Lifeboat Foundation

Learning and a spectrum of other behavioral competencies allow organisms to rapidly adapt to dynamically changing environmental variations. The emerging field of diverse intelligence seeks to understand what systems, besides ones with complex brains, exhibit these capacities. Here, we tested predictions of a general computational framework based on the free energy principle in neuroscience but applied to aneural biological process as established previously, by demonstrating and manipulating pattern recognition in a simple aneural organism, the green algae Volvox. Our studies of the adaptive photoresponse in Volvox reveal that aneural organisms can distinguish between patterned and randomized inputs and indicate how this is achieved mechanistically.

Last month I was involved in a fantastic conference: the 26th annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. I think it went really well, and some parts got a fair amount of mainstream coverage, with varying degrees of accuracy.

Break it down: How AI can learn from the brain.

In a recent paper titled “A sensory-motor theory of the neocortex” published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, Rao posited that the brain uses active predictive coding (APC) to understand the world and break down complicated problems into simpler…

When you reach out to pet a dog, you expect it to feel soft. If it doesn’t feel like how you expect, your brain uses that feedback to inform your next action — maybe you pull your hand away. Previous models of how the brain works have typically separated perception and action. For Allen School professor Rajesh Rao, those two processes are closely intertwined, and their relationship can be mapped using a computational algorithm.

Continue reading “Mind over model: Allen School’s Rajesh Rao proposes brain-inspired AI architecture to make complex problems simpler to solve” »

Pain is a complex, multifaceted experience shaped by various factors beyond physical sensation, such as a person’s mindset and their expectations of pain. The placebo effect, the tendency for a person’s symptoms to improve in response to inactive treatment, is a well-known example of how expectations can significantly alter a person’s experience. Mindfulness meditation, which has been used for pain management in various cultures for centuries, has long been thought to work by activating the placebo response. However, scientists have now shown that this is not the case.

A new study, published in Biological Psychiatry, has revealed that mindfulness meditation engages distinct brain mechanisms to reduce pain compared to those of the placebo response. The study, conducted by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, used advanced brain imaging techniques to compare the pain-reducing effects of mindfulness meditation, a placebo cream and a “sham” mindfulness meditation in healthy participants.

The study found that mindfulness meditation produced significant reductions in pain intensity and pain unpleasantness ratings, and also reduced brain activity patterns associated with pain and negative emotions. In contrast, the placebo cream only reduced the brain activity pattern associated with the placebo effect, without affecting the person’s underlying experience of pain.

A new method for assembling neuron cultures horizontally instead of vertically helps solve for a longstanding issue.

Researchers have discovered that DNA methylation is crucial for reprogramming astrocytes into stem cells in the adult mouse brain, especially after ischemic injury, with potential implications for regenerative medicine.

While there is no denying ‘survival of the fittest’ still reigns supreme in the animal kingdom, a new study shows being smartest—or at least smarter—is pretty important, too.

Wear your support for the show with a Closer To Truth hoodie, T-shirt, or tank: https://bit.ly/3P2ogje.

What is it about human brains that enable both the regulation of bodily activities and the generation of mental thoughts? What are the mechanisms of human brain function? How do they integrate to give the sense of mental unity? What happens when something in the brain goes wrong—abnormalities, injury, disease? What is the future of brain science?

Continue reading “Kelsey Martin — How do Human Brains Function?” »

Their…

A multi-university research team co-led by University of Virginia engineering professor Gustavo K. Rohde has developed a system that can spot genetic markers of autism in brain images with 89 to 95% accuracy.

Their findings suggest doctors may one day see, classify and treat autism and related neurological conditions with this method, without having to rely on, or wait for, behavioral cues. And that means this truly personalized medicine could result in earlier interventions.

Continue reading “UVA Research Cracks the Autism Code, Making the Neurodivergent Brain Visible” »