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Neuroscience
Challenges and advances in brain-computer interfaces
Challenges and advances in brain-computer interfaces
Following FDA approval for tech startups to begin human clinical trials for brain-computer interfacing technologies, Penn Today met with Anna Wexler of the Perelman School of Medicine to discuss the promising possibilities and potential pitfalls of neurotechnology.
Who, What, Why: Kelly Garcia-Ramos, advocate for students with speech impediments
Who, What, Why: Kelly Garcia-Ramos, advocate for students with speech impediments
Kelly Garcia-Ramos made the choice to no longer try to hide their stutter and last semester founded a support group, SpeechFluency@Penn, for students who stutter.
Habit circuits altered in brains of individuals with binge eating disorders
Habit circuits altered in brains of individuals with binge eating disorders
New Penn Medicine research finds that altered connectivity may make patients more vulnerable to develop binge eating disorders, and lead to stronger-developed habit circuits.
Biological test detects Parkinson’s disease before symptoms present
Biological test detects Parkinson’s disease before symptoms present
Penn Medicine research shows this test can detect a build-up of abnormal protein deposits linked to Parkinson’s disease in cerebrospinal fluid.
Study reveals new insights on brain development sequence through adolescence
Study reveals new insights on brain development sequence through adolescence
A new study by Penn Medicine finds the brain maturation sequence renders youth sensitive to environmental impacts through adolescence.
Casey Halpern uses science and surgery to address mental health—starting with cravings
Casey Halpern uses science and surgery to address mental health—starting with cravings
The associate professor of neurosurgery at the Perelman School of Medicine has found that deep brain stimulation senses craving and upcoming loss of control in brain cells and delivers stimulation to restore the stop signal that patients need.
To protect children online, researchers call for cross-disciplinary collaboration
To protect children online, researchers call for cross-disciplinary collaboration
A team of neuroscientists and legal experts, including Gideon Nave of the Wharton School, published a perspective in Science drawing attention to the need to develop science-backed policies that take into account children’s vulnerabilities in the digital world.
Novel tools for the treatment and diagnosis of epilepsy
Novel tools for the treatment and diagnosis of epilepsy
Penn neurologist Brian Litt’s work on implantable devices for recording and altering brain activity has led to new ways to treat and diagnose epilepsy.
Gift to Penn Medicine and CHOP establishes Center for Epilepsy and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Gift to Penn Medicine and CHOP establishes Center for Epilepsy and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
This $25M gift will bolster the efforts of an interdisciplinary group of clinicians and scientists at Penn and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, led by director Benjamin Prosser, to accelerate research in genetic therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders.
Black older Americans age faster than white counterparts
Black older Americans age faster than white counterparts
According to a new Penn study, inequities in socioeconomic resources is the main cause of biological aging as measured by DNA methylation.
In the News
HealthDay
Too often, ER docs don’t spot migraines in minority kids
A study by Marissa Maliakal Anto of Penn Medicine finds that Black and Hispanic children seen in ERs are more likely to have their migraines go undiagnosed.
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ARS Technica
When does your brain think something is worth the wait?
Research by Joe Kable of the School of Arts & Sciences and colleagues finds that subjects with damage to certain regions of the prefrontal cortex are less likely to wait things out.
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PBS NewsHour
‘Brains and Beauty’ exhibit explores how the mind processes art and aesthetic experiences
Anjan Chatterjee of the Perelman School of Medicine says that the aesthetic triad is a mental system for engaging with an artwork.
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SciTechDaily
Scientists unveil 16+ distinct nerve cell types behind human touch
A study by Wenqin Lo of the Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues used detailed analyses of the genes used by individual nerve cells to identify 16 distinct types of nerve cells in humans.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Free West Philly community clinic, which provided care to hundreds, is closed
Penn Medicine resident Noor Shaik and Michael Rubenstein of the Perelman School of Medicine discuss a West Philadelphia clinic that became a model for collaborations between academic health systems and community organizations.
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The Washington Post
Alzheimer’s patients and their families hear a new word: Progress
Jeffrey Maneval of the Perelman School of Medicine classifies two new drug treatments for Alzheimer’s as “a double, not a home run.”
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