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Neuroscience
Wharton School Press launches new virtual Meet the Authors series
Wharton School Press launches new virtual Meet the Authors series
Wharton School Press launches new virtual Meet the Authors series. The LinkedIn Live event series will feature leading Wharton faculty and other Wharton School Press authors in lively, fast-moving conversations about their books.
Self-awareness can drive behavior change, reprogram the brain’s reward system
Self-awareness can drive behavior change, reprogram the brain’s reward system
Most people break New Year’s resolutions within a few weeks. Neuroscientist Vera Ludwig offers six tips to move mindfully through this process, leading to a greater chance for success.
Organoids to rebuild the brain
Organoids to rebuild the brain
Penn neuroscientists are developing innovative ways to treat neurological diseases, including implanting neural tissue like a brain organoid to rebuild brain circuitry.
A modified game of ‘chicken’ reveals what happens in the brain during decision-making
A modified game of ‘chicken’ reveals what happens in the brain during decision-making
Research from the Platt Labs found that in rhesus macaques, two regions of the brain mirror those of similar regions in humans, broadening the understanding of what unfolds, neurologically, when people interact and cooperate.
Scientists identify brain cells that drive wakefulness and resist general anesthetics
Scientists identify brain cells that drive wakefulness and resist general anesthetics
A new study that identifies the neurons that promote wakefulness supports a long-debated hypothesis that the brain’s sleep regulation mechanism also regulates its response to general anesthetics.
One step closer to a clinical fix for the side effects of monovision
One step closer to a clinical fix for the side effects of monovision
Monovision counters the deterioration of the ability to see up close but also causes dramatic visual distortions. New research confirms that a solution that successfully works with trial lenses—the special lenses used by eye doctors—also succeeds with contact lenses.
Creative storytelling through TimeSlips
Creative storytelling through TimeSlips
Through the TimeSlips program at the Penn Memory Center, older individuals are engaged through visual prompts to not just remember, but engage creatively with stimuli.
Crowd-sourcing optogenetics data to tackle neurological diseases
Crowd-sourcing optogenetics data to tackle neurological diseases
The specialized field of neuroscience, optogenetics, shows clinical promise for conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson’s. But before human trials can get fully underway, the field must better understand a crucial intermediate step, aided by 45 labs in nine countries sharing information.
Localizing epilepsy ‘hotspots’
Localizing epilepsy ‘hotspots’
Student interns worked this summer with the Davis Lab in the Penn Epilepsy Center to research improvements to epilepsy diagnosis using the tools of machine learning and network analysis.
Researchers discover a rare genetic form of dementia
Researchers discover a rare genetic form of dementia
A buildup of tau protein in parts of the brain helped Edward Lee, an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, and other Penn scientists uncover this new form of dementia.
In the News
BBC News
Elon Musk to show off working brain-hacking device
Ari Benjamin, a doctoral student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, said the biggest stumbling block for brain-to-machine interface technology is the complexity of the human brain. "Once they have the recordings, Neuralink will need to decode them and will someday hit the barrier that is our lack of basic understanding of how the brain works, no matter how many neurons they record from,” he said. "Decoding goals and movement plans is hard when you don't understand the neural code in which those things are communicated."
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Philadelphia Inquirer
After retired Black NFL players file lawsuit, experts weigh in on race and diagnosing dementia
Jason Karlawish of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the complex process of diagnosing someone with dementia and about racial disparities in cognitive-impairment diagnoses.
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Wired
A radical new model of the brain illuminates its wiring
Danielle Bassett of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about how neuroscience has led to a greater understanding of the brain’s networks and how to treat a variety of conditions. “Hopefully, with an understanding of the individual differences in the brain, we will have a better lever on how to predict human responses to a particular intervention,” she says, “and then not have to have people go for a year through different kinds of medication before we find one that works for them.”
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Forbes
Your eyes may betray what decision you are about to make
Michael Louis Platt and Feng Sheng of the Wharton School comment on their research on the sight-brain connection when making decisions.
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U.S. News & World Report
Antarctic study shows isolation, monotony may change the human brain
Alexander Stahn of the Perelman School of Medicine led a study that found a volume decrease in the hippocampi of explorers who spent 14 months at a research station in Antarctica. “It was an average of about 7%, which is really big in terms of brain changes,” he said.
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The Washington Post
Women are more than twice as likely as men to suffer from PTSD. Studies are underway to find out why
Edna Foa of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about her research on the effects of estrogen on fear extinction, a process of “unlearning” fear related to recovery from PTSD.
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