VR Brain Game Detects Mild Cognitive Impairment

Greek researchers demonstrated the potential of a virtual supermarket cognitive training game as a screening tool for patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among a sample of older adults. MCI is a condition that often predates Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and is characterized by memory loss and inability to execute complex activities such as financial planning. So far virtual reality game–based applications and especially virtual supermarkets have been used as cognitive training applications and as measures of cognitive functions, although it has been shown that they can detect MCI only when used in combination with standardized neuropsychological tests. However scientists from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), the Greek Association of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (GAADRD) and the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas/Information Technologies Institute (CERTH/ITI) have succeeded in making the shift to MCI screening via robust virtual reality game applications that can be used on their own for accurate MCI detection.

A large number of older adults use computerized cognitive training exercises/games as an easy and enjoyable means of exercising their brain. If these games and exercises can also detect cognitive disorders, the whole cognitive screening process could become more pleasurable, thus motivating more people to be evaluated. With the majority of older adults examining their cognitive health regularly through such games, possible cognitive impairment will be detected at the MCI stage thus allowing patients to enjoy a better quality of life and remain independent for a longer time. The use of the VSM as a robust screening test could have profound implications for the diagnosis and treatment of MCI, the most important of which is the possibility for automated remote MCI screening. The performance of older adults playing such a game at home could be monitored and an algorithm embedded in the game could inform them when their performance suggests possible cognitive impairment due to MCI, prompting them to visit an appropriate health service.

More information:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150112110430.htm

Huge 3D Displays Without 3D Glasses

A new invention opens the door to a new generation of outdoor displays. Different pictures can be seen at different angles, creating 3D effects without the need for 3D glasses. Public screenings have become an important part of major sports events. In the future, we will be able to enjoy them in 3D, thanks to a new invention from Austrian scientists. A sophisticated laser system sends laser beams into different directions. Therefore, different pictures are visible from different angles. The angular resolution is so fine that the left eye is presented a different picture than the right one, creating a 3D effect.

TriLite and TU Vienna have created the first prototype. Currently it only has a modest resolution of five pixels by three, but it clearly shows that the system works. At the moment, they are creating a second prototype, which will display colour pictures with a higher resolution. But the crucial point is that the individual laser pixels work. Scaling it up to a display with many pixels is not a problem. To experience the 3D effect, the viewer must be positioned in a certain distance range from the screen. If the distance is too large, both eyes receive the same image and only a normal 2D picture can be seen.

More information:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150115102837.htm

Brain Groove Unique to Humans

An international team of researchers has found via study that a groove in the brain, which they have named the ‘superior temporal asymmetrical pit’ (STAP) appears to be unique to humans as it is barely noticeable in primates. The team suggests their finding may help better understand the evolution of our species. Medical scientists and doctors have known about the STAP for some time, but until now, it was not known just how unique it is. It is on average just 4.5-centimetres long and is deeper in the right hemisphere than it is in the left. No one knows why the groove exists, but its location offers clues—it is likely associated with communication, the researchers note. To learn more about the STAP, the researchers looked at brain scans of 177 people and 73 chimpanzees—analyses revealed that while clearly present in all the human scans, it was barely present in any of chimps.

The team notes that in the right hemisphere, the groove is in a part of the brain involved in facial recognition and in figuring out the motives or feelings of other people. In the left hemisphere, the groove runs through a part of the brain very clearly associated with language skills. The human brain is approximately three times as big as a chimp's, yet finding functional differences in brain structure has been difficult to pinpoint. One structure that has been seen to be different is Broca's area, which is known to be important to speech. It is smaller in chimps which would seem to make sense as their speech capabilities are far less complex. The researchers note that the STAP is prominent in people of all ages, from those still in the womb to the elderly. That suggests, that the groove is involved in inherited traits—traits not present in other primates.

More information:

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-01-brain-groove-unique-humans.html

Sweet-Pepper Harvesting Robot

The European research project Clever Robots for Crops (CROPS) for the development of robotics in horticulture and forestry was recently accomplished. The project has been co-ordinated by Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture and was co-funded by the Dutch Horticultural Product Board and has also led to the development of the sweet-pepper harvesting robot. The four-year's research project with thirteen partners from ten different countries has led to a universal robotic platform for producing and harvesting high value crops. Sensor systems for obstacle avoidance for forest machines have also been developed.

 

All robots use the same type of modular system and the same software architecture. This makes it easy for example to use a different camera or different type of robotic hand. The sweet-pepper harvesting robot developed in Wageningen is able to locate, to approach, to hold, to detach and to collect ripe fruits. The picking success rate of and the needed cycle time in practice is so far insufficient for commercial use, but with the first ever working sweet-pepper harvesting robot in a realistic environment an important milestone has been reached. Experiments in a commercial greenhouse have yielded a wealth of data and information.

More information:

http://phys.org/news/2015-01-sweet-pepper-harvesting-robot.html#jCp

Computers Catch Up Primate Brain

For decades, neuroscientists have been trying to design computer networks that can mimic visual skills such as recognizing objects, which the human brain does very accurately and quickly. Until now, no computer model has been able to match the primate brain at visual object recognition during a brief glance. However, a new study from MIT neuroscientists has found that one of the latest generation of these so-called ‘deep neural networks’ matches the primate brain.

Because these networks are based on neuroscientists' current understanding of how the brain performs object recognition, the success of the latest networks suggests that neuroscientists have a fairly accurate grasp of how object recognition works. The fact that the models predict the neural responses and the distances of objects in neural population space shows that these models encapsulate our current best understanding as to what is going on in this previously mysterious portion of the brain.

More information:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141218141052.htm