Posts Tagged ‘brain’
Health & Medicine - Aug 7, 2009 4:00 - 0 Comments
Hippocampus minds the memory gap
“As we learn more about how the brain forms memories, we can better understand what makes them go awry and then explore behavioral and neurological remedies,” says study coauthor Lila Davachi.
Health & Medicine - Aug 7, 2009 4:00 - 0 Comments
Nano-painting lights up brain tumors
A mouse brain tumor imaged using nanoparticles (left column) or conventional techniques (right column) combined with optical imaging and MRI. The nanoparticles give a clearer picture of the tumor, which is located at the back of the brain in the cerebellum.
Science & Technology - Jul 22, 2009 12:43 - 2 Comments
Scans show brain’s 2D region processes 3D
Bas Rokers (pictured), Alex Huk, and Larry Cormack discovered the center for 3D motion processing in the human brain. An enhanced image of Rokers’ brain from an fMRI scan shows the region active when perceiving 3D motion, seen as the bright blue area in the lower left of the photo. (Credit: Marsha Miller/UT Austin)
Science & Technology, Society & Culture - Jul 20, 2009 14:28 - 0 Comments
To multitask, first brain must practice, practice
“Even after extensive practice, our brain does not really do two tasks at once,” says study coauthor Paul Dux. “It is still processing one task at a time, but it does it so fast it gives us the illusion we are doing two tasks simultaneously.”
Health & Medicine - Jul 16, 2009 14:28 - 0 Comments
Brain maps may trace early signs of disorder
This topographical composite map shows abnormal changes over two years in brain structures of individuals with schizophrenia. The green and blue colors represent shrinkage in such brain structures as the thalamus, caudate, and amygdala. Blue areas represent the greatest amount of shrinkage. (Courtesy: Lei Wang/Northwestern University)
Science & Technology - Jul 16, 2009 12:29 - 0 Comments
Keep it down! I can’t hear myself read.
“Auditory training and reducing background noise in classrooms, our research suggests, may provide significant benefit to poor readers,” says the study’s senior author Nina Kraus.
Health & Medicine - Jul 8, 2009 13:25 - 0 Comments
After injury, brain may be its own worst enemy
“The thought is that maybe there is a window of opportunity where we could go in after an injury and administer one of these immune response inhibitors and stop a process that we think is going to lead to epilepsy,” says Daniel Barth, a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Health & Medicine - Jul 2, 2009 12:51 - 0 Comments
Older Yanks top Brits in battle of the brains
“Given the growing number of older adults worldwide,” says Kenneth Langa, University of Michigan professor of medicine, “future cross-national studies aimed at identifying the medical and social factors that might prevent or delay cognitive decline in older adults would make important and valuable contributions to public health.”
Health & Medicine - Jun 26, 2009 17:11 - 0 Comments
Bigger waistlines thanks to brain’s shortcut
“The eating environment has morphed into an atypical scenario where our usually helpful mental mechanisms betray us,” says Andrew Geier, lead author and a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania.
Health & Medicine - Jun 18, 2009 9:57 - 0 Comments
Putting name to face helps you remember
Left Image: At first glance this image looks like the actor Brad Pitt, because our brain processes faces holistically. But look at just the eyes in the figure, while ignoring the mouth. Are these the eyes of the actor Matt Damon? The answer is yes. Right Image: The “Ziggerins” created and used in the experiment. One group of research subjects learned to categorize the Ziggerins into groups that share a structure. The categories are shown here by rows.
Science & Technology - Jun 15, 2009 15:34 - 0 Comments
Mice mom better at answering baby’s call
Photo montage courtesy of Jack Kearse and the Liu Lab
Society & Culture - May 20, 2009 14:33 - 0 Comments
Bilingual kids have tuned-in brains
CORNELL (US)—Teaching young children how to speak a second language is good for their minds and may even help them stay focused, report two Cornell University linguistic researchers. (more…)
Health & Medicine - May 20, 2009 13:38 - 2 Comments
Letting your brain off the financial hook
Research led by Emory’s Gregory Berns suggests the brain relinquishes responsibility when a trusted authority provides expertise.
Health & Medicine - May 20, 2009 13:01 - 0 Comments
Rare window into brain’s visual system
JOHNS HOPKINS (US)—An unusual and dramatic case of visual perception gone awry is yielding new clues about how we perceive our world and the complex process the brain uses to encode visual information. (more…)
Health & Medicine - May 6, 2009 14:34 - 0 Comments
What’s that, dear? Estrogen linked to hearing
U. ROCHESTER (US)—Scientists have discovered that the hormone estrogen plays a pivotal role in how the brain processes sounds, opening the door to new ways of treating hearing deficiencies. (more…)
Health & Medicine - May 1, 2009 13:08 - 15 Comments
After stroke, brain learns to see again
U. ROCHESTER (US)—Once thought irreversible, vision loss sometimes associated with stroke may be treatable. By doing a set of vigorous visual exercises on a computer every day for several months, patients who had gone partially blind as a result of suffering a stroke were able to regain some vision. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Apr 8, 2009 11:05 - 0 Comments
Memories, in the cells of your mind
JOHNS HOPKINS (US)—As we look at the world around us, images flicker into our brains like so many disparate pixels on a computer screen that change every time our eyes move, which is several times a second. Yet we don’t perceive the world as a constantly flashing computer display.
Society & Culture - Mar 10, 2009 15:15 - 0 Comments
Brain taps emotion, reward to form first impressions
NYU (US)—First impressions matter. Now neuroscientists have peeked into the brain to find out why. New study results show that two brain regions kick into high gear when we meet someone for the first time. The findings by researchers at New York University and Harvard University reveal how we encode social information and then evaluate it in making these initial judgments. (more…)
