President Obama's BRAIN Initiative seeks to Map the Human Brain

 The Obama administration’s proposed initiative, Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN), offers a new surge towards mapping the human brain. A new understanding of the brain could provide promising new treatments for conditions such as traumatic brain injuries, Alzheimer’s, autism, and strokes among others. As a linchpin of this initiative, President Obama has asked Congress to contribute $100 million in 2014 to researchers studying the complexities of the brain. Describing BRAIN, Obama notes, “As humans we can identify galaxies light-years away. We can study particles smaller than an atom, but we still haven’t unlocked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears.” Hopefully, Congress will get on board with the President and make this worthwhile investment in understanding the brain through BRAIN!

To learn more about the BRAIN Initiative, check out the below links...

NPR: President Obama Calls for a BRAIN Initiative

The White House: President Obama is Callin on the Science Community to Join Him in Pursuing a Grand Challenge

or watch Dr. Francis Collins, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, describe BRAIN in this quick video

Featuring the New Sand-Proof, Ocean Wheelchair in Deerfield Beach, Florida

A Flordian couple has made it their goal to allow wheelchair users in their community access to a place where their wheels often sink: the beach. With the new "Ocean Wheelchairs,"people with mobility limitations can more easily enjoy the sandy beaches and the salty ocean. Check out the video below or the article posted by CSB Miami. 

"Deerfield Beach Rolls Out 'Ocean Wheelchair,'" CBS Miami 

PhD Thesis Determines that “Hand Surgery Enhances Life Quality for those with Spinal Cord Injuries”

Patient's hand before surgery (photo credit: University of Gothenburg, The Sahlgrenska Academy)Johanna Wangdell, a PhD student at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, wrote her thesis on the benefits of hand surgery for survivors of cervical spinal cord injuries. Johanna’s is the first study to focus on the “patient viewpoint” of the benefits of such surgeries. Johanna interviewed every patient that had hand reconstruction surgery at Sahlgrenska Univsity Hospital since 2003; Salgrenska has pioneered this procedure and has been performing and enhancing it since the 1970s. According to the results of her research, the majority of patients are extremely satisfied with the results of the surgery.  As Johnanna discovered, “The surgery doesn’t only deliver a physical benefit in the form of increased gripping strength. The ability to eat independently, to carry out household chores and leisure activities offers mental rewards which benefit our social life, our daily habits and the roles we perform. Knowing that you can handle things yourself…is, in many cases, invaluable.” 

Patient's hand after surgery (photo credit: University of Gothenburg, The Sahlgrenska Academy)While patients report increased ability and satisfaction with the surgery, it is not conducted very frequently outside of Sweden. While 4 of 10 spinal cord injury survivors receive the hand surgery in Sweden, the number is only 1 of 10 in the United States. As a result of her study, Johanna hopes that her research “will contribute to the surgery becoming available much more widely, both in Sweden and the rest of the world.”

Click the following link to learn more about Johanna Wangdells research on The University of Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska Academy website: “Hand surgery enhances life quality for those with spinal cord injuries”

New Technology Gives those without Speech the Gift of Their Own Voice

Samantha Grimaldo shown above courtesy of NPRSamantha Grimaldo, born with a rare disorder called Perisylvian syndrome, lost her ability to speak and has always needed to carry a machine to do the talking for her. She types in what she wants to say and the device repeats those words out loud. Even though the voice device nowadays is much smaller and portable, Samantha doesn’t like the sound of the voice that speaks for her. “Because it’s weird and older. I don’t want people to hear,” says 17-year-old Samantha.

Fortunately, Rupal Patel, a speech scientist at Northeastern University, is on a mission to individualize voices for the speaking device. She has asked kids with speech disorders to come into her lab and make a throaty “ahhhhh” sound. She records the sound, runs it through the computer and analyzes its inherent characteristics. “We can determine their pitch, the loudness, the breathiness of their voice, and the changes in clarity,” Patel says. Rupal Patel, Speech Scientist at Northeastern University, shown above (photo from NPR) Next, she takes the recording of a similar voice and combines it with the pitch, breathiness and other determined characteristics to create a unique voice for each individual. Samantha is one of the first to experience this new technology and it turns out that her voice is clear, light, and definitely one of a young girl her age.

Check out the following link to read or listen to this story as reported on National Public Radio News: "New Voices for the Voiceless: Synthetic Speech Gets an Upgrade," by Alex Spiegel

BrainLine.org: "20 Life-Changing Android Apps for People with Brain Injury"

We recently learned of BrainLine.org which offers many great resources for "preventing, treating, and living with traumatic brain injury." Click here to check out BrainLine's new segment on smartphone apps that can help those living with brain injuries.