Neuroscience news

Machine Translates Thoughts into Speech in Real Time

Dec 21, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (52) | 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- By implanting an electrode into the brain of a person with locked-in syndrome, scientists have demonstrated how to wirelessly transmit neural signals to a speech synthesizer. The "thought-to-speech" ...

Why newborn babies can't walk

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 18, 2009 | 4.2 / 5 (13) | 15

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first steps of an infant is a real milestone in the development of all mammals including humans, but little is known about why some animals can walk soon after birth, while others need ...

On the tip of your tongue: Researchers reveal our motor system activates when we hear speech

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 22, 2009 | 4.2 / 5 (6) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London have discovered our motor system activates automatically when we hear speech. These findings could, in the future, play a central role ...

Got smell? Research shows that accurate taste perception relies on a functioning olfactory system

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 22, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

As anyone suffering through a head cold knows, food tastes wrong when the nose is clogged, an experience that leads many to conclude that the sense of taste operates normally only when the olfactory system is also in good ...

Researchers crack part of the neuronal code

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 22, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (7) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Prostheses for paralysed patients, communication with patients who have lost all capacity for normal communication - the hopes for modern brain research are high. However, such brain-machine ...

Depression saps endurance of the brain's reward circuitry

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 21, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (6) | 1

A new study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that depressed patients are unable to sustain activity in brain areas related to positive emotion.

Exposure to young triggers new neuron creation in females exhibiting maternal behavior

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 17, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0

Maternal behavior itself can trigger the development of new neurons in the maternal brain independent of whether the female was pregnant or has nursed, according to a study released by researchers at Tufts University's Cummings ...

Light used to map effect of neurons on one another

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 17, 2009 | 5 / 5 (3) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Harvard University have used light and genetic trickery to trace out neurons' ability to excite or inhibit one another, literally shedding new light on the question of how neurons ...

Doctors' bedside skills trump medical technology

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 18, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Sometimes, a simple bedside exam performed by a skilled physician is superior to a high-tech CT scan, a Loyola University Health System study has found.

Color my numbers

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 17, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

For as many as 1 in 20 people, everyday experiences can elicit extra-ordinary associated sensations. The condition is known as synaesthesia and the most common form involves "seeing" colours when reading words and numbers. ...

New insight in nerve cell communication

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 22, 2009 | 4 / 5 (1) | 0

Communication between nerve cells is vital for our bodies to function. Part of this communication happens through vesicles containing signalling molecules called neurotransmitters. The vesicle fuses with the ...

Dutch researchers explore advanced brain diagnostic techniques

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Dec 21, 2009 | 4 / 5 (1) | 0

At present the task of diagnosing brain disorders using electroencephalography (EEG) is still performed by humans, but in years to come it will increasingly be taken over by computerized systems. This will ...