A new study by researchers from the University of Bern, Switzerland suggests that dreams -- especially those that simultaneously appear realistic, but, upon a closer look, bizarre - help our brain learn and extract generic concepts from previous experiences. The study, carried out within the Human Brain Project and published in eLife, offers a new theory on the significance of dreams using machine learning inspired methodology and brain simulation.
To which extent are brain functions affected by sex hormones? Are sex differences at the level of stem cells relevant? Is it possible to differentiate biological sex from other factors that can influence the brain, like culture or life experiences? Can it be ethically justified to only study homogenous groups when diagnosing and treating diseases, if that means neglecting human diversity?
The HBP Education Programme together with the Student Ambassadors & Representatives is excited to announce that the 7th HBP Student Conference on Interdisciplinary Brain Research will take place next year in Madrid, Spain from 18 to 20 January 2023. Participation is open to the entire student community and early career researchers, regardless of whether they are affiliated with the Human Brain Project (HBP) or not.
Scientists of the Human Brain Project (HBP) have identified six new areas that form a functional region with a crucial role in cognitive functions of the lateral prefrontal cortex of the human brain. The team from Forschungszentrum Jülich, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and RWTH Aachen University showed for the first time that the inferior frontal sulcus (IFS) and its junction (IFJ) are subdivided into six distinct areas, which are associated with working memory, language and music processing, among other functions.
Human Brain Project researchers have used whole-brain virtual models to simulate what happens when neurostimulation is applied to aging human brains. These models provide new insight into how the dynamics of a healthy brain change as it grows old, and crucially, could help identify new targets and strategies for therapeutic neurostimulation.
Identifying and quantifying residual consciousness in patients with disorders of consciousness is notoriously challenging but increasingly urgent. There is a high rate of misdiagnosis among patients suffering from these disorders, particularly between vegetative states/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome and minimally conscious states. A recent BMC Medical Ethics publication explores how operational indicators previously introduced to assess consciousness in non-human animals and artificial intelligence can be relevant and have an ethical impact on the diagnosis and care of patients with disorders of consciousness.
A new, high-resolution 3D map of a previously unmapped area of the brain has been reconstructed by a team of researchers as part of the Human Brain Project (HBP). The German-based group developed a cytoarchitectonic map (a map of the cellular structure of the brain, down to the individual neurons) of the metathalamus, an area involved in processing audiovisual information. They incorporated the new reconstruction into the Julich Brain Atlas, which is easily accessible to anyone via the HBP’s EBRAINS infrastructure.
The amount of data available to researchers has been steadily growing. But even though large-scale, openly shared datasets give scientists across disciplines unique research opportunities, they also pose big challenges. Researchers at the Human Brain Project have proposed a new framework for the reproducible processing of large-scale data, which aims to tackle these challenges.
On the last day of the Corticon symposium, Human Brain Project researchers and guests carried on the discussions about different aspects of consciousness. The event was held at the Institut Catholique in Paris, France.
A novel, high-resolution, personalised model of Deep Brain Stimulation for patients suffering from depression has been developed by scientists of the Human Brain Project (HBP) and colleagues. The models aim to improve the treatment of depression by allowing clinicians to preview in a virtual environment how patients might respond to brain stimulation.
