/ News
New neurons in diseased brain region
In a study published in the journal Cell, scientists at Karolinska Institutet show that new neurons are generated in the adult human striatum through measurements of carbon-14 that resulted from nuclear-testing. This discovery of another neuron-generating brain region, which was made by Professor Jonas Frisén and his colleagues, could hold promise for future neurological therapies.
Adult humans continuously produce new neurons in the striatum, a brain region involved in motor control and cognitive functions, and these neurons could play an important role in recovery from stroke and possibly finding new treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, according to a new study. To detect the birth of new neurons in the striatum, Professor Jonas Frisén and colleagues used a method that measures carbon-14 found in human DNA as a result of above-ground nuclear testing more than half a century ago. The results reveal a surprise finding of new neurons in a human brain structure where they haven’t been previously described. This in turn may open up new avenues to treat diseases and disorders that affect the striatum.
“A wide variety of disorders may affect the striatum, including acquired conditions such as stroke and also genetically inherited disorders such as Huntington’s disease,” says study author Aurélie Vallier Ernst of the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Karolinska Institutet. “We identified a unique pattern of neurogenesis in the adult human brain that might potentially be useful for the development of novel therapies for some of these neurological diseases.”
Adult humans and other mammals produce immature neurons in several brain regions, including the lateral ventricle wall. In rodents, new neurons in this brain structure migrate to the olfactory bulb, a brain region involved in odor perception. But this is not the case in humans, possibly because the sense of smell is less important for us than for other mammals. The fate of new neurons born in the lateral ventricle wall of humans had been a mystery.
Taking part of the study work did also researchers from Uppsala University, and universities in the USA and France. Funding organizations were the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the Tobias Foundation, AFA Insurance, the ERC, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Torsten Söderberg Foundation, Karolinska Institutet’s StratRegen Program, and the Stockholm County Council (ALF).
Source: http://ki.se/en/news/new-neurons-in-diseased-brain-region
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.