Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have taught a pair of monkeys how to feed themselves with the aid of a robotic arm. What’s more amazing, the arm is controlled by the monkeys’ brainpower.

It’s a scientific marvel that could have tremendous potential for disabled humans: a monkey using a robotic arm to eat a marshmallow.

 

Source: CBS, University of Pittsburgh

Lack of sleep often comes at times when we need to perform at our best. Now brain researchers studying how sleep deprivation impairs memory have found a potential remedy.

Source : Columbia University

In a study appearing in the new issue of ‘Brain Stimulation’, scientists report that a new form of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is just as effective as older forms in treating depression but without any of the cognitive side effects found in the older forms. In the NIMH-sponsored study, Dr. Harold Sackeim and colleagues from Columbia University randomly assigned 90 depressed patients to either right sided or bilateral ECT, using either a traditional electrical pulse or a newer “ultrabrief pulse”, and measured clinical response and cognitive side effects.

The study found that 73 % of the depressed subjects who received the ultrabrief pulse responded, compared with a 65% response from subjects who received the ‘gold standard’ bilateral older form. Importantly, the ultrabrief group had less severe cognitive side effects than the other group. “The use of an ultrabrief stimulus markedly reduces adverse cognitive effects and, when coupled with markedly suprathreshold right unilateral ECT, also preserves efficacy,” write Dr. Sackeim and colleagues. [continue reading…]