Fundamental Questions-Electrode Placement-Brain Stimulation-Human Prehistory-Understanding

Exact brain electrode placement for Parkinson’s patients now possible; Research opens the way to more precise deep brain stimulation

Deep brain stimulation stops limb tremors in Parkinson's patients. But positioning the stimulation electrode in the brain must be done very precisely to avoid undesired side-effects. To make this possible, a researcher in the Netherlands has developed a method for precise, external localization of the right part of the brain: the motor area of the subthalamic nucleus. She has found an ingenious way to localize this 'magic area': by using MRI to visualize the pathways in the brain that lead to it. read more..

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Solving Mysteries via DNA

By Joanna Mountain, PhD. Senior Director of Research 23andMe As a geneticist at 23andMe, I combine my understanding of human prehistory and DNA variation to develop tools that help people answer one of the more fundamental questions we ask ourselves: “Where am I from?” It’s always fascinating and often surprising to answer that question, as [...] read more..

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