Three Distinct Brain Circuits Lead Us to Make Bad and Good Decisions
A prevailing theory in neuroscience holds that people make decisions based on integrated global calculations that occur within the frontal cortex of the brain. However,…
Neuroscience
Scientists Restore Partial Brain Function Hours After Death
Circulation and cellular activity were restored in a pig’s brain four hours after its death, a finding that challenges long-held assumptions about the timing and…
Neuroscientists Devise New Technique To Preserve Biological Tissue
MIT chemical engineers and neuroscientists have devised a new way to preserve biological tissue, allowing them to visualize proteins, DNA, and other molecules within cells,…
Study Shows Connection Between Brain Size and Cognitive Performance
Using a larger dataset than all previous studies on the subject combined, researchers found a small but significant connection between brain size and cognitive performance….
Alcohol Dependence and Psychiatric Disorders Share Genetic Links
Gene variants associated with alcohol dependence are also linked to the risk of psychiatric disorders and other drug use, a massive study of more than…
Scientists Paint a New Comprehensive Picture on How Humans Think
It is one of the most fundamental questions in neuroscience: How do humans think? Until recently, we seemed far from a conclusive answer. However, scientists…
Neuroscientists Identify Brain Activity Pattern Linked to Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia, a brain disorder that produces hallucinations, delusions, and cognitive impairments, usually strikes during adolescence or young adulthood. While some signs can suggest that a…
Dendrites Help Explain the Unique Computing Power of Our Brain
Neurons in the human brain receive electrical signals from thousands of other cells, and long neural extensions called dendrites play a critical role in incorporating…
Researchers Explain Why Certain People Possess Amazing Memory Abilities
How do house hunters who visit 20 homes daily still recall details of the master bedroom of a specific one? Our memories can perform this…
Neuroscientists Discover Fundamental Rule of Brain Plasticity
Our brains are famously flexible, or “plastic,” because neurons can do new things by forging new or stronger connections with other neurons. But if some…
Scientists Target Brain Protein for Cure to Alcoholism
A protein in the brain that binds to alcohol could be the key to curing alcoholism, reports UH College of Pharmacy medicinal chemist Joydip Das…
Neuroscientists Link APOE4 Gene to Alzheimer’s
People with a gene variant called APOE4 have a higher risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease: APOE4 is three times more common among Alzheimer’s patients…
Scientists Identify Possible Neurobiological Home for Spiritual Experiences
Yale scientists have identified a possible neurobiological home for the spiritual experience — the sense of connection to something greater than oneself. Activity in the…
Neuroscientists Identify the First Potential Treatment for Cosmic Radiation
Planning a trip to Mars? You’ll want to remember your anti-radiation pills. NASA and private space companies like SpaceX plan to send humans to the…
Turtle and Lizard Brains Shed Light on Human Brain Evolution
Our cerebral cortex, a sheet of neurons, connections and circuits, comprises “ancient” regions such as the hippocampus and “new” areas such as the six-layered “neocortex”,…
Neuroscientists Develop Calcium-Based MRI Sensor to Monitor Neural Activity
System detects direct signals of neural activity; could reveal patterns underlying behavior. MIT neuroscientists have developed a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sensor that allows…
Machine-Learning System Replicates Human Auditory Behavior, Predicts Brain Responses
Using a machine-learning system known as a deep neural network, MIT researchers have created the first model that can replicate human performance on auditory tasks…
The Culturally Co-opted Brain: How Reading Changes the Way We Think
From a research perspective, reading and writing is a fascinating phenomenon. After all, the first writing systems date back less than 6,000 years – the…