Graphics in Reverse

Most recent advances in artificial intelligence -- such as mobile apps that convert speech to text -- are the result of machine learning, in which computers are turned loose on huge data sets to look for patterns. To make machine-learning applications easier to build, computer scientists have begun developing so-called probabilistic programming languages, which let researchers mix and match machine-learning techniques that have worked well in other contexts. In 2013, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an incubator of cutting-edge technology, launched a four-year program to fund probabilistic-programming research.

By the standards of conventional computer programs, those models can seem absurdly vague. One of the tasks that the researchers investigate, for instance, is constructing a 3D model of a human face from 2D images. Their program describes the principal features of the face as being two symmetrically distributed objects (eyes) with two more centrally positioned objects beneath them (the nose and mouth). It requires a little work to translate that description into the syntax of the probabilistic programming language, but at that point, the model is complete. Feed the program enough examples of 2D images and their corresponding 3D models, and it will figure out the rest for itself.

More information:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150413110630.htm

Deep-Brain Stimulation Helps Parkinson's Disease

UC San Francisco scientists have discovered a possible mechanism for how deep-brain stimulation (DBS), a widely used treatment for movement disorders, exerts its therapeutic effects. Few medical treatments show results as rapid and dramatic as those seen with DBS, in which surgically implanted devices deliver electrical pulses to inner brain structures involved in movement. In most Parkinson's disease (PD) patients who receive the treatment, symptoms of slow movement, tremor, and rigidity sharply diminish soon after the stimulation device is activated, and quickly return if the device is turned off.

But surprisingly, there has been very little understanding of precisely why and how DBS works so well—a lack of knowledge that has held back efforts to further improve the therapy. Despite the great success of DBS, some significant problems remain. Customizing the stimulation delivered by DBS devices for each patient to maximally reduce symptoms is challenging and time consuming. And a minority of patients never obtains the full benefit their physicians expect. With a better understanding of how DBS acts on brain circuits, researchers hope to make DBS an even more effective treatment.

More information:

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-04-deep-brain-reshapes-neural-circuits-parkinson.html

Computers Mimic the Function of the Brain

Researchers are always searching for improved technologies, but the most efficient computer possible already exists. It can learn and adapt without needing to be programmed or updated. It has nearly limitless memory, is difficult to crash, and works at extremely fast speeds. It's not a Mac or a PC; it's the human brain. And scientists around the world want to mimic its abilities. Both academic and industrial laboratories are working to develop computers that operate more like the human brain. Instead of operating like a conventional, digital system, these new devices could potentially function more like a network of neurons.

A team of Northwestern researchers have accomplished a new step forward in electronics that could bring brain-like computing closer to reality. The team's work advances memory resistors, or ‘memristors’, which are resistors in a circuit that remember how much current has flowed through them. They are using single-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), a thin 2D nanomaterial semiconductor. Much like the way fibers are arranged in wood, atoms are arranged in a certain direction (called grains) within a material. The sheet of MoS2 that they used has a well-defined grain boundary, which is the interface where two different grains come together.

More information:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150406153036.htm

Thought Controlled Genes

People can control prosthetic limbs, computer programs and even remote-controlled helicopters with their mind, all by using brain-computer interfaces. What if we could harness this technology to control things happening inside our own body? A team of bioengineers in Switzerland has taken the first step toward this cyborglike setup by combining a brain-computer interface with a synthetic biological implant, allowing a genetic switch to be operated by brain activity. It is the world's first brain-gene interface. The group started with a typical brain-computer interface, an electrode cap that can register subjects' brain activity and transmit signals to another electronic device. In this case, the device is an electromagnetic field generator; different types of brain activity cause the field to vary in strength. The next step, however, is totally new—the experimenters used the electromagnetic field to trigger protein production within human cells in an implant in mice. The implant uses a cutting-edge technology known as optogenetics.

 

The researchers inserted bacterial genes into human kidney cells, causing them to produce light-sensitive proteins. Then they bioengineered the cells so that stimulating them with light triggers a string of molecular reactions that ultimately produces a protein called secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP), which is easily detectable. They then placed the human cells plus an LED light into small plastic pouches and inserted them under the skin of several mice. Human volunteers wearing electrode caps either played Minecraft or meditated, generating moderate or large electromagnetic fields, respectively, from a platform on which the mice stood. The field activates the implant's infrared LED, which triggers the production of SEAP. The protein then diffuses across membranes in the implant into the mice's bloodstream. Playing Minecraft produced moderate levels of SEAP in the mice's bloodstream, and meditating produced high levels. A third type of mental control, known as biofeedback, involved the volunteers watching the light, thereby turning SEAP production on or off.

More information:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thought-controlled-genes-could-someday-help-us-heal/?WT.mc_id=SA_Facebook

Poverty Shrinks Brains from Birth

The stress of growing up poor can hurt a child’s brain development starting before birth, research suggests—and even very small differences in income can have major effects on the brain. Researchers have long suspected that children’s behaviour and cognitive abilities are linked to their socioeconomic status, particularly for those who are very poor. The reasons have never been clear, although stressful home environments, poor nutrition, exposure to industrial chemicals such as lead and lack of access to good education are often cited as possible factors.

 

A team led by neuroscientists Kimberly Noble from Columbia University in New York City and from Children's Hospital Los Angeles, California, looked into the biological underpinnings of these effects. They imaged the brains of 1,099 children, adolescents and young adults in several US cities. Because people with lower incomes in the United States are more likely to be from minority ethnic groups, the team mapped each child’s genetic ancestry and then adjusted the calculations so that the effects of poverty would not be skewed by the small differences in brain structure between ethnic groups.

More information:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/poverty-shrinks-brains-from-birth1/?WT.mc_id=SA_Facebook

Biofeedback Enhanced Horror Game

Nevermind is unrelated to a certain moody Washington grunge band, and actually has much more in common with Jennifer Lopez's adventures in the mind of a serial killer. It's a puzzle-horror descent into the psyche of traumatized clinic patients. The catch of the game is that it consists of difficulty scales with how scared you are.

 

Using biofeedback from a heart rate sensor, Nevermind constructs a horror scenario where calmness makes it easier to navigate mental mazes of giant, screaming heads and flailing body bags. Succumb to the fear, and things start turning ugly. The goal is stronger stress control for real-life situations, presumably until we're all reacting to frightening things with an inquisitive.

More information:

http://www.pcgamer.com/nevermind-biofeedback-horror/