Optical brain scanner goes where other brain scanners can’t

Optical brain scanner goes where other brain scanners can’t

Scientists have advanced a brain-scanning technology that tracks what the brain is doing by shining dozens of tiny LED lights on the head. The technique compares favorably to other approaches but avoids the radiation exposure and bulky magnets the others require, according to new research at the School of Medicine.

Brain regions ‘tune’ activity to enable attention

The brain appears to synchronize the activity of different brain regions to make it possible for a person to pay attention or concentrate on a task, scientists at the School of Medicine have learned. Pictured is the study’s first author, graduate student researcher Amy Daitch.

Daydreaming simulated by computer model

Scientists have created a virtual model of the brain that daydreams like humans do. They hope the model will help them understand why certain portions of the brain work together when a person daydreams or is mentally idle. Shown is the study’s senior author, Maurizio Corbetta, MD.

Cooling may prevent trauma-induced epilepsy

In the weeks, months and years after a severe head injury, patients often experience epileptic seizures that are difficult to control. A new study in rats suggests that gently cooling the brain after injury may prevent these seizures.

Looking after the babies

A strong work ethic and the importance of family has fueled Terrie E. Inder’s  passion for determining the impact of premature birth on brain injury and development in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Improving stroke care focus of new collaboration

Stroke experts at Washington University in St. Louis, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis are forming a collaborative group to ensure that clinicians share data to improve patient care and advance the development of new treatments.

WUSTL engineers find common ground in brain folding, heart development

Photo by David KilperLarry A.Taber, Ph.D., (left) the Dennis and Barbara Kessler Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Philip Bayly, Ph.D., the Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering, employ a microindentation device to measure the mechanical properties of embryonic hearts and brains. The researchers are examining mechanical and developmental processes that occur in the folding of the brain’s surface, or cortex, which gives the higher mammalian brain more surface area (and more intellectual capacity) than a brain of comparable volume with a smooth surface.

WUSTL engineers find common ground in brain folding, heart development

Engineers at Washington University in St. Louis are finding common ground between the shaping of the brain and the heart during embryonic development. Larry A.Taber, Ph.D., the Dennis and Barbara Kessler Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Philip Bayly, Ph.D., the Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering, are examining mechanical and developmental processes that occur in the folding of the brain’s surface, or cortex, which gives the higher mammalian brain more surface area (and hence more intellectual capacity) than a brain of comparable volume with a smooth surface.
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