Brain And Consciousness Research - April 2009 Archives

A glimpse at vision: First impressions count (4/30/2009)

Human brain can recognize objects much faster than some have thought ...> Full Article

Making waves in the brain (4/29/2009)

Researchers use lasers to induce gamma brain waves in mice ...> Full Article

Early brain activity sheds new light on the neural basis of reading (4/28/2009)

Most people are expert readers, but it is something of an enigma that our brain can achieve expertise this recent cultural invention, which lies at the interface between vision and language. Now, a better understanding of the brain basis of reading has been reported in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE. The research was led by Piers Cornelissen, Morten Kringelbach, Ian Holliday and Peter Hansen from the Universities of York, Oxford, Aston and Birmingham UK. ...> Full Article

Brain music (4/27/2009)

Every brain has a soundtrack -- probably many. Can those soundtracks be made useful? ...> Full Article

A warm TV can drive away feelings of loneliness and rejection (4/26/2009)

Studies find that illusionary relationships with TV characters can give us real pleasure ...> Full Article

Think memory worsens with age? Then yours probably will (4/25/2009)

Thinking your memory will get worse as you get older may actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that senior citizens who think older people should perform poorly on tests of memory actually score much worse than seniors who do not buy in to negative stereotypes about aging and memory loss. ...> Full Article

The price of pain and the value of suffering (4/25/2009)

A new study reveals that demand for pain relief is almost completely dependent on pain experienced in the recent past and the available cash on hand. That is, the participants were willing to pay more money to avoid pain if that pain was more intense compared to previous trials. In addition, the price they were willing to pay was based on what they were given (money-in-the-pocket) rather than on their overall wealth. ...> Full Article

Do good looks get high school students good grades? (4/24/2009)

University of Miami study shows that physical attractiveness, personality, and grooming are good predictors of grades in high school and may indicate future success in college and labor markets ...> Full Article

Translating the conversation between the brain and blood vessels (4/24/2009)

Two researchers on neural control of the cardiovascular system receive APS awards ...> Full Article

Controlling our brain's perception of emotional events (4/23/2009)

Research performed by Nicole Lauzon and Dr. Steven Laviolette of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario has found key processes in the brain that control the emotional significance of our experiences and how we form memories of them. A lack of proper brain function in this area is what lies beneath such conditions as schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. ...> Full Article

Driven to distraction? Taking your mind off a decision can help (4/22/2009)

Remember when the answer to a big question came to you in the shower? Is "sleep on it" really good advice for someone making a big decision? A new study Journal of Consumer Research examines the way distraction affects consumers' product decisions. ...> Full Article

Using tools requires that the brain is able to control movements (4/21/2009)

Our ability to use objects and tools to perform actions is essential to our daily activities, and it is developed to a level that is unique to our species. In a study performed by a scientific team of the French National Center for Scientific Research and the Paris Descartes University, published by Elsevier in the April 2009 issue of Cortex, researchers have found that brain-lesioned patients who have difficulties using familiar objects and tools in their usual context may also be impaired at controlling the movement of an object in the context of simpler movements such as pointing at a target. ...> Full Article

Brain mechanisms for behavioral flexibility (4/18/2009)

New research provides insight into how the brain can execute different actions in response to the same stimulus. The study, published by Cell Press in the April 16 issue of the journal Neuron, suggests that information from single brain cells cannot be interpreted differently within a short time period, a finding that is important for understanding both normal cognition and psychiatric disorders. ...> Full Article

I feel like a different person (4/18/2009)

Study suggests link between how we feel, our culture and how we behave ...> Full Article

Where you live may affect your state of mind (4/17/2009)

Stress and depression vary by region, according to new study ...> Full Article

Signals from stroking have direct route to brain (4/16/2009)

Nerve signals that tell the brain that we are being slowly stroked on the skin have their own specialized nerve fibers in the skin. This is shown by a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The discovery may explain why touching the skin can relieve pain. ...> Full Article

Baby's first dreams (4/15/2009)

After about seven months growing in the womb, a human fetus spends most of its time asleep. Its brain cycles back and forth between the frenzied activity of rapid eye movement sleep and the quiet resting state of nonREM sleep. But whether the brains of younger, immature fetuses cycle with sleep or are simply inactive has remained a mystery, until now. ...> Full Article

Tweet this: Rapid-fire media may confuse your moral compass (4/14/2009)

Media culture should allow time for reflective moments, say USC neuroscientists in a study that also shows higher emotions to be as rooted in the body as primal impulses ...> Full Article

Adult brain processes fractions 'effortlessly' (4/9/2009)

Mathematical value intuited without calculation; findings may impact math education ...> Full Article

You wear me out: Thinking of others causes lapses in our self-control (4/8/2009)

Exerting self-control is exhausting. In fact, using self-control in one situation impairs our ability to use self-control in subsequent, even unrelated, situations. What about thinking of other people exerting self-control? A new study in Psychological Science suggests that our own self-control can be worn out simply by mentally simulating another person acting with self-control. ...> Full Article

Hollow mask illusion fails to fool schizophrenia patients (4/7/2009)

Patients with schizophrenia are able to correctly see through an illusion known as the "hollow mask" illusion, probably because their brain disconnects "what the eyes see" from what "the brain thinks it is seeing," according to a joint UK and German study published in the journal NeuroImage. The findings shed light on why cannabis users may also be less deceived by the illusion whilst on the drug. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify personality traits (4/7/2009)

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine's New England Centenarian Study have noted specific personality traits associated with healthy aging and longevity amongst the children of centenarians. The work was conducted in collaboration with scientists from the National Institute on Aging. These findings currently appear on-line in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. ...> Full Article

Neuroscientists demonstrate link between brainwave activity and visual perception (4/6/2009)

Can we always see what is in front of us? According to Dr. Tony Ro, a professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience at the City College of New York, the answer is "no." New research published in the Journal of Neuroscience by Professor Ro and colleagues from the University of Illinois demonstrates that the brain cannot detect images when brainwave activity is in a trough. ...> Full Article

Well-timed timeout effective in wiping out fear memory response (4/6/2009)

Researchers target a key time when memories are ripe for change to substantially modify memories of fear into benign memories and to keep them that way. ...> Full Article

Scientists show how a neuron gets its shape (4/6/2009)

Dendrites in the roundworm don't steer toward their synaptic targets -- they start there ...> Full Article

Phasic firing of dopamine neurons is key to brain's prediction of rewards (4/5/2009)

Dopamine neuron firing helps brain distinguish between rewarding and aversive events ...> Full Article

Researchers reveal how the brain processes important information (4/4/2009)

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have shed light on how the neurotransmitter dopamine helps brain cells process important information. ...> Full Article

Suppressing the compulsion to steal (4/3/2009)

If a drug took the fun out of stealing, would it reduce crime? A new study scheduled for the April 1 issue of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, suggests that this may be so. ...> Full Article

Optical illusions: Variety makes us perceive smaller quantities (4/3/2009)

Here's another reason why dieters should avoid all-you-can-eat buffets: When faced with a large variety of items, consumers tend to underestimate how much of each item is present, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. ...> Full Article

Activation of the prefrontal cortex improves working memory (4/2/2009)

Working memory or short-term memory is related to the ability to pass intelligence tests and is stored in the parietal cortex. However, the role of other areas activated during use of visual memory is poorly understood. IDIBAPS and Karolinska investigators have programmed a complex virtual system that simulates a network of neurons, according to which the prefrontal cortex reinforces the activation of the parietal cortex. This hypothesis is confirmed by functional magnetic resonance data. ...> Full Article