Microgravity is known to alter the muscles, bones, the immune system and cogni tion, but little is known about its specific impact on the brain. To discover how brain cells respond to microgravity, scientists sent tiny clumps of stem-cell derived brain cells called 'organoids' to the International Space Station.
Read more …Brain cells remain healthy after a month on the International Space Station, but mature faster...

Could complex beliefs like paranoia have roots in something as basic as vision? A new study finds evidence that they might. When completing a visual perception task, in which participants had to identify whether one moving dot was chasing another moving dot, those with greater tendencies toward paranoid thinking (believing others intend them harm) and teleological thinking (ascribing excessive meaning and purpose to events) performed worse than their counterparts, the study found. Those individuals more often -- and confidently -- claimed one dot was chasing the other when it wasn't. The findings suggest that, in the future, testing for illnesses like schizophrenia could be done with a simple eye test.
Read more …Paranoia may be, in part, a visual problem

A new study offers hope for people who are blind or have low vision (pBLV) through an innovative navigation system that was tested using virtual reality. The system, which combines vibrational and sound feedback, aims to help users navigate complex real-world environments more safely and effectively.
Read more …New virtual reality-tested system shows promise in aiding navigation of people with blindness or...

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