When the brain’s wiring breaks
From the University of North Carolina Health Care press release: Among all the bad things that can happen to the brain when it is severely jolted — in a car accident, for example — one of…
Study examines effect of oxytocin on sociability
From the Stanford University Medical Center press release: Why is it so much fun to hang out with our friends? Why are some people so sociable while others are loners or seemingly outright allergic to interactions…
Study suggests that, for people with OCD, actions are at odds with beliefs
From the Cell Press press release: The repeated behaviors that characterize obsessive-compulsive disorder are a manifestation of an underlying brain dysfunction that is not yet well understood. Now, in a study appearing on September 28…
Study examines brain’s anterior cingulate cortex and its tie to human learning
From the University of Nevada, Las Vegas press release: After four years of lab testing and complex neuro-decoding, a research team led by UNLV psychology professor James Hyman has struck a major breakthrough that could open…
Researchers investigate neuronal traces of the unconscious
From the University of Bonn press release: Whether or not we consciously perceive the stimuli projected onto our retina is decided in our brain. A recent study by the University of Bonn shows how some…
Different brain areas interact to recognize partially covered shapes
From the University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine press release: How does a driver’s brain realize that a stop sign is behind a bush when only a red edge is showing? Or how can a monkey…
‘Waves’ of neural activity give new clues about Alzheimer’s
From the SINC press release: While unconscious during deep sleep, millions of neurons’ activity travels across the cerebral cortex. This phenomenon, known as slow waves, is related to the consolidation of memory. The European project called…
How the human brain detects the ‘music’ of speech
From the University of California – San Francisco press release: Researchers at UC San Francisco have identified neurons in the human brain that respond to pitch changes in spoken language, which are essential to clearly conveying…
Surprising discovery about how neurons talk to each other
From the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences press release: Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have uncovered the mechanism by which neurons keep up with the demands of repeatedly sending signals to other…
Neurons involved in learning, memory preservation less stable, more flexible than once thought
From the Harvard Medical School press release: The human brain has a region of cells responsible for linking sensory cues to actions and behaviors and cataloging the link as a memory. Cells that form these links…