Brain and mind news and Brain Teasers

Research May Unlock Mystery Of Autism's Origin In The Brain - In the first study of its kind, researchers have discovered that in autistic individuals, connections between brain cells may be deficient within single regions, and not just between regions, as was previously believed. September 3, 2007

Brain Implants Relieve Alzheimer's Damage - Genetically engineered cells implanted in mice have cleared away toxic plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease. August 31, 2007

Tracking Feline Memories On The Move - When a cat steps over an obstacle with its front legs, how do its hind legs know what to do? A new study in Current Biology reveals that it is the foreleg stepping movement itself that leaves a lasting impression. August 29, 2007

Brain Cells Work Differently Than Previously Thought - Scientists know that information travels between brain cells along hairlike extensions called axons. August 28, 2007

First Out-of-body Experience Induced In Laboratory Setting - A neuroscientist working at UCL (University College London) has devised the first experimental method to induce an out-of-body experience in healthy participants. August 27, 2007

Brains Learn Better At Night - If you think that the idea of a morning person or an evening person is nonsense, then postgraduate student Martin Sale and his colleagues from the University of Adelaide have news for you. August 24, 2007

The Brain Doesn't Like Visual Gaps And Fills Them In - When in doubt about what we see, our brains fill in the gaps for us by first drawing the borders and then ‘coloring’ in the surface area, new research has found. The research is the first to pinpoint the areas in the brain, and the timing of their activity, responsible for how we see borders and surfaces. August 23, 2007

Does Playing The Brain-Memory Game Really Help? - Brain and memory training programs are popular, but they don't work well for everyone, says a Universitiy of Michigan psychologist. August 22, 2007

The Memories You Want To Forget Are The Hardest Ones To Lose - Painful, emotional memories that people would most like to forget may be the toughest to leave behind, especially when memories are created through visual cues, according to a new study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. August 21, 2007

Are Too Many People Diagnosed As 'Depressed?' - Are too many people now diagnosed as having depression? Two experts give their views in the British Medical Journal. August 20, 2007

Chemical In Brain Acts Like A Fuel Gauge - The concept that a drop in blood sugar triggers a craving for food is best understood just before lunchtime. But exactly how the process unfolds has proven difficult to explain, even on a full stomach. August 17, 2007

Implants For Epilepsy - Jenna Rickus, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Purdue, has developed a "living electrode" coated with specially engineered neurons that, when stimulated, releases a neurotransmitter to inhibit epileptic seizures. August 16, 2007

Draining Away Brain's Toxic Protein To Stop Alzheimer's - Scientists are trying a plumber's approach to rid the brain of the amyloid buildup that plagues Alzheimer's patients: Simply drain the toxic protein away. August 15, 2007

The Scientist And The Contortionist - Watching a ballet dancer or circus acrobat perform, who hasn't winced at the thought of trying to replicate the impossible flexibility on display? August 14, 2007

Personality Changes May Help Detect Form Of Dementia - A simple personality test could help doctors detect dementia with Lewy bodies, a form of dementia often confused with Alzheimer's disease, sooner, according to a study published in issue of Neurology®, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. August 13, 2007

Maturity Brings Richer Memories - MIT neuroscientists exploring how memory formation differs between children and adults have found that although the two groups have much in common, maturity brings richer memories. August 10, 2007

Why Do People Love Horror Movies? - A bedrock assumption in theories that explain and predict human behavior is people's motivation to pursue pleasure and avoid pain. How can this be reconciled with the decision to engage in experiences known to elicit negative feelings, such as horror movies ... August 8, 2007

Music Moves Brain To Pay Attention, Study Finds - Using brain images of people listening to short symphonies by an obscure 18th-century composer, a research team from the Stanford University School of Medicine has gained valuable insight into how the brain sorts out the chaotic world around it. August 7, 2007

Why Do People Have Sex? - Many scientists assume people have sex for simple and straightforward reasons such as to experience sexual pleasure or to reproduce, but new research at The University of Texas at Austin reveals hundreds of varied and complex motivations that range from the spiritual to the vengeful. August 6, 2007

Reading A Face Is Tricky Business - Reading the face of a person who is trying to conceal fear or other emotions is tricky business, according to a new Northwestern University study of electrical activity in the brain. August 3, 2007

Link Between Parkinson's And Narcolepsy Discovered - Parkinson's disease is well-known for its progression of motor disorders: stiffness, slowness, tremors, difficulties walking and talking. Less well known is that Parkinson's shares other symptoms with narcolepsy, a sleep disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable episodes of deep sleep, severe fatigue and general sleep disorder. August 2, 2007

Sex Differences In Brains Reflect Disease Risks - Women’s brains are different from men’s. That’s not news. What is news is that the differences are smaller than most people believe. They are not big enough to say that one sex is smarter or better at math than the other. August 1, 2007

Why We May Feel Guilty - Guilt plays a vital role in the regulation of social behavior. That worried feeling in our gut often serves as the impetus for our stab at redemption. July 31, 2007

Scientists Unveil The 'Face' Of A New Memory - A century-old dream of neuroscientists to visualize a memory has been fulfilled, as University of California, Irvine researchers, using newly developing microscopic techniques, have captured first-time images of the changes in brain cell connections following a common form of learning. July 30, 2007

Dogs Copy Other Dogs' Actions Selectively, The Way Humans Do - A distinguishing feature of human intelligence is our ability to understand the goals and intentions of others. This ability develops gradually during infancy, and the extent to which it is present in other animals is an intriguing question. July 27, 2007

Tiny Brain, Normal Life - The unusual case of a man with a tiny brain caused by massive ventricular enlargement, who has led a normal life, is studied in a clinical update in The Lancet. July 26, 2007

Mechanism Behind Fear Discovered - Researchers from MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have uncovered a molecular mechanism that governs the formation of fears stemming from traumatic events. July 25, 2007

Culture Sculpts Neural Response To Visual Stimuli - Researchers in Illinois and Singapore have found that the aging brain reflects cultural differences in the way that it processes visual information. July 24, 2007

How Anaesthetics Work In The Brain - An important clue to how anaesthetics work on the human body has been provided by the discovery of a molecular feature common to both the human brain and the great pond snail nervous system, scientists now report. July 23, 2007

Epileptic Seizures Affected By Estrogen - In more than a third of women with epilepsy, seizures fluctuate across the menstrual cycle, due in part to continually fluctuating effects of estrogen on the neural circuitry in the hippocampus, a region of the brain involved in learning and memory ... July 20, 2007

Brain Pathway Of Depression In Rats Discovered - Scientists' hunt for the cause of depression has implicated so many suspects and found so many treatments with different mechanisms that the condition remains an enigma. July 19, 2007

Migraine Headaches May Cause Brain Damage - Migraines may be doing more than causing people skull-splitting pain. Scientists have found evidence that the headaches may also be acting like tiny transient strokes, leaving parts of the brain starved for oxygen ... July 18, 2007

How Pain Distracts The Brain - Anybody who's tried to concentrate on work while suffering a headache knows that pain compellingly commands attention - which is how evolution helped ensure survival in a painful world. July 17, 2007

Emotional Memories Can Be Suppressed With Practice - A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows people have the ability to suppress emotional memories with practice, which has implications for those suffering from conditions ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to depression. July 16, 2007

Sleep Restriction Affects Children's Speech - Research examining the impact of sleep in school-age children suggests that even mild sleep loss produces marked deficits in their cognitive development and functioning. July 13, 2007

New Risk Factors Discovered For Alzheimer's Disease - A recent study in Journal of Neuroimaging suggests that cognitively normal adults exhibiting atrophy of their temporal lobe or damage to blood vessels in the brain are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. July 12, 2007

Chemical Maps Hint At Drug's Effects On Schizophrenia - Antipsychotic drugs do most of their work in the brain, but they also leave behind in the bloodstream a trail of hundreds of chemicals that may be used in the future to direct better treatment for schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions. July 11, 2007

Brain Pathway Of Depression In Rats Discovered - Scientists' hunt for the cause of depression has implicated so many suspects and found so many treatments with different mechanisms that the condition remains an enigma. July 10, 2007

Brain Processes Sense Of Smell Better Than Previously Thought - Brains are able to adjust automatically to the demands of distinguishing between small differences in smell, new research at the University of Chicago shows. July 9, 2007

Sleep Enforces The Temporal Sequence In Memory - We have usually quite strong memories of past events like an exciting holiday or a jolly birthday party. However it is not clear how the brain keeps track of the temporal sequence in such memories ... July 6, 2007

Why We Learn From Our Mistakes - Psychologists from the University of Exeter have identified an 'early warning signal' in the brain that helps us avoid repeating previous mistakes. July 5, 2007

Faulty DNA Repair Linked To Huntington's Disease Onset - Huntington's disease, an inherited neurodegenerative disorder that affects roughly 30,000 Americans, is incurable and fatal. July 4, 2007

How The Sensory-deprived Brain Compensates - Whiskers provide a mouse with essential information to negotiate a burrow or detect movement that could signal a predator's presence. These stiff hairs relay sensory input to the brain, which shapes neuronal activity. June 29, 2007

Meditate To Concentrate - Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania say that practicing even small doses of daily meditation may improve focus and performance. June 28, 2007

Exercise May Aid Parkinson's Patients - A new study from researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) shows that treadmill exercises may benefit patients with Parkinson's Disease and those with similar movement disorders. June 27, 2007

Blind People Are 'Serial Memory' Whizzes - Compared to people with normal vision, those who were blind at birth tend to have excellent memories. June 25, 2007

Paying Taxes Can Bring Satisfaction - Want to light up the pleasure center in your brain? Just pay your taxes, and then give a little extra voluntarily to your local food bank. June 21, 2007

Brain Structure Changes Years Before Memory Loss Begins - People who develop dementia or Alzheimer's disease experience brain structure changes years before any signs of memory loss begin. June 20, 2007

Music: Mirror Of The Mind - The long supposed connection between mind and music has been further demonstrated by an international collaboration of physicists led by Simone Bianco and Paolo Grigolini at the Center for Nonlinear Science at the University of North Texas. June 19, 2007

Sleep Disturbances Among The Elderly Linked To Suicide - Self-reported sleep complaints among the elderly serve as a risk factor for completed suicide, according to new research. June 18, 2007

Alzheimer's Disease To Quadruple Worldwide By 2050 - More than 26 million people worldwide were estimated to be living with Alzheimer's disease in 2006, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. June 15, 2007

How The Brain Senses Visual Illusions - In a study that could help reveal how illusions are produced in the brain's visual cortex, researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine have found new evidence of rapid integration of auditory and visual sensations in the brain. June 14, 2007

Lithium Builds Gray Matter In Bipolar Brains - Neuroscientists at UCLA have shown that lithium, long the standard treatment for bipolar disorder, increases the amount of gray matter in the brains of patients with the illness. June 13, 2007

How Lead Exposure Produces Learning Deficits - A study of young adult rats by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health provides evidence that explains exactly how exposure to lead during brain development produces learning deficits. June 11, 2007

Where Social Memories Form In The Brain - Is there a specific memory for events involving people? June 8, 2007

Brain Chemistry Linked To Aggressive Personality - An image depicting research findings linking brain chemistry with aggressive personality has been named “2007 Image of the Year” by the Society for Nuclear Medicine (SNM). June 7, 2007

Sleep Disturbance Increases Spontaneous Pain In Women - Sleep continuity disturbance impairs endogenous pain-inhibitory function and increases spontaneous pain in women. June 6, 2007

Mild Head Injuries Increase Risk Of Sleep Disorders - A mild head injury can increase your chance of developing a sleep disorder, according to a study published in the issue of Neurology®, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. June 5, 2007

Inhibiting Blood To Save The Brain - Researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine have identified a fibrin-derived peptide that inhibits this specific inflammation process in mouse models of multiple sclerosis (MS), reducing MS symptoms. June 4, 2007

Brain Fends Off Distractions - Dutch researcher Harm Veling has demonstrated that our brains fend off distractions. If we are busy with something we suppress disrupting external influences. If we are tired, we can no longer do this. June 1, 2007

Scientist Observes Brain Cell Development In 'Real Time' - For the first time anywhere, a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has succeeded in observing in vivo the generation of neurons in the brain of a mammal. May 31, 2007

Researchers Uncover Genetic Risk For Schizophrenia - Psychiatric researchers at The Zucker Hillside Hospital campus of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have uncovered evidence of a new gene that appears to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia. May 30, 2007

Adult Brain Cells Rediscover Their Inner Child - You may not be able to relive your youth, but part of your brain can. Johns Hopkins researchers have found that newly made nerves in an adult brain's learning center experience a one-month period when ... May 29, 2007

Brain Scans Reveal Cause Of Smokers' Cravings - Within the mind of every smoker trying to quit rages a battle between the higher-order functions of the brain wanting to break the habit and the lower-order functions screaming for another cigarette, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center. May 28, 2007

Wearable Technology Helps Monitor Mental Illness - Psychiatric researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine will report important new findings from a study of patients with bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia. May 25, 2007

Drug Helps Prevent Hip Fractures In Parkinson Disease - A drug used to strengthen bone has been found to help reduce the high incidence of hip fractures among people with Parkinson disease. May 24, 2007

New Study Examines 'Brain's Own Marijuana' - A researcher at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) is investigating the "brain's own marijuana" - called endocannabinoid - in the regulation of stress, stress-related behavior and anxiety. May 23, 2007

Brain's 'Default Mode' Awry In Schizophrenia - The “default mode,” or baseline condition when the brain is idling, is not properly coordinated in patients with schizophrenia and this aberrant activity may be caused by poor connectivity between brain networks, a Yale School of Medicine researcher reports. May 22, 2007

Explaining Why We Smell Better When We Sniff - Unlike most of our sensory systems that detect only one type of stimuli, our sense of smell works double duty, detecting both chemical and mechanical stimuli to improve how we smell. May 18, 2007

Scientists Produce Neurons From Human Skin - Scientists from Université Laval's Faculty of Medicine have succeeded in producing neurons in vitro using stem cells extracted from adult human skin. May 17, 2007

High-quality Marriages Help To Calm Nerves - A University of Virginia neuroscientist has found that women under stress who hold their husbands' hands show signs of immediate relief, which can clearly be seen on their brain scans. May 16, 2007

Thinking With The Spinal Cord? - Two scientists from the University of Copenhagen have demonstrated that the spinal cord use network mechanisms similar to those used in the brain. The discovery is featured in the current issue of Science. May 15, 2007

Brains Reflect Sex Differences - When male primates tussle and females develop their social skills it leaves a permanent mark - on their brains. May 14, 2007

For Easy Tasks, Brain Preps And Decides Together - A Georgia Tech researcher has discovered that for tasks involving spatial processing, preparing for the task and performing it are not two separate brain processes ... May 11, 2007

Study Examines Genetic Risk Factors For Alzheimer's Disease - Cardiff University researchers have found evidence for new genes involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease. May 10, 2007

Scientists Explain Inception Of Perception In The Brain - The taste of champagne, the sound of a train, the flash of a pop fly into left field – indeed all of human perception – begins in the brain’s center. May 9, 2007

Does Amateur Boxing Cause Brain Damage? - Blows to the head in amateur boxing appear to cause brain damage, according to research that presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 59th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 28 - May 5, 2007. May 8, 2007

Human Brain Breaks Down Events Into Smaller Units - In order to comprehend the continuous stream of cacophonies and visual stimulation that battle for our attention, humans will breakdown activities into smaller, more digestible chunks, a phenomenon that psychologists describe as "event structure perception." May 7, 2007

Researchers Discovery How To Simulate Slow Wave Activity - Sleep remains one of the big mysteries in biology. All animals sleep, and people who are deprived of sleep suffer physically, emotionally and intellectually. But nobody knows how sleep restores the brain. May 4, 2007

Pulsing Light Silences Overactive Neurons - Scientists at the MIT Media Lab have invented a way to reversibly silence brain cells using pulses of yellow light, offering the prospect of controlling the haywire neuron activity that occurs in diseases such as epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. May 2, 2007

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