PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New invasive imaging technique to monitor brain function

2012-06-27
(Press-News.org) A new video article in JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments, describes a novel procedure to monitor brain function and aid in functional mapping of patients with diseases such as epilepsy. This procedure illustrates the use of pre-placed electrodes for cortical mapping in the brains of patients who are undergoing surgery to minimize the frequency of seizures. This technique, while invasive, provides real-time analysis of brain function at a much higher resolution than current technologies.

Typically, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) are used in neuroimaging studies but these techniques suffer from low temporal and spatial resolution. By using electrodes implanted in the brain of an epileptic patient already undergoing treatment, scientists can now image the brain with a much higher spatial resolution, lower signal interference, and a higher temporal resolution than fMRI or EEG.

The leading author of the study, Dr. Gerwin Schalk, from the New York State Department of Health and Albany Medical College, states, "Essentially, we have created a new imaging technique. Our procedure is innovative because it is prospective, meaning, it can image brain function as it occurs. Further, it does not require an expert to derive meaningful information concerning brain function." He also notes that it was crucial for this procedure to be demonstrated in a video format. "The procedure is a very visual process. The ancillary information such as the spatial relationships of different components, the set-up of the hospital room, and the set-up of the equipment itself cannot be represented in a typical print article. The video capacities of JoVE were an excellent vehicle to demonstrate both the general set-up and the specific implementation of the mapping system."

By relying on an epileptic patient's neural implants, scientists gain an unprecedented insight into the brain's function. Dr. Schalk's procedure provides a technological advancement that can be applied in many ways, including stroke patient monitoring and rehabilitation, signal mapping and transduction for movement of prosthetic limbs, and enhancement of communication in individuals with paralysis of the vocal musculature. The JoVE video article provides a comprehensive demonstration of the new technique, from mapping the electrical implants to interpreting the tests in real time. JoVE editor Dr. Claire Standen emphasizes, "The new imaging technique demonstrated in this article is very important. There is a definite need for better, more accurate, imaging to monitor brain function. This technique can be applied to a wide range of clinical areas within the Neuroscience field." The article can be found here:



INFORMATION:

Schalk et. al.: http://www.jove.com/video/3993/recording-human-electrocorticographic-ecog-signals-for-neuroscientific-research-and-real-time-functional-cortical-mapping

About The Journal of Visualized Experiments:

The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is the first and only Pubmed and Medline indexed peer-reviewed journal devoted to publishing research in the biological sciences in video format. Using an international network of videographers, JoVE films and edits videos of researchers performing new experimental techniques at top universities, allowing students and scientists to learn them much more quickly. As of June 2012 JoVE has released 64 monthly issues including over 1815 video-protocols on experimental approaches in developmental biology, neuroscience, microbiology and other fields.

URL: www.jove.com

To link to this release please use this link: http://www.jove.com/about/press-releases/37/new-invasive-imaging-technique-to-monitor-brain-function

Contact:
Neal Moawed
Academic Liaison & Marketing Associate
The Journal of Visualized Experiments
p. 617.945.9051
e. neal.moawed@jove.com



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Rewriting quantum chips with a beam of light

2012-06-27
June 26, 2012 – The promise of ultrafast quantum computing has moved a step closer to reality with a technique to create rewritable computer chips using a beam of light. Researchers from The City College of New York (CCNY) and the University of California Berkeley (UCB) used light to control the spin of an atom's nucleus in order to encode information. The technique could pave the way for quantum computing, a long-sought leap forward toward computers with processing speeds many times faster than today's. The group will publish their results on June 26 in Nature Communications. ...

Seeing inside tissue

2012-06-27
PASADENA, Calif.—Imagine if doctors could perform surgery without ever having to cut through your skin. Or if they could diagnose cancer by seeing tumors inside the body with a procedure that is as simple as an ultrasound. Thanks to a technique developed by engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), all of that may be possible in the not-so-distant future. The new method enables researchers to focus light efficiently inside biological tissue. While the previous limit for how deep light could be focused was only about one millimeter, the Caltech team ...

Researchers develop new method for analyzing cell function

2012-06-27
Researchers in Finland and Germany have developed an open-source software that will make it significantly easier to process bioimaging data. The software, named BioImageXD, will help in analysing cell and tissue functions. The work to develop the software has been funded by the Academy of Finland (through the FinNano Research Programme), the European Union and Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation. Version 1.0 of BioImageXD has been accepted for publication in Nature Methods, the top journal in the field. Among other things, the BioImageXD software ...

The perception of corruption in Spain is above the European average

2012-06-27
According to a study by the Rey Juan Carlos University, data on objective corruption in Spain are higher in politics than in administrative-official institutions. However, the perception of Spaniards is a lot higher. Researchers at the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) have analysed how corruption is perceived in Spain. They believe that the "echo phenomenon" is fundamental when trying to understand the origin of corruption because it creates social attitudes which lead to the unfulfillment of civic duties. "As citizens not only do we act according to our own interests, ...

The academic jungle: Ecosystem model reveals why women are driven out of science

2012-06-27
Understanding how a species battles to sustain itself in a challenging habitat is a cornerstone of ecological research; now scientists have applied this approach to science itself to discover why women are being driven out of academia. Their results, published in Oikos, reveals how a gender imbalance in science and academia is maintained by institutional barriers. "In ecology a species can only establish itself and develop if the population exceeds a certain threshold," said Dr Katherine O'Brien from the University of Queensland, Australia. "It's similar for researchers ...

NTU's new loo turns poo into power

2012-06-27
Scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have invented a new toilet system that will turn human waste into electricity and fertilisers and also reduce the amount of water needed for flushing by up to 90 per cent compared to current toilet systems in Singapore. Dubbed the No-Mix Vacuum Toilet, it has two chambers that separate the liquid and solid wastes. Using vacuum suction technology, such as those used in aircraft lavatories, flushing liquids would now take only 0.2 litres of water while flushing solids require just one litre. The existing conventional ...

Nanodiamonds cut through dirt to bring back 'bling' to low-temperature laundry

2012-06-27
Nanodiamonds, pieces of carbon less than ten-thousandths the diameter of a human hair, have been found to help loosen crystallized fat from surfaces in a project led by research chemists at the University of Warwick that transforms the ability of washing powders to shift dirt in eco friendly low temperature laundry cycles. These new findings tackle a problem that forces consumers to wash some of their laundry at between 60 and 90 degrees centigrade more than 80 times a year. Even with modern biological washing powders, some fats and dirt cannot be removed at the lower ...

Browsing without the hurdles

2012-06-27
For companies in Germany, web accessibility has never been a compelling issue until now – this was also confirmed by a series of tests conducted in 2011 by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT in Sankt Augustin. The scientists at the Web Compliance Center used their analysis tools to test the "web compliance" – or adherence to international web standards – among the Internet sites of German companies listed on the DAX. The outcome: 90 percent of the websites exhibited substantial flaws. For instance, important data could only be found after much ...

Countering crowd control collapse

2012-06-27
Physicists investigating a recent crowd disaster in Germany found that one of the key causes was that at some point the crowd dynamics turned turbulent, akin to behaviour found in unstable fluid flows. The study, led by Dirk Helbing from the Risk Center at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich, Switzerland, is published in EPJ Data Science¹. Never before have crowd disasters been studied by relying on a qualitative analysis of large public data sets. These include media and public authority reports, YouTube videos, Google Earth maps, 360˚ photographs, ...

Storm researcher calls for new air safety guidelines

2012-06-27
Aircraft turbulence guidelines should be rewritten after new research revealed thunderstorms could produce unexpected turbulence more than 100km away from storm cells. The research by University of Melbourne and the Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science researcher, Dr Todd Lane, has highlighted the impact of atmospheric gravity waves caused by thunderstorms and how air safety guidelines have not taken them into account. "It is likely that many reports of encounters with turbulence are caused by thunderstorm generated gravity waves, making them far more ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

What’s behind the enormous increase in early-onset gastrointestinal cancers?

Pharmacogenomics expert advances precision medicine for bipolar disorder

Brazilian researcher explores centenarian stem cells for aging insights

Dr. Xuyu Qian's breakthrough analysis of 18 million brain cells advances understanding of human brain development

Gene networks decode human brain architecture from health to glioma

How artificial light at night damages brain health and metabolism

For ultrasound, ultra-strength not always a good thing

Matching your workouts to your personality could make exercising more enjoyable and give you better results

Study shows people perceive biodiversity

Personality type can predict which forms of exercise people enjoy

People can accurately judge biodiversity through sight and sound

People diagnosed with dementia are living longer, global study shows

When domesticated rabbits go feral, new morphologies emerge

Rain events could cause major failure of Waikīkī storm drainage by 2050

Breakthrough in upconversion luminescence research: Uncovering the energy back transfer mechanism

Hidden role of 'cell protector' opens cancer treatment possibilities

How plants build the microbiome they need to survive in a tough environment

Depression due to politics and its quiet danger to democracy addressed in new book 'The Sad Citizen'

International experts and patients unite to help ensure all patients are fully informed before consenting to new surgical procedures

Melting glaciers could trigger more explosive eruptions globally, finds research

Nearly half of U.S. grandchildren live within 10 miles of a grandparent

Study demonstrates low-cost method to remove CO₂ from air using cold temperatures, common materials

Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) welcomes 13 students to prestigious Summer Fellowship program

Mass timber could elevate hospital construction

A nuanced model of soil moisture illuminates plant behavior and climate patterns

$2.6 million NIH grant backs search for genetic cure in deadly heart disease

Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program changed drastically when anxiety was added as a qualifying condition

1 in 5 overweight adults could be reclassified with obesity according to new framework

Findings of study on how illegally manufactured fentanyl enters U.S. contradict common assumptions, undermining efforts to control supply

Satellite observations provide insight into post-wildfire forest recovery

[Press-News.org] New invasive imaging technique to monitor brain function