Decoding the dictionary: Study suggests lexicon evolved to fit in the brain The latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary boasts 22,000 pages of definitions. While that may seem far from succinct, new research suggests the reference manual is meticulously organized to be as concise as possible — a format that mirrors the way our brains make sense of and categorize the countless words in our vast vocabulary.
It's a unisex brain with specific signals that trigger 'male' behavior Research by Yale scientists shows that males and females have essentially unisex brains — at least in flies — according to a recent report in Cell designed to identify factors that are responsible for sex differences in behavior.
Are you looking at me? In humans, the eyes are said to be the ‘window to the soul’, conveying much about a person’s emotions and intentions. New research demonstrates for the first time that birds also respond to a human’s gaze.
Imaging study provides glimpse of alcohol's effect on brain New brain imaging research published this week shows that, after consuming alcohol, social drinkers had decreased sensitivity in brain regions involved in detecting threats, and increased activity in brain regions involved in reward.
Memory Training Shown to Turn Up Brainpower A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth.
Neuroscience Source: NYT
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Conquering Your Fears, One Synapse at a Time An experiment with mice reveals a chemical pattern in the brain that may provide the key to overcoming fear—and preserving memories forever.
Scientists explore brain's reaction to potent hallucinogen Salvia Brain-imaging studies performed in animals provide researchers with clues about why an increasingly popular recreational drug that causes hallucinations and motor-function impairment in humans is abused.
Looking at neurons from all sides A new technique that marries a fast-moving laser beam with a special microscope that look at tissues in different optical planes will enable scientists to get a three-dimensional view of neurons or nerve cells as they interact
Different processes govern sight, light detection A Johns Hopkins University biologist, in research with implications for people suffering from seasonal affective disorder and insomnia, has determined that the eye uses light to reset the biological clock through a mechanism separate from the ability to see.
Study breaks ground in revealing how neurons generate movement When the eye tracks a bird’s flight across the sky, the visual experience is normally smooth, without interruption. But underlying this behavior is a complex coordination of neurons that has remained mysterious to scientists. Now, UCSF researchers have broken ground in understanding how the brain generates this tracking motion
New gene discovered for new form of intellectual disability The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has discovered a new form of intellectual disability involving mental retardation (MR) along with the eye defect retinitis pigmentosa (RP). CAMH also discovered the previously unidentified gene that causes this disorder, CC2D2A.
Psychologists demonstrate simplicity of working memory A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but humans may have even less to work with than previously thought. University of Missouri researchers found that the average person can keep just three or four things in their “working memory” or conscious mind at one time.
Pin1 is beneficial in Alzheimer's disease, detrimental to some forms of dementia The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and a relatively rare hereditary form of dementia, frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism-17, share a common pathology: Both are the result of an overaccumulation of tau proteins, which form tangled lesions in the brain’s neurons and eventually lead to the collapse of the brain cells responsible for memory.
Study suggests why teens get hooked on cocaine more easily than adults New drug research suggests that teens may get addicted and relapse more easily than adults because developing brains are more powerfully motivated by drug-related cues. This conclusion has been reached by researchers who found that adolescent rats given cocaine – a powerfully addicting stimulant – were more likely than adults to prefer the place where they got it.
High anxiety? Right now, about half of all people who take medicine for an anxiety disorder don’t get much help from it. And doctors have no definitive way to predict who will, and who won’t, benefit from each anti-anxiety prescription they write.
New details presented in outbreak in pork processing plant workers Neurologists have identified the illness as a new disorder which causes symptoms ranging from a transverse myelitis syndrome, inflammation of the spinal cord, in one patient to mild weakness, fatigue, numbness and tingling in arms and legs.
Intelligence and rhythmic accuracy go hand in hand People who score high on intelligence tests are also good at keeping time, new Swedish research shows. The team that carried out the study also suspect that accuracy in timing is important to the brain processes responsible for problem solving and reasoning.
High blood pressure may protect against migraine People with high blood pressure appear to be less likely to have migraine than those with low blood pressure. Researchers say stiff arteries associated with high blood pressure may play a role in protecting against migraine.
Sharing the road The neuromuscular circuitry that controls all bodily movements relies on constant sensory feedback from the periphery to fine-tune its commands to hundreds of muscles.
Meth addiction mechanism discovered Researchers have identified, for the first time, long-term changes in the brain circuitry of methamphetamine-addicted mice that can explain why the craving of addiction is so stubborn and long-lived. The research could lead to more effective treatments for addiction to methamphetamine and related drugs.
The influence of the irrelevant Attractive women plus cool cars equal brisk sales for auto dealers as men snap up those cars, prompted - or so advertising theory goes - by the association. But is the human male really so easily swayed? Can the irrelevant image of an alluring female posing by the merchandise actually encourage a heterosexual man to purchase it?
Working memory has limited 'slots' A new study by researchers at UC Davis shows how our very short-term "working memory," which allows the brain to stitch together sensory information, operates. The system retains a limited number of high-resolution images for a few seconds, rather than a wider range of fuzzier impressions.
Humans have more distinctive hearing than animals Do humans hear better than animals? It is known that various species of land and water-based living creatures are capable of hearing some lower and higher frequencies than humans are capable of detecting.
Babies have an eye for statistics Babies have many talents — such as the ability to charm a roomful of adults. But statistical reasoning? It's not the first skill that springs to mind regarding a gurgling 8-month-old.