Brain Networks Come ‘Online’ During Adolescence to Prepare Teenagers for Adult Life

Credit: Frantisek Vasa New brain networks come ‘online’ during adolescence, allowing teenagers to develop more complex adult social skills, but potentially putting them at increased risk of mental illness, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Brain development during adolescence: red brain regions belong to the “conservative” pattern of adolescent development, while the blue brain regions belong to the “disruptive” pattern Adolescence is a time of major change in life, with increasing social and cognitive skills and independence, but also increased risk of mental illness. While it is clear that these changes in the mind must reflect developmental changes in the brain, it has been unclear how exactly the function of the human brain matures as people grow up from children to young adults. A team based in the University of Cambridge and University College London has published a major new research study that helps us understand more clearly the development of the adolescent brain. The study collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data on brain activity from 298 healthy young people, aged 14-25 years, each scanned on one to three occasions about 6 to 12 months apart. In each scanning session, the participants lay quietly in the scanner so that...
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Samsung unveils realistic digital humanoid at CES 2010

South Korean electronics giant Samsung today unveiled a realistic digital humanoid, developed under Project Neon by Samsung-backed Star Labs, at CES, in Las Vegas. Neon is a digitally generated human that can visually look and emote like a human that Star Labs calls an “artificial human”. Neon’s human simulations are powered by Star Labs’ Core R3 (Reality, Realitime, and Responsive) platform while Spectra powers the Neon’s Intelligence, Learning, Emotions, and Memory.  Project Neon aims at building a robot that can be used as an artificial service representative or a concierge, says Samsung. “In the near future, one will be able to license or subscribe to a Neon as a service representative, a financial advisor, a healthcare provider, or a concierge. Over time, Neons will work as TV anchors, spokespeople, or movie actors; or they can simply be companions and friends. “You may also be watching a film with synthetic actors, in the near future,” according to Star Labs. Samsung announces Project Neon, realistic digital humanoid avatars Teasers and scenarios were shown at CES, (a bunch of them leaked on Reddit before the announcement – video below), and it turns out these videos were all done with actors on camera, and not computer-generated as they led us to believe.  However, Samsung made the ‘simulations’shown at...
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