Brain Foods Infographic

Researchers have reported that blueberries improve memory. The research establishes a foundation for extensive human clinical studies to determine if blueberries truly are worthy of their increasing reputation as a memory booster.

The scientists explain that earlier research in lab animals indicate that consuming blueberries could help boost memory in the elderly. Up to now, however, there was very little scientific work directed at testing how blueberry supplementation affects memory in humans.

For the study, 1 group of individuals in their 70s having early memory decline consumed roughly the same as 2 to 2 l/2 cups of a commercially obtainable blueberry juice each day for 2 months. The control group consumed a beverage with no blueberry juice. The blueberry juice group demonstrated major improvement on learning and memory tests.

These initial memory results are encouraging and indicate that regular blueberry supplementation could offer an approach to delay or minimize neurodegeneration.

http://www.ahealthblog.com/brain-foods-infographic.html?utm_source=A+Health+Blog+Newsletter&utm_campaign=9b35e5d901-MailChimp+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_52b3a61d8a-9b35e5d901-91443825

Exercise Makes You Smarter

According to research, exercise makes you smarter. Formerly inactive adults were subjected to 4 months of high-intensity interval training workouts.

After the 4 months, their ability to think, remember and make quick decisions had improved noticeably.

The blood flow to the brain is increased while exercising. The fitter one is, the more the blood flow increases. The research looked at adults with an average age of 49 who were inactive and overweight. The participants went through a series of biological, physiological and cognitive tests prior to the program began so as to establish their body composition, cognitive functions, brain oxygenation while exercising, cardiovascular risk and maximal aerobic ability.

The cognitive tests involved tasks like remembering pairs of symbols and numbers. To determine what was in fact happening inside the brain, the study made use of near-infra red spectroscopy, a method which works with near-infra red range light sent though human tissue which reacts with oxygen inside the blood. It’s so sensitive that it picks up the minute changes in the oxygenation and volume of blood that take place in our brains whenever we think or exercise.

They then started a circuit weight training and exercise bike routine twice a week. After 4 months their fat mass, body mass index, weight and waist circumference were all considerably lower. At the same time, their ability to exercise was up 15%.

Cognitive function, brain oxygenation and VO2max for the duration of exercise testing showed that cognitive functions had significantly improved on account of the exercise. VO2max is the optimum capacity of a person’s body to transport and make use of oxygen while exercising. It influences the body’s capability to oxygenate the brain and is associated with cognitive function.  Basically, the more they could exercise, and the more weight people lost, the sharper they became.

Although a decline in cognitive function is a typical part of aging, it’s reassuring to know that one can at least to some extent prevent that decline by losing weight and exercising.

http://www.ahealthblog.com/exercise-makes-you-smarter.html

Seeing the brain in a new light: neurons respond to pulses of different colours

Written by
Nayef Al-Rodhan
Honorary Fellow, St. Antony’s College at Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom
June 23, 2016

Seeing the brain in a new light: neurons respond to pulses of different colors

Brains—even relatively simple ones like those in mice—are daunting in their complexity. Neuroscientists and psychologists can observe how brains respond to various kinds of stimuli, and they have even mapped how genes are expressedthroughout the brain. But with no way to control when individual neurons and other kinds of brain cells turn on and off, researchers found it very difficult to explain how brains do what they do, at least not in the detail needed to thoroughly understand—and eventually cure—conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and major depression.

Scientists tried using electrodes to record neuronal activity, and that works to some extent. But it is a crude and imprecise method because electrodes stimulate every neuron nearby and cannot distinguish among different kinds of brain cells.

A breakthrough came in 2005, when neurogeneticists demonstrated a way to use genetic engineering to make neurons respond to particular colors of light. The technique, known as optogenetics, built on research done in the 1970s on pigment proteins, known collectively as rhodopsins and encoded by the opsin gene family. These proteins work like light-activated ion pumps. Microbes, lacking eyes, use rhodopsins to help extract energy and information from incoming light.

By inserting one or more opsin genes into particular neurons in mice, biologists are now able to use visible light to turn specific neurons on or off at will. Over the years, scientists have tailored versions of these proteins that respond to distinct colors, ranging from deep red to green to yellow to blue. By putting different genes into different cells, they use pulses of light of various colors to activate one neuron and then several of its neighbours in a precisely timed sequence. 

That is a crucial advance because in living brains, timing is everything. A signal issued at one moment may have the complete opposite effect from the same signal sent out a few milliseconds later.

The invention of optogenetics greatly accelerated the pace of progress in brain science. But experimenters were limited by the difficulty of delivering light deep into brain tissue. Now ultrathin, flexible microchips, each one hardly bigger than a neuron, are being tested as injectable devices to put nerves under wireless control. They can be inserted deep into a brain with minimal damage to overlying tissue.

Optogenetics has already opened new doors to brain disorders, including tremors in Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain, vision damage and depression. The neurochemistry of the brain is clearly important for some brain conditions, which is why drugs can help improve symptoms—up to a point. But where the high-speed electrical circuitry of the brain is also disturbed, optogenetic research, especially when enhanced by emerging wireless microchip technology, could offer new routes to treatment. Recent research suggests, for example, that in some cases non-invasive light therapy that shuts down specific neurons can treat chronic pain, providing a welcome alternative to opoids.

With mental disorders affecting one in four people globally and psychiatric diseases a leading source of disability, the better understanding of the brain that advanced optogenetics will provide cannot come soon enough.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/06/optogenetics/

Time to talk Parkinson’s as event brings together experts and patients

July 1, 2016

The Great North Museum: Hancock, which will host the Parkinson's event.

Parkinson’s patients are being invited to have their say as those leading the fight against the condition discuss their work.

The North East Parkinson’s Research Interest Group will host the event on Monday, offering people the chance to speak to researchers, health care professionals and others.

One in every 500 people - around 127,000 people across the UK - has the condition, which causes symptoms which can include tremor, rigidity and slowness of movement.

They are can also be affected by tiredness, pain, depression and constipation, which can have an impact on their day-to-day lives, with drugs, therapies and occasionally surgery used to manage it.

Monday’s North East Research Fair aims to raise awareness of Parkinson’s research, highlight involvement opportunities, and importantly give all an opportunity join the conversation to share valuable ideas and experiences.

It is a one-off event and will run from 10.30am to 3.30pm at the Great North Museum: Hancock in Barras Bridge, Newcastle.

After an introduction by Parkinson’s UK and a talk on treatments and therapies, the day will be split into sessions for talks and activities.

Guest speakers will include Dr Lesley Scott, senior lecturer in patient, carer and public involvement at the University of Sunderland and Dr Paul Chazot, a senior lecturer from Durham University’s School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, and his colleague Dr Max Brown, Durham, postdoctoral research associate.

Doctors from Newcastle University and a specialist nurse from Newcastle Hospitals will also attend.

Christine Proctor, who has helped organise the day, said: “Anybody with Parkinson’s can join the group, as well as anyone interested in research, to join us around the table and be actively involved, so we can share our information with everybody.

“We’ve got enough places for 120 participants and delegates and this will be conversations, rather than just being part of an audience.

“Everyone with Parkinson’s is different and this will give people the chance to have an informal chat about their treatment and experiences.”

Places are free, but due to limited number must be booked in advance.

For more information visit: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/north-east-parkinsons-research-fair-registration-25671717799

Everyone with Parkinson’s is different and this will give people the chance to have an informal chat about their treatment and experiences.

Christine Proctorhttp://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/health/time-to-talk-parkinson-s-as-event-brings-together-experts-and-patients-1-7993480?

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Santa Rosa boxing class helps Parkinson's patients cope with symptoms

July 1, 2016

Pat Copass  age 72

As Elvis Presley’s lively “Jailhouse Rock” plays in the background, Pat Copass doggedly swings her boxing gloves left, then right, again and again, each jab seemingly timed to the rock ’n’ roll music.

The 72-year-old Oakmont resident never imagined herself as a boxer, but there she is, a petite warrior striking punches in her personal battle with Parkinson’s disease.

She is one of a dozen people who attend Rock Steady Boxing classes at CKS Martial Arts in Santa Rosa, where participants rally to fight against the progressive neurological disorder that afflicts more than 1 million Americans, most famously actor Michael J. Fox and the late heavyweight champion of the world, Muhammad Ali.

“We’re fighting the battle of our lives with boxing gloves,” said Howard Simpson, 81, also of Oakmont. A retired airline pilot. Simpson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 10 years ago. He’s been with Rock Steady Boxing since its start in Santa Rosa last fall.

Developed in Indianapolis in 2006 by a former county prosecutor with early-onset Parkinson’s and a boxer friend, the nonprofit program is designed to empower people who have the disease. Rock Steady Boxing provides both a supportive, fun environment and non-contact boxing moves to lessen symptoms, which often include tremors, stiffness and slowed movement.

Simpson noticed improvement from the start.

“Just walking around, I’m not as dizzy as I used to be. I haven’t fallen and I consider that an achievement,” he said.

A semi-retired elder-care adviser who runs a business called Aging Communications, Copass says she sheds her diagnosis when she steps into the downtown martial arts studio,. There, rock ’n’ roll oldies set an energetic mood as coaches shout encouragement and direction over the music.

“I don’t feel like a Parkinson’s person,” she said after a recent workout. “My symptoms are gone (at the gym).”

She usually attends three 45-minute sessions per week, gaining and sharing enthusiasm with classmates from their late 40s to their 80s.

“When I miss it, I notice it,” said Copass, who was diagnosed more than two years ago.

Various drills – some done with boxing gloves, others without – are designed to combat specific symptoms. Punching helps steady tremors, sparring benefits coordination. Teams of two and three toss and catch tennis balls for hand-eye coordination.

During exercises raising one knee and then the other, the group alternately counts repetitions of 10 in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese, varying languages for fun. 

Quick footwork also helps with balance and coordination, each participant moving at his or her pace and ability throughout the sessions. 

The modified boxing techniques condition bodies for agility, muscular endurance and overall strength, while improving outlook and optimism.

“It’s a great morale boost,” said Greg Hessig, 42, an occupational therapist at Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa who brought the program to the local martial arts studio where he works out.

“They’re not going to sit down and succumb to this. They’re going to fight back,” he said.

Copass and Simpson say there’s power in numbers; just knowing they are not alone battling Parkinson’s is beneficial. Working out as a group unites them in their cause.

“We genuinely, genuinely care about one another,” Copass said.

Hessig approached CKS owner Hector Solis, 43, after recognizing the hospital wasn’t a suitable setting for Rock Steady Boxing. The studio’s boxing ring, speed bags, punching bags and encouraging signage “No Guts, No Glory” help set a mood a hospital cannot duplicate.

“A hospital environment isn’t really a boxing environment,” said Hessig, who is familiar with Parkinson’s both personally and professionally. He works with clients with Parkinson’s, and his grandfather had the disorder, as does Hessig’s father.

Boxing coach in Indiana and is a strong proponent of the program’s physical and psychological benefits.

Research, Hessig said, indicates the high-intensity exercise program shows promising results. While there is no cure for the condition, the workouts enhance the uptake of dopamine by the brain and reportedly slow its progression.

The rigorous sessions push participants to challenge their abilities, with Hessig and Solis serving as demanding (yet kindly) drill sergeants.

“Go with the rhythm, go with the rhythm, come on, come on,” Solis encourages participants as they swing boxing gloves at standing fitness bags.

“Really good, really good, really good,” he praises the group.

Copass says the program motivates her to try her best. “I’ve had excuses all my life not to go to the gym, but this is different. It’s the only exercise I’ve ever done I love,” she said. “I feel so empowered. I put that glove on and I feel I can take care of the world.”

Solis said participants support one another and are particularly encouraged by the progress of those with more advanced stages of Parkinson’s.

“The camaraderie is definitely one of the big points,” he said. “They’re getting energy from one another. They kind of push each other in a very positive way.”

That sense of shared experience is evident even from the sidelines, where several spouses watch the workouts.

Diana Santi travels from San Rafael three times a week with her husband, retired electrical technician Ivano Santi. She’s noticed a positive change in her husband since he started the program last fall.

It was a blow to the couple when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s two years ago. Now, at 74, Ivano Santi is benefiting from the hope he finds every time he attends Rock Steady Boxing.

“I think he’s more sure of himself,” his wife said. “Before he wasn’t and now he is. The camaraderie with everyone is something else.”

The couple is on the road a minimum of 45 minutes just to reach the martial arts studio, but insist it is time well spent. Returning home after the first session, Ivano Santi told his wife, “When I was there, nothing hurt, nothing bothered me.”

From that point forward, the distance from Marin wasn’t an issue.

For more information about Rock Steady Boxing, call 540-0185 or visit cksmartialarts.com or rocksteadyboxing.org. Local classes are $80 per month.

Contact Towns Correspondent Dianne Reber Hart at sonomatowns@gmail.com. 

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/5731803-181/at-rock-steady-boxing-classes?artslide=1

Surprising number of businesses selling unapproved stem cell 'treatments' in the US

July 1, 2016

At least 351 companies across the United States are marketing unapproved stem cell procedures at 570 individual clinics. Such businesses advertise "stem cell" interventions for orthopedic injuries, neurological disorders, cardiac diseases, immunological conditions, pulmonary disorders, injured spinal cords, and cosmetic indications. In Cell Stem Cell, bioethicist Leigh Turner and stem cell researcher Paul Knoepfler present an analysis of U.S. businesses engaged in "direct-to-consumer" marketing of these procedures.

"In almost every state now, people can go locally to get stem cell 'treatments,'" says Knoepfler, of the University of California, Davis, and Shriners Hospital For Children. "Many people in larger metropolitan areas can just drive 15 minutes to find a clinic offering these kinds of services instead of, say, traveling to Mexico or the Caribbean. I think this reflects a change from what we've seen documented in the past and is different from what we typically think about when we think of stem cell tourism."

Turner and Knoepfler found the businesses through Internet key word searches, text mining, and content analysis of company websites. For each business, the duo recorded the company name, location(s), website addresses, advertised stem cell types, and marketing claims concerning diseases, injuries, and conditions for which stem cells are reportedly administered. Their research should serve as a baseline for future studies of U.S. businesses engaged in direct-to-consumer advertising of purported stem cell interventions.

Key findings from the report include:

• Clinics advertising stem cell interventions cluster in particular states. They are most likely to be found in California (113 clinics), Florida (104), Texas (71), Colorado (37), Arizona (36), and New York (21).
• Beverly Hills is home to 18 clinics, more than any other city in the nation, followed by New York (14 clinics), San Antonio (13), Los Angeles (12), Austin (11), Scottsdale (11), and Phoenix (10).
• Of the stem cell procedures that are marketed, 61% of businesses offer fat-derived stem cell interventions and 48% offer bone-marrow-based treatments. Advertisements for induced pluripotent stem cells (1 business), embryonic stem cells (1 business), and xenogeneic products (2 businesses) are rare.
• Over 300 of the businesses market interventions for orthopedic issues. Other advertised conditions include pain (150 businesses), sports injuries (90), neurological diseases (80), and immune disorders (75).

"This is a marketplace that is dramatically expanding before our eyes - we were aware early on and tracked it early on, but I don't think we knew the scope and size of the market," says Turner, of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota. "Brakes ought to exist in a marketplace like this, but where are the brakes? Where are the regulatory bodies? And how did this entire industry come into being in a country where stem cell-based interventions and the medical devices that produce them are supposed to be regulated by the FDA?"

Turner and Knoepfler, who runs the popular stem cell blog "The Niche," grew suspicious of an increase in American stem cell clinics when inquiries from readers and patients changed from Americans asking about going abroad for a stem cell treatment to Americans asking about seeking treatment in the United States. In investigating the people who run these clinics, Turner and Knoepfler found that not only were individuals such as cosmetic surgeons and naturopaths beginning to offer unapproved stem cell interventions, but the "pioneers" in the industry were training others to do the same. It is unclear whether federal authorities--particularly the Food & Drug Administration - and state medical boards missed the scope of the problem or are taking minimal action despite being aware of the spread of such businesses.

"From around 2009 to the present, businesses have been entering the marketplace on a routine basis, they've been coming in making marketing assertions about stem cells treating 30-40 different diseases, and no one's taking meaningful regulatory action," Turner says. "Does that mean that people are getting access to safe and efficacious interventions or is there basically unapproved human experimentation taking place where people are going to these businesses and receiving experimental investigational cell-based interventions without being given a meaningful account of the lack of knowledge and evidence that they're being charged for?"

A separate downside is that patients who have unapproved and unproven stem cell interventions decrease their chances of qualifying for FDA-cleared and IRB-approved clinical trials that comply with federal regulations. This is a loss for stem cell research.

"Another serious consideration to think about is that over the years many people have begun to include these businesses in their overall impression of the stem cell field," Knoepfler says. "There is a real risk that as clinics proliferate, if we don't address it in a more proactive way, as we see negative outcomes for patients grow and people get mixed bags of information about stem cells, then this could really negatively impact the public perception of this research."

The International Society for Stem Cell Research publishes a handbook to help members of the public make informed decisions about stem cell treatments: http://www.closerlookatstemcells.org/patient-resources

Article: Selling Stem Cells in the USA: Assessing the Direct-to-Consumer Industry, Turner and Knoepfler, Cell Stem Cell, doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2016.06.007, published online 30 June 2016.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/311389.php

Researchers discover surprising mismatch on either side of dopaminergic synapses

July 1, 2016

Neurons are cells that transmit nerve impulses. Dopamine neurons are the main source of the chemical dopamine in the central nervous system and are few in number compared to other types of neurons in the brain. They occupy an inner part of the brain, called the striatum, and play an important function in influencing emotions, motivation, voluntary movements and cognition. Dopamine deficiency is associated with a number of diseases including Parkinson's disease, addiction and depression.

Dopamine neurons located in the midbrain form junctions, or "synapses", on one of the main kinds of striatal neurons, called medium spiny neurons. In theory, dopamine molecules released from their neurons should be received on the other end of the synapse by the medium spiny neurons. However, the dopamine receptors on medium spiny neurons are found relatively far away from the synaptic sites. Thus it's been unclear how dopaminergic transmission works.

Researchers at Hokkaido University in Japan studied the molecular and anatomical composition of dopamine synapses in adult mice. They "tagged" molecules known to be expressed by these synapses, allowing them to visualize how they are expressed and how they localize.

By doing this, they found that one side of the dopamine synapse, unsurprisingly, is "dopaminergic", producing chemicals that are essential for dopamine release. The other side of the synapse, however, was surprisingly found to be "GABAergic". GABA is a chemical that exerts an inhibitory effect on neurons. GABA deficiency leads to hyperexcitability of neurons, such as is the case in epilepsy. This was the first time for researchers to discover this kind of a mismatch present on either side of dopaminergic synapses.

Further investigation led the team to find that the protein neuroligin-2 played an important role in the dopamine synapse. When they cancelled-out its function in mice brains, the density of dopamine synapses on medium spiny neurons decreased while the density of GABAergic synapses increased. This suggests that neuroligin-2, which is expressed by the GABAergic side of the synapse, works as an anchor that stabilizes the mismatched junction, giving a competitive advantage to dopaminergic synapses over GABAergic synapses.

Source:

https://www.oia.hokudai.ac.jp/

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20160701/Researchers-discover-surprising-mismatch-on-either-side-of-dopaminergic-synapses.aspx

Researchers develop new technology to capture images of the brain

June 28, 2016

In a partnership melding neuroscience and electrical engineering, researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University have developed a new technology that will allow neuroscientists to capture images of the brain almost 10 times larger than previously possible - helping them better understand the behavior of neurons in the brain.

Nervous systems are complex. After all, everything that any animal thinks or does is controlled by its nervous system. To better understand how complex nervous systems work, researchers have used an expanding array of ever more sophisticated tools that allow them to actually see what's going on. In some cases, neuroscience researchers have had to create entirely new tools to advance their work.

This is how an electrical engineering researcher ended up co-authoring a Nature Biotechnology paper with a group of neuroscientistsA UNC-Chapel Hill research team made up of Jeff Stirman, Ikuko Smith and Spencer Smith wanted to be able to look at "ensemble" neuronal activity related to how mice process visual input. In other words, they wanted to look at activity in neurons across multiple areas at the same time.

To do that, the researchers used a two-photon microscope, which images fluorescence. In this case, it could be used to see which neurons "light up" when active.

The problem was that conventional two-photon microscopy systems could only look at approximately one square millimeter of brain tissue at a time. That made it hard to simultaneously capture neuron activity in different areas.

This is where Michael Kudenov comes in. An assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State, Kudenov's area of expertise is remote imaging. His work focuses on developing new instruments and sensors to improve the performance of technologies used in everything from biomedical imaging to agricultural research.

After being contacted by the UNC researchers, Kudenov designed a series of new lenses for the microscope. Stirman further refined the designs and incorporated them into an overall two-photon imaging system that allowed the researchers to scan much larger areas of the brain. Instead of capturing images covering one square millimeter of the brain, they could capture images covering more than 9.5 square millimeters.

This advance allows them to simultaneously scan widely separated populations of neurons.

As the group notes in its Nature Biotechnology paper, this work addresses "a major barrier to progress in two-photon imaging of neuronal activity: the limited field of view."

Source:

North Carolina State University

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20160628/Researchers-develop-new-technology-to-capture-images-of-the-brain.aspx

How brain implants can let paralysed people move again

July 1, 2016

Something as simple as picking up a cup of tea requires an awful lot of action from your body. Your arm muscles fire to move your arm towards the cup. Your finger muscles fire to open your hand then bend your fingers around the handle. Your shoulder muscles keep your arm from popping out of your shoulder and your core muscles make sure you don’t tip over because of the extra weight of the cup. All these muscles have to fire in a precise and coordinated manner, and yet your only conscious effort is the thought: “I know: tea!”

This is why enabling a paralysed limb to move again is so difficult. Most paralysed muscles can still work, but their communication with the brain has been lost, so they are not receiving instructions to fire. We can’t yet repair damage to the spinal cord so one solution is to bypass it and provide the instructions to the muscles artificially. And thanks to the development of technology for reading and interpreting brain activity, these instructions could one day come direct from a patient’s mind.

We can make paralysed muscles fire by stimulating them with electrodes placed inside the muscles or around the nerves that supply them, a technique known as functional electrical stimulation (FES). As well as helping paralysed people move, it is also used to restore bladder function, produce effective coughing and provide pain relief. It is a fascinating technology that can make a big difference to the lives of people with spinal cord injury.

Dimitra Blana and her colleagues at Keele are working on how to match this technology with the complex set of instructions needed to operate an arm. If you want to pick up that cup of tea, which muscles need to fire, when and by how much? The firing instructions are complicated, and not just because of the large number of core, shoulder, arm and finger muscles involved. As you slowly drink your tea, those instructions change, because the weight of the cup changes. To do something different, like scratch your nose, the instructions are completely different.

Instead of just trying out various firing patterns on the paralysed muscles in the hope of finding one that works, you can use computer models of the musculoskeletal system to calculate them. These models are mathematical descriptions of how muscles, bones and joints act and interact during movement. In the simulations, you can make muscles stronger or weaker, “paralysed” or “externally stimulated”. You can test different firing patterns quickly and safely, and you can make the models pick up their tea cups over and over again – sometimes more successfully than others.

Modelling the muscles

To test the technology, the team at Keele is working with the Cleveland FES Center in the US, where they implant up to 24 electrodes into the muscles and nerves of research participants. They use modelling to decide where to place the electrodes because there are more paralysed muscles than electrodes in current FES systems.If you have to choose, is it better to stimulate the subscapularis or the supraspinatus? If you stimulate the axillary nerve, should you place the electrode before or after the branch to the teres minor? To answer these difficult questions, they run simulations with different sets of electrodes and choose the one that allows the computer models to make the most effective movements.

Currently, the team is working on the shoulder, which is stabilised by a group of muscles called the rotator cuff. If you get the firing instructions for the arm wrong, it might reach for the soup spoon instead of the butter knife. If you get the instructions to the rotator cuff wrong, the arm might pop out of the shoulder. It is not a good look for the computer models, but they don’t complain. Research participants would be less forgiving.

Knowing how to activate paralysed muscles to produce useful movements like grasping is only half of the problem. We also need to know when to activate the muscles, for example when the user wants to pick up an object. One possibility is to read this information directly from the brain. Recently, researchers in the US used an implant to listen to individual cells in the brain of a paralysed individual. Because different movements are associated with different patterns of brain activity, the participant was able to select one of six pre-programmed movements that were then generated by stimulation of hand muscles.

Reading the brain

This was an exciting step forward for the field of neural prosthetics, but many challenges remain. Ideally brain implants need to last for many decades – currently it is difficult to record the same signals even over several weeks so these systems need to be recalibrated regularly. Using new implant designs or different brain signals may improve long-term stability.

Also, implants listen only to a small proportion of the millions of cells that control our limbs, so the range of movements that can be read out is limited. However, brain control of robotic limbs with multiple degrees-of-freedom (movement, rotation and grasping) has been achieved and the capabilities of this technology are advancing rapidly.

Finally, the smooth, effortless movements that we usually take for granted are guided by rich sensory feedback that tells us where our arms are in space and when our fingertips are touching objects. However, these signals can also be lost after injury so researchers are working on brain implants that may one day restore sensation as well as movement.

Some scientists are speculating that brain-reading technology could help able-bodied individuals to communicate more efficiently with computers, mobile phones and even directly to other brains. However, this remains the realm of science fiction whereas brain control for medical applications is rapidly becoming clinical reality.

https://theconversation.com/how-brain-implants-can-let-paralysed-people-move-again-61183

FoxFeed Blog Three Team Fox Members are Swimming toward a Cure

Seth Manthey
July 01, 2016

Team Fox Swim Team members (Left to right - Michael, Alon, Aj)

What do you get when you combine a father and son with a love of swimming, one former Olympian and a shared dedication to fueling Parkinson's disease (PD) research? A Team Fox team that's making waves. Meet Alon Mandel, Michael Dolan and Michael's son Aj Dolan. Together, their "Team Fox Swim Team" is taking on outdoor races to support MJFF's high-impact programs. Read on to learn more about their inspiration, tips for fellow swimmers and how you can support their efforts.

Alon and Michael met through a work-related project. At the time Alon” a four-time All American and member of the 2008 Israeli Olympic swim team ” was embarking on a swim across the Straits of Gibraltar. Michael shared that he and son Aj often did open water swims together. "We had to concentrate to talk about the work project and not swimming all the time," Michael remembers.

They also connected over a desire to turn their passion into a greater cause. Michael's father (Aj's grandfather) lived with PD before passing away in 2015. As a man who ran 25 marathons in his life, it felt right that they would honor him through taking on athletic challenges to fundraise for a cure. Michael had run the 2015 Chicago Marathon with Team Fox and wanted to do more. When the idea of a swim team came up, Alon and Aj were quick to sign on. "The opportunity to represent something bigger than yourself is often forgotten," says Alon. The team's first challenges include the two-mile Dwight Crum Pier to Pier Open Water Swim in August and for Alon, the 22-mile Catalina Channel Crossing in September.

While the team is motivated by their love of the water and dedication to speeding a cure, they also rely on a few pre-and post-race rituals. In addition to training, they prepare by having a fulfilling breakfast to carry them through hours in the water and picking the right pre-race playlist (Dr. Dre is a favorite of Aj's). And when Alon dives in, he thinks about his wife cheering for him at the end, while Aj and Michael picture their post-swim celebration at their favorite breakfast burrito joint.

Looking ahead, Alon, Michael and Aj look forward to taking on other races, including Alon's quest to complete the Ocean Seven (a series of endurance swims considered the equivalent of the Seven Summits mountain-climbing challenges) and rallying friends and family with their fundraising. They also hope to sign up more swimmers to their team.

Throughout their training, the team has felt embraced and supported by Team Fox staff and fellow members. "When we decided to pick a charity, MJFF and Team Fox was the natural choice," says Michael. "We're serious about the work that is being done to find a cure and helping patients live fulfilling and whole lives while living with Parkinson's."

Ready to make a splash as a Team Fox member? Join Team Fox for one of your upcoming athletic feats and make the most of your efforts to help speed a cure.

https://www.michaeljfox.org/foundation/news-detail.php?three-team-fox-members-are-swimming-toward-cure

Team Parkinson's is coming to Spokane!

July 1, 2016

The NWPF Inland Empire office is busier than ever expanding and improving our services to communities across the Inland Northwest. As part of those efforts, we are thrilled to announce the inaugural Team Parkinson's Walk in Spokane!

Join the team by walking a short course along with your family, friends and Fido on Saturday, August 20 at 10 a.m. at the Southside Senior Centerin Spokane. The goal of the Spokane Walk is to exercise, promote awareness, build connections and raise funds for Parkinson's services. We look forward to having you aboard! 

We are challenging ourselves to reach the goal of raising $30,000! Join the team by registering online here or filling out a registration form and become a Team Parkinson's fundraiser today!

Can't attend the Walk in Spokane? No problem. Our Virtual Walk gives you the opportunity to participate from anywhere. With the Virtual Walk, you decide the location and distance.To register online for the Virtual Walk, or simply fill out the registration form or give us a call.

Our fundraising website makes registration and fundraising easy. Plus, you can create your own fundraising team, connect your page to Facebook and email your friends and family with a few clicks.

Thank you in advance for all your efforts and contributions. Your generosity is deeply appreciated!

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. 

Sincerely,

Cyndi Cook | Regional Director, Inland Empire

cyndi@nwpf.org

509.443.3361

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2016 Team Parkinson’s Walk Registration Form

There is no minimum amount of fundraising required to attend the Walk, but walkers who raise $100 or more receive a t-shirt. To register online please visit www.TeamParkinsons.org

Name______________________________________________________________________________ Team Name (if applicable)____________________________________________________________

Walk Site: ☐Boise, ID ☐Seattle, WA ☐Spokane, WA I am the Team Captain: ☐ Yes ☐ No

Address____________________________________________________________________________ City________________________________________ State____________ Zip___________________ Phone___________________________________ Email_____________________________________

Shirt Size:☐Youth S ☐Youth M ☐S ☐M ☐L ☐XL ☐XXL

Waiver: I hereby waive all claims against Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation, sponsors or personnel for any injury that I may suffer from my participation in this event. I grant full permission for organizers to use photographs, videotapes, motion pictures, recordings or any other record of this event.

Signature___________________________________________________________________________

Signature of parent or guardian for children under the age of 18

____________________________________________________________________________________

Complete and mail this form to:

Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation | 7525 SE 24th Street, Suite 300 | Mercer Island, WA 98040

For any questions about the Team Parkinson’s Walk or NWPF please contact the office at 206.748.9481 or info@nwpf.org or visit www.TeamParkinsons.org.