SERI Summer Science Camp 2014

Every summer, the Scientific Education and Research Institute transforms into a place of learning, laughter, and fun! Students from 3rd through 12th grade attend a series of four-day summer science camps where they participate in a variety of exciting activities and experiments emphasizing science related topics such as physics, chemistry, biology, and forensics. This year,…

DARPA Taps NeuroPace For Memory Loss Trial

NeuroPace teams up with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to examine use of implanted neurostimulators to help restore memory. Epilepsy treatment devices maker NeuroPace hopes to expand its clinical applications by supporting a research initiative to evaluate neurostimulation implants in treatment of memory deficits. NeuroPace joined forces with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency…

Sleep Strengthens Memory

A new study provides important physical evidence to support the idea that sleep helps cement and strengthen new memories. Published in the journal Science, the study shows sleep after learning causes very specific structural changes in the brain – namely growth of connections between brain cells that help them pass information to each other. Senior…

Research Suggests That Rats Experience Regret

Regret has been previously assumed to be specific to humans. However, new research published in the journal Nature Neuroscience suggests that rats may also possess this cognitive behavior. Previous research has suggested that there are social benefits to regret in humans, for instance, that regret helps us to learn and prepare for the future. “Regret…

Scientists Reverse Aging in Old Mice

Maybe call it “The Curious Case of Benjamin Mousebutton.” In a development that may be a signpost pointing to one aspect of an effective anti-aging medication, a team of researchers primarily from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Stanford University has shown that transfusions of blood from young mice have reversed some of…

Startup Offers Hope for Paralyzed Patients

Patients with spinal cord injuries and other forms of paralysis have reason to be optimistic, thanks to recent advances in the use of spinal-cord stimulator devices to regain some lower limb function. A recently announced study reporting how four paralyzed patients regained lower limb function may be just the beginning of a wave of advances in…

Google Glass Prompts Startup Apps For Doctors

Google Glass Prompts Startup Apps For Doctors

This week, Google opened Google Glass sales to the general public for one day only and before the day ended the limited supply of Glass devices that Google offered sold out. While there is clearly some demand for the wearable device, another camp is more skeptical about the role Google Glass will play in the…

Spinal Stimulator Helps Patients Regain Movement

Four patients with lower limb paralysis were able to move their legs on command after implantation with a Medtronic spinal stimulator, traditionally used to manage chronic pain. Four patients were able to move their legs on command for the first time in more than 2 years after undergoing surgery to implant a Medtronic spinal cord…