lots of people have.
If you've thought about getting a paid membership to Cognitive Labs, join the club. Many people have signed up in September, so why not you? You can pay in almost in any currency: dollars, euros, yen etc., and you can also use paypal. For just $19.95 it's a great deal, and you don't have to puchase any hardware or a new game player to exercise your brain, plus, you get scientifically tested games standing behind published research (the result of our extensive R&D over several years) and if you're so inclined, sign up for memory and brain research here in the Bay Area, home of innovation. Lots of people have.
// posted by neurofuture12:57 PM permanent link
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New game: Crossing Maze with a Monkey
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There is a new game to test your mind:
Monkey Island, now available.
Monkey Island, now available.
// posted by neurofuture9:45 AM permanent link
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Shrinking of the Body Before Alzheimer's?
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Shrinking of the Body Occurs Before Shrinkage of the Brain, and other Alzheimer's Signs. You may lose between 8 ounces and 1 pound per year as memory loss approaches, according to new research discussed here.
// posted by neurofuture8:37 AM permanent link
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9.12.2006
the (possible answer)
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"The question comes up...."well, that's all well and good (about cognitive adsense) but how do you know if someone is really thinking about an advertised product or not?"
that came in by email...
to which I would respond:
Let me see...I guess you would need an evaluative standard such as MRI to see and understand where and how in the brain a choice was being made. (something we have experimented a little bit with at UC-Irvine, you can visualize parts of the brain lighting up)
but for verification of an order or 'click' you would need a device that could be activated by thought.
that came in by email...
to which I would respond:
Let me see...I guess you would need an evaluative standard such as MRI to see and understand where and how in the brain a choice was being made. (something we have experimented a little bit with at UC-Irvine, you can visualize parts of the brain lighting up)
but for verification of an order or 'click' you would need a device that could be activated by thought.
// posted by neurofuture3:53 PM permanent link
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this is in slashdot
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From controlling computers (typing) with just your brain...to something really interesting: adsense powered spaceflight. Solving the problem of manned spaceflight. Imagine, passengers recline on their launch seats while on screens above, they survey textlinks, pix, and video ads. The longer the voyage, the more impressions they receive. To activate a link, they simply think about it, and the advertiser is billed.
but seriously, this method of support becomes interesting in looking at discount air travel. The passenger pays a 'fuel fee' and then above that, advertisers pay on a CPM basis. A console in front of each passenger becomes the outlet for commerce while the walls and ceiling becomes the canvas for advertising. You could definitely make a dent in air travel, for awhile, with this model....from the mind of cognitivelabs
but seriously, this method of support becomes interesting in looking at discount air travel. The passenger pays a 'fuel fee' and then above that, advertisers pay on a CPM basis. A console in front of each passenger becomes the outlet for commerce while the walls and ceiling becomes the canvas for advertising. You could definitely make a dent in air travel, for awhile, with this model....from the mind of cognitivelabs
// posted by neurofuture9:35 AM permanent link
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Play Quad
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Brighten your day. Play Quad from cognitivelabs.com at the Guardian (UK) football discussion
// posted by neurofuture8:18 AM permanent link
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9.11.2006
9-11 5 years on
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A few of the victims of 9-11 were people who at some time crossed our path, former business associates, colleagues, or friends-of-friends. More than NY, it affected the whole country and the whole world. Many more were almost victims. There isn't much to say, but our homepage has a silent tribute:
// posted by neurofuture3:38 PM permanent link
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People Say They are "Losing Their Mind" Really Are
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People who say they are 'losing their mind' in fact, are. Scientists assert in the September 12, 2006 issue of the journal Neurology that people who make this comment are losing up to 3% of their grey matter prematurely, even if they do not yet show any signs of impairment or performance issues on cognitive tests.
The study, which looked at 120 people over the age of 60,focused on people who had not been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is a transition stage between normal brain functioning and the more serious problems caused by Alzheimer's disease.
When compared to healthy individuals, the study found people who complained of significant memory problems had a three-percent reduction in gray matter density in an area known to be important for memory; there was a four-percent reduction among individuals diagnosed with MCI.
"Significant memory loss complaints may indicate a very early "pre-MCI" stage of dementia for some people. This is important since early detection will be critical as new disease modifying medications are developed in an effort to slow and ultimately prevent Alzheimer's disease," said study author Andrew Saykin, PsyD, Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology at Dartmouth Medical School in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and an affiliate member of the American Academy of Neurology.
While normal aging, MCI and Alzheimer's disease have been associated with the loss of gray matter in the brain, this is believed to be the first study to quantitatively examine the severity of cognitive complaints in older adults and directly assess the relationship to gray matter loss.
Saykin says the findings highlight the importance of cognitive complaints in older adults, and suggest that those who complain of significant memory problems should be evaluated and closely monitored over time. Memory complaints, a cardinal feature of MCI which confers high risk for Alzheimer's disease, are reported in 25 to 50-percent of the older adult population.
Abstract
// posted by neurofuture1:49 PM permanent link
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Buy Spock's Brain from Amazon Unbox
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Amazon.com Launches Unbox. You can download a TV episode or even a full movie. An Amazon exclusive is Star Trek, the original series.
For example, you can buy this episode (from Cognitive Labs): "Spock's Brain" for $1.99.
For example, you can buy this episode (from Cognitive Labs): "Spock's Brain" for $1.99.
// posted by neurofuture9:44 AM permanent link
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Nintendo senior gamer competition
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Do you remember when we gave away a Ninendo DS and BrainAge?
That was in May.
A grandma who has been gaming since the 1970's wins the gaming competition in Nintendo's BrainAge at the Rockefeller Center Nintendo World Store.
That was in May.
A grandma who has been gaming since the 1970's wins the gaming competition in Nintendo's BrainAge at the Rockefeller Center Nintendo World Store.
// posted by neurofuture9:32 AM permanent link
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9.10.2006
Master, the Boy's Midichlorian Level is off the Charts...
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Well, we can't help you there - but you can find out your brainspeed and even whether or not you can control your ship.
// posted by neurofuture8:41 PM permanent link
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Here's to Stumbleupon
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and their crew. They keep stumbling.
I guess I owe 'em a case of Molson or Moosehead.
Thanks, guys!
I guess I owe 'em a case of Molson or Moosehead.
Thanks, guys!
// posted by neurofuture8:13 PM permanent link
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Periodically, these guys visit cognitivelabs.com. They're working on Sunday, or it could be a user on the network, I suppose.
// posted by neurofuture1:49 PM permanent link
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Prozac Spurs Growth of Neurons
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According to the magazine Scientific American Mind, Fluxotine (known by the trade name Prozac), stimulates the growth of neurons in the brain.
Prozac Spurs Neuron Growth ...
Recent work with mice has revealed that the antidepressant Prozac spurs growth of new neurons in the brain. Prozac, or fluoxetine, is thought to ease depression by raising the level of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain. But now researchers have learned that the drug also causes more neurons to form than normally would. In mice, blocking this growth nullifies the drug's effects on behavior, suggesting that neuron formation may be part of the mechanism that alleviates depression.
How exactly fluoxetine boosts neuron formation, called neurogenesis, is unclear. Neurogenesis con-sists of several rounds of cell division that create many neurons from a few stem cells. To pinpoint fluoxetine's effect on this pathway, a group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, N.Y., created a strain of mouse with neural stem cells that contained a green fluorescent protein in their nuclei, making the cells easy to track under a microscope. They found that fluoxetine works on the second stage of neurogenesis, causing cells called amplifying neural progenitors to reproduce at a 50 percent greater rate than usual. This step is therefore "a clear target for the action of an antidepressant," which may help in designing better antidotes, says study leader Grigori Enikolopov.
But Antidepressants Offer No Cure
Do antidepressants "cure" depression? No, says Joanna Moncrieff, a psychiatrist at University College London--no more so than insulin "cures" diabetes or alcohol "cures" social anxiety.
Moncrieff, who has published several critical studies of psychiatric drugs in leading medical journals, advocates a "drug-centered" rather than "disease-centered" model for understanding psychoactive medication. "Instead of relieving a hypothetical biochemical abnormality," she says, antidepressants themselves cause "abnormal brain states," which may coincidentally relieve psychiatric symptoms.
read more >>
// posted by neurofuture11:15 AM permanent link
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9.09.2006
global view of lifespan
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Note: the data portrayed is at least a decade old. Life expectancy is increasing roughly 2.3 years every decade, a pace that has been maintained since 1900...and maintained at the same rate since 1960 (the era of modern medicine).
Life expectancy for each country appears on the globe...this, and other interesting graphics are at worldprocessor.
// posted by neurofuture12:45 PM permanent link
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Lights and Obects and Your Memory
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Do what simon says.
We're highlighting this game today. If you're kids come into the room to talk to you, you might get 7. If you can really focus, maybe 10 to 15.
the game keeps score (your own personal best) with no fanfare...it just does it, elegantly. If you subcribe to our game feed, you already got it.
We're highlighting this game today. If you're kids come into the room to talk to you, you might get 7. If you can really focus, maybe 10 to 15.
the game keeps score (your own personal best) with no fanfare...it just does it, elegantly. If you subcribe to our game feed, you already got it.
// posted by neurofuture12:34 PM permanent link
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9.08.2006
Cognitive Labs one of the top web picks of the week from News.com.au
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There is a nice News.com (Australia) mention of our IQ Boost feature, which I hope you have noticed, is not really serious (but quite popular)
The discriminating columnist Ms. Miller has previously noted some sites like FlashEarth (by paul neave) and Daily kos. Flash Earth is a Flash-mash up of Google Local and Microsoft's version - thanks for noticing us!
// posted by neurofuture6:28 PM permanent link
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We have feet + two legs: Use them
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I'm turning over a new leaf. We're all concerned with the earth and keeping it in a steady state. Many people think that it's too late - that warming is unstoppable at this point, and may trigger a runaway freight train effect in the environment.
I've got one unoriginal suggestion.
If we were meant to just drive everywhere, we wouldn't need the legs we have in their current configuration.
But wait, you say, I have to drive to work, go to a meeting, etc.
Think about all the connected tools we have. Is it not possible to walk and do work? For example, I can walk around the placid streets of our town and check this site you're reading - no problem. A hundred people can be online taking tests or playing games and I could just be walking around, making money from Adsense, or planning some new code. If you can think in whatever code you're working in, develop an outline in your head, then when you do sit down you can knock out a significant little project or feature, test it, and get it live in just a few hours.
If I can stay connected in this aways-on world, so can you. If we all tried to walk as much as possible, we would also help our brains. Did you know that the best way to fight early Alzheimer's is cardiovascular exercise? That's what the specialists say, followed by cognitive exercise.
To top it of, you will lose weight and undesirable body mass and gain appreciation for the architecture of your city, the remaining nature of your suburb, or a true enjoyment of the serenity of a rural setting, with its matrix of chirping birds, insects, and animals, the warmth of the earth radiating heat up into the air.
If you can enjoy this, while staying connected to the digital cocoon, then give it a try.
I've got one unoriginal suggestion.
If we were meant to just drive everywhere, we wouldn't need the legs we have in their current configuration.
But wait, you say, I have to drive to work, go to a meeting, etc.
Think about all the connected tools we have. Is it not possible to walk and do work? For example, I can walk around the placid streets of our town and check this site you're reading - no problem. A hundred people can be online taking tests or playing games and I could just be walking around, making money from Adsense, or planning some new code. If you can think in whatever code you're working in, develop an outline in your head, then when you do sit down you can knock out a significant little project or feature, test it, and get it live in just a few hours.
If I can stay connected in this aways-on world, so can you. If we all tried to walk as much as possible, we would also help our brains. Did you know that the best way to fight early Alzheimer's is cardiovascular exercise? That's what the specialists say, followed by cognitive exercise.
To top it of, you will lose weight and undesirable body mass and gain appreciation for the architecture of your city, the remaining nature of your suburb, or a true enjoyment of the serenity of a rural setting, with its matrix of chirping birds, insects, and animals, the warmth of the earth radiating heat up into the air.
If you can enjoy this, while staying connected to the digital cocoon, then give it a try.
// posted by neurofuture2:30 PM permanent link
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Mars has a Higher IQ than Venus?
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According to Reddiff.com and the University of Western Ontario, men have a higher instance of G, or general intelligence, than women. The study surveyed scores of 100,000 students on standardized tests and asserts a difference of just over 3 IQ points....sure this won't be challenged by some researchers
// posted by neurofuture9:21 AM permanent link
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Harmonious Calligraphy
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An eighth century calligraphy:
'spiritual flight sutra'
'spiritual flight sutra'
// posted by neurofuture9:05 AM permanent link
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brain aging update
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Take the Brain Aging Test: Measure yourself against the norms.
Just click on Albert to get started. We've reached 1,230,000 registered users, thanks! Just about everybody who visits the 1st time registers. We recommend also, using the feeds for updates, from the blogs here to the brain games, which will instantly send you updates.
Just click on Albert to get started. We've reached 1,230,000 registered users, thanks! Just about everybody who visits the 1st time registers. We recommend also, using the feeds for updates, from the blogs here to the brain games, which will instantly send you updates.
// posted by neurofuture8:35 AM permanent link
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9.07.2006
The Electric Sheep Company
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I just came across this interesting fact: there is a company called the Electric Sheep Company that helps people create businesses in 2nd Life. I found out about it on the IMdB boards in a discussion about Blade Runner. The solution to our test, the boards say, is to hammer away at the space bar - otherwise you're a replicant.
// posted by neurofuture9:54 PM permanent link
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The Comatose Body May Hide a Rich Inner Life
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Here is a fascinating look at the brain of a woman presumed to be in a non-recoverable coma and with no consciousness. The 23-year old was in a car accident and eventually assumed a normal pattern of sleep and wakefulness while not responding to any stimuli.
However, when the patient was asked to remember playing tennis while being examined by MRI - areas of the brain lit up - just as if she were completely conscious.
// posted by neurofuture9:39 PM permanent link
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16% of people taking a cognitive nutraceutical have advanced degrees
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Interesting fact...16% of people taking the brainspeed test (licensed) have master's or doctoral degrees.
You can take the brainspeed test (powered by Cognitive Labs) here.
Q. What do you think the most common birth year is?
A. 1950
You can take the brainspeed test (powered by Cognitive Labs) here.
Q. What do you think the most common birth year is?
A. 1950
// posted by neurofuture8:03 PM permanent link
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Alzheimer's Preparation Shows Benefit
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Donepezil (Aricept) shown to benefit patients over 50 with severe impairment...The selective acetylcholine esterase inhibitor donepezil provides greater improvements in cognition and global function than placebo in patients who have severe Alzheimer's disease (AD) and reside in the community or in assisted-living facilities. Donepezil is also well tolerated and provides benefits throughout the course of AD.
This multinational, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was presented at the 10th Congress of the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) on behalf of the authors by Elias Schwam, PhD, senior clinical director, Worldwide Alzheimer's Team, Pfizer Inc., New York, New York
This multinational, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was presented at the 10th Congress of the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) on behalf of the authors by Elias Schwam, PhD, senior clinical director, Worldwide Alzheimer's Team, Pfizer Inc., New York, New York
// posted by neurofuture4:37 PM permanent link
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Darwin's turtle almost outlives the Crocodile Hunter
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By now everyone has heard about Steve Irwin and the Stingray. May he RIP. He turns up in this test, just by happenstance, which is about a month old.
That news event lamented the passing of Harriet the turtle who belonged to Charles Darwin. Harriet almost outlived the man who is seen playfully caring for her
// posted by neurofuture3:35 PM permanent link
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Brain Nutrition: Avoid Trans Fats, Copper
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It's a good idea to avoid trans fats and too much copper, along with certain saturated fats, in order to maintain a healthy brain.
Trans Fats were developed in World War II to preserve MREs and deliver a caloric punch. However, since that time they have proliferated in commercial foods.
Evidence seems to show that the 'lack of scarcity' in the diet may be one of the factors that triggers people with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's (APOEe4 positive/positive) to be at much higher risk. Trans Fats seem to accelerate the lack of scarcity.
Also, a cast iron pot will deliver more benefits than a copper one.
Trans Fats were developed in World War II to preserve MREs and deliver a caloric punch. However, since that time they have proliferated in commercial foods.
Evidence seems to show that the 'lack of scarcity' in the diet may be one of the factors that triggers people with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's (APOEe4 positive/positive) to be at much higher risk. Trans Fats seem to accelerate the lack of scarcity.
Also, a cast iron pot will deliver more benefits than a copper one.
// posted by neurofuture9:57 AM permanent link
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more long tail
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Somebody did a Darwin, turtle paired keyword search on Google and
came right to the Darwin/Harriet test
http://www.google.com/search?q=darwin, turtle&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&start=10&sa=N
came right to the Darwin/Harriet test
http://www.google.com/search?q=darwin, turtle&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&start=10&sa=N
// posted by neurofuture9:47 AM permanent link
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9.06.2006
Game Feeds are now Active.
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If you use an RSS reader, it will automatically pick up the feed in our game page and you can add it to your favorites. Then you will be able to access all the new games from within your reader and most importantly, get a ping when we publish a new game which can be really anytime of the day or night. If you are using a reader with blogs (common) then you already know how to do this. Many newer browsers already incorporate these feeds so you might be able to pick it up with little hassle.
If you haven't used them and think I'm talking about hay or alfalfa, a 'feed' is just a file that sits out on the internet and when a 'reader' is pointed at it, it will acknowledge that the file is out there, with whatever bits of information the author put on the file. So then you can scan the bits of information without having to surf lots of different websites. So, in a way it saves time and makes life easier.
If you haven't used them and think I'm talking about hay or alfalfa, a 'feed' is just a file that sits out on the internet and when a 'reader' is pointed at it, it will acknowledge that the file is out there, with whatever bits of information the author put on the file. So then you can scan the bits of information without having to surf lots of different websites. So, in a way it saves time and makes life easier.
// posted by neurofuture9:17 PM permanent link
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Adsense powered spaceflight, and other dangerous visions
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Imagine.
You are being strapped into the luxurious, leather launch seats.
Ambient lights flicker and dance off the visor of your helmet.
The countdown starts.
Then you think, 'where would we be'
You are being strapped into the luxurious, leather launch seats.
Ambient lights flicker and dance off the visor of your helmet.
The countdown starts.
Then you think, 'where would we be'
// posted by neurofuture5:35 PM permanent link
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Flash turns 10 + Flash Video
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We've Got an invite for this free conference on flash video. Flash has become the standard for video representation on the web, powering youtube and virtually all video sites....and it's ten years old
Free seminar: Optimizing and delivering video for the web with Flash
In celebration of the tenth anniversary of Flash® technology, Adobe is pleased to announce a free, in-person seminar on optimizing and delivering video for the web using Flash Professional 8. With 97% of Internet-connected PCs ready to run Flash content, there is no better way to deploy video online.
// posted by neurofuture4:46 PM permanent link
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Gaming Feeds and Become a Gaming Editor
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The RSS feed will be up later today...Plus there is going to be a new feature in the gaming area - suggest-a-game (that's after the feeds are live)
You've probably always wanted to be an editor, giving the thumbs or thumbs down on the vagaries of content. In fact, you are already the editor of your own life. With that in mind....
There is no way that we (our extensive editorial team and developers) can make all the games that will satisfy your interest for fun and challenging brain games - so we would like you to get involved by either submitting some of your own games (that's going to be a small number of people) or by pointing us in the direction of games you like and also want to tell others about.
There is one cardinal rule: no downloads (except for the Flash Player where that is needed) - that fits our rule about simplicity.
So, your submission page will be there as well. thanks
You've probably always wanted to be an editor, giving the thumbs or thumbs down on the vagaries of content. In fact, you are already the editor of your own life. With that in mind....
There is no way that we (our extensive editorial team and developers) can make all the games that will satisfy your interest for fun and challenging brain games - so we would like you to get involved by either submitting some of your own games (that's going to be a small number of people) or by pointing us in the direction of games you like and also want to tell others about.
There is one cardinal rule: no downloads (except for the Flash Player where that is needed) - that fits our rule about simplicity.
So, your submission page will be there as well. thanks
// posted by neurofuture11:16 AM permanent link
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Duke Scientists Explain Cognitive Packet Loss of Alzheimer's
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Usually we learn more from failure than success. Duke scientists have taken a failure analysis approach to Alzheimer's that is one of the most interesting I've ever seen.
Falling levels of a key protein in the brain halts the recycling of acetylcholine, the chemical messenger that carries messages (think emails) between nerve cells, or neurons. Without recycling, the signals between the cells get fainter and fainter. (think packet loss)
As a result, faces and familiar objects become indistinct and unrecognizable. Scientists at Duke have created an experiment that mimicks the effects of Alzheimer's in order to understand the mechanism of failure.
The crucial protein involved recycles a chemical – called acetylcholine -- that carries messages between nerves cells, the scientists said. Animals genetically engineered to have modest defects in this recycling protein display symptoms that resemble those in Alzheimer's, such as the inability to remember familiar faces, according to the researchers.
"By using these genetically engineered mice as models of Alzheimer's, we can learn more about the neuronal circuitry of the brain, and perhaps even discover new ways to alleviate the symptoms of this devastating disease," said senior study investigator Marc G. Caron, Ph.D., James B. Duke professor of cell biology.
The team reports its findings in the Sept. 7, 2006, issue of the journal Neuron. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and American Health Assistance Foundation.
Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that carries a number of vital signals from one nerve cell, or neuron, to another. Normally, when a signal needs to travel through the brain, neurons release acetylcholine to transport the signal across the gap, or synapse, between neurons. Acetylcholine is stored in tiny hollow spheres, called vesicles, that bud off of the end of the neurons. A kind of protein pump, called a transporter, located in each neuron controls the storage and release of acetylcholine from these vesicles, recycling the neurotransmitter back to the nerve cell vesicles in preparation for the next burst of signal.
It is this acetylcholine transporter protein that the researchers targeted by disrupting the gene that controls its production.
"Acetylcholine is important for every function in the body -- breathing, eating, walking, practically everything," Duke's Caron said. "If we knocked out the function of the protein completely, then the mice would die. So instead, we just knocked its function down to a low level."
In the study, the researchers took advantage of a built-in trait of their animal models -- that is, the fact that mice are innately curious and tend to explore new objects and companions extensively by sniffing and touching. The scientists ran mutant mice, in which the acetylcholine transporter gene was defective, through a series of tests to evaluate their performance in behavioral tasks. They ran normal mice through the same tests to serve as a control group.
The first test assessed the mice's ability to discriminate unfamiliar objects. The researchers gave the mutant and normal mice two objects to explore, and then took the objects away. A short time later, the scientists gave the mice back one of the objects, along with a nonfamiliar object. Both the normal and mutant mice initially explored the two objects to the same degree, but after the break the mutants had trouble remembering the familiar object, said lead study investigator Vania F. Prado, Ph.D., an associate professor of biochemistry at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
The second test of memory was similar to the first, but instead of giving the mice objects to explore, the scientists introduced a new mouse into the cage of their test subjects. The normal mice extensively explored the "intruder" mouse, but over time they showed less and less interest, the researchers said. This behavior, they said, demonstrated that the normal mice had become familiar with the intruder. In contrast, the mutant mice failed to recognize the intruder even after several meetings, thus displaying a defect in what the researchers called "social memory."
These findings suggested that the decreased levels of acetylcholine in the mutant mice resulted in their trouble with social memory, the scientists said.
To determine if this theory was true, the researchers set out to correct the behavioral defect by treating the mice with drugs that increase levels of acetylcholine in the brain. Called cholinesterase inhibitors, the drugs block a brain enzyme that typically breaks down acetylcholine, thus leaving more of the neurotransmitter available for sending the signals involved in learning and memory. Physicians give cholinesterase inhibitors to people with Alzheimer's to slow their memory loss and enable them to perform daily tasks, lessening the symptoms of the disease.
Mutant mice treated with the drugs, when run through the same tests, recognized intruder mice after several meetings, the researchers said, adding that this observed improvement in the performance of social recognition confirmed that the defects stemmed from the reduced amounts of acetylcholine.
"Now we can use our animal model to screen for similar drugs that can improve the function of acetylcholine in the brain," said Marco A. M. Prado, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmacology at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais and senior investigator of the study. "This is of importance because decreases in acetylcholine are thought to be relevant for the diminishing cognitive function found in aging and also are believed to be associated with some of the behavioral and cognitive symptoms in Alzheimer's disease."
// posted by neurofuture10:38 AM permanent link
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9.05.2006
Cognitive Evolution: Understanding How Humans Differ from Apes
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What changes in thinking accompanied evolution? While there is a significant fossil record that has enabled palaeontologists to reconstruct the strata of the past, it is not possible to know the cognitive processes of different organisms as they evolved, and how this might have influenced evolution.
Or is it?
In a new analog-driven study (published on Sept. 5 2006 in Current Biology), Max Planck Institute researhers found possible answers to these difficult questions through a creative approach using comparative psychology.
It appears that thinking strategies shaped by evolution amongst a wide variety of species cannot explain the unique cognitive development that separates humans from great apes, our closest ancestors.
Here are the details:
At the fundamental level, there are a couple of practices that are important to all species: remembering a food source's location and being able to find it after the initial discovery. Two basic components are involved in remembering location: recalling features of the object (carcass, tree, rock), or knowing the spatial placement (directional in relation to a third object).
The researchers examined a selection of species: (goldfish, toads, chickens, pigeons, rats and human children) all seemed to employ both strategies. However, if the type of recall task is designed so that the two strategies are in opposition, then some species (fish, rats and dogs) have a preference for locational strategies, while others (toads, chickens and children) favor those which use distinctive features.
Fig. 2: Test conditions: A mature male orangutan carries out the tasks. Top: "Place conditions" - the experimenter swaps the objects under which the item (X) is hidden, but the actual place where it is hidden remains unchanged. Bottom: "Feature conditions" - the experimenter moves the object and the item hidden underneath it to a different place. Image: Knut Finstermeier, MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology
Up until recently few significant studies have systematically examined these preferences amongst different members of a species lineage. Recently, however, Daniel Haun and colleagues looked at the cognitive preferences of an entire biological family, the hominids. They compared the five species of great apes - orangutans, gorillas, bonobos, chimpanzees and humans - to establish which cognitive strategies each used to uncover hidden characteristics. Assumption: If all five share a particular preference or set of preferences, than this common element is probably shared amongst all the common ancestors.
In the Leipzig Zoo, researchers hid coveted items using two different strategies (see Fig.2): In the place condition, the item remained in the same place it was hidden in before, but under a different object; in the feature condition the object remained the same, but the place was altered. All 4 great ape species and one-year-old children were found to use the location to find a hidden object, even if it is also disguised under a completely new and different object. This finding suggests that the location preference has probably been part of cognitive structure for 15 million years.
Three year old children, unlike younger children - considered the object under which the item was hidden to be the most reliable indication of its whereabouts, even if the location was changed. Apparently, 1-year-olds simply prefer to use a location-based strategy, even though they have the capability to 'switch' strategies later on.
"The unique human cognitive development seems to replace some of our evolved strategies even before we reach the age of three," says Daniel Haun. "In future experiments, we want to study which areas of cognitive development in humans, for example, language acquisition, are responsible for the restructuring of cognitive preferences."
It would seem that a new methodology has been created for the comparative study of cognitive structures that are closely related to human ancestors unlocking a gateway to a greater understanding of the evolution of human thinking.
Daniel B. M. Haun, Josep Call, Gabriele Janzen, and Stephen C. Levinson
Evolutionary Psychology of Spatial Representations in the Hominidae
Current Biology 16, 1-5, September 5, 2006
Source: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
// posted by neurofuture6:41 PM permanent link
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gaia online
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Here is an interesting site that lets you create your own avatar...
// posted by neurofuture4:01 PM permanent link
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New take on Alzheimer's by CSU Researchers
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Researchers at Colorado State have another take on the Alzheimer's Puzzle.
// posted by neurofuture9:56 AM permanent link
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Stress Speeds Up Alzheimer's: Scientists
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Stress hormones appear to rapidly accelerate the formation of brain lesions that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers at UC Irvine. The findings suggest that managing stress could slow down the progression of this devastating disease.
When young animals were injected for just seven days with dexamethasone, a substance similar to the body's stress hormones, the levels of the protein beta-amyloid in the brain increased by 60 percent. After beta-amyloid production increases the protein fragments aggregate and form plaques; scientists also found that the levels of another protein, tau, also increased.
"It is remarkable that these stress hormones can have such a significant effect in such a short period of time," said Dr. Frank LaFerla. "Although we have known for some time that higher levels of stress hormones are seen in individuals in the early stages of Alzheimer's, this is the first time we have seen how these hormones play such a direct role in exacerbating the underlying pathology of the disease."
The researchers injected four-month-old transgenic mice with levels of dexamethasone similar to the level of hormones that would be seen in humans under stress. At this young age, there would be little formation of plaques and tangles in the brains of the mice. After one week, the scientists found that the level of beta-amyloid in the brains of the animals compared to what is seen in the brains of untreated eight- to nine-month-old mice, demonstrating the profound consequence of glucocorticoid exposure. When dexamethasone was given to 13-month-old mice that already had some plaque and tangle pathology, the hormone again significantly worsened the plaque lesions in the brain and led to increased accumulation of the tau protein.
"Although we expected that this drug, which, like the stress hormone cortisol, activates glucocorticoid receptors, might have some effect on plaques and tangles, it was surprising to find that such large increases were induced in relatively young mice," said James L. McGaugh, research professor of neurobiology and behavior and co-author of the paper.
The increased accumulation of beta-amyloid and tau appears to work in a "feedback loop" to hasten the progression of Alzheimer's. The researchers found that the higher levels of beta-amyloid and tau led to an increase in the levels of the stress hormones, which would come back to the brain and speed up the formation of more plaques and tangles.
According to the researchers, these findings have profound implications for how to treat the elderly who suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
Abstract
// posted by neurofuture9:45 AM permanent link
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9.04.2006
Playing in Kathmandu
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Somebody in Kathmandu (Nepal) just logged in and is playing 'quad' right now
here's the list
This cognitive awareness movement is like a figure 8: it always meets it's source and continues to progress upward
// posted by neurofuture10:50 PM permanent link
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Researchers: Stress Can Accelerate Alzheimer's At an Earlier Age
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sorry this is now a duplicate - I was testing an indexing feature
Stress hormones appear to rapidly accelerate the formation of brain lesions that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers at UC Irvine. The findings suggest that managing stress could slow down the progression of this devastating disease.
When young animals were injected for just seven days with dexamethasone, a substance similar to the body's stress hormones, the levels of the protein beta-amyloid in the brain increased by 60 percent. After beta-amyloid production increases the protein fragments aggregate and form plaques; scientists also found that the levels of another protein, tau, also increased.
"It is remarkable that these stress hormones can have such a significant effect in such a short period of time," said Dr. Frank LaFerla. "Although we have known for some time that higher levels of stress hormones are seen in individuals in the early stages of Alzheimer's, this is the first time we have seen how these hormones play such a direct role in exacerbating the underlying pathology of the disease."
The researchers injected four-month-old transgenic mice with levels of dexamethasone similar to the level of hormones that would be seen in humans under stress. At this young age, there would be little formation of plaques and tangles in the brains of the mice. After one week, the scientists found that the level of beta-amyloid in the brains of the animals compared to what is seen in the brains of untreated eight- to nine-month-old mice, demonstrating the profound consequence of glucocorticoid exposure. When dexamethasone was given to 13-month-old mice that already had some plaque and tangle pathology, the hormone again significantly worsened the plaque lesions in the brain and led to increased accumulation of the tau protein.
"Although we expected that this drug, which, like the stress hormone cortisol, activates glucocorticoid receptors, might have some effect on plaques and tangles, it was surprising to find that such large increases were induced in relatively young mice," said James L. McGaugh, research professor of neurobiology and behavior and co-author of the paper.
The increased accumulation of beta-amyloid and tau appears to work in a "feedback loop" to hasten the progression of Alzheimer's. The researchers found that the higher levels of beta-amyloid and tau led to an increase in the levels of the stress hormones, which would come back to the brain and speed up the formation of more plaques and tangles.
According to the researchers, these findings have profound implications for how to treat the elderly who suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
Abstract
Stress hormones appear to rapidly accelerate the formation of brain lesions that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers at UC Irvine. The findings suggest that managing stress could slow down the progression of this devastating disease.
When young animals were injected for just seven days with dexamethasone, a substance similar to the body's stress hormones, the levels of the protein beta-amyloid in the brain increased by 60 percent. After beta-amyloid production increases the protein fragments aggregate and form plaques; scientists also found that the levels of another protein, tau, also increased.
"It is remarkable that these stress hormones can have such a significant effect in such a short period of time," said Dr. Frank LaFerla. "Although we have known for some time that higher levels of stress hormones are seen in individuals in the early stages of Alzheimer's, this is the first time we have seen how these hormones play such a direct role in exacerbating the underlying pathology of the disease."
The researchers injected four-month-old transgenic mice with levels of dexamethasone similar to the level of hormones that would be seen in humans under stress. At this young age, there would be little formation of plaques and tangles in the brains of the mice. After one week, the scientists found that the level of beta-amyloid in the brains of the animals compared to what is seen in the brains of untreated eight- to nine-month-old mice, demonstrating the profound consequence of glucocorticoid exposure. When dexamethasone was given to 13-month-old mice that already had some plaque and tangle pathology, the hormone again significantly worsened the plaque lesions in the brain and led to increased accumulation of the tau protein.
"Although we expected that this drug, which, like the stress hormone cortisol, activates glucocorticoid receptors, might have some effect on plaques and tangles, it was surprising to find that such large increases were induced in relatively young mice," said James L. McGaugh, research professor of neurobiology and behavior and co-author of the paper.
The increased accumulation of beta-amyloid and tau appears to work in a "feedback loop" to hasten the progression of Alzheimer's. The researchers found that the higher levels of beta-amyloid and tau led to an increase in the levels of the stress hormones, which would come back to the brain and speed up the formation of more plaques and tangles.
According to the researchers, these findings have profound implications for how to treat the elderly who suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
Abstract
// posted by neurofuture9:57 PM permanent link
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tags: help build archive | brain games | more brain games
New Feature: Games by RSS
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Within the next 24 hours we will be going live with an RSS feature for new memory games and tests so that if you subscribe to the feed's URL you will get a jolt when we publish a new game, test, or thematic test variation. We'll still email but it takes a long time to get to everyone in that medium// posted by neurofuture8:16 PM permanent link
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Seattle Brainiest City in America, S.F. number 2
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San Francisco came in no. 2 in the 'smartest cities in America' survey on CNN; Einstein laments the decline of Gotham's intellectual horspower (above)
New York came in number 19, surprisingly. Seattle was number one either because of
(1) the towering intellects of legions of Microsofties or (2) highest per capita Java consumption, which as you may recall, causes the brain to 'oscillate' at up to 332% of normal, that is, an oscillation between two components of the neurotransmitter function giving the Seattlites greater 'bandwidth' (really).
Here is the rest of the Top 20.
// posted by neurofuture7:48 PM permanent link
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Stumbling Stumblers Stumble Upon Stuff
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Now here is an interesting site. Actually it is not a site but it's a network that lets people stumble upon interesting stuff (Google earth shot of Roswell, NM - look there's some blue guys barbecueing!) whatever it might be.
These stumblers seems to be stumbling their way to a very interesting community which seems to have more resonance than let's say delicious. I don't know about you but I am getting awfully tired of seeing 'post this to delicious' icons on every page of content, ditto for some of the others.
// posted by neurofuture11:38 AM permanent link
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9.03.2006
NASA offers $400,000 prize for Space Elevator...
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The space elevator was popularized by Arthur C. Clarke in the Fountains of Paradise...but is now getting play as a low-budget launch alternative.
If it is ever developed, it eliminates the need for expensive stage 1 rockets and could make moving up to the edge of space as easy as riding in a tall elevator.
The main issue in successful development is creating a material strong and lightweight enough to extend the 29,000 miles to geosynchronous orbit, a spot that would remain stationary above the earth...
// posted by neurofuture10:33 PM permanent link
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Participate in Leading Brain and Memory Research
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Now you can enroll for brain research in the Bay Area directly through our site. We have been working with the Stanford/VA Alzheimer's Center in this capacity and now, we will also be working with the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases at UCSF, which recently opened a new facility with a 10,000 sq-foot MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) center located at the SF Veterans Medical Center.
Pick the option you are closest to and after you register will be contacted directly by the researchers. Quite a few people have already been enrolled through our site, from the Gold Country, North Bay, Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Palo Alto, the Peninsula, South Bay down to Atascadero.
// posted by neurofuture3:57 PM permanent link
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BrainAging Challenge
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Here's an incentive to take our new brain aging test.
If you sign up now, starting on 9/3 you will get an analysis of where you fit in the continuum of people who have taken the test. We're drawing the line at 10,000 people since August 20th, so time is running out. After we reach the first 10,000...that's when the notices will go out by email. On one axis we have 'speed' on another we have 'age' a third axis is accuracy; not unfamiliar if you know 3-dimensional geometry.
So you will be able to know whether you above or below the line, relative to your date of birth.
In the future, MRI will come into play as part of the evaluative paradigm earlier than it is currently, in fact, the scientific groundwork is being laid for this.
Of course, what we're offering is science-based and of sufficient rigor, but still a game, in the way that Nintendo's BrainAge is. But developed with the input of more scientists....
If you sign up now, starting on 9/3 you will get an analysis of where you fit in the continuum of people who have taken the test. We're drawing the line at 10,000 people since August 20th, so time is running out. After we reach the first 10,000...that's when the notices will go out by email. On one axis we have 'speed' on another we have 'age' a third axis is accuracy; not unfamiliar if you know 3-dimensional geometry.
So you will be able to know whether you above or below the line, relative to your date of birth.
In the future, MRI will come into play as part of the evaluative paradigm earlier than it is currently, in fact, the scientific groundwork is being laid for this.
Of course, what we're offering is science-based and of sufficient rigor, but still a game, in the way that Nintendo's BrainAge is. But developed with the input of more scientists....
// posted by neurofuture1:45 PM permanent link
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9.02.2006
Hendrix, AC/DC and Red Hot Chili Peppers Can Boost your brainpower
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brain-boosting activities of Angus Young and Brian Johnson of AC/DC
According to the Times of London, rock music can boost your brain power. At the top of the effectiveness chart was Hendrix, AC/DC, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
David Lee Roth (formerly of Van Halen) was delighted with the results.
// posted by neurofuture9:13 PM permanent link
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