Brain and mind news and Brain Teasers

Tourette Syndrome And ADHD Frequently Occur Together - The most disabling aspect of Tourette syndrome is that in 90% of cases, it exists in conjunction with another disorder. April 23, 2009

Think Memory Worsens With Age? Then Yours Probably Will - Thinking your memory will get worse as you get older may actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy. April 22, 2009

Human Brains Make Their Own 'Marijuana' - U.S. and Brazilian scientists have discovered that the brain manufactures proteins that act like marijuana at specific receptors in the brain itself. This discovery may lead to new marijuana-like drugs for managing pain, stimulating appetite, and preventing marijuana abuse. April 21, 2009

New Imaging Analysis Predicts Brain Tumor Survival - As early as one week after beginning treatment for brain tumors, a new imaging analysis method was able to predict which patients would live longer, researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found. April 20, 2009

Safe Exercise For Migraine Sufferers - Many patients who suffer from migraines avoid taking aerobic exercise because they are afraid that the physical activity may bring on a serious migraine attack. April 17, 2009

Signals From Stroking Skin Have Direct Route To Brain - Nerve signals that tell the brain that we are being slowly stroked on the skin have their own specialised nerve fibres in the skin. This is shown by a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden. April 16, 2009

Scientists Show How A Neuron Gets Its Shape - Ask a simple question, get a simple answer: When Abraham Lincoln was asked how long a man’s legs should be, he absurdly replied, “Long enough to reach the ground.” April 14, 2009

Spring Cleaning For The Brain? - If you've ever been sleep-deprived, you know the feeling that your brain is full of wool. April 13, 2009

Axons Necessary For Voluntary Movement Regenerated - For the first time, researchers have clearly shown regeneration of a critical type of nerve fiber that travels between the brain and the spinal cord and which is required for voluntary movement. April 10, 2009

New Neurons Update Remote Memories - It is not easy to find your student bedroom when you left university 10, 20 or 30 years ago ... But once you have found it, you can easily return the next day. April 9, 2009

Sexual Behavior At Work Still A Problem - Be careful of that raunchy joke that gets all the laughs. As funny as folks at work may find it, it’s probably hurting morale. April 8, 2009

Biochemical Buzz On Career Changes In Bees - Adults facing unexpected career changes, take note. Scientists from Brazil and Cuba are reporting that honey bees - a mainstay for behavioral research that cannot be done in other animals - change their brains before transitioning to that new job. April 7, 2009

How The Brain Makes The Most Of The Visible World - The visual system has limited capacity and cannot process everything that falls onto the retina. Instead, the brain relies on attention to bring salient details into focus and filter out background clutter. April 6, 2009

Sleep May Help Clear Brain For New Learning - A new theory about sleep's benefits for the brain gets a boost from fruit flies in the journal Science. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found evidence that sleep, already recognized as a promoter of long-term memories, also helps clear room in the brain for new learning. April 3, 2009

Action Video Games Improve Vision - Video games that involve high levels of action, such as first-person-shooter games, increase a player's real-world vision, according to research in Nature Neuroscience March 29. March 31, 2009

Face Recognition: The Eyes Have It - Our brain extracts important information for face recognition principally from the eyes, and secondly from the mouth and nose, according to a new study from a researcher at the University of Barcelona. March 30, 2009

When It Comes To Intelligence, Size Matters - A collaborative study led by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University has demonstrated a positive link between cognitive ability and cortical thickness in the brains of healthy 6 to 18 year olds. March 27, 2009

Brain Wave Patterns Can Predict Blunders - A distinct alpha-wave pattern occurs in two brain regions just before subjects make mistakes on attention-demanding tests, according to a new study. March 26, 2009

Living Model Of Basic Units Of Human Brain Created - Researchers in the School of Life & Health Sciences at Aston University in Birmingham, UK are developing a novel new way to model how the human brain works by creating a living representation of the brain. March 23, 2009

Language Of Music Really Is Universal - Native African people who have never even listened to the radio before can nonetheless pick up on happy, sad, and fearful emotions in Western music. March 20, 2009

Key To Happiness Is Gratitude, And Men May Be Locked Out - With Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and high school and college graduations upcoming, there will be plenty of gift-giving and well wishes. March 19, 2009

Where Does Consciousness Come From? - Consciousness arises as an emergent property of the human mind. Yet basic questions about the precise timing, location and dynamics of the neural event(s) allowing conscious access to information are not clearly and unequivocally determined. March 18, 2009

Fear Memories In Humans Weakened With Beta-blocker Propranolol - A team of Dutch researchers led by Merel Kindt has successfully reduced the fear response. March 13, 2009

Neuroscientists Map Intelligence In The Brain - Neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have conducted the most comprehensive brain mapping to date of the cognitive abilities measured by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), the most widely used intelligence test in the world. March 12, 2009

Popular Kids Earn More When They Grow Up - Being popular with your peers at school could mean you earn more as an adult. That’s according to new research by a team at the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER). March 11, 2009

Why Dreams Are So Difficult To Remember - By listening in on the chatter between neurons in various parts of the brain, researchers have taken steps toward fully understanding just how memories are formed, transferred, and ultimately stored in the brain - and how that process varies throughout the various stages of sleep. March 10, 2009

Humans Can Sense 'Smell Of Fear' In Sweat - When threatened, many animals release chemicals as a warning signal to members of their own species, who in turn react to the signals and take action. Research by Rice University psychologist Denise Chen suggests a similar phenomenon occurs in humans. March 9, 2009

Schizophrenia Could Be Caused By Faulty Signaling In Brain - Schizophrenia could be caused by faulty signalling in the brain, according to new research published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. March 6, 2009

Brain Differences Found Between Believers In God And Non-believers - Believing in God can help block anxiety and minimize stress, according to new University of Toronto research that shows distinct brain differences between believers and non-believers. March 5, 2009

Wave Of Brain Activity Linked To Anticipation Captured - Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center have, for the first time, shown what brain activity looks like when someone anticipates an action or sensory input which soon follows. March 4, 2009

Genes Important To Sleep Discovered - For many animals, sleep is a risk: foraging for food, mingling with mates and guarding against predators just aren't possible while snoozing. How, then, has this seemingly life-threatening behavior remained constant among various species of animals? March 3, 2009

Mental Fatigue Can Affect Physical Endurance - When participants performed a mentally fatiguing task prior to a difficult exercise test, they reached exhaustion more quickly than when they did the same exercise when mentally rested, a new study finds. February 27, 2009

Brain Hub That Links Music, Memory And Emotion Discovered - We all know the feeling: a golden oldie comes blaring over the radio and suddenly we're transported back - to a memorable high-school dance, or to that perfect afternoon on the beach with friends. February 25, 2009

How We Keep Visual Details In Short-term Memory - Working memory (also known as short term memory) is our ability to keep a small amount of information active in our mind. February 24, 2009

Reading: Yours, Mine, Ours: When You And I Share Perspectives - While reading a novel, as the author describes the main character washing dishes or cooking dinner, we will often create a mental image of someone in the kitchen performing these tasks. February 20, 2009

Can Exercising Your Brain Prevent Memory Loss? - Participating in certain mental activities, like reading magazines or crafting in middle age or later in life, may delay or prevent memory loss. February 19, 2009

Buying Experiences, Not Possessions, Leads To Greater Happiness - Can money make us happy if we spend it on the right purchases? A new psychology study suggests that buying life experiences rather than material possessions leads to greater happiness for both the consumer and those around them. February 18, 2009

Eye Movement: Involuntary Maybe, But Certainly Not Random - Our eyes are in constant motion. Even when we attempt to stare straight at a stationary target, our eyes jump and jiggle imperceptibly. February 17, 2009

Scientists Read Minds With Infrared Scan - Researchers at Canada's largest children's rehabilitation hospital have developed a technique that uses infrared light brain imaging to decode preference - with the goal of ultimately opening the world of choice to children who can't speak or move. February 13, 2009

Computer Exercises Improve Memory And Attention - A new study shows that computerized brain exercises can improve memory and lead to faster thinking. February 12, 2009

Unexplained Chest Pain Can Be Due To Stress - Each year, many people seek emergency treatment for unexplained chest pains. A thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, indicates several common factors among those affected, including stress at work, anxiety, depression and a sedentary lifestyle. February 11, 2009

Cognitive Training Can Alter Biochemistry Of The Brain - Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have shown for the first time that the active training of the working memory brings about visible changes in the number of dopamine receptors in the human brain. February 10, 2009

Gene's Role In Severity Of Drinking Uncovered - New research from the University of Virginia Health System could help explain why some alcoholics are more severe drinkers than others. February 9, 2009

Decoding Funny Faces To Detect Mental Illness - Like Russell Crowe’s character in A Beautiful Mind, life is often difficult for the 2.4 million Americans with schizophrenia. A late or incorrect diagnosis and the lack of effective treatment options can destroy a sufferer's quality of life. February 5, 2009

Insulin Is A Possible New Treatment For Alzheimer's - A Northwestern University-led research team reports that insulin, by shielding memory-forming synapses from harm, may slow or prevent the damage and memory loss caused by toxic proteins in Alzheimer's disease. February 4, 2009

Orphan Chimpanzees Cleverer Than Humans - Orphaned chimpanzee infants given special ‘mothering’ by humans are more advanced than the average child at nine months of age. February 3, 2009

High Hormone Levels In Women May Lead To Infidelity - Women with high levels of the sex hormone oestradiol may engage in opportunistic mating, according to a new study by psychology researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. February 2, 2009

Natural Brain Substance Blocks Weight Gain In Mice - Mice with increased levels of a natural brain chemical don't gain weight when fed a high-fat diet, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. January 30, 2009

First Gene Discovered For Most Common Form Of Epilepsy - An international team of researchers, led by investigators at Columbia University Medical Center, has uncovered the first gene linked to the most common type of epilepsy, called Rolandic epilepsy. January 29, 2009

Cell Phones Dangerous For Child Pedestrians - Children who talk on cell phones while crossing streets are at a higher risk for injuries or death in a pedestrian accident, said psychologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in a new study that will appear in the February issue of Pediatrics. January 28, 2009

Brain's Memory 'Buffer' Discovered In Single Cells - Individual nerve cells in the front part of the brain can hold traces of memories on their own for as long as a minute and possibly longer, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. January 27, 2009

Women Cannot Control Their Hunger As Well As Men - A ground-breaking brain-imaging study at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory shows that men, but not women, are able to control their brain’s response to their own favorite foods. January 23, 2009

Sometimes 100 Cents Feels Like It's Worth More Than A Dollar - We all know that $1 is equal to 100 cents. But a new study suggests that, in some situations, people may behave as if 100 cents actually has more value. January 22, 2009

You Can Look - But Don't Touch - Consumers are often told that if they break an item, they buy it. But a new study suggests that if they just touch an item for more than a few seconds, they may also end up buying it. January 13, 2009

Women's Brains Recognize, Encode Smell Of Male Sexual Sweat - A new Rice University study published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that socioemotional meanings, including sexual ones, are conveyed in human sweat. January 9, 2009

Clues About The Evolution Of Epilepsy - Two children have a seizure. One child never has another seizure. Twenty years later, the other child has a series of seizures and is diagnosed with epilepsy. January 8, 2009

Scientists See Brain Aging Before Symptoms Appear - UCLA scientists have used innovative brain-scan technology developed at UCLA, along with patient-specific information on Alzheimer's disease risk, to help diagnose brain aging, often before symptoms appear. January 7, 2009

Why Smokers Struggle To Quit - Just seeing someone smoke can trigger smokers to abandon their nascent efforts to kick the habit, according to new research conducted at Duke University Medical Center. January 6, 2009

Societal, Economic Burden Of Insomnia Is High - A new study indicates that the indirect costs of untreated insomnia are significantly greater than the direct costs associated with its treatment. January 2, 2009

Facial Expressions Of Emotion Are Innate, Not Learned - Facial expressions of emotion are hardwired into our genes, according to a new study. The research suggests that facial expressions of emotion are innate rather than a product of cultural learning. December 30, 2008

How We Make Proper Movements - When you first notice a door handle, your brain has already been hard at work. Your visual system first sees the handle, then it sends information to various parts of the brain, which go on to decipher out the details, such as color and the direction the handle is pointing. December 29, 2008

Chocolate, Wine And Tea Improve Brain Performance - All that chocolate might actually help finish the bumper Christmas crossword over the seasonal period. According to Oxford researchers working with colleagues in Norway, chocolate, wine and tea enhance cognitive performance. December 26, 2008

Building A Machine That Can Learn From Experience - Suppose you want to build a computer that operates like the brain of a mammal. How hard could it be? December 25, 2008

Pain Hurts More If Person Hurting You Means It - Researchers at Harvard University have discovered that our experience of pain depends on whether we think someone caused the pain intentionally. December 22, 2008

Stress-related Disorders Affect Brain’s Processing Of Memory - Researchers using functional MRI (fMRI) have determined that the circuitry in the area of the brain responsible for suppressing memory is dysfunctional in patients suffering from stress-related psychiatric disorders. December 19, 2008

Brain Genes Associated With Increased Body Mass - Is obesity all in your head? New research suggests that genes that predispose people to obesity act in the brain and that perhaps some people are simply hardwired to overeat. December 17, 2008

Low-carb Diets Can Affect Dieters' Cognition Skills - A new study from the psychology department at Tufts University shows that when dieters eliminate carbohydrates from their meals, they performed more poorly on memory-based tasks than when they reduce calories, but maintain carbohydrates. December 16, 2008

Iron Age 'Sacrifice' Is Britain's Oldest Surviving Brain - The oldest surviving human brain in Britain, dating back at least 2000 years to the Iron Age, has been unearthed during excavations on the site of the University of York's campus expansion at Heslington East. December 15, 2008

Are Men Hardwired To Overspend? - Bling, foreclosures, rising credit card debt, bank and auto bailouts, upside down mortgages and perhaps a mid-life crisis new Corvette-all symptoms of compulsive overspending. December 12, 2008

Complex Decision? Don't Think About It - When faced with a difficult decision, we try to come up with the best choice by carefully considering all of the options, maybe even resorting to lists and lots of sleepless nights. December 11, 2008

Brain Cells That Are A Key To Learning Discovered - More than a century after Ivan Pavlov's dog was conditioned to salivate when it heard the sound of a tone prior to receiving food, scientists have found neurons that are critical to how people and animals learn from experience. December 10, 2008

More Evidence The Aging Brain Is Easily Distracted - Canadian researchers have found more evidence that older adults aren't able to filter out distracting information as well as younger adults. December 9, 2008

Scientists Produce Illusion Of Body Swapping - Cognitive neuroscientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet (KI) have succeeded in making subjects perceive the bodies of mannequins and other people as their own. December 3, 2008

Brain's Magnetic Fields Reveal Language Delays In Autism - Faint magnetic signals from brain activity in children with autism show that those children process sound and language differently from non-autistic children. December 2, 2008

Want To Be Happier? Be More Grateful - Want to quickly improve your happiness and satisfaction with life? Then the pen may be a mighty weapon, according to research done by Kent State University's Dr. Steven Toepfer. December 1, 2008

Adult Brain Neurons Can Remodel Connections - Overturning a century of prevailing thought, scientists are finding that neurons in the adult brain can remodel their connections. November 28, 2008

Television: Not The Only Channel To Early Sex - Watching plenty of television combined with low self-esteem, poor relationships with parents, and low academic achievement are some of the factors that may add up to young people having sex before the age of 15. November 26, 2008

Removing Part Of Brain Controls Girl's Epilepsy - Surgeons at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital told Jessica Nelson one of the scariest things she will ever hear as a parent: they wanted to treat her daughter's epilepsy by cutting out or disconnecting half of her brain. November 21, 2008

Ginkgo Biloba Does Not Reduce Dementia Risk - The medicinal herb Ginkgo biloba does not reduce the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease development in either the healthy elderly or those with mild cognitive impairment. November 20, 2008

Brains Of Ovulating Women Respond Strongly To Male Masculine Faces - Scientists have long known that women's preferences for masculine men change throughout their menstrual cycles. November 18, 2008

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