I highly recommend it. The professor is one cute little genius. Check this presentation of hers for a taste of what you're up 'against':

http://youtu.be/WpoQSN2VpbQ

This course allows one to finally update what most people learn about genetics (and when I say 'most' I'm already referring to the actual few who 'actually' learn anything at all), even in the biomedical and pharmacochemical sciences... Not that I particularly enjoy knowing more than most per se (alright you got me =P) but it is just that most people are pretty ignorant.. or are they?

So, if you want to discuss this stuff, I'll be right here WAITING (lol), I sorely need a refreshment.. : ) tho i can't be bothered to redo the course itself unless I'd be going "all in" (which I rarely do, and all-in biology is due only next decade in my schedule : )).. I mean, reading everything et al, maybe even checking out exams and what not... Following the white rabbit I barely have time now anyway, as I head towards my 80th MOOC! 'O.õ ... But I'll be glad to discuss this topic with you.

Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!
A2A

btw, I should note I'm against exams (in and of itself). In my "all-in" perspective I mentioned, I would treat them as a game, but "even then" (a term I used previously as well) it is doubtful I would play that one, since I (we?) already have more efficacious methods of interacting and committing data to LTP ^_^

This post is not about that however, it is useful and on-topic (in and of itself), before you feel tempted to delete or move it : ) [though we can fire up a conversation if you guys want, though probb more appropriate elsewhere]

This is about another great "open source watch" project, from CERN:

https://protonmail.ch/

Truly encrypted mail (don't store text so no use even if hacked ;-)), now you guys can have privacy without worrying I may be reading'em all =D I mean... the No Secrets Allowed agency of course, I'd never do that.. or are they? [or would I?]

The demand has been so high however (can you blame them?), that we have to wait a bit for more hardware to be allocated. But I believe you good people can still get your short, personal, nicknames of your preference =) [at least all my previous emails had to include either a bunch of numbers or be long or have some hard to distribute initials or something].. there is a "check availability" button there to facilitate this.

More info at:
http://www.coindesk.com/cern-scientists … ifference/

Kindly,
A2A

"Old rat brains rejuvenated and new neurons grown by asthma drug"
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn … AL-twitter
"An asthma drug has rejuvenated rat brains, making old rats perform as well as young rats in tests of memory and cognition. The drug also encouraged the birth of new brain cells."

of course preventing the inflammation in the first place might be a better plan of action.....

Yeah probably not.   
“rejuvenated and new neurons grown”  is what caught my eye.   I was intrigued that this readily available drug could be a tool for neurohacking.
In reading the article, the effect is seen only as repair of damage (likely due to inflammation) and not augmentation.  Hence, the best plan of action would be to prevent whatever is causing the inflammation in the first place.   Like the article here   http://neurohackers.com/index.php/en/me … g-research  which talks of alternate day fasting for asthma.

What can be taken away from this article, is that the processes that cause asthma also cause neurological damage.
I do not fully understand the mechanism of this drug, but it is possible that if it allows rejuvenation of known damage, then a temporary course of treatment could be beneficial despite the side effect risks.  If it only accelerates repair that would occur anyway once the inflammatory processes are removed, then maybe not.


Note:  I had meant to post this topic in Mainstream Watch, not Open Source Watch so please move if possible.

Hi dudes,

If anyone can get this to work...

Officially launched on 4 April, Unpaywall is a free web-browser extension that hunts for versions of papers you'd prdinarily have to pay for, in more than 5,300 repositories worldwide, including preprint servers and institutional databases.

Source: Nature
http://www.nature.com/news/unpaywall-fi … Y-20170405

App found here:
http://unpaywall.org/

Good luck & have fun
AR

Here is collection of 39 original papers.
http://open-mind.net/papers

Discovered through this article
https://www.newscientist.com/article/21 … ucination/

I haven't read (all of*) them yet, but many of the titles sounded of interest to neurohackers.

*Edit:
Anyone interested in lucid dreaming might like this paper.

http://open-mind.net/papers/what-is-the … e-research
It describes states experienced during lucid dreaming, and also the use of 25Hz and 40Hz tACS to stimulate and increase control of lucid dream states.

Open source brain simulator, versions for Windows/ Mac / Linux

http://www.thevirtualbrain.org/

Individual patient data allow researchers to study brain function using detailed simulations
February 2, 2018
Using patient measurement data, researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health have refined a brain modeling platform called the Virtual Brain. The software has been used in projects and publications across the globe. The latest findings have been published in eLife.

The task of deciphering the brain's functions and complex structure demands the acquisition of vast amounts of data from many sources. Like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, these data then need assembling into computer simulations that allow researchers to understand the mechanisms involved in brain function. Created with this objective in mind, the Virtual Brain is capable of combining the measurements of an individual patient to produce personalized models. The software acts as a "mathematical microscope," allowing researchers to reproduce interactions between nerve cells that cannot be directly measured in humans. This method makes it possible for researchers to use brain signal data to draw conclusions about interactions between the neuronal networks producing them. Launched in 2012 as an open-source simulation platform, the Virtual Brain is an international project led by Prof. Dr. Petra Ritter (of the Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology) and two of her colleagues from Toronto and Marseille.

Researchers from Prof. Ritter's BrainModes Group have developed a new approach involving the use of a type of EEG headset to record measurable brain electrical activity from the scalp surface. The data thus obtained are later integrated into a personalized computer model, which simulates brain activity normally only measurable with the use of a large MRI scanner. In fact, this model was able to calculate six different features of brain activity. Previous attempts in animals had required invasive procedures but produced only partial results. The new model was able to produce detailed descriptions of the manner in which these processes contribute to specific brain functions, thereby confirming the hypothesis that the inclusion of EEG data in the computer model produces more detailed simulations of brain activity. By allowing researchers to depict brain processes with enhanced spatial and local resolution, EEG data make them easier to understand.

"This new method of brain simulation allows us to combine theories of how the nervous system works with physical measurements and integrate them into a single comprehensive model that is both physiologically and anatomically grounded," explains Prof. Ritter. In many of the natural sciences, this type of approach has proved extremely useful in hypothesis formulation and testing. However, the use of patient data to produce individualized models represents an entirely new development and has the potential to uncover individual differences in the way the brain works, both in patients and in healthy subjects.

The next step will be to study larger groups of patients, in the hope of deciphering the mechanisms underlying conditions such as epilepsy, stroke and dementia. Summarizing her current research, Prof. Ritter says, "This software has the potential to directly benefit patients. A clinical study currently underway in France is studying how this technology might help improve outcomes in patients undergoing epilepsy surgery. The neurosurgeons involved are able to optimize outcomes by first simulating the procedure using a virtual version of the patient's brain."

Soon, the Virtual Brain may also benefit the wider population. The BrainModes app, developed at Charité for use with smartphones and tablets, works with commercially available neuro-headsets to enable users to become better acquainted with their own brains. Under the leadership of Prof. Ritter, the Charité-based researchers will develop this technology further, in the hope of one day being able to control machines, computers and exoskeletons via brain interface.

More information: Michael Schirner et al, Inferring multi-scale neural mechanisms with brain network modelling, eLife (2018). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.28927