Brain scans, surveys help scientists paint neural portrait of loneliness
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Large numbers of adults, young and old, have reported feelings of loneliness during the pandemic. File Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo
Dec. 14 (UPI) Using brain scans, genetic analysis and psychological self-assessments, scientists have managed to render a kind of neural portrait of loneliness.
Researchers hope their efforts, detailed Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, will help illuminate the impacts of isolation on human health.
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For the study, scientists relied on an open-access database called U.K. Biobank.
The researchers sourced magnetic resonance imaging and genetics data, as well as psychological self-assessments, from some 40,000 middle-aged and older adults.
Mila, IBM collaborating on open-source AI and machine learning project
Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute (Mila) and IBM have teamed up to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning research using open-source technology.
Mila and IBM have been collaborating since early 2020 on a project that is meant to make a key component of AI, known as hyperparameter optimization, more accessible. The organizations claim that this would improve machine learning model performances and pinpoint within the ‘black box’ of AI where models need work.
“A collaboration with…IBM is a great opportunity to accelerate the development of an open-source solution…initiated at Mila.”