http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (AP) -- People looking for natural cures will be happy to know there is one. Two words explain how it works: "I believe." It's the placebo effect - the ability of a dummy pill or a faked treatment to make people feel better, just because they expect that it will. It's the mind's ability to alter physical symptoms, such as pain, anxiety and fatigue. http://www.physorg.com/news177082827.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:45:24 EST news177082827 Common experience tells us that particular scents of childhood can leave quite an impression, for better or for worse. Now, researchers reporting the results of a brain imaging study online on November 5th in Current Biology show that first scents really do enjoy a "privileged" status in the brain. http://www.physorg.com/news176649240.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:16:45 EST news176649240 A new study suggests that the inner sense of our cardiovascular state, our "interoceptive awareness" of the heart pounding, relies on two independent pathways, contrary to what had been asserted by prominent researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news176393985.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:20:46 EST news176393985 (PhysOrg.com) -- The eyes may be the windows to the soul, but new research indicates they also may mirror a brain ravaged by Alzheimer's disease. http://www.physorg.com/news175347660.html Medicine & Health Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:54:21 EST news175347660 Scientists have found that some individuals in the vegetative and minimally conscious states, despite lacking the means of reporting awareness themselves, can learn and thereby demonstrate at least a partial consciousness. Their findings are reported in today's (20 September) online edition of Nature Neuroscience. http://www.physorg.com/news172671780.html Medicine & Health Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:23:52 EST news172671780 A woman looks familiar, but you can't remember her name or where you met her. New research by UC Irvine neuroscientists suggests the memory exists - you simply can't retrieve it. http://www.physorg.com/news171720699.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:12:06 EST news171720699 A brain-imaging study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory provides the first definitive evidence that patients suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have lower-than-normal levels of certain proteins essential for experiencing reward and motivation. http://www.physorg.com/news171652613.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:17:27 EST news171652613 Brain imaging shows playing Tetris leads to a thicker cortex and may also increase brain efficiency, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Research Notes. A research team based in New Mexico is one of the first to investigate the effects of practice in the brain using two image techniques. http://www.physorg.com/news171008209.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:17:19 EST news171008209 Acupuncture has been used in East-Asian medicine for thousands of years to treat pain, possibly by activating the body's natural painkillers. But how it works at the cellular level is largely unknown. http://www.physorg.com/news169120620.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:20:02 EST news169120620 Pictures paint concepts of a thousand words- now, for the first time, scientists studying the brain have worked out how words paint concepts in our minds. http://www.physorg.com/news167571527.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:39:26 EST news167571527 An observer feels more empathy for someone in pain when that person is in the same social group, according to new research in the July 1 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The study shows that perceiving others in pain activates a part of the brain associated with empathy and emotion more if the observer and the observed are the same race. The findings may show that unconscious prejudices against outside groups exist at a basic level. http://www.physorg.com/news165600656.html Medicine & Health Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:11:13 EST news165600656 Schizophrenia, a chronic and debilitating disorder marked in part by auditory hallucinations and paranoia, can strike in late adolescence or early adulthood at a time when people are ready to stand on their own two feet as fully independent adults. http://www.physorg.com/news164894857.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:08:52 EST news164894857 (PhysOrg.com) -- Where we are born not only determines how we speak but also how we taste our food and drink. http://www.physorg.com/news164632274.html Other Sciences Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:30:02 EST news164632274 A new study demonstrates that when faced with a difficult decision, the human brain calls upon multiple neural systems that code for different sorts of behaviors and strategies. The research, published by Cell Press in the May 28th issue of the journal Neuron, provides intriguing insight into the mechanisms that help the human brain rise to the formidable challenge of adaptive decision making in the real world. http://www.physorg.com/news162647119.html Medicine & Health Wed, 27 May 2009 12:45:37 EST news162647119 (PhysOrg.com) -- A discovery made by researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Research Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital offers new hope for the early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. http://www.physorg.com/news162210645.html Chemistry Fri, 22 May 2009 11:31:53 EST news162210645 Studying the way a person's brain 'sings' could improve our understanding of conditions such as epilepsy and schizophrenia and help develop better treatments, scientists at Cardiff University have discovered. http://www.physorg.com/news161950816.html Medicine & Health Tue, 19 May 2009 11:20:45 EST news161950816 Scientists are reporting the strongest evidence to date that neurodegenerative diseases target and progress along distinct neural networks that normally support healthy brain function. The discovery could lead to earlier diagnoses, novel treatment-monitoring strategies, and, possibly, recognition of a common disease process among all forms of neurodegeneration. http://www.physorg.com/news159021506.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:38:55 EST news159021506 Emotions linked to our moral sense awaken slowly in the mind, according to a new study from a neuroscience group led by corresponding author Antonio Damasio, director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California. http://www.physorg.com/news158864256.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:58:02 EST news158864256 Duke University chemists are using modified magnetic resonance imaging to see molecular changes inside people's bodies that could signal health problems such as cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news157297184.html Chemistry Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:40:18 EST news157297184 In a study by Miall, Gowen and Tchalenko published by Elsevier, in the March issue of Cortex, a brain scanner was used to record the brain's activity in each stage of the process of drawing faces. The researchers found that the captured visual information is stored as a series of locations or action plans to reach those locations. It is as if the brain remembers key locations and then "joins the dots" with a straight or curved line to achieve the desired image on the page. http://www.physorg.com/news156713625.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:34:21 EST news156713625 Researchers announced today that a high-density genome wide analysis of participants in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI; www.adni-info.org) is more than 95% complete and that data will be shared with scientists around the world for further analysis. http://www.physorg.com/news156439115.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:19:26 EST news156439115 New research by a Rice University psychologist clearly identifies the parts of the brain involved in the process of choosing appropriate words during speech. http://www.physorg.com/news149344989.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:43:09 EST news149344989