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Reparing roads in the brain - a new way to treat strokes
Step inside the lab of ground-breaking psychologist Dr Alex Sel, who is at the forefront of exciting research which could unlock new treatments for strokes and dementia. The work with transcranial magnetic stimulation could hold the key to combating conditions that impact neural plasticity and create a launchpad for future treatments. Watch on to find out what inspires the pioneering scientist at The University of Essex and how she hopes to make all our lives better.
A study by Dr Alex Sel has revealed innovative brain stimulation can boost neural connectivity and strengthen communication. The lecturer in the Department of Psychology has proved a decades-old theory for the first-time by using magnets to confirm different regions are coupled and connected. Incredibly just 15 minutes of magnetic stimulation on the brain’s movement centres can increase connectivity between them for up to three hours. Using magnets to target this area increases network connection, and more information can speed between regions. It is hoped this will help combat conditions that impact neural plasticity – where the brain changes and grows. This could see the damage caused by some degenerative illnesses halted, including motor neuron disease.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, I always smiled at other runners as we crossed paths. Now that we’re wearing masks, I rarely bother. And when I do, I have no idea whether the intended recipient even notices. I never gave much thought to the momentary connections created by exchanging smiles with a stranger before the pandemic. Now I miss them, leading me to wonder: Does it matter whether I offer an unseen smile to someone I don’t know? The short answer: Yes, because it can affect your emotions as well as theirs. Here are the reasons you should continue smiling behind your mask.
Great American psychologist William James proposed that our facial expressions and other bodily changes are not the consequence of our emotional feelings, but the cause. Modern science has partially backed this up. For example, there’s evidence that smiling can lift your mood. Now, a novel study has shown that posing a happy face not only lift one’s mood but actually changes the way our brains perceives other people’s emotions, so that neutral expressions are perceived more positively when we smile. These findings show how our own emotions can lead to spiralling effects, giving support for the colloquial phrase that ‘if you smile, the world will smile back to you”.
Our sensory experience of the world is represented in a part of the brain the somatosensory cortex. This area perceives bodily sensations, such as touch, pain, body temperature and the perception of the body's place in space. The somatosensory cortex is also active when we observe others’ emotional expressions, although the its contribution to emotional processing has not been clear until now. A novel study has shown that the response of the somatosensory cortex to emotional expressions is not simply a by-product of the way we process visual information, but it has its independent contribution to the understanding of others’ emotions. These findings can serve as starting point for developing interventions tailored for people with problems in recognising other's emotions, such as autistic children.
Alex Sel shares her views and experiences of her research career in the UK (talk in Spanish).
Neuroarquitectura de la emoción musical
(article in Spanish):
La música posee un poder especial para emocionar, estando presente en todas las culturas y todas las épocas. Recientes estudios han demostrado que las áreas responsables de la producción del sonido, tienen también un papel importante en la respuesta emocional ante la música. Además, se ha demostrado que estas respuestas suelen ser más intensas en músicos expertos que en personas sin formación musical previa.