New Artificial Neurons Will Help Heart Patients

Neurodegenerative diseases and heart disease have long been a major cause of concern for countless patients and their families across the globe. People who suffer from Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders, as well as heart failure face insurmountable challenges that can, at times, be impossible to overcome.

However, hope might be on the horizon!

Artificial neurons - a new discovery that might help fight heart ailments 

Artificial Neurons chip close up

An international team of scientists, led by a unit at the University of Bath in England along with other collaborators, has invented what is being called tiny "brain chips". These are basically artificial nerve cells – the first of their kind in the world – on silicon chips that will help fight chronic ailments like Alzheimer's, heart failure and other neurodegenerative diseases. 

The researchers have explained that these artificial neurons could help replace the neurons that have been lost to degenerative diseases. This is primarily the case in people who use medical implants to treat conditions like heart failure and Alzheimer's.​

Artificial Neurons alzheimer's

The team successfully modeled and obtained equations to explain how neurons respond to electrical stimuli from other nerves. This is a complicated process as the responses are non-linear. Then they went on to design silicon chips that precisely imitated real, living neurons and responded to a vast series of stimulations.

The research team accurately duplicated the entire dynamics of hippocampal neurons and respiratory neurons in rats. This was performed under a broad range of stimuli.

"Until now, neurons have been like black boxes, but we have managed to open the black box and peer inside," research lead Alain Nogaret was quoted as saying to the press. "Our work is paradigm-changing because it provides a robust method to reproduce the electrical properties of real neurons in minute detail,” he added.

How will artificial neurons help fight different health conditions?
 
Artificial Neurons heart attack
It is being said that these artificial neurons will behave like the real thing, meaning that they will replicate what nerve cells do naturally. Neurons carry nerve signals from the brain to the rest of the body. The neurons in people who have dementia generally decay or die. That is where these artificial neurons could help replace those decaying neurons and potentially cure or bring some relief to those patients. 

Artificial neurons will have the ability to repair the infected bio-circuits by duplicating their healthy function and responding to biological feedback to revive bodily functions. 

For instance, in some cases of heart failure, the neurons in the human brain fail to respond to the feedback from the nervous system. The heart thus doesn’t receive the proper signals from the nervous system and doesn’t pump the way it should. The artificial neurons’ ability to replicate healthy functions of the bio-circuit will help in transferring feedback to the nervous system, in this case, and respond in a way as when this brain to heart connection was healthy.

The same will also apply in case of a spinal cord injury where the neurons' processes have been cut off, and the artificial neurons will be able to reconnect the neural pathways in the place of injury.
 
How feasible are these artificial neurons?
The researchers are now working on developing smart pacemakers which, with the help of these artificial neurons, will help in stirring the heart into action. Basically, pacemakers will use the artificial neurons to react to the immediate pressure being put on the heart. 

At present, the focus of the researchers is on heart failure as they believe that this new technology will offer significant improvements in the life of heart patients.

"Beyond heart failure any neurodegenerative disease or disease of ion channels would naturally benefit from artificial neurons. Seizures, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease are diseases that come to mind and where there is a need for novel solutions in the medical community,” they added.

Interestingly, these chips require only  140 nanoWatts of power​ - that's only one billionth of the power of a microprocessor which makes them highly convenient for implants. 

The future?

This could be a revolutionary step in modern science and medical devices. It also opens up various horizons for people who suffer from neurological ailments and particularly those who have suffered from heart failure. Here is hoping that this would eventually genuinely help in making life easier for heart attack patients and others with degenerative diseases.


This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Being altruistic can increase your pain threshold

Acts that involve putting the interests of others before our own, for instance, volunteering, are known to have a positive impact on stress, depression and cognitive impairment. Moreover, it may even lead to an increased lifespan, reports CNN Health. The benefits of altruism don’t just end here, because as revealed by a 2017 study, acts of kindness led to reduced levels of pain in volunteers, who already suffered from chronic pain issues.

New researches on this phenomenon attribute the pain-reducing effect of altruism to its ability to deactivate the regions of the brain that respond to a painful stimulus. A series of studies published this Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences analyzed the effects of altruism on 287 people under different situations.

The first one revealed that the participants who volunteered to donate blood to earthquake victims had a reduced sensation of pain as against the ones who underwent a routine blood test. In this experiment, the blood donors showed better outcomes in spite of being pricked by a larger needle.

Another study observed the effects of discomfort caused by cold on participants who volunteered to revise handbooks for children of migrant workers. It turned out that the people who volunteered in the selfless act suffered less pain as compared to those who didn’t.

The next study asked cancer patients suffering from chronic pain to cook and clean either for themselves or for others. The participants reported a significant reduction in pain when they were working for others. The pain-reducing effects fell by 62 per cent of the participants who only worked for themselves.

The study that put forth the most compelling evidence tested the pain response of participants who were asked to consider donating money for orphans. Electric shocks were administered on the hands of the subjects while they were placed inside an MRI machine. The pain centres of the volunteers who donated money reacted less intensely as compared to the ones who didn’t give any donations. Moreover, the subjects who believed that their contribution would be more helpful towards the cause were less responsive to the painful electric shocks. So, an inverse relation was seen between the perceived usefulness of the altruistic act and the degree of perceived pain.

Previous research has established a link between kindness and the activation of the brain’s reward centres. Thus, reduction in pain when combined with a rush of happiness can synergistically improve our health and help us live longer.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement 

New Artificial Neurons Will Help Heart Patients

Neurodegenerative diseases and heart disease have long been a major cause of concern for countless patients and their families across the globe. People who suffer from Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders, as well as heart failure face insurmountable challenges that can, at times, be impossible to overcome.

However, hope might be on the horizon!

Artificial neurons - a new discovery that might help fight heart ailments 

An international team of scientists,  has invented what is being called tiny "brain chips". These are basically artificial nerve cells – the first of their kind in the world – on silicon chips that will help fight chronic ailments like Alzheimer's, heart failure and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The researchers have explained that these artificial neurons could help replace the neurons that have been lost to degenerative diseases. This is primarily the case in people who use medical implants to treat conditions like heart failure and Alzheimer's.

The team successfully modeled and obtained equations to explain how neurons respond to electrical stimuli from other nerves. This is a complicated process as the responses are non-linear. Then they went on to design silicon chips that precisely imitated real, living neurons and responded to a vast series of stimulations. 

The research team accurately duplicated the entire dynamics of hippocampal neurons and respiratory neurons in rats. This was performed under a broad range of stimuli. 

"Until now, neurons have been like black boxes, but we have managed to open the black box and peer inside," research lead Alain Nogaret was quoted as saying to the press. "Our work is paradigm-changing because it provides a robust method to reproduce the electrical properties of real neurons in minute detail,” he added.

How will artificial neurons help fight different health conditions?

It is being said that these artificial neurons will behave like the real thing, meaning that they will replicate what nerve cells do naturally. Neurons carry nerve signals from the brain to the rest of the body. The neurons in people who have dementia generally decay or die. That is where these artificial neurons could help replace those decaying neurons and potentially cure or bring some relief to those patients. 

Artificial neurons will have the ability to repair the infected bio-circuits by duplicating their healthy function and responding to biological feedback to revive bodily functions. 

For instance, in some cases of heart failure, the neurons in the human brain fail to respond to the feedback from the nervous system. The heart thus doesn’t receive the proper signals from the nervous system and doesn’t pump the way it should. The artificial neurons’ ability to replicate healthy functions of the bio-circuit will help in transferring feedback to the nervous system, in this case, and respond in a way as when this brain to heart connection was healthy.

The same will also apply in case of a spinal cord injury where the neurons' processes have been cut off, and the artificial neurons will be able to reconnect the neural pathways in the place of injury.

How feasible are these artificial neurons?

The researchers are now working on developing smart pacemakers which, with the help of these artificial neurons, will help in stirring the heart into action. Basically, pacemakers will use the artificial neurons to react to the immediate pressure being put on the heart. 

At present, the focus of the researchers is on heart failure as they believe that this new technology will offer significant improvements in the life of heart patients.

"Beyond heart failure any neurodegenerative disease or disease of ion channels would naturally benefit from artificial neurons. Seizures, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease are diseases that come to mind and where there is a need for novel solutions in the medical community,” they added.
Interestingly, these chips require only  140 nanoWatts of power - that's only one billionth of the power of a microprocessor which makes them highly convenient for implants. 
To know more about artificial neurons and how they may help heart attack patients, watch the video below.

The future?
This could be a revolutionary step in modern science and medical devices. It also opens up various horizons for people who suffer from neurological ailments and particularly those who have suffered from heart failure. Here is hoping that this would eventually genuinely help in making life easier for heart attack patients and others with degenerative diseases.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement     

How to Release Emotions Stuck in Your Body and Let Go of the Pain

We are emotional creatures, and we were born to express emotions freely and openly. Somewhere along the way, however, many of us learned to suppress emotions, especially those deemed “negative,” in order to fit in, earn love, and be accepted. This was my experience.

I grew up in a home where the motto was “Children are to be seen, not heard.” There was little emotional expression allowed, let alone accepted. No one was there to validate or help us process emotions in a healthy way. Anger was met with anger, fear went unacknowledged, and there was plenty of shame to go around.

My parents didn’t model how to deal with difficult emotions, as they struggled with that themselves. When those emotions showed up, I often felt overwhelmed and inadequate, ashamed of my failure to be a “good girl.”

I learned to bury my pain deep inside, feeling invisible, ashamed, angry, alone, and unable to ask for what I needed. Trying to hide the pain—from others and myself—I built walls, put on masks, and soldiered on. For better or worse.

My pain was buried so deep, I didn’t realize it was there until I had my own children. Motherhood opened up old wounds, the house of cards fell apart, and I began to unravel.

In my thirties, faced with growing angst and creeping depression—and motivated to be the best parent I could be to my children—I began to deal with repressed memories and old emotional residue that has left me suffering from C-PTSD, chronic back pain, sciatica, headaches, and anxiety.

As a child, I hid from the emotional pain by delving into the world of books, music, and academics. As an adult, I realized I was strong enough to face it. I wasn’t a little child anymore; I didn’t have to hide. Now I was more mature and had resources I needed to finally face the pain that used to overwhelm my young brain—and begin to heal it.

The truth is, we all hide our emotions occasionally. We pretend, avoid, and deny uncomfortable emotions in an effort of self-preservation, as a defense mechanism.

We do this most often with difficult emotions like shame, fear, or anger. When we experience events that emotionally overwhelm us and we’re unable to process what is happening, accept our emotions, and express them through our body and mind, we hide them deep inside us where others can’t see them. And we end up hiding them from ourselves too. Yet, they’re still there.

The unresolved emotions get trapped in our body where they build and fester, draining our energy, leading to burnout, emotional imbalance, and eventually disease. When we chronically repress emotions, we create toxiciy in our body, mind, and heart.

This unprocessed emotional energy is stored in our organs, muscles, and tissues. It leads to inflammation and chronic health problems, and it undermines our overall well-being.

3 Steps to Processing Emotional Energy Stuck in Your Body

The opposite of repression is expression. In order to process our emotional distress and move it though and out of our body so it doesn’t get stuck there, we need to learn to express our emotions in a healthy way, in the body and mind. But first, we need to learn to recognize and accept our feelings as they come and go.

Step 1: Recognize (self-awareness)

The challenge is to recognize the emotion and feel it in your body. This is where mindfulness comes in. The goal is to notice what is happening within our body, accept it, and feel it fully, without judgment.

If you’ve ever come across Tara Brach’s teachings on radical acceptance, the practice of R.A.I.N. should sound familiar. R.A.I.N. stands for recognize, allow, investigate, and nourish (with self-compassion), and it “directly de-conditions the habitual ways in which you resist your moment-to-moment experience,” according to the teacher.

Buddhist teachings tell us that human suffering is caused by aversion and resistance to what is happening. Acceptance is liberating, and the practice of R.A.I.N. teaches us to accept our moment-to-moment experience instead of running from it. It teaches us to face any difficulty head on, with self-compassion and the understanding that it will eventually pass.

We have to feel it to heal it—we have to fully experience the emotion in order to process and integrate it into our experience.

But we must feel it in the body; this is the critical point. As Brach writes, “If the process of including difficult emotions in awareness stops at the level of cognitive understanding without a fully embodied experience, the genuine acceptance, insight, and inner freedom that are the essence of true healing will not be complete.”

Practice mindfulness to get better at recognizing your feelings and observing the bodily sensations connected to those feelings, as they come and go throughout the day. Offer yourself self-compassion as you go through more difficult emotions.

PRACTICE:
Sit still for few minutes with your eyes closed. Listen to your body and become curious.
What does your body feel like right now? Is there any pressure or tingling? Where? Do you feel heavy, hot, contracted, warm, or cold? What is the texture, weight, and shape of sensations you notice in your body? What emotions are those sensations connected to? Can you breathe into the parts that call your attention? What do those parts of your body want to tell you? What do they want?

Step 2: Respond (self-expression)

Emotions need to be expressed to be processed. The goal is to move the energy of emotion through and out the body so we can let it go.

This self-expression must be authentic and embodied. Remember, true healing occurs when body and mind integrate, so express the emotion on the bodily level first and foremost.

Still sitting, Ask yourself: What does this emotion you just connected with need from you? What feels right in this moment? What do you need?

Maybe you feel the need to cry, scream into a pillow, go for a swim, walk or run, dance it out, hit a punching bag, do some gardening, tapping, yoga or TRE, paint your feelings out, or simply breathe deeply while facing the sun—whatever feels cathartic in that moment, do it.

You will free the poisonous emotion that you carried within yourself, and free yourself from its shackles.

Follow this step with one of the best forms of emotional healing—journaling. Writing can be a very therapeutic experience of self-discovery, reconnecting with our true self, and processing our deepest feelings and emotions.

When we write we give our internal world a voice. We process and make sense of what is happening within us and around us. And we gain perspective; by writing about our fears and hurts we can look at them from a distance, detach from their grip, and eventually let them go. That release can be truly healing.

Practice journaling every day to get better at expressing and processing your feelings. Don’t censor or judge yourself; let it all out, completely unfiltered. Over time, your journal will become a safe space for you to free yourself, get unstuck, and move forward.

We often don’t have the time and space to process emotions in the moment, so make sure you allow yourself the space to feel the emotions you’ve had through the day and journal about it at the end of each day.

WRITING PROMPT
What is happening in your life right now that you wish you could change? What is the biggest source of frustration? As you write, notice the sensations in your body. Tune into the parts that are numb, in pain, or frozen. What are they trying to tell you? What needs healing, attention, or change?

Step 3: Reset (self-care)

If we’ve habitually neglected our bodies and ignored our emotions, we have to re-dedicate ourselves to body-mind self-care, and indulge in healing habits that will bring in the feeling of well-being.
The goal is to realign back with your authentic self, reset back to a relaxed and open state, and come back into wellness and balance.

Take time to slow down and be alone, get out into nature, make art, listen to music while you cook your favorite dinner, meditate to cleanse your mind and relax your body, take a bubble bath or a nap to restore. Take good care of yourself to awaken to life’s joy and simple pleasures that will nourish your body, mind, and soul.

My Own Healing Journey

When I decided to take charge over my own healing , I had no idea where to start. A lifelong book worm, I quickly discovered writing to be therapeutic. It became my refuge, a place where I could connect with my inner world in an authentic way. Writing became my most trusted way of processing emotions I didn’t even know I harbored inside since childhood. I discovered shame, anger, fear, grief, and eventually, self-compassion.

With mindfulness, I learned to allow my pain to surface, if only for a brief time, then surround it with tender love and care. My pain was a part of me and I was done running from it; it was time I faced it.
I learned to sense into my body, little by little, as the anxiety of reconnecting with my physical sensations was very powerful. But I realized the only way out was through—through the body—so in order to move the stuck emotions that had a tight grip over me for decades I had to allow and accept them, I had to feel the anger, the shame, the grief.

Slowly, I learned to give my inner child the support she never received. I listened to and validated her pain—and helped her let go of it. I learned to love and accept her. And I finally learned to love and accept myself.

Healing is a taxing process. Remember to give yourself all the care and compassion you would give to a friend doing this hard work. Offer yourself understanding, love, and care. This is hard work, and you are doing the best you can with what you’ve got.

Trapped emotions get in our way. They sabotage our efforts to create the life we want and make us miserable along the way. Freeing this emotional energy stuck in our bodies can shift our lives in a positive way. It’s healing and liberating. And you are worth it!

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Novel body awareness training to combat drug addiction

Mindful body awareness training may help women recover from drug addiction, say researchers as they find improvements in the study participants.

The findings suggests that the training helps people better understand the physical and emotional signals in their body and how they can respond to these to help them better regulate and engage in self-care.

We could teach this intervention successfully in 8 weeks to a very distressed population, and participants not only really learned these skills, they maintained increases in body awareness and regulation over the year long study period, said the lead author.

For the study, the team studied 187 women at 3 locations. The cohort, all women in treatment for substance use disorder(SUD), was split into 3 relatively equal groups.

Every group continued with their regular SUD trreatment. One group received SUD treatment only, another group was taught mindfulness technique in addition to treatment, and the 3rd group received a women's education curriculum in addition to treatment.

The training included one-on-one coaching in an outpatient setting, in addition to the substance use disorder treatment the women were already receiving. The intervention is called MIndful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT) and combines manual, mindfulness and psycho-educational approached to teach interoceptive awareness and related self-care skills. Women were tested at the beginning, and at 3, 6 and 12 months on a number of factors including substance use, distress craving, emotion regulation ( self-report and psychophysiology), mindfulness skills and interoceptive awareness.

The team found that there were lasting improvements in these areas for those who received the MABT intervention, but not for the other 2 study groups.

Those who received MABT relapsed less, the researcher said.

By learning to attend to their bodies, they learned important skills for better self-care, she noted.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

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Mindful body awareness training may help women recover from drug addiction, say researchers as they find improvements in the study participants. The findings suggests that the training helps people better understand the physical and emotional signals in their body and how they can respond to these to help them better regulate and engage in self-care. "We could teach this intervention successfully in eight weeks to a very distressed population, and participants not only really learned these skills, they maintained increases in body awareness and regulation over the year-long study period," said lead author Cynthia J. Price from the University of Washington.

https://www.thehansindia.com/life-style/health/novel-body-awareness-training-to-combat-drug-addiction-521908