BrainFutures News

BrainFutures is Gearing up for Brain Awareness Week! Here's How You Can Participate!

Brain Awareness Week is coming soon! March 11-17, 2019 BrainFutures is proud to partner with the Dana Foundation in Brain Awareness Week (BAW), a global campaign to increase awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research. As a part of our participation in BAW, BrainFutures will be at the B’more Healthy Expo to share our work with the Baltimore ...

BrainFutures Director Testifies Before the Maryland House Ways and Means Committee

On January 31, BrainFutures Director Karen Alexander testified before the Maryland House Ways and Means Committee in support of House Bill 110, which would require public elementary schools to provide a daily program of physical activity totaling 150 minutes each week, including a minimum of 90 minutes of physical education. Her testimony included research ab...

January Brain Facts

Brain experts agree that although our knowledge of the brain has changed drastically in recent years, there is more to learn.   Here are our top fascinating brain facts of the month: The brain creates new neural pathways and modifies existing ones in response to behavioral, environmental, and neural changes. This process of neuroplasticity, also kno...

December Brain Facts

Brain experts agree that although our knowledge of the brain has changed drastically in recent years, there is more to learn.   Here are our top fascinating brain facts of the month: What does it mean to be knocked unconscious? According to Brainfacts.org, there are several things that could cause a disruption in consciousness. For instance, you can lose co...

November Brain Facts

Brain experts agree that although our knowledge of the brain has changed drastically in recent years, there is more to learn.   Here are our top fascinating brain facts of the month: How does the brain keep us awake? Wakefulness is maintained by the brain’s arousal systems, each regulating different aspects of the awake state. Many arousal syste...

Using Magnetic and Electrical Stimulation to Heal the Brain

For centuries, scientists have attempted to use electricity to heal the human body and brain. According to The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), some of the earliest attempts are shown in carvings from the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, which depicts an electric fish being used to treat pain. At the BrainFutures conference, Dr. Alvaro ...

Regaining Control Over Our Distracted Minds

Dr. Adam Gazzaley is a professor of neurology, physiology and psychiatry at the University of California – San Francisco and founding executive director of Neuroscape, a translational neuroscience center at UCSF. At the BrainFutures conference, he discussed how technology impacts our cognitive controls. Cognitive controls such as attention, working memo...

October 10 is World Mental Health Day

In observance of World Mental Health Day on October 10, the BrainFutures team is excited to participate in this year’s JWB Resiliency 5K & 1 Mile Family Walk/Run on October 14. World Mental Health Day was launched by the World Health Organization to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilize efforts in support of mental hea...

October Brain Facts

Brain experts agree that although our knowledge of the brain has changed drastically in recent years, there is more to learn.   Here are our top fascinating brain facts of the month:   1. Your tongue’s receptors, called taste buds,transform information about tastes and send them to the brain to be processed into your favorite flavors. Additionally, we ...

BrainFutures attends the ApplySci Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech conference at MIT

BrainFutures recently attended the ApplySci Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech conference at MIT, which showcased innovative methods of early detection of disease as well as the latest in computer-brain interfaces. Highlights included: Dr. Marom Bikson, professor of Biomedical Engineering at the City College of New York, focused on applications for...