Brain and mind news and Brain Teasers

Williams Syndrome, The Brain And Music - Children with Williams syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, just love music and will spend hours listening to or making music. October 10, 2006

How The Brain Reflects Onto Itself The Actions Of Others: "Mirrors In The Mind" - In three new independent studies, researchers have deepened our understanding of the remarkable ability of some specialized areas of the brain to activate both in response to one's own actions and in response to sensory cues of the same actions perpetrated by another individual. October 9, 2006

Study Identifies Possible Mechanism For Brain Damage In Huntington's Disease - Researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND) have identified a possible mechanism underlying how the gene mutation that causes Huntington's disease (HD) leads to the degeneration and death of brain cells. October 8, 2006

Music Lessons Good For Children's Brains - After comparing children who had music lessons with those who didn't, scientists from McMaster University, Canada, found that those who took music lessons had different patterns of brain development. October 7, 2006

Part Of Human Brain Functions Like A Digital Computer - A region of the human brain that scientists believe is critical to human intellectual abilities surprisingly functions much like a digital computer, according to psychology Professor Randall O'Reilly of the University of Colorado at Boulder. October 6, 2006

New Gene Linked To Bipolar Disorder - A new gene linked to both depression and bipolar disorder has been identified by UCL (University College London) and Danish researchers. October 5, 2006

Brain's Filing System Uncovered - Socks in the sock drawer, shirts in the shirt drawer, the time-honored lessons of helping organize one’s clothes learned in youth. But what parts of the brain are used to encode such categories as socks, shirts, or any other item, and how does such learning take place? October 4, 2006

Neurons That Assign Value During Learning Identified By Researchers - By using an experimental trick to activate certain sets of neurons and effectively substitute activation of these cells for positive or negative experiences, researchers have been able to identify neurons in the fruit fly Drosophila that ... October 3, 2006

3-D Brain Atlas To Help Unlock Mysteries Of Neurological Disorders - The completion of the Allen Institute for Brain Science's inaugural project signals a remarkable leap forward in one of the last frontiers of medical science - the brain. October 2, 2006

Leptin Has Powerful Effect On Reward Center In The Brain - Leptin, a hormone critical for normal food intake and metabolism, exerts a strong effect on appetite by acting in the mid-brain region as well as in the hypothalamus, according to a Yale School of Medicine study in Neuron. October 1, 2006

Study Identifies Part Of Brain Responsible For Tone Deafness - A new study has discovered that the brains of people suffering from tone-deafness are in fact lacking in white matter. September 30, 2006

Nanoparticles To Aid Brain Imaging - If you want to see precisely what the 10 billion neurons in a person's brain are doing, a good way to start is to track calcium as it flows into neurons when they fire. September 29, 2006

Beauty And The Brain - The phrase "easy on the eyes" may hit closer to the mark than we suspected. September 28, 2006

Scientists Decode Molecular Details Of Genetic Defect That Causes Autism - Using an animal model, brain researchers in Göttingen have examined the effects of mutations that cause autism in humans. September 27, 2006

Clues To Brain's Protective Mechanisms Against Alcoholism Offered By Study - Why do some people with a strong family history of alcoholism develop alcohol dependency while others do not? September 26, 2006

Enzyme Shreds Alzheimer's Protein - An enzyme found naturally in the brain snips apart the protein that forms the sludge called amyloid plaque that is one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD), researchers have found. September 25, 2006

New Treatments For Epilepsy Use Implantable Devices - About 2.5 million Americans of all ages have epilepsy. Think of it as a tiny electrical storm in the brain. Many people suffer from seizures affecting their quality of life or have side effects from epilepsy medications. September 24, 2006

Emotional Control Circuit Of Brain's Fear Response Discovered - Columbia University Medical Center researchers have identified an emotional control circuit in the human brain which keeps emotionally intense stimuli from interfering with mental functioning. September 23, 2006

How The Brain keeps Emotions At Bay - Daily life requires that people cope with distracting emotions - from the basketball player who must make a crucial shot amidst a screaming crowd, to a salesman under pressure delivering an important pitch to a client. Researchers have now discovered that the brain is able to prevent emotions from ... September 22, 2006

Musical Training Affects Brain Development In Young Children - Researchers have found the first evidence that young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year compared to children who do not receive musical training. September 21, 2006

Breathing Problems During Sleep Increase Risk Of Depression - Individuals who have sleep-related breathing disorder appear significantly more likely to develop depression, with odds of depression increasing as breathing disorders becomes more severe. September 20, 2006

Brain's Action Center Is All Talk - Neuroscience is tackling a problem that obsessed Hamlet: What is the difference in our minds between talk and action? Less than you would expect, an international research group reports in the Sept. 19 issue of Current Biology. September 19, 2006

Before Dementia's First Signs Appear, Weight-loss Rate Doubles In Elderly - A long-term study of the elderly has revealed that their average rate of weight loss doubles in the year before symptoms of Alzheimer's-type dementia first become detectable. September 18, 2006

Slow Brain Waves Play Key Role In Coordinating Complex Activity - While it is widely accepted that the output of nerve cells carries information between regions of the brain, it's a big mystery how widely separated regions of the cortex involving billions of cells are linked together to coordinate complex activity. September 17, 2006

Results Of Brain Scan Show No Single God Spot In The Brains Of Nuns - A new study at the Universite de Montreal has concluded that there is no single God spot in the brain. September 16, 2006

Parkinson's-like Cell Death Blocked By Stopping Inflammatory Factor - Blocking one of the body's natural inflammatory factors gives substantial protection against cell death in the brain associated with Parkinson's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in a study on rats. September 15, 2006

Alcohol On The Brain - Researchers at the University at Buffalo studying the effects of alcohol on the brain, using zebrafish as a model, have identified several novel central nervous system proteins that are affected by chronic alcohol exposure. September 14, 2006

Gamma Knife Offers Non-invasive Treatment For Vascular Disorders, Tumors In The Brain - A week after graduating from high school, Katherine Coit had brain surgery to remove an abnormal tangle of blood vessels that were bleeding in her brain. September 13, 2006

Natural Protective Mechanism Against Neuronal Death In Alzheimer's Found - Researchers have uncovered what appears to be a natural protective mechanism against a central cause of neuronal death in Alzheimer's and similar neurodegenerative diseases. September 12, 2006

Childhood Sleep Apnea Linked To Brain Damage, Lower IQ - In what is believed to be the first study showing neural changes in the brains of children with serious, untreated sleep apnea, Johns Hopkins researchers conclude that children with the disorder appear to suffer damage in two brain structures tied to learning ability. September 11, 2006

New Autism Trials Launched By National Institute Of Mental Health - The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has launched three major clinical studies on autism at its research program on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. September 10, 2006

New Light Shed On Brain And Inhibiting Behavior By Unusual Data - When a child has a problem focusing or acts too quickly with inappropriate behavior, it's enough to drive adults nuts. September 09, 2006

Brain Neurons Found To Combine Economic Value And Spatial Information - It's a classic upper middle class dilemma: Should we buy a perfect second home in a place that takes hours to get to, or should we settle for something closer but not as nice? September 08, 2006

Anticipation Plays A Powerful Role In Human Memory - Psychologists have long known that memories of disturbing emotional events - such as an act of violence or the unexpected death of a loved one - are more vivid and deeply imprinted in the brain than mundane recollections of everyday matters. September 07, 2006

Study Offers Clues To Brain's Protective Mechanisms Against Alcoholism - Why do some people with a strong family history of alcoholism develop alcohol dependency while others do not? A new study provides clues that differing brain chemistry may provide part of the answer. September 06, 2006

From Chimp To Human, Brain Gene Shows Dramatic Difference - One of the fastest-evolving pieces of DNA in the human genome is a gene linked to brain development, according to findings by an international team of researchers. September 05, 2006

Spineless Tales Provide Strong Backbone To Human Brain Research - University of Oregon biologist Nathan Tublitz talked about moths, flies and cephalopods, telling an audience of scientists meeting in Australia that research on these spineless creatures is unveiling the mechanics of how the brain regulates behavior. September 04, 2006

What Young Neurons Need To Survive: Life And Death In The Hippocampus - Whether newborn nerve cells in adult brains live or die depends on whether they can muscle their way into networks occupied by mature neurons. September 03, 2006

Study To Investigate How Fear And Anxiety Are Formed In The Brain - About 25 per cent of us will experience the effects of anxiety disorders at some point in our lives, with sometimes dire repercussions for friends, family and our own well-being. September 02, 2006

Neocortical Nerve Cells Are Not Renewed New Method Shows - Most bodily organs continually die and regrow a little at a time. Research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now shows that there is one important exception to this - the nerve cells of the brain remain the same throughout a person's life. September 01, 2006

Mind Over Matter: Alternative Therapies Affect Experience Of Chronic Pain - A significant number of people world-wide suffer with chronic pain, which affects every aspect of their lives, and often results in depression. August 31, 2006

New Study Reveals Rett Syndrome Can Strike Males - Report co-author Dr Helen Leonard, who heads the Australian Rett Syndrome Study at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, says the finding means that testing for the genetic disorder should be considered in some baby boys who develop progressive serious neurological problems. August 30, 2006

Brain's Filing System Uncovered - Socks in the sock drawer, shirts in the shirt drawer, the time-honored lessons of helping organize one’s clothes learned in youth. But what parts of the brain are used to encode such categories as socks, shirts, or any other item, and how does such learning take place? August 29, 2006

Brain Chemical Plays Critical Role In Drinking And Anxiety - A brain protein that sustains nerve cells also regulates anxiety and alcohol consumption in rats ... August 28, 2006

Scientists Learn How The Brain "Boots Up" To Process Information From The Senses - The same chemical in the body that is targeted by the drug Viagra also helps our brains "boot up" in the morning so we can process sights, sound, touch and other sensory information. August 27, 2006

Researchers Provide First Evidence For Learning Mechanism In Brain - Finally confirming a fact that remained unproven for more than 30 years, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report in the Aug. 25 issue of Science that certain key connections among neurons get stronger when we learn. August 26, 2006

Study Provides Evidence That Autism Affects Functioning of Entire Brain - A recent study provides evidence that autism affects the functioning of virtually the entire brain, and is not limited to the brain areas involved with social interactions, communication behaviors, and reasoning abilities, as had been previously thought. August 25, 2006

Ever-Happy Mice May Hold Key To New Treatment Of Depression - A new breed of permanently 'cheerful' mouse is providing hope of a new treatment for clinical depression. TREK-1 is a gene that can affect transmission of serotonin in the brain. August 24, 2006

Study Provides Insight Into How The Brain Loses Plasticity Of Youth - A protein once thought to play a role only in the immune system could hold a clue to one of the great puzzles of neuroscience: how do the highly malleable and plastic brains of youth settle down into a relatively stable adult set of neuronal connections? August 23, 2006

Snail Toxin May Spur New Drugs For Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Depression - University of Utah researchers isolated an unusual nerve toxin in an ocean-dwelling snail, and say its ability to glom onto the brain's nicotine receptors may be useful for designing new drugs to treat a variety of psychiatric and brain diseases. August 22, 2006

Study Finds Brain Cell Regulator Is Volume Control, Not On/off Switch - University of California, Davis researchers have discovered that proteins that regulate brain-cell activity by controlling the flow of potassium ions behave more like volume controls on stereos rather than on/off power switches. August 21, 2006

Healing Potential Discovered In Everyday Human Brain Cells - University of Florida researchers have shown ordinary human brain cells may share the prized qualities of self-renewal and adaptability normally associated with stem cells. August 20, 2006

Rewiring The Mammalian Brain - Neurons Make Fickle Friend - A new discovery from the Brain Mind Institute of the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) shows that the brain rewires itself following an experience. August 19, 2006

Brain's Cannabinoid System 'Mellows' Seizures - The same brain machinery that responds to the active substance in marijuana provides a central "on-demand" protection against seizures, researchers have found. August 18, 2006

Newly Discovered Gene Holds Clues To Evolution Of Human Brain Capacity - Scientists have discovered a gene that has undergone accelerated evolutionary change in humans and is active during a critical stage in brain development. August 17, 2006

Mental Retardation Cause Detailed - European and U.S. studies describe a recurrent cause of mental retardation resulting from the deletion of a big segment of DNA from chromosome 17. August 16, 2006

Researchers Discover Novel Genomic Disorders Causing Mental Retardation - Researchers at the University of Washington and The Howard Hughes Medical Institute have discovered several new genetic causes of mental retardation, according to a study published online August 13 in Nature Genetics. August 15, 2006

Major Victory For Children With Tourette Syndrome - The Department of Education has announced the final regulations enforcing Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) law, which was reauthorized by Congress. Tourette Syndrome (TS) is now listed as a disability under the category of Other Health Impaired (OHI). August 14, 2006

Eating May Activate Brain Genes - U.S. medical scientists say giving up that regular late-night snack may be difficult because your brain might now expect food at that time. August 13, 2006

Personality Predictors Of Intelligence Change From Younger To Older Adulthood - An ability to be open to new situations may predict intelligence earlier in life, says a new study, but disagreeableness may predict intelligence later in life. August 12, 2006

Brain Imaging Identifies Best Memorization Strategies - Exploring exactly why some individuals' memory skills are better than others has led researchers at Washington University in St. Louis to study the brain basis of learning strategies ... August 11, 2006

Infants, As Early As Six Months, Do See Errors In Arithmetic - Using advanced brain sensor technology developed at the University of Oregon, researchers have confirmed often-debated findings from 1992 that showed infants as young as six months know when an arithmetic solution is wrong. August 10, 2006

Tiny Inhaled Particles Take Easy Route From Nose To Brain - In a continuing effort to find out if the tiniest airborne particles pose a health risk, scientists showed that when rats breathe in nano-sized materials they follow a rapid and efficient pathway from the nasal cavity to several regions of the brain. August 09, 2006

Abnormal Pattern Of Brain Development In Premature Babies - Measurement of the way that the brain grows after birth in preterm infants, particularly the relation between brain surface area and cortical volume, may help to predict neurodevelopmental impairment. August 08, 2006

The Source Of Midnight Munchies? - The body's internal clock is set by both light and food signals - that's one reason doctors recommend fighting jetlag with sunlight and regular meals. August 07, 2006

Ingredient Commonly Found In Shampoos May Inhibit Brain Development - An ingredient found in many shampoos and other personal care products appears to interfere with normal brain development in baby mice when applied to the skin of pregnant mice ... August 06, 2006

Atomic Force Microscopy Finds Application In Neuroscience - To understand how brain cells release compounds (or transmitters) used when the cells communicate with each other, Vladimir Parpura, associate professor of neuroscience, and Umar Mohideen, professor of physics, devised a new technique ... August 05, 2006

Irrational Decisions Driven By Emotions - Irrational behaviour arises as a consequence of emotional reactions evoked when faced with difficult decisions, according to new research at UCL (University College London), funded by the Wellcome Trust. August 04, 2006

Brain's 'Gambling Circuitry' Identified - From gamblers playing blackjack to investors picking stocks, humans make a wide range of decisions that require gauging risk versus reward. August 03, 2006

MIT Researchers Watch Brain In Action - For the first time, scientists have been able to watch neurons within the brain of a living animal change in response to experience. August 02, 2006

Different Genes May Cause Autism In Boys And Girls - Like detectives trying to solve a murder case, researchers searching for the biological cause of autism have come up with some surprising suspects. August 01, 2006

New Genetic Model For Parkinson's Disease - Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden are homing in on mechanisms that may explain one set of causes for Parkinson's disease. July 31, 2006

Penn Researchers Calculate How Much The Eye Tells The Brain - Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine estimate that the human retina can transmit visual input at about the same rate as an Ethernet connection ... July 30, 2006

Researchers Show How The Brain Turns On Innate Behavior - UCR researchers have made a major leap forward in understanding how the brain programs innate behavior. July 29, 2006

Think fast! Rice Undergrad Unlocks Nerve Speed Secret - In the second it takes you to read these words, tens of thousands of vesicles in your optic nerves are released in sequence, opening tiny surface pores to pass chemical signals to the next cell down the line, telling your brain what you're seeing and your eyes where to move. July 28, 2006

Computer Games Could Save Your Brain - If you're one of the many people who while away hours playing FreeCell, that heinously addictive and complicated version of Solitaire, you may be interested to hear that some researchers think your performance in this computerized card game might reveal early signs of dementia. July 27, 2006

'Friend' Protein Keeps Nerve Signals In Check - Among the many thousands of proteins in the cell, some are essential players while some are "hangers-on." The neuronal protein syntaxin is essential. Without it, you die. July 26, 2006

How People With Autism Miss The Big Picture - "A PICTURE is worth a thousand words" may sum up how people with autism see the world. July 25, 2006

Fewer Neurons For Processing Emotion In Autistic Brain - For the first time, research has shown that the autistic brain has fewer neurons in an area related to emotion and social behavior, according to a new study published in the July 19 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. July 24, 2006

Researchers Identify Very First Neurons In The 'Thinking' Brain - Researchers at Yale School of Medicine and the University of Oxford have identified the very first neurons in what develops into the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that makes humans human. July 23, 2006

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