Brain And Consciousness Research - August 2008 Archives

Serotonin as a key regulator of fear memory (8/31/2008)

Researchers have shown that mice lacking serotonin are less anxious compared to control animals but retain fearful memories for much longer time. ...> Full Article

Scientist unveils secret of newborn's first words (8/30/2008)

A new study could explain why "daddy" and "mommy" are often a baby's first words - the human brain may be hard-wired to recognize certain repetition patterns. ...> Full Article

Memory Trick Shows Brain Organization (8/29/2008)

A simple memory trick has helped show researchers how an area of the brain called the perirhinal cortex can contribute to forming memories. The finding expands our understanding of how those brain areas that form memories are organized. ...> Full Article

Subliminal learning demonstrated in the human brain (8/28/2008)

New study used sophisticated perceptual masking, computational modeling, and neuroimaging to show that instrumental learning can occur in the human brain without conscious processing of contextual cues ...> Full Article

Exploring the function of sleep (8/27/2008)

Is sleep essential? ...> Full Article

'Perfect Pitch' in Humans Far More Prevalent than Expected (8/27/2008)

Researchers have developed a unique test for perfect pitch, and have found surprising results. ...> Full Article

Brain study could lead to new understanding of depression (8/26/2008)

Brain scientists have moved a step closer to understanding why some people may be more prone to depression than others. ...> Full Article

Blinking liars! (8/25/2008)

Monitoring the speed at which someone blinks could be enough to give away whether they are lying or not. ...> Full Article

Cocaine: How addiction develops (8/25/2008)

Using genetic engineering, researchers have now been able to selectively switch off those protein components in dopamine-producing neurons that are integrated into the receptor complexes under the influence of cocaine. ...> Full Article

Complex decisions? Don't sleep on it (8/24/2008)

Neither snap judgments nor sleeping on a problem are any better than conscious thinking for making complex decisions ...> Full Article

Aboriginal kids can count without numbers (8/24/2008)

Knowing the words for numbers is not necessary to be able to count ...> Full Article

Researchers link cocoa flavanols to improved brain blood flow (8/23/2008)

New study suggests cocoa compounds could hold promise for stroke ...> Full Article

Killer carbs - Scientist finds the key to overeating as we age (8/23/2008)

A Monash University scientist has discovered key appetite control cells in the human brain degenerate over time, causing increased hunger and potentially weight-gain as we grow older. ...> Full Article

Young Children's 'Theory of Mind' Linked to Subsequent Metacognitive Development in Adolescence (8/22/2008)

Study detects a systematic link between children's 'theory of mind' as assessed in kindergarten and their metacognitive knowledge in elementary school. ...> Full Article

Measuring the auditory dynamics of selective attention (8/22/2008)

Exploring the various performance times needed to pick out specific sounds in a complex scene ...> Full Article

Researchers Study Facial Structures, Brain Abnormalities to Reveal Formula for Earlier Detection of Autism (8/21/2008)

researchers are studying 3-D imaging to reveal correlations in the facial features and brain structures of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which will enable them to develop a formula for earlier detection of the disorder ...> Full Article

Researcher Discovers Brain Serotonin System Controls Maternal Behavior (8/21/2008)

Findings have potential link to post-partum depression ...> Full Article

New Study Shows False Memories Affect Behavior (8/20/2008)

People can easily create false memories of their past and a new study shows that such memories can have long-term effects on our behavior. ...> Full Article

One Sleepless Night Increases Dopamine In The Human Brain (8/20/2008)

Findings may help explain how sleep-deprived people stay alert ...> Full Article

Cells in eye could help control sleep (8/19/2008)

A set of nerve cells in the eye control our levels of sleepiness according to the brightness of our surroundings ...> Full Article

Parents' expectations, styles can harm college students' self-esteem (8/18/2008)

Student anxieties often based on exaggerated perceptions of what parents expect ...> Full Article

Cocaine-induced synaptic plasticity linked to persistent addictive behaviors (8/17/2008)

Two studies identify specific cocaine-induced changes in dopamine (DA) neurons that play a pivotal role in behaviors associated with drug addiction ...> Full Article

Nature or Nurture-Are You Who Your Brain Chemistry Says You Are? (8/16/2008)

A First-of-Its-Kind PET Study Reveals Direct Link Between Hereditary Personality Trait and Brain's Endorphine System ...> Full Article

Study finds that sleep selectively preserves emotional memories (8/15/2008)

A period of slumber helps the brain distinguish core emotions from background details ...> Full Article

Cooperation Impaired in People with Borderline Personality Disorder (8/15/2008)

A new study in Science suggests that borderline personality disorder may arise partly through abnormalities in a brain region involved in cooperation and social exchange. ...> Full Article

Gender Stereotypes Contradicted When Negotiating (8/14/2008)

When people are trying to make a positive impression, they may behave in ways that contradict gender stereotypes ...> Full Article

A direct gaze enhances face perception (8/14/2008)

Visual system of the brain processes another person’s face more efficiently when the person’s gaze is straight ahead than when the gaze is averted. ...> Full Article

'Erasing' drug-associated memories may stop drug addiction relapses (8/13/2008)

Findings could lead to more effective treatments for addiction ...> Full Article

New insight into what freezes Parkinson's patients and drives drug addicts (8/12/2008)

New research has revealed that dopamine strengthens and weakens the two primary circuits in the brain that control our behavior. This provides new insight into why a flood of dopamine can lead to compulsive, addictive behavior and too little dopamine can leave Parkinson's patients frozen and unable to move. ...> Full Article

When neurons fire up: Study sheds light on rhythms of the brain (8/12/2008)

In our brains, groups of neurons fire up simultaneously for just milliseconds at a time, in random rhythms, similar to twinkling lightning bugs in our backyards. New research provides a model -- a rhyme and reason -- for this random synchronization. ...> Full Article

Distinguishing between 2 birds of a feather (8/11/2008)

Brain cells processing visual information adjust their filtering properties to make the most sense of incoming information ...> Full Article

Neurobiologists discover individuals who 'hear' movement (8/11/2008)

Auditory synesthesia may not be unusual--and may simply represent an enhanced form of how the brain normally processes visual information ...> Full Article

Research reveals why some smokers become addicted with their first cigarette (8/11/2008)

New research reveals how the brain processes the 'rewarding' and addictive properties of nicotine ...> Full Article

Remedial Instruction Rewires Dyslexic Brains, Study Shows (8/10/2008)

Researchers Say Findings Could Usher in New Era of Neuro-education ...> Full Article

It's enough to make you blush (8/10/2008)

An academic is to delve into a series of embarrassing situations in an attempt to discover who makes us blush. ...> Full Article

Verbal aggression may affect children's behavior (8/10/2008)

The methods mothers use to control their children during playtime and other daily activities could have a negative impact on their child's self-esteem and behavior ...> Full Article

Researching the power of the placebo effect in arthritis patients (8/9/2008)

People with arthritis are to take part in new research carried out at The University of Manchester to find out more about how the placebo effect works. ...> Full Article

Attention grabbers snatch lion's share of visual memory (8/9/2008)

Visual memory more flexible than previously believed ...> Full Article

How the color red affects a referee's judgment (8/9/2008)

New study has found that choosing the color red for a uniform in competitive sports can actually affect the referee’s split-second decision-making ability and even promote a scoring bias. ...> Full Article

I Can, Automatically, Become Just Like You (8/8/2008)

The Effects of Exclusion on Nonconscious Mimicry ...> Full Article

Study finds connections between genetics, brain activity and preference (8/8/2008)

First link of genetics to neuroeconomics, the science of how decisions are made ...> Full Article

Trigger for brain plasticity identified (8/8/2008)

Signal comes, surprisingly, from outside the brain ...> Full Article

Whom do we fear or trust? (8/7/2008)

Faces instantly guide us, scientists say ...> Full Article

Why the slow paced world could make it difficult to catch a ball (8/7/2008)

Researchers have uncovered new information about the way that we perceive fast moving, incoming objects ...> Full Article

Not quite a teen, not fully an adult (8/7/2008)

New report sheds light on young adults' triumphs, traumas ...> Full Article

Voluntary Exercise Does Not Appear To Alleviate Anxiety And Depression (8/6/2008)

Voluntary physical activity does not appear to cause a reduction in anxiety and depression, but exercise and mood may be associated through a common genetic factor ...> Full Article

Chronic exposure to estradiol impairs some cognitive functions (8/6/2008)

Researchers report this week that chronic exposure to estradiol, the main estrogen in the body, diminishes some cognitive functions ...> Full Article

Memory, depression, insomnia-and worms? (8/6/2008)

New study may have uncovered key insights into the origins of depression, schizophrenia, insomnia and other conditions by examining a most unlikely research subject: worms. ...> Full Article

A New Look at How Memory and Spatial Cognition are Related (8/5/2008)

Study measured structures of the brain thought to be essential for spatial cognition ...> Full Article

Traumatic response to bad memories can be minimized (8/4/2008)

Scientists identify the brain-cell mechanisms involved with adverse memories and point way to panic disorder treatments ...> Full Article

Women end up less happy than men (8/4/2008)

Less able to achieve their life goals, women end up unhappier than men later in life – even though they start out happier ...> Full Article

Research Team Discovers How Antidepressants and Cocaine Interact with Brain Cell Targets (8/3/2008)

Researchers have described the specifics of how brain cells process antidepressant drugs, cocaine and amphetamines. These novel findings could prove useful in the development of more targeted medication therapies for a host of psychiatric diseases, most notably in the area of addiction. ...> Full Article

Brain plays key role in appetite by regulating free radicals (8/3/2008)

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found the brain's appetite center uses fat for fuel by involving oxygen free radicals-molecules associated with aging and neurodegeneration. The findings, reported in the journal Nature, suggest that antioxidants could play a role in weight control. ...> Full Article

Right place and right time can trigger drinking (8/2/2008)

Strong cravings for alcohol can be sparked by the mere sight, smell and taste of a person's favorite drink. Responses to such cues that are associated with the positive effects of drinking are a lead cause of relapse in abstinent alcoholics. Using a behavioral animal model, researchers of a new study, scheduled for publication in the August 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, have found that the physical surroundings where alcohol cues are experienced can greatly influence the ability of those cues to trigger relapse. ...> Full Article

A hormone that enhances one's memory of happy faces (8/2/2008)

Oxytocin enhances the encoding of positive social memories in humans ...> Full Article

No gender differences in math performance (8/1/2008)

After sifting through mountains of data â€" including SAT results and math scores from 7 million students who were tested in accordance with the No Child Left Behind Act â€" a team of scientists finds no difference in math scores for girls and boys ...> Full Article

Findings on bladder-brain link may point to better treatments for problems in sleep, attention (8/1/2008)

Bladder problems may leave a mark on the brain, by changing patterns of brain activity, possibly contributing to disrupted sleep and problems with attention ...> Full Article