Awakening from anesthesia is often associated with an initial phase of delirious struggle before the full restoration of awareness and orientation to one’s surroundings. Scientists now know why this may occur: primitive consciousness emerges first. Using brain imaging techniques in healthy volunteers, a team of scientists led by Adjunct Professor Harry Scheinin, M.D. from the University of Turku, Finland in collaboration with investigators from the University of California, Irvine, have now imaged the process of returning consciousness after general anesthesia. The emergence of consciousness was found to be associated with activations of deep, primitive brain structures rather than the evolutionary younger neocortex.
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Study shows why some pain drugs become less effective over time
Researchers at the University of Montreal’s Sainte-Justine Hospital have identified how neural cells like those in our bodies are able to build up resistance to opioid pain drugs within hours. Humans have known about the usefulness of opioids, which are often harvested from poppy plants, for centuries, but we have very little insight into how they lose their effectiveness in the hours, days and weeks following the first dose.
Early warning system for seizures could cut false alarms
Epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide, but in a third of these cases, medication cannot keep seizures from occurring. One solution is to shoot a short pulse of electricity to the brain to stamp out the seizure just as it begins to erupt. But brain implants designed to do this have run into a stubborn problem: too many false alarms, triggering unneeded treatment. To solve this, Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers have devised new seizure detection software that, in early testing, significantly cuts the number of unneeded pulses of current that an epilepsy patient would receive.
Northwestern study compares endovascular brain aneurysm repair devices
Approximately 6 million Americans have brain aneurysms, a condition that occurs when a weak or thin spot develops on a blood vessel in the brain causing it to balloon. Often, these do not cause symptoms and go undetected, but every year an estimated 30,000 Americans experience a ruptured aneurysm that bleeds into the brain causing a life threatening injury. Immediate medical treatment is necessary to prevent stroke, nerve damage or death, and includes surgery or coiling. Coiling is an approach that blocks blood flow to the aneurysm by filling it with platinum coils. While less invasive than surgery, the likelihood of future aneurysm recurrence and subsequent treatment is higher with coiling. In an effort to lower the risk for repeat aneurysm treatment after coiling, Northwestern Medicine researchers are examining a new type of gel-coated coil to determine if it is more effective than the standard bare coils in preventing aneurysm recurrence.
Seeing Beyond the Visual Cortex
(Medical Xpress) — It’s a chilling thought–losing the sense of sight because of severe injury or damage to the brain’s visual cortex. But, is it possible to train a damaged or injured brain to “see” again after such a catastrophic injury? Yes, according to Tony Ro, a neuroscientist at the City College of New York, who is artificially recreating a condition called blindsight in his lab.