BrainMatters

Brainmatters_nl

In society, brains and brain research rightfully get a lot of attention, it is of growing importance to take care that this attention is focused on the right things. Where the media doesn’t always have the opportunity or resources to elaborate on “brain news”, science should jump in. We would like to offer you the opportunity to learn about the brain. Therefore, we will regularly present the newest brain research on this website from all over the world, in an accessible and scientifically responsible way. So make sure to stay tuned!

Episodes

  1. 10/15/2024

    S01E02 - Dr Brett Kagan & Dr Forough Habibollahi from Cortical Labs on building neuron-based processors and the search for synthetic biological intelligence.

    Dr Kagan is chief scientific officer at Cortical Labs, leading their development of synthetic biocomputing technology. Dr Habibollahi is a data scientist at Cortical Labs. She completed her PhD at UniMelb and has also studied in Iran and Switzerland. To email Cortical Labs: info@corticallabs.com To reach out to Dr Kagan for discussion: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-kagan-6ba996146/ For Dr Habibollahi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forough-habibollahi-a18581b5/ Cortical Labs socials YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq4mqLeGRdq47sHumYMIDJw Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/corticallabs/ // For a good visualisation of the potential of synthetic biocomputing, see this video featuring Cortical Labs' research: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEXefdbQDjw // Research mentioned in the episode in order of appearance: Brett J. Kagan, Andy C. Kitchen, Nhi T. Tran, Forough Habibollahi, Moein Khajehnejad, Bradyn J. Parker, Anjali Bhat, Ben Rollo, Adeel Razi, and Karl J. Friston (2022) In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodied in a simulated gameworld, Neuron, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.09.001 Friston, K. The free-energy principle: a unified brain theory?. Nat Rev Neurosci 11, 127–138 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2787 Brett J. Kagan, Daniela Duc, Ian Stevens & Frederic Gilbert (2022) Neurons Embodied in a Virtual World: Evidence for Organoid Ethics?, AJOB Neuroscience, 13:2, 114-117, DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2022.2048731

    27 min
  2. 10/08/2024

    S01E01 - Prof. Colin Masters on the amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease.

    Professor Colin Masters is a professor at the Florey Institute of the Neuroscience and Mental Health and the University of Melbourne. In this episode, he recounts his pivotal role in the establishment of the amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease and the stages of research that led to his current work on treatments and biomarkers. Here is an excerpt from his bio on the Florey page: "Over the last 40 years, his work is widely acknowledged as having had a major influence on Alzheimer’s disease research worldwide, particularly the collaborative studies conducted with Konrad Beyreuther in which they discovered the proteolytic neuronal origin of the Aβ amyloid protein, which causes Alzheimer’s disease. This work has led to the continued development of diagnostics and therapeutic strategies and has been recognised by the receipt of many international awards." To reach out to Prof Masters for discussion: https://florey.edu.au/researcher/colin-masters/ Research mentioned in the episode in order of appearance: Masters CL, Kakulas BA, Alpers MP, Gajdusek DC, Gibbs CJ Jr. Preclinical lesions and their progression in the experimental spongiform encephalopathies (kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) in primates. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 1976; 35: 593-605. Masters CL, Simms G, Weinman NA, Multhaup G, McDonald BL, Beyreuther K. Amyloid plaque core protein in Alzheimer disease and Down syndrome. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1985; 82: 4245-4249. Dyrks T, Weidemann A, Multhaup G, Salbaum JM, Lemaire H-G, Kang J, Müller-Hill B, Masters CL, Beyreuther K. Identification, transmembrane orientation and biogenesis of the amyloid A4 precursor of Alzheimer's disease. EMBO J 1988; 7: 949-957. Randy L. Buckner, Abraham Z. Snyder, Benjamin J. Shannon, Gina LaRossa, Rimmon Sachs, Anthony F. Fotenos, Yvette I. Sheline, William E. Klunk, Chester A. Mathis, John C. Morris, Mark A. Mintun. Molecular, Structural, and Functional Characterization of Alzheimer's Disease: Evidence for a Relationship between Default Activity, Amyloid, and Memory. Journal of Neuroscience 24 August 2005, 25 (34) 7709-7717; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2177-05.2005 Nakamura A, Kaneko N, Villemagne VL, Kato T, Doecke J, Doré V, Fowler C, Li QX, Martins R, Rowe C, Tomita T, Matsuzaki K, Ishii K[enji], Ishii K[anzunari], Arahata Y, Iwamoto S, Ito K, , Tanaka K, Masters CL, Yanagisawa K. High performance plasma amyloid-β biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. Nature 2018; 554: 249-254. Burnham SC, Laws SM, Budgeon CA, Doré V, Porter T, Bourgeat P, Buckley RF, Murray K, Ellis KA, Turlack BA, Salvado O , Ames D, Martins RN, Rentz D, Masters CL, Rowe CC, Villemagne VL, for the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, and the AIBL Research Group. Impact of APOE- ε4 carriage on the onset and rates of neocortical Aβ-amyloid deposition. Neurobiol Aging 2020; 95: 46-55. Gu BJ, Huang X, Ou A, Rembach A, Fowler C, Avula PK, Horton A, Doecke JD, Villemagne VL, Macaulay SL, Maruff P, Fletcher EL, Guymer R, Wiley JS, Masters CL. The Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study. Innate phagocytosis by peripheral blood monocytes is altered in Alzhiemer’s disease. Acta Neuropath 2016; 132: 377-389.

    24 min

About

In society, brains and brain research rightfully get a lot of attention, it is of growing importance to take care that this attention is focused on the right things. Where the media doesn’t always have the opportunity or resources to elaborate on “brain news”, science should jump in. We would like to offer you the opportunity to learn about the brain. Therefore, we will regularly present the newest brain research on this website from all over the world, in an accessible and scientifically responsible way. So make sure to stay tuned!