Neuroscience

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  • Rescuing the amygdala from the swamp of pop culture

    Brains On Purpose™
    StephanieWestAllen
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:11 pm
    Coming on the heels of my blog post Clearing up confusion: The amygdala is not the same as the reptile brain & it's probably not reserved for fear is a news release from Association of Psychological Sciences with more information which I hope will continue the cleaning up of the amygdala's reputation in the media. And clear up its role...

  • Seeking the neurological roots of conflict

    MIT News - Topic - Neuroscience
    22 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    MIT postdoc Emile Bruneau has long been drawn to conflict — not as a participant, but an observer. In 1994, while doing volunteer work in South Africa, he witnessed firsthand the turmoil surrounding the fall of apartheid; during a 2001 trip to visit friends in Sri Lanka, he found himself in the midst of the violent conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan military.Those chance experiences got Bruneau, who taught high school science for several years, interested in the psychology of human conflict. While teaching, he also volunteered as counselor for a conflict-resolution camp in…

  • Making Memories Last

    Neuroscience RSS Feeds - Neuroscience News Updates
    Neuroscience News
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:45 pm
    Stowers researchers discovered that a prion-like protein plays a key role in storing long-term memories. Memories in our brains are maintained by connections between neurons called “synapses”. But how do these synapses stay strong and keep memories alive for decades? Neuroscientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered a major clue from a [...]

  • Patricia Churchland on Neuroscience and Morality (BSP 81)

    Brain Science Podcast Blog
    Ginger Campbell, MD
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    Patricia Churchland (photo by Nines Minquez)BSP 81 marks the return of philosopher Patricia Churchland, who I first interviewed back in Episode 55. Our recent conversation focuses on her latest book, Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality. We discuss the historical background and contrast Churchland's approach to that of Sam Harris in The Moral Landscape. Then Professor Churchland discusses how recent discoveries in neuroscience are shedding light on the evolutionary origins of morality. It's a fascinating conversation that you won't want to miss.  Listen to BSP 81 (Free…

  • Intelligence – Are You Holding Back Your Brain?

    Brain Blogger
    Radhika Takru, MA
    24 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    Is intelligence fluid or crystalline? Is it a function of nature or nurture? Are you born smart, or is the power of your brain under no one’s control but your own?You might have cruised through classes at school, or you might have struggled and wondered how your peers managed to pass their classes so effortlessly. In the first case, perhaps you met your match at university when you found you were no longer at the top of the class. In the second, perhaps you had just spent your life assuming some people were born smarter than others. In both cases you are treating intelligence as if it…
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    Brains On Purpose™

  • Rescuing the amygdala from the swamp of pop culture

    StephanieWestAllen
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:11 pm
    Coming on the heels of my blog post Clearing up confusion: The amygdala is not the same as the reptile brain & it's probably not reserved for fear is a news release from Association of Psychological Sciences with more information which I hope will continue the cleaning up of the amygdala's reputation in the media. And clear up its role...

  • Music clearly affects the brain: Does it encourage cooperation? Facilitate social interaction?

    StephanieWestAllen
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:04 pm
    Hear answers to those questions by listening to this very interesting video from University of California at San Diego and Association of Psychological Sciences. If you have read past posts here about music and conflict resolution, you may guess what is said about music, cooperation, and facilitated interaction in this video. From the Web page of A Conversation About Music,...

  • I'll be a featured speaker at the Arkansas ADR Conference in March

    StephanieWestAllen
    20 Jan 2012 | 2:01 pm
    Join me in Little Rock on March 8? Click to see the schedule of excellent programs. My presentations will be The Mind and the Brain: 21st Century Insight for the ADR Professional (plenary session) Total-Brain Mediation: The Whole Brain and Nothing but the Truth

  • Reminder that studies may not be measuring what we think: Research merely provides clues

    StephanieWestAllen
    19 Jan 2012 | 4:49 pm
    Do the expectations of researchers have an effect on the outcome of their studies? Sometimes, yes. That's the topic of a new post in one of Discover Magazine's blogs. From "Primed by expectations: why a classic psychology experiment isn't what is seemed": We’ve known for over a century that scientists can very easily bias their own experiments, even in the...

  • Ever use SWOT? This pair of experts says the strategy leads the brain to a "mental dead end"

    StephanieWestAllen
    18 Jan 2012 | 9:53 am
    Have you run into SWOT? Used it? It's a method some people claim will assist in strategic analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, and the theory is that looking at each of those factors can help with strategy creation. Does it work? Not according to this professor duo of Harold E. Klein (Fox School of Business at...
 
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    Neuroscience RSS Feeds - Neuroscience News Updates

  • Diagnostic Brain Tumor Test Could Revolutionize Care of Patients with Low-Grade Gliomas

    Neuroscience News
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:25 pm
    Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed what they believe to be the first clinical application of a new imaging technique to diagnose brain tumors. The unique test could preclude the need for surgery in patients whose tumors are located in areas of the brain too dangerous to biopsy. This new magnetic resonance spectroscopy [...]

  • Making Memories Last

    Neuroscience News
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:45 pm
    Stowers researchers discovered that a prion-like protein plays a key role in storing long-term memories. Memories in our brains are maintained by connections between neurons called “synapses”. But how do these synapses stay strong and keep memories alive for decades? Neuroscientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered a major clue from a [...]

  • In the Brain, an Earlier Sign of Autism

    Neuroscience News
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:24 pm
    In their first year of life, babies who will go on to develop autism already show different brain responses when someone looks at or away from them. Although the researchers are careful to say that the study, reported online on January 26 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology, is only a first step toward [...]

  • Envelope for an Artificial Cell

    Neuroscience News
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Chemists have taken an important step in making artificial life forms from scratch. Using a novel chemical reaction, they have created self-assembling cell membranes, the structural envelopes that contain and support the reactions required for life. Neal Devaraj, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of California, San Diego, and Itay Budin, a graduate student [...]

  • Study: Men at Higher Risk for Mild Memory Loss than Women

    Neuroscience News
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:06 pm
    Men may be at higher risk of experiencing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or the stage of mild memory loss that occurs between normal aging and dementia, than women, according to a study published in the January 25, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “These results are surprising, [...]
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    Neurology / Neuroscience News From Medical News Today

  • Neuronal Activity Highlighted By New Fluorescent Dyes

    27 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am
    Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have created a new generation of fast-acting fluorescent dyes that optically highlight electrical activity in neuronal membranes. The work is published in this week's online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

  • Stimulating Cognitive Activity Lowers Risk Of Alzheimer's

    26 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Findings published Online First by Archives of Neurology, a JAMA/Archives journal, show that people who keep their brain active throughout their lives with cognitively stimulating activities like reading, writing and playing games seem to have lower levels of the β-amyloid protein, which is the major part of the amyloid plaque in Alzheimer disease...

  • Potential New Pathway Can Overcome Glioblastoma Resistance

    25 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am
    Glioblastoma is the most prevalent and most aggressive malignant brain tumor in humans, and is one of the most resistant to current treatments. Individuals with the disease typically survive around 15 months. Earlier research concentrated on activating the (apoptosis) cell death pathway through therapeutic agents like tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)...

  • Possible New Pathway Can Overcome Glioblastoma Resistance

    25 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am
    Glioblastoma, a lethal brain cancer, is one of the most resistant to available therapies and patients typically live approximately 15 months...

  • High-Cost Screening Instead Of More Effective Tests Usually Offered To Neuropathy Patients

    25 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am
    Researchers at the University of Michigan analyzed the tremendous cost of diagnosing peripheral neuropathy and found that less expensive, more effective tests are less likely to be used...
 
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    ScienceDaily: Neuroscience News

  • Possible new treatment for Rett Syndrome

    27 Jan 2012 | 4:48 pm
    Researchers have discovered that a molecule critical to the development and plasticity of nerve cells – brain-derived neurotrophic factor -- is severely lacking in brainstem neurons in mutations leading to Rett syndrome, a neurological developmental disorder. The finding has implications for the treatment of neurological disorders, including Rett syndrome that affects one in 10,000 baby girls.

  • The pupils are the windows to the mind

    27 Jan 2012 | 3:28 pm
    The eyes are the window into the soul -- or at least the mind, according to a new article.

  • The amygdala and fear are not the same thing

    27 Jan 2012 | 3:27 pm
    In a 2007 episode of the television show Boston Legal, a character claimed to have figured out that a cop was racist because his amygdala activated – displaying fear, when they showed him pictures of black people.

  • Making memories last: Prion-like protein plays key role in storing long-term memories

    27 Jan 2012 | 3:24 pm
    Memories in our brains are maintained by connections between neurons called "synapses." But how do these synapses stay strong and keep memories alive for decades? Neuroscientists have discovered a major clue from a study in fruit flies: Hardy, self-copying clusters or oligomers of a synapse protein are an essential ingredient for the formation of long-term memory.

  • Brain receptor in eyes may link epilepsy, cataracts and antidepressants

    26 Jan 2012 | 9:36 pm
    Researchers have discovered that the most common receptor for the major neurotransmitter in the brain is also present in the eye, which may explain links between cataracts, epilepsy and use of a number of antiepileptic and antidepressant drugs.
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    MIT News - Topic - Neuroscience

  • Seeking the neurological roots of conflict

    22 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    MIT postdoc Emile Bruneau has long been drawn to conflict — not as a participant, but an observer. In 1994, while doing volunteer work in South Africa, he witnessed firsthand the turmoil surrounding the fall of apartheid; during a 2001 trip to visit friends in Sri Lanka, he found himself in the midst of the violent conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan military.Those chance experiences got Bruneau, who taught high school science for several years, interested in the psychology of human conflict. While teaching, he also volunteered as counselor for a conflict-resolution camp in…

  • The quantifier

    11 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    Video: Melanie GonickPolina Golland’s parents tell the story that, sometime in the early 1980s, when Polina was in junior high, she announced that she wanted to go to MIT. That’s an unusual plan for any 13- or 14-year-old to hatch independently, but particularly one living in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.Golland, now a newly tenured associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a principal investigator at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), grew up in Frunze (since renamed Bishkek), the capital of…

  • Patterns of connections reveal brain functions

    2 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    For more than a decade, neuroscientists have known that many of the cells in a brain region called the fusiform gyrus specialize in recognizing faces. However, those cells don’t act alone: They need to communicate with several other parts of the brain. By tracing those connections, MIT neuroscientists have now shown that they can accurately predict which parts of the fusiform gyrus are face-selective.The study, which appeared in the Dec. 25 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, is the first to link a brain region’s connectivity with its function. No two people have the exact same…

  • $26.5 million Simons gift to catalyze autism research at MIT

    13 Dec 2011 | 4:21 pm
    MIT has received a $26.5 million gift from the Simons Foundation to create the Simons Center for the Social Brain at MIT, a new initiative that aims to not only catalyze innovative research on the social brain, but also translate that work into the improved diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The Simons Center is a significant addition to the Boston and Cambridge area’s already impressive hub of research in autism. It will work in partnership with the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, which in turn brings together many academic and medical institutions to…

  • A new piece to the autism puzzle

    23 Nov 2011 | 12:00 pm
    Most cases of autism are not caused by a single genetic mutation. However, several disorders with autism-like symptoms, including the rare Fragile X syndrome, can be traced to a specific mutation. Several years ago, MIT neuroscientist Mark Bear discovered that this mutation leads to overproduction of proteins found in brain synapses — the connections between neurons that allow them to communicate with each other.In a paper published today in Nature, Bear and colleagues have now shown that tuberous sclerosis, another rare disease characterized by autism and mental retardation, is caused by…
 
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    Deric Bownds' MindBlog

  • You think, therefore I am.

    27 Jan 2012 | 4:30 am
    I pass on this contribution from Rose and Markus as their answer to this year's annual question from Edge.org (What is your favorite deep, elegant, or beautiful explanation?): "I think, therefore I am." Cogito ergo sum. Remember this elegant and deep idea from René Descartes' Principles of Philosophy? The fact that a person is contemplating whether she exists, Descartes argued, is proof that she, indeed, actually does exist. With this single statement, Descartes knit together two central ideas of Western philosophy: 1) thinking is powerful, and 2) individuals play a big role in creating…

  • Cellular 'self eating' accounts for some beneficial effects of exercise.

    26 Jan 2012 | 4:30 am
    Population studies suggest that exercise protects against diabetes, cancer, and age related diseases such as Alzheimer's. Work by Congcong He et al. has now shown that at least part of this effect is due to the increased "self-eating" (Autophagy) that cells must do to meet the energy demands of exercise. Autophagy recycles used or flawed membranes and internal cell structures by encircling its target material and then dumping it into a compartment that digests it. It has been shown in animal models to reduce diabetes, cancer, and neuro-degenerative diseases. The He et al. work documents that…

  • The psychology of perceived wealth.

    25 Jan 2012 | 4:30 am
    Studies have shown that not every dollar contributes equally to perceived wealth, people’s standing relative to those around them often predicts well-being better than net worth does, and increasing income trends are preferred over decreasing ones. Sussman and Shafir (at Princeton, where Kahneman has carried out his behavioral economics studies) show several factors that can influence the perception of wealth: We studied the perception of wealth as a function of varying levels of assets and debt. We found that with total wealth held constant, people with positive net worth feel and are seen…

  • Bounded rationality.

    24 Jan 2012 | 4:30 am
    I thought I would pass on clips from Mahzarin Banaji's response to the Edge.org annual question "What is your favorite deep, elegant, or beautiful explanation?": …my candidate for the most deeply satisfying explanation of recent decades is the idea of bounded rationality…Herbert Simon put one stake in the ground through the study of information processing and AI, showing that both people and organizations follow principles of behavior such as "satisficing" that constrain them to decent but not the best decisions. The second stake was placed by Kahneman and Tversky, who showed the stunning…

  • The age of anxiety

    23 Jan 2012 | 4:30 am
    Daniel Smith does an interesting piece asking whether it is appropriate to consider our current times an "age of anxiety." Some clips: ...it is undeniable that ours is an age in which an enormous and growing number of people suffer from anxiety. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders now affect 18 percent of the adult population of the United States, or about 40 million people. By comparison, mood disorders — depression and bipolar illness, primarily — affect 9.5 percent…anti-anxiety drug alprazolam — better known by its brand name, Xanax — was the…
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    Eide Neurolearning Blog

  • Why It's Hard to Listen to Two People Talking at One Time

    Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide
    23 Jan 2012 | 2:05 am
    Researchers from Carnegie Mellon show us why it's hard for us to listen to two people talking at one time. In addition to listening to the individual messages, we have to use bilateral brain pathways to resolve conflicts in what we heard (or what we think we heard) and piece together information. Developmentally, the need for bilateral brain coordination and interhemispheric pathways is plenty good reason for why some students (and nearly all young children) may have a harder time listening over background noise or focusing on a teacher's comments while a classmate is talking. In the figure…

  • Pattern Learning and the Brain

    Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide
    16 Jan 2012 | 2:05 am
    From NY Times: "For years school curriculums have emphasized top-down instruction, especially for topics like math and science. Learn the rules first — the theorems, the order of operations, Newton’s laws — then make a run at the problem list at the end of the chapter. Yet recent research has found that true experts have something at least as valuable as a mastery of the rules: gut instinct, an instantaneous grasp of the type of problem they’re up against. Like the ballplayer who can “read” pitches early, or the chess master who “sees” the best move, they’ve developed a…

  • Learning from Exceptions in the Brain

    Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide
    12 Dec 2011 | 2:05 am
    There is a learning style that seems unmistakable in some - and it seems to involve learning from exceptions. These may be children who from a very young age seem to question rules and challenge assumptions. They're kids who if you try to tell them what to think, they may quickly answer, "Actually..." This learning preference often goes hand-in-hand with novelty and inductive learning because discovering an exception means that you might have to rethink your rules and shuffle your categories. 'Exception' learners are often highly motivated by bizarre facts and incredible stories that might…

  • Memory, Reward, and Dopamine

    Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide
    28 Nov 2011 | 2:05 am
    Nice review of Dopamine and Adaptive Memory from TICS.When Princeton student volunteers where told that they would receive a significance monetary reward for some pictures on a computer screen that would follow, their midbrain reward centers and medial temporal lobe became activated in anticipation of the pictures that they would see. Testing the next day showed that the rewarded pictures were better remembered and better associated with their associated context. It's an interesting review because it ties together data involving episodic / autobiographical / personal memory,…

  • Happy Thanksgiving in the Brain

    Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide
    24 Nov 2011 | 11:33 am
    We wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Gratitude and thanksgiving are whole brain activities that involve deep-seated emotional areas, areas associated with context-sensitive morality, and abstract conceptual understanding. Thankfulness to God involves multisensory areas, imagery, and regions associated with feelings of justice, peace, happiness, and unconditional love. Our family has very much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving - bless you all! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Gratitude, Neural basis of human social values fmri pdf Eide Neurolearning Blog: Celebrating…
 
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    Brain Blogger

  • Media Violence Leads to Real Violence

    Jennifer Gibson, PharmD
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    A few short decades ago, the most violent scenes we were exposed to in the media involved Wile E. Coyote and an anvil. The nightly news did not display graphic evidence of riots or murders or even war. Movies did not market themselves based on the amount of gunfire packed into two hours. Video games were little more than a bouncing ball controlled by a joystick. But, society has changed and, now, violence is everywhere. Children and adolescents are exposed to violent images everyday and the line between reality and fiction is blurred. Now, the consequences of such exposure are becoming…

  • Intelligence – Are You Holding Back Your Brain?

    Radhika Takru, MA
    24 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    Is intelligence fluid or crystalline? Is it a function of nature or nurture? Are you born smart, or is the power of your brain under no one’s control but your own?You might have cruised through classes at school, or you might have struggled and wondered how your peers managed to pass their classes so effortlessly. In the first case, perhaps you met your match at university when you found you were no longer at the top of the class. In the second, perhaps you had just spent your life assuming some people were born smarter than others. In both cases you are treating intelligence as if it…

  • Childhood Aggression Predicts Health Care Use Later in Life

    Jennifer Gibson, PharmD
    21 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    Young children can be physically aggressive, owing to a combination of instinct, temperament, cultural and social influences, and (sometimes) not getting what they want. But, by the time most kids reach preschool age, they have learned to control their aggression with coping skills and relational techniques. However, children who do not learn to regulate aggressive behavior are at risk for physical and mental health issues, as well as serious patterns of aggression and violence, as adults. A new study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, shows that the more aggressive a…

  • The Brain’s Border Patrol – Blood Brain Barrier

    Emily Haines, MSc, PhD student
    18 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    The blood brain barrier (BBB) forms a tight security gateway between blood vessels and brain tissue. Blood flow throughout the brain is crucial to deliver the oxygen and nutrients required for the brain to function properly. Even though the brain comprises only about 2% of body mass, it is responsible for nearly a quarter of the body’s oxygen consumption. Blood flow is so crucial to the brain that when blood flow stops, brain functions halt within seconds. At the same time the brain also requires a very specific environment in order to function properly. Miniscule changes in pH,…

  • Risks of Personalized Medicine

    Jennifer Gibson, PharmD
    15 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    Anyone who has taken high school biology has probably heard one of the corniest biology jokes around: How do you tell a girl chromosome from a boy chromosome? Pull down its genes. While this has been a useful (if not really funny) mnemonic for teaching students about life science, now individuals are beginning to play genetic versions of I’ll-show-you-mine-if-you-show-me-yours by actually examining their genes. Not much more than a decade has passed since the completion of the Human Genome Project, but, already, direct-to-consumer (DTC) genome mapping and genetic testing are available…
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    Dana Foundation Blog

  • The Power of Data

    Dana
    26 Jan 2012 | 1:31 pm
    Once a scientist has finished her research and published a paper, where is that data stored? Three of the panelists at Science Online New York City (SONYC)’s event last night, “Thinking Digital: Giving your research more reach (and making sure others can find it),” are figuring out answers to this question. Carol Feltes, Rockefeller University’s head librarian, comes from a business background. In a for-profit setting, there are clear policies and procedures for data management, retention, and removal. But at Rockefeller, each lab head is responsible for his or her data—there is no…

  • Changing the Diagnoses

    Dana
    25 Jan 2012 | 2:44 pm
    It's not a surprise that each time researchers and other experts revise the "bible" of psychiatric diagnosis in America, they change categories and definitions of disabilities. But when that change hits close to home—say, narrowing the definition of autism spectrum disorder—it gets a lot more press than usual. The next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which psychiatrists and other practitioners use as a guide to diagnose psychiatric disorders, is in the late stages of a long revision process; it goes to the printers in December.

  • From the Archives: Suicide Prevention

    Dana
    25 Jan 2012 | 9:24 am
    In this month’s Cerebrum article, “Suicide and the United States Army,” Dr. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, a retired Army colonel, explains how the U.S. Military now collects data on suicides. She recommends ways to put that data to use through new strategies—like means restriction and service animals—that could bring down the high suicide rate in the military. In July of 2011, Kay Redfield Jamison wrote the Cerebrum article “Suicide in the Young: An Essay.” She said: “We know, first, that suicide is a terrible killer of the young. In the United States, suicide is the third major…

  • Learning About Learning

    Dana
    23 Jan 2012 | 2:41 pm
    How does school work, brain-wise? Do children teach themselves or is it something about the instruction that gets their brains firing and wiring faster? Last fall, a few hundred neuroscientists, teachers, and curriculum-makers met for a weekend to hash out what we know about learning and how we could use it to help every child succeed at school. One early answer: Play.  The Aspen Brain Forum was sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences, which has posted an extensive summary of the event as well as slides and audio from eighteen of the sessions. For an introductory taste of the event,…

  • Gearing Up for Brain Awareness Week

    Dana
    20 Jan 2012 | 11:59 am
    Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is less than two months away (March 12–18) and here at the Dana Foundation we are excited. Hospitals, universities, schools, senior centers, and other organizations across the world are already buzzing about the brain. Events are being planned in preparation for the big week. Remember, the Dana Foundation and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives (DABI) are here to help. If you register your organization with DABI and become a BAW partner at www.dana.org/brainweek/, you’ll get access to free BAW materials. Each year hundreds of BAW partners from Texas to…
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    Mind Hacks

  • A treasure hunt for the mysteries of mind and brain

    tomstafford
    21 Jan 2012 | 8:22 am
    I’ve published a couple of free ebooks recently: Explore your blind spot shows you how to reveal the gap we all have in our visual experience of the world, and discusses what it means about consciousness that this gap is kept hidden from us most of the time. Control Your Dreams, co-written with Cathryn Bardsley and illustrated beautifully by Harriet Cameron, tells you how to have lucid dreams, those dreams where you realise you are dreaming and can take control over reality. Both books are written as treasure hunts – travel guides, but for exploring inner space. When you start…

  • The peak experiences of Abraham Maslow

    vaughanbell
    19 Jan 2012 | 6:48 pm
    The New Atlantis has an in-depth biographical article on psychologist Abraham Maslow – one of the founders of humanistic psychology and famous for his ‘hierarchy of needs’. Maslow is stereotypically associated with a kind of fluffy ‘love yourself’ psychology although the man himself was quite a skeptic of the mumbo jumbo that got associated with his work. The association is not so much because of Maslow’s focus on self-actualization, a goal where we use our psychological potential to its fullest, but because of his association with the ‘human…

  • Gimme Shelter

    vaughanbell
    16 Jan 2012 | 7:44 pm
    The Rolling Stones launched their career in a social therapeutic club, designed to help troubled youth with communication skills. The club became legendary in rock ‘n roll history but its therapeutic roots have almost been forgotten. Eel Pie Island is a small patch on the River Thames famous for the underground club that earned a place in 60′s history for hosting the cream of jazz bands and rock n’ roll outfits. Less well known, is the story of how the club was created as a therapeutic environment to help troubled youth. Its place in music history has been recounted many…

  • A medical study of the Haitian zombie

    vaughanbell
    11 Jan 2012 | 6:18 am
    We hear a lot about zombies these days – in films, in music and even in philosophy – but many are unaware that in 1997 The Lancet published a medical study of three genuine Haitian zombies. The cases studies were reported by British anthropologist Roland Littlewood and Haitian doctor Chavannes Douyon and concerned three individuals identified as zombies after they had apparently passed away. The Haitian explanation for how zombies are created involves the distinction between different elements of the human being – including the body, the gwobon anj (the animating principle)…

  • A relationship through brain injury

    vaughanbell
    9 Jan 2012 | 6:14 pm
    The New York Times has an excellent article on the challenges faced by couples after one member survives brain injury. Carers sometimes say that, after brain injury, their partner is emotionally unresponsive, emotionally unstable or that their ‘personality has changed’. This can lead to a strain on the relationship that far outlasts the ‘obvious’ effects of the injury and, unfortunately, the problem is not widely recognised. Mrs. Curtis, 60, was once drawn to her husband’s “sparkle,” she said. After the injury, he “flat-lined” emotionally, and he suffers from…
 
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    Neuroanthropology

  • Neuroanthropology on PLoS – Best of 2011

    dlende
    17 Jan 2012 | 3:47 pm
    The last year was a great one for us over at Neuroanthropology’s new home on the Public Library of Science – our first full year as part of PLoS Blogs, a lot of great writing, and a vivid sense that anthropology online is developing into a robust arena. Here is a quick run-down of the most read 2011 posts by Greg and by Daniel, as well as a selection of other notable posts. Greg – Top Five ‘The last free people on the planet’ *Greg’s comprehensive take on media hype over “uncontacted” Indian tribes, and how these groups truly challenge those of us living in…

  • Neuroanthropology.net at 1,000,000

    dlende
    20 Dec 2010 | 8:29 pm
    Neuroanthropology.net just broke through the 1,000,000 visits mark! We’ve done that in three years. Our very post came in December 2007. Even though Greg and I have moved over to Neuroanthropology PLoS, this site has continued to generate impressive traffic since September 1st. Here are some of the posts that got us over the top: We agree it’s WEIRD, but is it WEIRD enough? -Greg dissects the excellent study by Henrich et al. that took psychologists to task for basing claims about universal psychology using samples of college students Inside the Mind of a Pedophile -Absolutely incredible…

  • The Wilberforce Award: The population puzzle part 2

    Paul Mason
    7 Dec 2010 | 2:05 am
    Our Neuroanthropology blog has moved to PLoS Blogs, and if you are interested in the topic of sustainable population growth, you may be interested in The Culture of Poverty Debate, The Culture of Poverty Debate continued, and Culture of Poverty: Analysis and Policy. Attention to the Population Puzzle has been gaining attention with blogs written by: Rachel in Melbourne, Himalayan Sun, EconNewsAustralia, Simon Butler, Thomas Parkes, North Canberra Community Council, Jeremy Williams, Steve Austin, Population Media Center, Sharon Ede, The Australian, 2UE, and more… If there is a team of…

  • Great New Stuff over at PLoS Neuroanthropology

    dlende
    14 Nov 2010 | 9:03 am
    I hope our regular readers have moved over to PLoS Neuroanthropology. But just in case you haven’t, I’ve posted some of our recent posts from over there below. And for those of you new to neuroanthropology, welcome! Here’s a taste of what we do. But one thing first. If you like getting your internet through a feed, please update the rss subscription for PLoS Neuroanthropology> Here’s the actual address in case you need it: http://feeds.plos.org/plos/blogs/neuroanthropology Popular Posts An Interview with Mark Changizi: Culture Harnassing the Brain *Our most popular…

  • Announcing the Notre Dame Hub: Taking Students’ Academic Lives Online

    dlende
    1 Nov 2010 | 12:53 pm
    The Hub @ Notre Dame is now live! The Hub takes students’ academic lives online, providing a platform for exploring ideas, presenting their work, and social networking within an academic community. I initiated this project in the spring of 2009 at Notre Dame, so it is wonderful to see it come to fruition. Here is the opening to my original Hub Proposal: Students today can share their personal lives on online sites like Facebook and MySpace. They do not have a comparable site for their academic lives. Through the creation of the Notre Dame Hub, students will be able to share their research…
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    Neuroethics & Law Blog

  • "Cross-Cultural Variation and fMRI Lie-Detection"

    NELB Staff
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:42 am
    Recently Posted to SSRN: "Cross-Cultural Variation and fMRI Lie-Detection" . TOMMASO BRUNI, University of Milan - Dipartimento di Medicina, Chirurgia ed Odontoiatria As decidedly underscored by a recent editorial in Nature Neuroscience (2010), many experiments in cognitive neuroscience have been...

  • "Capacitarianism, Responsibility and Restored Mental Capacities"

    NELB Staff
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:35 am
    Recently Posted to SSRN: "Capacitarianism, Responsibility and Restored Mental Capacities" NICOLE A. VINCENT, Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University The capacitarian idea that responsibility tracks mental capacity underlies much of our thinking about responsibility. For instance, mental capacity assessments inform whether...

  • PEBS Neuroethics Roundup (JHU)

    NELB Staff
    26 Jan 2012 | 4:14 pm
    Last Edition's Most Popular Article: Depression Defies the Rush to Find an Evolutionary Upside, New York Times In The Popular Press: Survival's Ick Factor, New York Times Profit vs. Principle: The Neurobiology of Integrity, Wired Science Thorazine will have you...

  • "Effects of Neuroimaging Evidence on Mock Juror Decision Making"

    Adam Kolber
    25 Jan 2012 | 3:50 pm
    Here is the abstract of a recent study that may interest readers: Effects of Neuroimaging Evidence on Mock Juror Decision Making. Behav Sci Law. 2011 Dec 29. doi: 10.1002/bsl.1993. [Epub ahead of print] Greene E, Cahill BS. Abstract During the...

  • PEBS Neuroethics Roundup (JHU)

    NELB Staff
    19 Jan 2012 | 3:54 pm
    Last Edition's Most Popular Article: Lawmaker Steals Leather Pants: Brain May Be Responsible, Lawyer Says, Practical Ethics In The Popular Press: Do Thrifty Brains Make Better Minds?, New York Times Opinionator Wiring the Brain, Literally, to Treat Stubborn Disorders, The...
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    Neuromarketing

  • Time Warner Opens NYC Neuromarketing Lab

    Roger Dooley
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:42 am
    Time Warner Inc. is opening their new “Medialab” at its New York City headquarters. The media giant expects to “generate valuable insights into consumer behavior, evolving media habits and industry trends across all of Time Warner’s businesses, brands and advertising partners.” The lab sounds like one of the more diverse facilities dedicated to this kind [...]   CommentsCommentsRelated StoriesPut Your Customer in the Ad!Solving the “Invulnerable Customer” ProblemStarbucks Loyalty Fail

  • Put Your Customer in the Ad!

    Roger Dooley
    24 Jan 2012 | 8:05 am
    In my direct mail days, we used personalization whenever possible. Starting a letter with “Dear Roger” instead of “Dear Friend” responds better every time (if the recipient’s name is Roger, that is!). A sweepstakes that uses a personalized address message like, “Imagine our Prize Patrol ringing the doorbell at 123 Shady Circle,” will garner more [...]   CommentsVery cool, Daniel, and exactly the kind of thing I was talking ... by Roger DooleyThis advertisement not only uses your face, but it log's into ... by Daniel GonzalezPlus 7 more...Related…

  • Solving the “Invulnerable Customer” Problem

    Roger Dooley
    19 Jan 2012 | 7:22 am
    Often, consumers don’t buy products because even though they recognize a risk exists, they don’t think they will be victims. The belief may be irrational, but they see themselves as invulnerable. So, they don’t buy life or disability insurance, they don’t invest in healthcare products products or services, they don’t join a gym, or take [...]   CommentsYes, there is a high-ticket product that baby boomers are ... by Margaret J. KingHi Roger, Great post! This is one of the key issues that we ... by JenPlus 8 more...Related StoriesPut Your Customer in the…

  • Starbucks Loyalty Fail

    Roger Dooley
    17 Jan 2012 | 7:08 am
    Starbucks knows a thing or two about loyalty. I’m a Gold Card member, and enjoy the free refills as well as the periodic free drinks I accrue by using it. (Green Card members get the refill benefit, but not the free beverage after every 15 purchases. In addition, Gold Card members get a personalized card [...]   CommentsThere is such a competition now. In order to keep its clients, ... by Anna[...] Starbucks Loyalty Fail [Neuroscience Marketing] 0 ... by Build a Loyalty Program—Just Don’t Be Like Starbucks - Printing HubPlus 8 more...Related StoriesWhen Loyalty Points Beat…

  • Upcoming Appearances – Early 2012

    Roger Dooley
    16 Jan 2012 | 6:42 am
    The first quarter is shaping up as a busy time for neuromarketing speaking gigs – I’ve booked a few more than usual to publicize my new book, Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing. For those who can’t attend one of the conferences, there’s one free webcast this week (from the American [...]   CommentsComments
 
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    SharpBrains

  • Update: The Future of Preventive Brain Medicine

    SharpBrains
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:03 am
    Time for SharpBrains’ January 2012 eNewsletter, featuring in this occasion multiple thought-provoking perspectives on how emerging neuroscience can and should make us rethink prevailing practices in education, healthy aging and preventive medicine. Featured Perspectives: The Future of Preventive Brain Medicine: Breaking Down the Cognition & Alzheimer’s Disease Alphabet Soup, by Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa When 1 + 1 = 5: Dyscalculia and Working Memory, by Dr. Tracy Alloway New Review of Neurofeedback Treatment for ADHD — Current State of the Science, by Dr. David Rabiner The Business…

  • Q&A on Online Course: How to Be Your Own Brain Fitness Coach in 2012

    SharpBrains
    26 Jan 2012 | 11:15 am
    We have received many excellent questions about SharpBrains’ upcoming online course How to Be Your Own Brain Fitness Coach in 2012 (March 2012); let us answer the most common ones below. Question: Who has registered to participate so far? Answer: 80 individuals have registered so far, representing a fascinating diversity of backgrounds. We have health and medical professionals, educators, business executives, traders, consultants, coaches, software engineers, therapists, and more.   Question: Is this a train-the-trainer? are you offering CME/ CEUs? Answer: No. This is a course designed…

  • When 1 + 1 = 5: Dyscalculia and Working Memory

    Dr. Tracy Alloway
    25 Jan 2012 | 9:40 am
    Jacob’s mother writes that ‘Jacob, 10-years-old, still struggles with number bonds to 10. Learning to tell the time is still slow – he has not mastered half-past. Although he managed to learn his 5x tables because we practiced all summer, this has now gone’. Jacob has dyscalculia, a math disability where students struggle to learn or understand mathematics. Students with dyscalculia find it difficult to decipher math symbols (e.g. +, –), counting principles (‘two’ stands for 2), solving arithmetic problems, and usually transpose numbers (e.g. 75 becomes 57). However, dyscalculia…

  • Lifelong cognitive exercise may ward off Alzheimer’s protein beta amyloid

    SharpBrains
    24 Jan 2012 | 11:48 am
    Very significant findings reported today. Keeping brain sharp may ward off Alzheimer’s protein (Reuters): “People who challenge their brains throughout their lifetimes — through reading, writing and playing games — are less likely to develop protein deposits in the brain linked with Alzheimer’s, researchers said on Monday.” “Prior studies have suggested that people who are well educated and stay mentally active build up brain reserves that allow them to stay sharp even if deposits of the destructive protein called beta amyloid form in the brain.” “But the latest study,…

  • Upcoming Talk & Book Signing in Washington, DC

    SharpBrains
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:52 am
    On Tuesday, February 7, at 7 p.m., Cleveland Park Library in Washington, DC will host Alvaro Fernandez as he discusses  The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews to Keep Your Brain Sharp (book also available via DC library system). The book expands on the concept of neuroplasticity that recent works such as the New York Times bestseller, The Brain that Changes Itself, and the PBS Brain Fitness Program have introduced to the world. Neuroplasticity, or the the brain’s capacity to change itself based upon experience, means…
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    Brain Science Podcast Blog

  • Patricia Churchland on Neuroscience and Morality (BSP 81)

    Ginger Campbell, MD
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    Patricia Churchland (photo by Nines Minquez)BSP 81 marks the return of philosopher Patricia Churchland, who I first interviewed back in Episode 55. Our recent conversation focuses on her latest book, Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality. We discuss the historical background and contrast Churchland's approach to that of Sam Harris in The Moral Landscape. Then Professor Churchland discusses how recent discoveries in neuroscience are shedding light on the evolutionary origins of morality. It's a fascinating conversation that you won't want to miss.  Listen to BSP 81 (Free…

  • Brain Science Podcast turns Five Years Old (BSP 80)

    Ginger Campbell, MD
    30 Dec 2011 | 4:00 am
    Original Logo from 2006I launched the Brain Science Podcast in December 2006, so to celebrate I am posting my Fifth Annual Review Episode (BSP 80). This podcast includes a review of the highlights from this year's episodes along with my reflections on what we have learned about brain health over the last few years. I also take a look ahead to 2012 when I hope to continue to produce a Brain Science Podcast every month.   Listen to BSP 80 Episode Transcript (Free PDF) Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast: This Year's Episodes: BSP 72:  Stephen L. Macknik and Susana…

  • Miguel Nicolelis, MD, PhD (BSP 79)

    Ginger Campbell, MD
    3 Dec 2011 | 1:21 pm
    Dr. Miguel NicolelisMiguel Nicolelis at Duke University is pioneering brain-machine interfaces. In his book Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines---and How It Will Change Our Lives he puts his groundbreaking work into an historical context. I discussed his book briefly in BSP 78, but I have now posted an in depth interview. The focus of our conversation is on why his work challenges longstanding assumptions about the primacy of the single neuron in brain function. Listen to Episode 79 Episode Transcript (Free PDF)   Subscribe to the Brain Science…

  • Brain Machine Interfaces (BSP 78)

    Ginger Campbell, MD
    4 Nov 2011 | 8:56 am
    In his book Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines---and How It Will Change Our Lives neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis puts his recent work with brain machine interfaces into historical context and explains why this work should change the way we understand how brains work. Nicolelis challenges several long-standing assumptions including the primacy of the single neuron and strict localization, which is the idea that each area of the brain has a relatively fixed function. Episode 78 of the Brain Science Podcast is a brief discussion of the key ideas presented…

  • Cognitive Dissonance (BSP Extra)

    Ginger Campbell, MD
    4 Oct 2011 | 6:21 pm
    I am putting Episode 43 of Books and Ideas into the Brain Science Podcast feed because it should be of interest to BSP fans. This episode is an interview with psychologist Carol Tavris. We talk about the relationship between psychology and neuroscience as well as cognitive dissonance, which is the subject of Dr. Tavris's recent book Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts. Click here to listen to the podcast. Click here for detailed for the detailed show notes and episode transcript.   Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast:…
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    NeuroLogica Blog

  • Genesis Weak

    Steven Novella
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:27 am
    I advise you to please turn off your irony meters before reading further or clicking the link to the video I will be discussing today. You may also want to take a couple of deep relaxing breaths to help preserve your neurons from the irrational assault they are about to suffer. I was recently asked to take a look at Genesis Week with Ian Juby (Wazooloo), a slick YouTube series in which Juby takes us on a mystical journey through the looking glass of creationist nonsense. In his world science and reason are flipped completely upside down. It is, as they say, a “target rich…

  • Exposing Nutritional Pseudoscience

    Steven Novella
    26 Jan 2012 | 10:07 am
    Which? magazine is the UK equivalent of Consumer Reports – an independent magazine primarily focused on product reviews and providing objective information to the consumer. They recently conducted an investigation of nutritional therapists, with scandalous (although not surprising) results. This kind of expose is becoming more common, and that is a very good thing. The concept is very simple – just present as a typical client off the street and ask practitioners to do what they do every day, give their professional advice. This is a good real-world assessment of what a profession…

  • Stem Cells for Blindness

    Steven Novella
    24 Jan 2012 | 6:22 am
    File this one under “encouraging but preliminary.” Published in The Lancet – researchers report the results of two patients with two different forms of macular degeneration (the most common cause of blindness in the developed world) who had stem cells injected into one eye. Both patients reports improved vision. This study is the first to report a clinical benefit from the use of embryonic stem cells (other kinds of stem cells, like bone marrow, have been used for a long time). The study, however, is a very preliminary study designed mostly to look at safety. There are…

  • Science, Medicine, and Academia

    Steven Novella
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:05 am
    Proponents of so-called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are forcing us to answer a question no one has explicitly asked – should there be a scientific basis to medicine? Proponents are generally very coy about this topic, and in most venues want to pretend that they are being scientific, while really promoting “other” forms of evidence and “other” ways of knowing. They promote health care freedom laws designed to weaken the scientific standards of medicine, while simultaneously infiltrating academia with assurances that they are science-based.

  • Biofuels from Seaweed

    Steven Novella
    20 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am
    We are at a time in history when collectively we are re-examining the flow of energy through our civilization. It’s a fascinating question from a purely scientific point of view, but also with profound practical implications. For the last century we have relied heavily on fossils fuels – energy stored in hydrocarbons that we pull out of the ground. This is a cheap and convenient source of large amounts of energy, and it’s difficult to imagine that we could have gotten to this point in our technological development without it. But looking to the future we can see the light at…
 
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    neuroscience « WordPress.com Tag Feed

  • The Neuromarketing Legacy

    consumerintelligence
    24 Jan 2012 | 6:20 am
    The past few years have witnessed a tsunami of interest in Neuromarketing within the market research

  • Visual-Spatial vs. Auditory-Sequential Learning

    lennoxtutoring
    23 Jan 2012 | 8:18 pm
    What makes an amazing science teacher? Those who teach in primary and/or secondary schools obtain degrees in a variety of subjects. With many schools, one need only take two college level courses to be certified proficient in the subject at the high school level. Career non-university teachers must take course work beyond the baccalaureate level, including education, in order to obtain their teaching credential. Quite ironically, professors at Universities are not required to take a single course in education to teach the subject most related to their Ph.D. Some professors are natural…

  • Catchy Scientific Phrase For the Day ``Oxytocin - The cuddle hormone''

    tsiarli
    23 Jan 2012 | 6:15 pm
    Baby Cuddle From youramazingbrain.org I stumbled onto this blog while searching the effects of stress on the brain and fertility. From a first sight it looks interesting and has a variety of topics related to the brain and physiology-related brain matters, described in a way that even non-scientist persons can understand. Go on then, explore your amazing brain!

  • The Price of Your Soul: Neural Evidence for the Non-Utilitarian Representation of Sacred Values

    jf
    23 Jan 2012 | 4:20 pm
    (ARTIS Research) – Gregory Berns e.a.: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers at the Computation and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Emory University found that values that people refused to sell (sacred values) were associated with increased activity in the left temporoparietal junction and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, regions previously associated with semantic rule retrieval. This suggests that sacred values affect behavior through the retrieval and processing of deontic rules and not through a utilitarian evaluation of costs and benefits ……

  • The Details

    Danny Nettleton
    23 Jan 2012 | 3:17 pm
    You won’t find him in the well lit areas of thebrain scan that appear when a subject is shown a crisp black and white photo of the act by a man with a clipboard.He’s in the details, they say:The four year old girl in the hand me down Cinderella outfit, her picture perfect blonde curls and impossibly blue eyes, the way she innocently points to the Raggedy Anne doll, the vomit you swallow, how she cries when she finally tells you all her and Daddy’s secrets, the strung out mother restrained by the police, the awful words she uses to describe her lying daughter, He waits…
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    Journal of Neurology (Online First™)

  • Cerebrospinal fluid and lumbar puncture: a practical review

    25 Jan 2012 | 12:13 pm
    Abstract  Cerebrospinal fluid is vital for normal brain function. Changes to the composition, flow, or pressure can cause a variety of neurological symptoms and signs. Equally, disorders of nervous tissue may alter cerebrospinal fluid characteristics. Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid can provide information on diagnosis, may be therapeutic in certain conditions, and allows a research opportunity into neurological disease. However, inappropriate sampling, inaccurate technique, and incomplete analysis can contribute to significant patient morbidity, and reduce the amount of accurate…

  • Substance abuse may be a risk factor for earlier onset of Huntington disease

    24 Jan 2012 | 12:09 pm
    Abstract  Environmental factors may contribute as much as one-third of the variance in Huntington disease (HD) age of onset. Substance abuse is a risk factor for other neurodegenerative disorders; however, whether substance abuse influences HD age of onset is not well established. This study investigated the relationships between alcohol, drug, and tobacco abuse and HD age of onset in 136 participants with symptomatic HD. CAG repeat length was used as a covariate in all analyses, as it represents the most significant determinant of HD age of onset. The relationship between substance…

  • Hematoma of Meckel’s cave: a rare possible symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia

    24 Jan 2012 | 12:09 pm
    Hematoma of Meckel’s cave: a rare possible symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Letter to the EditorsPages 1-2DOI 10.1007/s00415-012-6410-0Authors F. Maggioni, Department of Neurosciences, Headache Centre, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 5, 35128 Padua, ItalyM. Bellamio, Department of Neurosciences, Headache Centre, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 5, 35128 Padua, ItalyM. Margoni, Department of Neurosciences, Headache Centre, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 5, 35128 Padua, ItalyG. Zanchin, Department of Neurosciences, Headache Centre,…

  • Diagnostic yield and predictive value of provoked ictal SPECT in drug-resistant epilepsies

    24 Jan 2012 | 12:09 pm
    Abstract  Brain single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) can be a useful tool to identify the epileptogenic zone in selected patients. However, ictal SPECT during spontaneous seizures is difficult to obtain and can be expensive, due to extra hospitalization time and personnel resource utilization. The efficacy of ictal SPECT depends on the ability to inject as early as possible after the beginning of the ictal discharge and/or the occurrence of the first symptom and is challenged by the short duration and rapid propagation of seizures, especially extratemporal seizures. We…

  • Techniques and applications of EMG: measuring motor units from structure to function

    24 Jan 2012 | 12:09 pm
    Abstract  Needle electromyography (EMG) is an established method of evaluating motor unit and muscle fibre function and pathology in clinical practice, while the development of advanced techniques including single-fibre EMG and combined recordings with other modalities have become increasingly useful in research. The development of quantitative EMG in particular had led to greater reproducibility and inter-rater reliability. This review provides an overview of standard needle EMG as well as discussing advanced recording and analysis techniques and their increasing role in clinical…
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    Journal of Neuroscience current issue

  • Novelty Detection in the Human Auditory Brainstem

    Slabu, L., Grimm, S., Escera, C.
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:01 am
    Auditory deviance detection has been associated with a human auditory-evoked potential (AEP), the mismatch negativity, generated in the auditory cortex 100–200 ms from sound change onset. Yet, single-unit recordings in animals suggest much earlier (~20–40 ms), and anatomically lower (i.e., thalamus and midbrain) deviance detection. In humans, recordings of the scalp middle-latency AEPs have confirmed early (~30–40 ms) deviance detection. However, involvement of the human auditory brainstem in deviance detection has not yet been demonstrated. Here we recorded the auditory…

  • Saccular-Specific Hair Cell Addition Correlates with Reproductive State-Dependent Changes in the Auditory Saccular Sensitivity of a Vocal Fish

    Coffin, A. B., Mohr, R. A., Sisneros, J. A.
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:01 am
    The plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, is a seasonal breeding teleost fish for which vocal–acoustic communication is essential for its reproductive success. Female midshipman use the saccule as the primary end organ for hearing to detect and locate "singing" males that produce multiharmonic advertisement calls during the summer breeding season. Previous work has shown that female auditory sensitivity changes seasonally with reproductive state; summer reproductive females become better suited than winter nonreproductive females to detect and encode the dominant higher harmonic…

  • Examining the Expectation Deficit in Normal Aging

    Pincham, H. L., Killikelly, C., Vuillier, L., Power, A. J.
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:01 am

  • This Week in The Journal

    25 Jan 2012 | 11:01 am

  • Interleukin-17A Increases Neurite Outgrowth from Adult Postganglionic Sympathetic Neurons

    Chisholm, S. P., Cervi, A. L., Nagpal, S., Lomax, A. E.
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:01 am
    Inflammation can profoundly alter the structure and function of the nervous system. Interleukin (IL)-17 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several inflammatory diseases associated with nervous system plasticity. However, the effects of IL-17 on the nervous system remain unexplored. Cell and explant culture techniques, immunohistochemistry, electrophysiology, and Ca2+ imaging were used to examine the impact of IL-17 on adult mouse sympathetic neurons. Receptors for IL-17 were present on postganglionic neurons from superior mesenteric ganglia (SMG). Supernatant from activated splenic T…
 
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    Sports Are 80 Percent Mental

  • Michel Bruyninckx Trains Soccer Brains

    22 Jan 2012 | 6:22 pm
    Michel Bruyninckx When describing what’s wrong with today’s youth soccer coaching, Michel Bruyninckx points to his head. “We need to stop thinking football is only a matter of the body,” the 59-year old Belgian Uefa A license coach and Standard Liège academy director recently told the BBC. “Skillfulness will only grow if we better understand the mental part of developing a player. Cognitive readiness, improved perception, better mastering of time and space in combination with perfect motor functioning.” We’re not talking about dribbling around orange cones here.

  • "Quiet Eye" Can Help A Surgeon's Patients And Golf Game

    13 Dec 2011 | 2:33 pm
    Surgeons now have a really good excuse to be out on the golf course.  Researchers have shown that the same training technique that will improve their putting can also improve their operating skills.  Dr Samuel Vine and Dr Mark Wilson, from Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Exeter, tested both elite golfers and surgical residents in two separate experiments using the gaze control technique known as the “Quiet Eye.” First, they divided 22 elite golfers, (handicaps less than 6), into two groups after their baseline putting performance was measured.  The control…

  • Is This How Barcelona's Xavi Makes Decisions?

    1 Dec 2011 | 8:35 am
    When Xavi Hernandez receives the soccer ball in his offensive half of the field, the Barcelona maestro has a world of decisions waiting for him.  Hold the ball while his teammates arrive, make the quick through pass to a slicing Lionel Messi or move into position for a shot. The question that decision researchers want to know is whether Xavi’s brain makes a choice based on the desired outcome (wait, pass or shoot) or the action necessary to achieve that goal.  Then, could his attitude towards improvement actually change his decision making ability? Traditionally, the decision…

  • Aaron Rodgers, Working Memory and 10,000 Hours Of Practice

    6 Nov 2011 | 2:01 pm
    After a great Aaron Rodgers performance, you will usually hear at least one of two phrases uttered by post-game football analysts, “he has a great ability to see the field,” or “the game has really slowed down for him.” Assuming the Packers’ quarterback does not have super-human vision or a time machine, these comments must refer to his ability to recognize opposing defensive formations, adjust quickly to their movements and pick out an open receiver.  It is a skill that all young players would like to have and their coaches would like to teach. Of course, the ongoing debate in…

  • Apolo Ohno Trains His Legs And His Mind For The NYC Marathon

    30 Oct 2011 | 8:15 pm
    Of the roughly 45,000 brave souls who will line up for the start of the New York City Marathon in less than two weeks, there’s a good chance that at least a few will have doubts of crossing the finish line.  They have put in the training miles, eaten the right foods and picked out their playlist. Yet, the biggest obstacle to a finisher’s medal is not their legs, but their brain.  Like an overprotective mother, the brain not only runs the show but also decides when enough is enough.  However, exercise science researchers now believe that it is possible to fool mother nature…
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    The Brain Understanding Itself

  • What if Michelangelo Listened to Lady Gaga: Sculpting Your Brain with Music

    Alex Doman
    5 Jan 2012 | 7:29 pm
    What if Michelangelo Listened to Lady Gaga: SculptingYour Brain with Music Did music influence Michelangelo? If so, was it the sounding of a harmonic chord, the new musical aesthetic for the period? Did it contribute to the transformation of a block of Carrara marble into David, the masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture? What form would David have taken if sculpted in the 21st century, with such a broad range of music genres and styles?  Lady Gaga anyone… These are the kinds of questions I cogitate in moments of quiet. Continue… New blog post at Cognitive Connections. Thanks for the…

  • What we hear can affect how we work | Marketplace from American Public Media

    Alex Doman
    3 Jan 2012 | 6:37 pm
    What we hear can affect how we work | Marketplace from American Public Media. This is an interview I did with Kai Ryssdal on Marketplace yesterday. You can hear the show or read the transcript. Let me know your thoughts on how sounds in your work environment effect your productivity. Filed under: Healing at the Speed of Sound, Press Tagged: book, hearing, kai ryssdal, marketplace

  • Healing at the Speed of Sound Apple’s ‘Top 10 Enhanced Books of the Year’ iTunes Rewind 2011

    Alex Doman
    14 Dec 2011 | 6:14 pm
    This afternoon I heard exciting news from one of my editors at Hudson Stress Press-Penguin Group USA that I just had to share. Last week Apple released its iTunes Rewind selections for 2011, revealing the best music, apps, TV shows, movies, books and podcasts of the year. And… Healing at the Speed of Sound® was awarded as one of the ’Top 10 Enhanced Books of the Year’! This is a prestigious honor awarded to only a handful of books selected by Apple’s editorial staff, and based on best-selling purchases of the year.  I’m thrilled to see the great response we continue to get…

  • Healing at the Speed of Sound Homepage

    Alex Doman
    21 Oct 2011 | 5:41 pm
    Just launched a new website for the book. Let me know what you think! Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: book, Healing at the Speed of Sound, website

  • Thank you Steve Jobs

    Alex Doman
    6 Oct 2011 | 7:37 am
    What more can be said than has in the last 12 hours that about a man that forever changed the world. Thank you  Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: steve jobs, thank you
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    Brain Posts

  • Parent Training and Conduct Disorder Outcome

    21 Jan 2012 | 11:46 am
    Three previous posts examined the clinical neuroscience disorder antisocial personality disorder (ASPD).  This condition results in high societal costs for crime and incarceration for individuals with ASPD.ASPD appears to have significant genetic contributions and brain imaging studies show abnormal brain maturational patterns in the premotor cortex area as well as impaired processing of facial emotional expression.Antisocial personality is an early age of onset disorder with conduct disorder symptoms emerging during childhood and adolescence.   Their is no evidence-based consensus…

  • Epidemiology of Brain Cancer

    21 Jan 2012 | 11:39 am
    A recent summary of the trends in cancer highlighted the epidemiology of brain and other nervous system tumors.  In the United States, 213,500 brain and other nervous system tumors were diagnosed during the four year period from 2004 through 2007.Brain and other nervous systems (ONS) tumors rank fourteenth in the top 15 cancers for men and fifteenth in the top 15 cancers for women in the United States.Overall rates for brain and ONS tumors during this period were 22.37 per 100,000 for men and slightly higher at 26.55 per 100,000 for women.In adults, the majority (66.3%) of brain and ONS…

  • Brain Imaging in Antisocial Personality: II

    19 Jan 2012 | 11:07 am
    This is the second in a series of posts looking at recent imaging findings in antisocial personality.  In the first post, I reviewed an fMRI study that found deficits in connectivity maturation involving the premotor cortex in a sample of incarcerated juveniles.In this post, I will review a study looking a emotional face processing.  Accurately assessing the emotions of others and adjusting ones own behavior is a key component to social development and appropriate social behavior.Individuals with antisocial personality disorder commonly display childhood and adolescent forms of the…

  • Brain Imaging in Antisocial Personality: I

    18 Jan 2012 | 11:23 am
    Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is linked to a variety of emotional and behavioral abnormalities with significant public health implications.Key components of antisocial personality disorder include irritability with anger dysregulation.  Individuals with ASPD are quick tempered with anger outbursts commonly leading to physical or emotional aggressiveness towards others.The emotional and behavioral abnormalities in ASPD may provide a model for studying specific brain regions controlling these functions.  In the next few posts, I will review some of the brain imaging…

  • Twin Study of Antisocial Personality Disorder

    17 Jan 2012 | 11:59 am
    Twin studies provide a valuable method to explore the genetic and environmental contributions to a variety of clinical neuroscience disorders.Twin studies use a method where identical twins (monozygotic) sharing 100% of their genes are compared to non-identical twins (dizygotic) who share 50% of their genes.Disorders that are entirely environmental would be found at the same rates in non-identical twins and indentical twins.  Disorders with a strong genetic contribution would be more likely to be found in monozygotic twin (where one twin is affected) than in a dizygotic twin (where one…
 
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    Brain Training, Brain Exercise, Brain Fitness by Brain Training 101

  • How To Ask For What You Want And Get It

    Erin Matlock
    17 Jan 2012 | 9:52 pm
    I am very excited to share this special invitation. Expert psychologist, Dr. Drema Dial, is holding a free tele-class for women called: “The Secret To Asking For What You Want And Getting It…Every Time” (You men who are reading this don’t worry. We’ll have something just for you a little later.) Now, ladies, get ready for this powerful, enlightening hour that will show you how to step into a confidence that puts you at ease in any situation – and attracts 100% of the right kind of people into your life. During this brand new class you will learn: How To Get…

  • Christmas Brain Teasers And Games

    Erin Matlock
    7 Dec 2011 | 10:25 am
    Welcome to our collection of Christmas brain teasers and games! Below you’ll find our popular “word picture” brain teaser video, along with a selection of holiday flash brain games. We’ve also taken the brain teasers from the video and listed them separately (with solutions) in case you can not view the video. Yes, we’re talking to those of you playing these games at work…Don’t worry, we won’t give you up. Start with the video below. You’ll see seven “word picture” brain teasers. Your goal is to determine which common Christmas…

  • Thanksgiving Brain Teaser

    Erin Matlock
    22 Nov 2011 | 10:34 pm
    Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and we have a brain tickling treat for you. Use your logic and reasoning skills to arrange the family members according to both their food preference and who’d they like to sit next to. Click here to play.         Similar Posts: Holiday Brain Games Ten Places To Train Your Brain For Free Brain Focused Websites From Our Readers Which ADHD Software Will Work For You?

  • Do Musicians Have Bigger Brains?

    Erin Matlock
    10 Oct 2011 | 11:53 am
    The following is a guest article written by Alex Doman, CEO of Advanced Brain Technologies and author of the new book – Healing At The Speed Of Sound. Musicians have bigger brains? The short answer is Yes. In recent years, due in large part to advances in functional brain imaging a new wave of research has revealed how sound shapes the brain. Let me touch on just a few of the findings. Studies have shown that symphony orchestra musicians’ exhibit larger volumes of gray matter (neural cell bodies, dendrites and axons), in Broca’s area depending on how many years they have been…

  • Healing At The Speed Of Sound

    Erin Matlock
    3 Oct 2011 | 3:39 pm
    The click of keys on a typewriter. The buzz of cars outside your window. The sound of silence. Sound is everywhere, it is universal and it is one of the most powerful tools you have access to in your life. From your morning commute to your workout mix, to the last sounds you hear as you fall asleep, sound can vastly impact your emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being — in both positive and negative ways. There has been a tremendous amount of research that examines how music and sound affects us on a daily basis, both mentally and physically. Alex Doman, CEO of Advanced Brain…
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    Psychology Headlines Around the World

  • Feeling Left Out? Being Ignored Hurts, Even by a Stranger

    Medical News Today
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:52 am
    Source: Medical News TodayFeeling like you're part of the gang is crucial to the human experience. All people get stressed out when we're left out. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that a feeling of inclusion can come from something as simple as eye contact from a stranger. Psychologists already know that humans have to feel connected to each other to be happy. A knitting circle, a church choir,...

  • Autism Can Be Detected in Babies, Say Scientists

    The Guardian
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:51 am
    Source: The GuardianResearchers used sensors placed on babies' scalps to measure the brain's response when the infants were shown faces Signs of autism can be detected in six-month-old babies by measuring their brain activity, research has shown. Scientists say the test could help identify infants most at risk of developing the disorder later in life. Autism, a lifelong developmental disability that impairs a person's ability to connect socially and communicate, is...

  • Survivors of Hurricane Katrina Struggle with Mental Health Years Later

    Medical News Today
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:51 am
    Source: Medical News TodaySurvivors of Hurricane Katrina have struggled with poor mental health for years after the storm, according to a new study of low-income mothers in the New Orleans area. The study's lead author, Christina Paxson of Princeton University, said that the results were a departure from other surveys both in the design and the results...

  • Interracial Poster by South African Youth Group Stirs Debate

    USA Today - World News
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:07 am
    Source: USA Today - World NewsAn interracial poster distributed on South African college campuses by a student youth group has caused a stir.

  • First-Year College Students in U.S. Move Left on Issues

    USA Today - Top Stories
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:06 am
    Source: USA Today - Top StoriesA major study finds a growing number of college freshmen say they're middle of the road in politics, but more than 70% say they support same-sex ...
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    The Neurocritic

  • Six

    28 Jan 2012 | 1:55 am
    Today was the sixth anniversary of this blog. I'm not much for meta-blogging or general chattiness, but I thought I would highlight the nine posts (out of 700) with the most comments. Thank you for your support over the years, and keep the comments coming.9. Friston Is Freudian - Friday, March 12, 2010Neuropsychoanalysis is in the news again because of the recent publication of Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin. In 2010, first author Carhart-Harris published an expansionist mega-opus (with Karl Friston) on The default-mode, ego-functions…

  • Deep Brain Stimulation for Bipolar Depression

    19 Jan 2012 | 4:48 pm
    The Melancholia of Kirsten Dunst and Lars von Trier“Gray wool, clinging to my legs, it's heavy to carry along” The disastrous wedding reception of the severely depressed Justine precedes the end of the world, depicted as a highly stylized and artistic event feared by some but welcomed by others. Kirsten Dunst plays the role of von Trier's own melancholia, which was the inspiration for his film. The image above occurred out of context, at the very beginning, during the bombastic Wagnerian apocalyptic prelude to Part One, "Justine" and Part 2, "Claire." We don't hear Justine say those words…

  • Remembering and Forgetting in Traumatized Ugandan Refugees

    14 Jan 2012 | 2:40 am
    Gulu, Uganda vis photographyMost of us have memories from the past that we'd rather forget. When those memories are of a traumatic nature, they can more difficult to expel from our minds. Unwanted memories can be rejected by means of active inhibitory processes (Anderson & Levy, 2009), but these mechanisms are impaired in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD (Zwissler et al., 2011): Essentially, PTSD patients have trouble remembering what they are supposed to remember and forgetting what they would rather not remember. They appear to have impaired memory control.A…

  • Subjects Wanted to Drink Bourbon and Watch Erotic Films

    6 Jan 2012 | 5:03 am
    Our fun New Year's Eve post reviewed the suspected brain mechanisms of an alcohol blackout, or an episode of amnesia after a bout of heavy drinking (Rose & Grant, 2010). Alcohol-induced alterations of hippocampal circuits are thought to disrupt memory encoding, which can lead to two different types of blackout: en bloc, a complete loss of memory for the affected time period; and fragmentary, where bits and pieces of memories remain. The en bloc blackout is more likely to occur when a large quantity of alcohol is ingested in a short period of time.In 1970, less was known about the causes…

  • All about the brain and its workings.

    3 Jan 2012 | 1:59 am
    Thanks to Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics at George Mason University and an author of the blog Marginal Revolution, for his Very Short Review of this blog in the New York Times Magazine.
 
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    The Beautiful Brain

  • Bowerbird Architecture

    Sam McDougle
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:11 pm
    The New York Times recently covered some cool new research that shows that Australia’s Great Bowerbirds use techniques of illusion and perspective to make their mate-attracting constructions sexier. The researches explain: Male great bowerbirds actively maintain size-distance gradients of objects on their bower courts that create forced-perspective illusions for females viewing their displays from within the bower avenue. Bowerbird aesthetics offer an interesting angle on evolution and art itself — there are a variety of theories about the biology of art, which we explore here at…

  • Sloan and Science on Screen

    Ben Ehrlich
    18 Jan 2012 | 9:41 pm
    Yesterday, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation announced a nearly $500,000 dollar grant to the Science on Screen program.  Conceived by the Coolidge Corner Theatre, a beloved New England movie house whose foundation is dedicated to providing audiences with excellent and interesting cinematic experiences,  Science on Screen pairs feature films and presentations with lively presentations by science and technology experts.  In 2012 and 2013, 20 independent non-profit nationwide—up from 8 last year—will receive $7,000 dollar grants to develop their own Science on Screen programs. For…

  • Hooray For NMDA!

    Sam McDougle
    5 Jan 2012 | 2:04 pm
    NMDA receptors are neurological celebrities. They’ve been implicated in the most basic, neccasary forms of learning and synaptic plasticity, highlighted by their ability to activate only when certain conditions are met in both “pre” and “post” synaptic neurons. The now-old neuroscience adage “those that fire together, wire together,” is a fundamental truism primarily because of the work of NMDARs.  So it isn’t surprising that a recent paper in Neuron, by Joe Tsien et al, argues that NMDA receptors play a vital role in habit formation.  Check…

  • Pixar: “What Goes on Inside Our Heads?”

    Ian Park
    7 Dec 2011 | 12:01 pm
    In a recent Charlie Rose interview of John Lasseter, the chief creative officer of Pixar revealed more about the next Pixar project, to be directed by Pete Docter. The animator said that it will take place inside the mind of a girl, with her emotions as characters. Lasseter said that the film concept came from the simple question, “What is going on in people’s heads?” Good question. Though this doesn’t sound like the neuroscience-epic-IMAX-3D-blockbuster I’ve been dreaming of, maybe Pixar will be able to reflect both past and the latest neuroscience/psychology…

  • A Response to Alva Noë’s “Art and the Limits of Neuroscience”

    Noah Hutton
    5 Dec 2011 | 10:57 am
    Alva Noë A philosopher wrote a blog post on the New York Times’ website, and I don’t agree with him. I started this website–The Beautiful Brain– two years ago with the intent to explore the very pursuits this philosopher deems misguided, so I’ve written the following to keep track of my differences of opinion, and to provide an alternate point of view for anyone interested. In an essay published in the New York Times’ Opinionator blogs section, philosopher Alva Noë (author of the 2009 book Out of Our Heads) takes aim at the kingdom of present-day…
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    The Neurocritic

  • Six

    The Neurocritic
    28 Jan 2012 | 1:55 am
    Today was the sixth anniversary of this blog. I'm not much for meta-blogging or general chattiness, but I thought I would highlight the nine posts (out of 700) with the most comments. Thank you for your support over the years, and keep the comments coming.9. Friston Is Freudian - Friday, March 12, 2010Neuropsychoanalysis is in the news again because of the recent publication of Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin. In 2010, first author Carhart-Harris published an expansionist mega-opus (with Karl Friston) on The default-mode, ego-functions…

  • Deep Brain Stimulation for Bipolar Depression

    The Neurocritic
    19 Jan 2012 | 4:48 pm
    The Melancholia of Kirsten Dunst and Lars von Trier“Gray wool, clinging to my legs, it's heavy to carry along” The disastrous wedding reception of the severely depressed Justine precedes the end of the world, depicted as a highly stylized and artistic event feared by some but welcomed by others. Kirsten Dunst plays the role of von Trier's own melancholia, which was the inspiration for his film. The image above occurred out of context, at the very beginning, during the bombastic Wagnerian apocalyptic prelude to Part One, "Justine" and Part 2, "Claire." We don't hear Justine say those words…

  • Remembering and Forgetting in Traumatized Ugandan Refugees

    The Neurocritic
    14 Jan 2012 | 2:40 am
    Gulu, Uganda vis photographyMost of us have memories from the past that we'd rather forget. When those memories are of a traumatic nature, they can more difficult to expel from our minds. Unwanted memories can be rejected by means of active inhibitory processes (Anderson & Levy, 2009), but these mechanisms are impaired in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD (Zwissler et al., 2011): Essentially, PTSD patients have trouble remembering what they are supposed to remember and forgetting what they would rather not remember. They appear to have impaired memory control.A…

  • Subjects Wanted to Drink Bourbon and Watch Erotic Films

    The Neurocritic
    6 Jan 2012 | 5:03 am
    Our fun New Year's Eve post reviewed the suspected brain mechanisms of an alcohol blackout, or an episode of amnesia after a bout of heavy drinking (Rose & Grant, 2010). Alcohol-induced alterations of hippocampal circuits are thought to disrupt memory encoding, which can lead to two different types of blackout: en bloc, a complete loss of memory for the affected time period; and fragmentary, where bits and pieces of memories remain. The en bloc blackout is more likely to occur when a large quantity of alcohol is ingested in a short period of time.In 1970, less was known about the causes…

  • All about the brain and its workings.

    The Neurocritic
    3 Jan 2012 | 1:59 am
    Thanks to Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics at George Mason University and an author of the blog Marginal Revolution, for his Very Short Review of this blog in the New York Times Magazine.
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    Neuropsy

  • Changes in respiration and heart rate during a sentic cycle....

    31 Dec 2011 | 9:00 am
    Changes in respiration and heart rate during a sentic cycle. Respiration accelerates during anger and hate. During grief the respiration has a gasping character with rest periods at the expiratory end of the cycle. Respiration slows during love, and speeds up markedly for sex. (Inspiration is downward in the figure.)

  • Every morning we wake up and regain consciousness — that...

    19 Dec 2011 | 12:16 pm
    Every morning we wake up and regain consciousness — that is a marvelous fact — but what exactly is it that we regain? Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio uses this simple question to give us a glimpse into how our brains create our sense of self.

  • White matter circuits in the brain of an unborn baby at 36...

    18 Dec 2011 | 9:00 am
    White matter circuits in the brain of an unborn baby at 36 weeks, picked out by a diffusion MRI scan.

  • The next generation of brain-computer interfaces Composed of 720...

    14 Nov 2011 | 9:34 am
    The next generation of brain-computer interfaces Composed of 720 silicon nanomembrane transistors in a multiplexed 360-channel array, the newly designed ultrathin, flexible, foldable device can be positioned not only on the brain surface but also inside sulci and fissures or even between the cortical hemispheres, areas that are physically inaccessible to conventional rigid electrode arrays. Current arrays also require separate wires for each individual sensor, meaning that they can sample broad regions of the brain with low resolution or small regions with high resolution, but not both. The…

  • Artificial cerebellum restores rat's brain function

    10 Oct 2011 | 4:33 pm
    Israeli scientists say they’ve created a synthetic cerebellum that has restored lost brain function in rats. The implant can receive sensory input from the brainstem, interpret this input and then send a signal to a different part of the brainstem to instruct the rat’s body to carry out a movement. The Tel Aviv University team disabled a rat’s cerebellum and installed their own. They then tried to teach it a conditioned motor reflex by sounding an auditory tone while puffing air at the rat’s eye. The aim was to get the rat to blink when the tone was heard. While the rat failed to…
 
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    Neuroscience RSS Feeds - Neuroscience News Updates

  • Diagnostic Brain Tumor Test Could Revolutionize Care of Patients with Low-Grade Gliomas

    Neuroscience News
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:25 pm
    Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed what they believe to be the first clinical application of a new imaging technique to diagnose brain tumors. The unique test could preclude the need for surgery in patients whose tumors are located in areas of the brain too dangerous to biopsy. This new magnetic resonance spectroscopy [...]

  • Making Memories Last

    Neuroscience News
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:45 pm
    Stowers researchers discovered that a prion-like protein plays a key role in storing long-term memories. Memories in our brains are maintained by connections between neurons called “synapses”. But how do these synapses stay strong and keep memories alive for decades? Neuroscientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered a major clue from a [...]

  • In the Brain, an Earlier Sign of Autism

    Neuroscience News
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:24 pm
    In their first year of life, babies who will go on to develop autism already show different brain responses when someone looks at or away from them. Although the researchers are careful to say that the study, reported online on January 26 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology, is only a first step toward [...]

  • Envelope for an Artificial Cell

    Neuroscience News
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Chemists have taken an important step in making artificial life forms from scratch. Using a novel chemical reaction, they have created self-assembling cell membranes, the structural envelopes that contain and support the reactions required for life. Neal Devaraj, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of California, San Diego, and Itay Budin, a graduate student [...]

  • Study: Men at Higher Risk for Mild Memory Loss than Women

    Neuroscience News
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:06 pm
    Men may be at higher risk of experiencing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or the stage of mild memory loss that occurs between normal aging and dementia, than women, according to a study published in the January 25, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “These results are surprising, [...]
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    Master RSS Feed - Dana Foundation

  • Beyond Dopamine (BrainWork)

    14 Dec 2012 | 6:00 am
    New treatment strategies take aim at the underlying disease process in Parkinson’s.

  • Suicide and the United States Army: (Cerebrum)

    25 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    The suicide rate of active-duty soldiers doubled between 2003 and 2010. In response, the Department of Defense and the United States Army improved their data collection methods to better understand the causes of military suicides. As retired colonel Dr. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie writes, unit history and the accumulation of stressors—from relationship problems to chronic pain—are significant suicide risk factors among soldiers. But, she argues, Army officials must use this knowledge to design more-effective strategies for suicide reduction, including limiting access to weapons, especially…

  • Making Memory May Mean Modeling and Remodeling (News and Features)

    20 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    We build on memory to predict the future, and might remember better if reality surprises us. Researchers offered these and other insights during the recent meeting of the Experimental Psychology Society in London this month.

  • Decision-Making: Beyond Dopamine (News and Features)

    17 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    Research presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in November suggests that norepinephrine and serotonin also play roles in helping us decide.

  • Playing Video Games May Make Specific Changes to the Brain (News and Features)

    9 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    Areas that are linked to reward and self-control appear to change when young people play video games, according to two recent studies.
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