IoP Neuroscientists develop new 'Brain' App

Image taken from the 'Brain' Study Room

A team of neuroscientists from the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King’s College London have developed a digital atlas of the human brain for iPad. The ‘Brain’ App is the first of its kind, and is based on cutting edge neuro-imaging research from the NatBrainLab at the IoP. 

Dr. Marco Catani, Head of the NatBrainLab who led the development of the App with Dr. Flavio Dell’Acqua and Dr. Michel Thiebaut de Schotten, said: “For 10 years our lab has pioneered the use of highly advanced neuro-imaging techniques. This is the first time that imaging methods usually only applied to research have been used in an educational App. It’s very exciting to see our work transformed into such an accessible, fun and beautiful tool.”

Two types of scans were used to develop the content of ‘Brain’ – results from an MRI scan reveal the structural properties of the brain, and images from a Diffusion Tractography scan allow the user to identify connections in the brain. 

The App is split into two virtual rooms. The Dissection Room allows the user to play with a 3D human brain, select individual structures and ‘pull’ them apart to visualize their anatomical features. The Study Room then offers a more thorough explanation of functional aspects and their relationship to neurological and psychiatric disorders. 

Dr. Catani adds: “The interactive nature of our App really allows you to explore the depths of the neural network and appreciate the complexity of the human brain. Because the content is based directly on research, the finished product is an accurate reflection of the real thing.”

Image taken from the 'Brain' Dissection Room

Dr. Catani and his team are now working towards developing the next version of the App. By integrating scans from several different brains into the programme, they hope to be able to offer the user the chance to see directly how the brain develops from childhood to old age and the direct effect of different age-related disorders on the brain.

The App is currently being used by Dr. Catani and his colleagues to teach MSc students neuroscience.

More information: Marco Catani and Michel Thiebaut de Schotten are also due to publish the ‘Atlas of Human Brain Connections’ in May 2012, for more information, please visit the Oxford University Press website

Provided by King's College London

"IoP Neuroscientists develop new 'Brain' App." March 30th, 2012.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-iop-neuroscientists-brain-app.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Stimulate brain, problem solved

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

More than 40% of the people in the research were able to solve the nine dots problem after receiving 10 minutes of safe, non-invasive brain stimulation. Image: Henrik5000iStockphoto Brain stimulation can markedly improve people's ability to solve highly complex problems, a recent University of Sydney study suggests. The findings by Professor Allan Snyder and Richard Chi, from the University of Sydney, are published in Neuroscience Letters. "The results suggest non-invasive brain stimulation could assist people in solving tasks that appear straightforward but are inherently difficult," said Professor Snyder. Our minds have evolved to solve certain problems effortlessly, yet we struggle to solve others that appear simple but require us to apply an unfamiliar paradigm, to 'think outside the box'. "As an example we have taken the famous nine dots problem, where you are asked to join all the dots with four straight lines without taking the pen off the page," Professor Snyder said. "Surprisingly, investigations over the last century show that almost no one can do this." Now the researchers have shown that more than 40% of the people they tested were able to solve the nine dots problem after receiving 10 minutes of safe, non-invasive brain stimulation. Specifically the left anterior temporal lobe of the brain is inhibited while simultaneously the right anterior temporal lobe is excited, employing a technique known as transcranial direct current stimulation. Using the same procedure the researchers have previously reported success in amplifying insight and memory. Chi and Snyder suggest that their unique brain stimulation protocol could ultimately enable people to "escape the tricks our minds impose on us," as Professor Snyder describes it, and solve tasks that appear deceptively simple. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Public is less willing to pay to avoid mental illness than general medical illnes

People are less willing to pay to avoid mental illness than medical illness, even though they recognize that severe mental illnesses can dramatically lower quality of life, according to new research published in the April issue of Psychiatric Services, a journal of the American Psychiatric Association.

Researchers provided a nationally representative sample of 710 adults with descriptions of two mental illnesses (depression and schizophrenia) and three general medical illnesses (diabetes, belowthe-knee amputation, and partial blindness). Participants were asked their willingness to pay to avoid each illness: “Suppose a pill existed that would allow you to permanently and completely avoid ever having [health condition]. . . . Please estimate the maximum dollar amount you would be willing and able to pay monthly for this treatment?” Participants were only asked to make decisions for themselves, not for others or the public. Respondents were also asked to rate the “burdensomeness” of each condition.

The researchers found that even though respondents rated the two mental illnesses as relatively more burdensome than the other conditions, the amount they were willing to pay to avoid them was 40% lower. Depression received a higher burden value than diabetes or amputation and a value nearly equal to partial blindness. Despite this rating, depression received the lowest willingness-topay value. Even when researchers eliminated responses of those who had experienced any of the health conditions, none of the findings were substantially altered.

While the study had a number of limitations, it did demonstrate that people were willing to pay significantly less to avoid mental illnesses than they were to avoid other medical illnesses and that this was not the result of minimizing the burden and impact of mental illness. The results suggest, according to the authors, led by Dylan M. Smith, Ph.D., with Stony Brook University, that efforts to “eliminate the gap between mental health conditions and general health conditions will likely require targeting specific beliefs that people have about mental illnesses and the value of treatments for mental illness.” The authors conclude that “public attitudes likely influence how much payers for health care are willing to spend to treat mental illness and how likely federal agencies are to invest in research.”

Provided by American Psychiatric Association

"Public is less willing to pay to avoid mental illness than general medical illnes." March 30th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-mental-illness-medical-illnes.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek