14 Science & Technology Neural Studies
Music Betters Brain Motors New findings show that consistent musical training produces a significant increase in audio-motor interactions in the right hemisphere during rest
August 07 - 13 , 2017
Earth Sciences Ocean Alert
Sagar Vani For Coastal Safety The ministry, partnering with Gaian Solutions, and INCOIS has developed a sophisticated communications system
Quick Glance Sagar Vani system was launched to help coastal community Sagar Vani is an Integrated Information Dissemination System The system has been developed under the Ministry of Science & Technology
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s your son or daughter keen on learning to play a guitar or piano? Allow them, as according to a study, playing any musical instrument throughout life may help improve the connection between the brain’s hearing area and the motor zone. The findings showed that musical training produces an increase in audio-motor interactions in the right hemisphere at rest. “This indicates that when a musician trains and spends many years learning to play a musical instrument, there are more effective connections between the auditory and motor systems, which are the regions mainly involved in playing an instrument,” said Maraa Angeles Palomar-Garcia, a researcher at the Universitat Jaume I (UJI) in Spain. Further, the research also revealed an adaptation in musicians’ brain areas responsible for controlling hand movement. Specifically, participants with musical training had reduced connectivity between the motor regions that control both hands, but may have greater autonomy between their hands. This, “may reflect a greater skill with both hands for these musicians, compared to the participants who had no musical training, due to the need to use both hands in an independent and coordinated way to play their instrument,” Palomar-Garcia explained. For the study, published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, the team studied the impact of music training on the brain through both functional and structural images of the brain in rest through high field magnetic resonance imaging.
nion Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan last week launched ‘Sagar Vani’ system to communicate and help the coastal community, especially fishermen, with advisories and warnings related to the safety at sea. The Integrated Information Dissemination System (IDS) ‘Sagar Vani’, a first in India, was launched as the Minister inaugurated the 11th Foundation Day of Earth Sciences Ministry. ‘Sagar Vani’ seeks to target the reach of information to the 9.27 lakh people involved in actual fishing either full or part time. The system that can send information in regional languages through various platforms including radio, television, voice calling, text service, social media, mobile apps and e-mail aims at timely dissemination of ocean information and advisory services that includes Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisories, Ocean State Forecast (OSF), High Wave Alerts and Tsunami early warnings. The advanced system has been developed by Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services
(INCOIS), under the Ministry, through its industry partner, Gaian Solutions Pvt. Ltd. India has 3,288 marine fishing villages and 1,511 marine fish landing centres with marine fisherfolk population of 3,999,214. About 15,11,703 marine fisherfolk are engaged in active fishing while about 9,27,120 fishermen were involved in actual fishing either full or part time. Presently, advisories are being disseminated from different service sections and through various stakeholders and partners, which might cause a delay in dissemination of the services.
Genetics health
New life-expectancy markers in genome A study by Swiss scientists has concluded the presence of more than 16 genetic markers of life expectancy in the human genome IANS
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Swiss-led team conducting research on life expectancy said on Thursday it had identified the largest-ever number of genetic markers that are almost entirely new to science. The answer to how long each person will live is partly encoded in their genomes or their genetic material, Xinhua quoted the researchers as saying, who published the findings in journal Nature Communication.
The study was led by scientists from the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), the University of Lausanne and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). The study used advanced computer capabilities to uncover the genetics of our time of death and ultimately of any disease. During the research, the
“The ‘Sagar Vani’ is a software platform where various dissemination modes will be integrated on a single central server,” a government statement said. The system also has a facility to provide access to various stakeholders (NGOs, State Fishery Departments, Disaster Management Authorities, etc.) so that they too will be able to further disseminate this ocean of information and alerts to the user community. The minister also launched another application, ‘India Quake’ for the dissemination of earthquake parameters. scientists identified 16 genetic markers associated with a decreased lifespan, including 14 that are new to science. “This is the largest set of markers of lifespan uncovered to date,” said the SIB in the statement. While the environment in which we live, including our socio-economic status or the food we eat, plays the biggest part in explaining longevity, about 20 to 30 per cent of the variation in human lifespan comes down to genomes. Changes in particular locations in human DNA sequences, such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), could, therefore, hold some of the keys to longevity say the researchers. “Until now, the most comprehensive studies had found only two hits in the genome,” said ZoltanKutalik from SIB.