Rewiring Hope: A Custom-Fit Approach to Depression
When you break a bone, it’s easy to point to the problem and where to fix it. With a brain tumor, you need an image of the brain to locate it. Some tumors are harder to remove than others, but it is possible to see exactly where the trouble is. Depression, however, is different. It isn’t caused by something you can see on a scan. Instead, it comes from faulty connections that are spread diffusely throughout the brain. According to a recent study, custom-fit brain stimulation, through a technique known as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) might give doctors a new tool to fine-tune the brain’s wiring.
Zooming in on Alzheimer’s: Ex vivo mapping of the dentate gyrus using 16.4T MRI
Advanced techniques in neuroimaging technology are pushing the boundaries of how neuroscientists study Alzheimer’s disease. While there’s no lack of research related to Alzheimer’s disease, we’re still a long way from understanding exactly what exactly the disease does to the brain. Modern MRI methods have allowed doctors and researchers to study smaller and smaller parts of the brain.
Defaulting to the default mode of your brain during meditation
Have you ever wondered what your brain does when you are seemingly doing nothing? Obviously, you can decide what you will think of, but you cannot decide to “shut down” the activity of your brain.