One of the most intriguing questions about the human brain is also one of the most difficult for neuroscientists to answer: What sets our brains apart from those of other animals? | Continue reading
Not only does time fly when people have fun, but when time flies by on a countdown clock, they may have more patience, according to researchers. | Continue reading
Capturing the activity of neurons in the form of electric impulses isn't easy. Information processing happens on different time scales and involves quick changes in voltage, ion concentrations and multiple signaling molecules. In a new study published in the journal Nature Commun … | Continue reading
Our brains have an "auto-correct" feature that we deploy when re-interpreting ambiguous sounds, a team of scientists has discovered. Its findings, which appear in the Journal of Neuroscience, point to new ways we use information and context to aid in speech comprehension. | Continue reading
From love and politics to health and finances, humans can sometimes make decisions that appear irrational, or dictated by an existing bias or belief. But a new study from Columbia University neuroscientists uncovers a surprisingly rational feature of the human brain: A previously … | Continue reading
Antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis is a public health threat. TB and other bacteria become resistant to antibiotics by evolving genetic changes over time, which they can do quite quickly because bacterial lifecycles are short. In fact, it takes only a single genetic mutation to gr … | Continue reading
The dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is part of the brain that helps form memories. It is also one of just two areas in the adult brain where new neurons are continuously formed. | Continue reading
Key aspects of the ageing of human cells can be reversed by new compounds developed at the University of Exeter, research shows. | Continue reading
For researchers, making predictions about the outcome of an experiment requires close observation of available data. But in neurobiology, making accurate observations is hampered by the difficulty of measuring the individual cells. | Continue reading
A new study led by a team of Western University neuroscientists has debunked claims that getting better at a brain training game can translate to improved performance in other, untrained cognitive tasks. | Continue reading
A small population of brain cells deep in a memory-making region of the brain controls the production of new neurons and may have a role in common brain disorders, according to a study from scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. | Continue reading
An international research team including CU Boulder scientists has identified more than 1,200 genetic variants associated with how much schooling an individual completes and developed a "polygenic score" predictive of more than 11 percent of the variation in educational attainmen … | Continue reading
Most people with spinal cord injury are paralyzed from the injury site down, even when the cord isn't completely severed. Why don't the spared portions of the spinal cord keep working? Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital now provide insight into why these nerve pathways rem … | Continue reading
Practice is necessary to improve motor skills. Even if one performs poorly at first, one's athletic performance improves through repeated exercise due to the reduction of motor errors as the brain learns. | Continue reading
Scientists have gained a glimpse of how marks on our genes that could be linked to adverse health outcomes in later life behave differently in the first few days after conception, according to new research published in Science Advances. | Continue reading
The perception of having Albert Einstein's body may help unlock previously inaccessible mental resources, finds a new study. Following a virtual reality "Einstein" experience, participants were less likely to unconsciously stereotype older people while those with low self-esteem … | Continue reading
We humans are the only primates that can flexibly control the pitch of our voices. This melodic control is not just important for our singing abilities: Fluctuating pitch also conveys critical information during speech—including the speaker's mood, words of emphasis, or whether a … | Continue reading
The limits of human existence might not be as limited as we have long thought. | Continue reading
Sound and object motion can be used to change perceptions about body size, according to a new study by an international team involving UCL researchers. | Continue reading
Given the choice of taking a pill or injecting oneself with a needle, most of us would opt to regulate a chronic health condition by swallowing a pill. But for millions of people living with type 1 diabetes, a painful needle prick once or twice daily is the only option for delive … | Continue reading
Glial cells surround neurons and provide support—not unlike hospital staff and nurses supporting doctors to keep operations running smoothly. These often-overlooked cells, which include oligodendrocytes and astrocytes, are the most abundant cell types in the central nervous syste … | Continue reading
A pair of researchers with the Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research in Norway has found that IQ test scores have been slowly dropping over the past several decades. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Bernt Bratsberg and Ole Rogeberg … | Continue reading
People with higher empathy differ from others in the way their brains process music, according to a study by researchers at Southern Methodist University, Dallas and UCLA. | Continue reading
A study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has identified a critical role for a protein called Kruppel-like factor 9 (Klf9) in the brain's response to stress, which has implications for protecting against the effects of stress in conditions like major depre … | Continue reading
A pair of researchers with the Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research in Norway has found that IQ test scores have been slowly dropping over the past several decades. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Bernt Bratsberg and Ole Rogeberg … | Continue reading
Polio has been reported in Venezuela, a crisis-wracked country where the disease had been eradicated decades ago, the Pan-American Health Organization reports. | Continue reading
An experimental vaccine regimen based on the structure of a vulnerable site on HIV elicited antibodies in mice, guinea pigs and monkeys that neutralize dozens of HIV strains from around the world. The findings were reported today in the journal Nature Medicine by researchers at t … | Continue reading
Spinal cord injuries are among the most severe and difficult-to-treat medical conditions, usually resulting in permanent disability including loss of muscle function, sensation and autonomic functions. Medical research is now on the cusp of treating severe spinal cord injuries by … | Continue reading
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers have synthesized the first artificial human prion, a dramatic development in efforts to combat a devastating form of brain disease that has so far eluded treatment and a cure. The new findings are published in Nature … | Continue reading
The cerebral cortex—the brain's epicenter of high-level cognitive functions, such as memory formation, attention, thought, language and consciousness—has fascinated neuroscientists for centuries. | Continue reading
Staying mentally sharp—that's aging Americans' highest priority, according to the National Council on Aging. While thousands of clinical trials suggest that exercising the body can protect or improve brain health as we age, few studies provide practical prescriptive guidance for … | Continue reading
Oxytocin's effects on human social behavior aren't clear. Some studies reveal significant positive changes, yet others show none at all. In many animals, from rodents to non-human primates, it's a different story: Oxytocin has been proven to increase positive social behaviors and … | Continue reading
The urgent threat from Zika virus, which dominated news headlines in the spring and summer of 2016, has passed for now. But research into how Zika and other mosquito-borne infections spread and cause epidemics is still very active. In a paper published May 24 in the journal Cell … | Continue reading
In a first-of-its-kind finding, a new stroke-healing gel helped regrow neurons and blood vessels in mice with stroke-damaged brains, UCLA researchers report in the May 21 issue of Nature Materials. | Continue reading
Chronic social isolation has debilitating effects on mental health in mammals—for example, it is often associated with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in humans. Now, a team of Caltech researchers has discovered that social isolation causes the build-up of a particu … | Continue reading
People who eat a diet rich in vegetables, fruit, nuts and fish may have bigger brains, according to a study published in the May 16, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. | Continue reading
Typhoid Mary may have infected a hundred or more people, but asymptomatic carriers of malaria infect far more people every year. An international team of researchers is working toward a way to identify malaria patients including infected individuals who show no malaria symptoms. | Continue reading