Neuroscience news

The thalamus, middleman of the brain, becomes a sensory conductor

Dec 07, 2009 | 4.2 / 5 (5) | 1

Two new studies show that the thalamus--the small central brain structure often characterized as a mere pit-stop for sensory information on its way to the cortex--is heavily involved in sensory processing, and is an important ...

How to read brain activity?

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 04, 2009 | 4 / 5 (6) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the very first time, scientists show what EEG can really tell us about how the brain functions.

Music and speech based on human biology (w/ Video)

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 03, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (10) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A pair of studies by Duke University neuroscientists shows powerful new evidence of a deep biological link between human music and speech.

Study shows new brain connections form rapidly during motor learning

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Nov 29, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (7) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- New connections begin to form between brain cells almost immediately as animals learn a new task, according to a study published this week in Nature. Led by researchers at the University of Cal ...

Waking up memories while you sleep

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Nov 19, 2009 | 4.2 / 5 (9) | 2

They were in a deep sleep, yet sounds, such as a teakettle whistle and a cat's meow, somehow penetrated their slumber. The 25 sounds presented during the nap were reminders of earlier spatial learning, though the Northwestern ...

New study shows brain's ability to reorganize

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Nov 18, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (11) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Visually impaired people appear to be fearless, navigating busy sidewalks and crosswalks, safely finding their way using nothing more than a cane as a guide. The reason they can do this, researchers suggest, ...

Dopamine enhances expectation of pleasure in humans

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Nov 12, 2009 | 4.2 / 5 (10) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Enhancing the effects of the brain chemical dopamine influences how people make life choices by affecting expectations of pleasure, according to new research from the UCL Institute of Neurology.

Dreams may have an important physiological function

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Nov 12, 2009 | 3.9 / 5 (27) | 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- Dreams have long been assumed to have psychological functions such as consolidating emotional memories and processing experiences or problems, but according to a Harvard psychiatrist and sleep ...

Early life stress has effects at the molecular level

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Nov 12, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (12) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of mice suggests that stress and trauma in early life can have an impact on the genes and result in behavioral problems later in life.

Delaying the aging process protects against Alzheimer's disease

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

2 hours ago | not rated yet | 0

Aging is the single greatest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. In their latest study, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found that simply slowing the aging process in mice prone to ...

Nerve-cell transplants help brain-damaged rats fully recover lost ability to learn

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

23 hours ago | 5 / 5 (4) | 1

Nerve cells transplanted into brain-damaged rats helped them to fully recover their ability to learn and remember, probably by promoting nurturing, protective growth factors, according to a new study.

Brain activity exposes those who break promises

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 09, 2009 | not rated yet | 6

Scientists from the University of Zurich have discovered the physiological mechanisms in the brain that underlie broken promises. Patterns of brain activity even enable predicting whether someone will break a promise. The ...

Scientists discover first evidence of brain rewiring in children

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 09, 2009 | 5 / 5 (3) | 0

Carnegie Mellon University scientists Timothy Keller and Marcel Just have uncovered the first evidence that intensive instruction to improve reading skills in young children causes the brain to physically ...

Epilepsy Patients Are Given New Hope With Brain Implant

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 09, 2009 | 5 / 5 (3) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- A startup company, Neuropace in Mountain View Ca., has developed a device that offers new hope for epilepsy patients. The device is designed to neutralize the abnormal electrical activity ...

Family's inherited condition links prion diseases, Alzheimer's

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 09, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A laboratory connection between Alzheimer's disease and brain-wasting diseases such as the human form of mad cow disease has moved into the clinic for what is believed to be the first time, manifesting itself ...