Brain And Consciousness Research - August 2009 Archives

New research findings pave the way to more accurate interpretation of brain imaging data (8/31/2009)

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique widely used in studying the human brain. However, it has long been unclear exactly how fMRI signals are generated at brain cell level. This information is crucially important to interpreting these imaging signals. Scientists from the Academy of Finland's Neuroscience Research Program have discovered that astrocytes, support cells in brain tissue, play a key role in the generation of fMRI signals. ...> Full Article

Getting wired: How the brain does it (8/31/2009)

In a new study, researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University have found an important mechanism involved in setting up the vast communications network of connections in the brain. ...> Full Article

Scientists get first close look at stimulated brain (8/30/2009)

With the aid of optical imaging technology, researchers have for the first time been able to see how neurons react to electrical stimulation. The neural response to electrical currents isn't localized, as some had previously thought. Rather, electrical stimulation activates a scattered and widely distributed set of neurons. ...> Full Article

Familiar and newly learned words are processed by the same neural networks in the brain (8/30/2009)

Our vocabulary continues to grow and expand even in adulthood. Just 10 years ago, the word "blog" did not yet exist -- and now we no longer remember when we heard this word for the first time or when we learned its meaning. At some stage new words become just as familiar to us as words we have learned earlier. ...> Full Article

New study suggests the brain predicts what eyes in motion will see (8/29/2009)

When the eyes move, objects in the line of sight suddenly jump to a different place on the retina, but the mind perceives the scene as stable and continuous. A new study reports that the brain predicts the consequences of eye movement even before the eyes take in a new scene. ...> Full Article

Fly eyes help researchers 'see' new proteins involved in memory (8/28/2009)

Research report in the journal Genetics identifies new proteins involved in memory, and provides new insight into fragile X mental retardation ...> Full Article

Study shines light on night-time alertness (8/27/2009)

The circadian system is not the only pathway involved in determining alertness at night. Research described in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience showed that red light, which does not stimulate the circadian system, is just as effective at increasing night-time alertness as blue light, which does. ...> Full Article

Mouse brain rewires its neural circuits to recuperate from damaged neural function after stroke (8/27/2009)

Japanese research group led by Professor Junichi Nabekura in National Institute for Physiological Sciences, NIPS, Japan, found that, after cerebral stroke in one side of the mouse brain, another side of the brain rewires its neural circuits to recuperate from damaged neural function. The Japan Science and Technology Agency supported this study. They report their finding in Journal of Neuroscience, on Aug. 12, 2009. ...> Full Article

Study demonstrates how we support our false beliefs (8/26/2009)

In a study published in the most recent issue of the journal Sociological Inquiry, sociologists from four major research institutions focus on one of the most curious aspects of the 2004 presidential election: the strength and resilience of the belief among many Americans that Saddam Hussein was linked to the terrorist attacks of 9/11. ...> Full Article

What she sees in you -- facial attractiveness explained (8/26/2009)

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Researchers explore how power influences interpretation (8/26/2009)

A newly completed New York University study of public reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks concludes that people in positions of power, from government officials to managers working on Wall Street to military personnel, tended to interpret the events in more abstract terms and with more certainty and positivity than ordinary individuals. ...> Full Article

Neural networks mapped in dementia patients (8/25/2009)

Different types of dementia show dissimilar changes in brain activity. A network mapping technique described in the open-access journal BMC Neuroscience has been applied to EEG data obtained from patients with Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. ...> Full Article

Nostrils alternate to process competing odors (8/24/2009)

When the nose encounters two different scents simultaneously, the brain processes them separately through each nostril in an alternating fashion. This finding by researchers at Rice University in Houston is the first demonstration of "perceptual rivalry" in the olfactory system. The study was published online today by the journal Current Biology and will appear in the Sept. 29 print edition. ...> Full Article

Neural pathway missing in tone-deaf people (8/23/2009)

Syndrome may be similar to other speech and language disorders ...> Full Article

Blood test can detect brain damage in amateur boxers (8/22/2009)

A blood test can now be used to detect brain damage in amateur boxers. Deterioration of nerve cells seems to occur even after a two-month break from boxing. This is shown in a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. ...> Full Article

Study shows bilinguals are unable to 'turn off' a language completely (8/21/2009)

With a vast majority of the world speaking more than one language, it is no wonder that psychologists are interested in its effect on cognitive functioning. For instance, how does the human brain switch between languages? Are we able to seamlessly activate one language and disregard knowledge of other languages completely? ...> Full Article

Why sleep? Scientist delves into one of science's great mysteries (8/21/2009)

Analysis shows snoozing is a strategy to increase efficiency, minimize risk ...> Full Article

Scientists find a common link of bird flocks, breast milk and trust (8/20/2009)

What do flocks of birds have in common with trust, monogamy, and even breast milk? According to a new report in the journal Science, they are regulated by virtually identical neurochemicals in the brain, known as oxytocin in mammals and mesotocin in birds. ...> Full Article

Active ingredients in marijuana found to spread and prolong pain (8/19/2009)

Research has implications for medical use of drug and concepts of chronic pain ...> Full Article

Facial expressions show language barriers too (8/18/2009)

People from East Asia tend to have a tougher time than those from European countries telling the difference between a face that looks fearful versus surprised, disgusted versus angry, and now a new report published online on Aug. 13 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, explains why. Rather than scanning evenly across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fixate their attention on the eyes. ...> Full Article

Brain innately separates living and non-living objects for processing (8/17/2009)

For unknown reasons, the human brain distinctly separates the handling of images of living things from images of non-living things, processing each image type in a different area of the brain. For years, many scientists have assumed the brain segregated visual information in this manner to optimize processing the images themselves, but new research shows that even in people who have been blind since birth the brain still separates the concepts of living and non-living objects. ...> Full Article

Excessive drinking can damage brain regions used for processing facial emotions (8/17/2009)

Heavy, constant drinking damages the brain in many different ways, including difficulties in perception of emotional expressions. Brain-imaging findings show that abstinent alcoholics have decreased activation in the amygdala and hippocampus regions of the brain when viewing faces with emotional expressions. Misreading facial cues can escalate conflict and difficulties, impaired social interaction and continued drinking. ...> Full Article

Human mind: Sound and vision wired through same 'black box' (8/16/2009)

Sounds and images share a similar neural code in the human brain, according to a new Canadian study. In the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists from the Universite de Montreal and the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University explain how the same neural code in the brain allows people to distinguish between different types of sounds, such as speech and music, or different images. ...> Full Article

The mind's eye scans like a spotlight (8/15/2009)

Researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory say you are more likely to scan the room, jumping from face to face as you search for your friend. In addition, the timing of these jumps appears to be determined by waves of activity in the brain that act as a clock. ...> Full Article

A window into the brain (8/14/2009)

Tel Aviv University researcher uses MRI to track memories and explore an early-detection test for Alzheimer's ...> Full Article

Binge drinking affects attention and working memory in young university students (8/14/2009)

A new study looks at binge drinking's impact on attention and visual working memory processes in young Spanish university students. Results indicate that binge drinkers expend more attentional effort to complete a given task, and also have problems differentiating between relevant and irrelevant information ...> Full Article

Researchers unravel mystery behind long-lasting memories (8/13/2009)

A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine may reveal how long-lasting memories form in the brain. ...> Full Article

Life and death in the living brain (8/12/2009)

Recruitment of new neurons slows when old brain cells kept from dying ...> Full Article

What makes an accent in a foreign language lighter (8/11/2009)

More empathy and political identification with native speakers of a language makes the accent in that language lighter ...> Full Article

Father-son team says positive gains can be made in 'psychological wealth' (8/10/2009)

Money matters more to satisfaction than happiness, according to results of global survey ...> Full Article

Ability to process information as a baby continues into adulthood (8/9/2009)

Infants who excel at processing new information at 6- and 12-months-old typically excel in intelligence and academic achievements as young adults in their 20s, according to a study directed by Case Western Reserve University psychologist Joseph Fagan. ...> Full Article

Beep, beep, oops, what was I doing? (8/8/2009)

University of Oregon psychologists finding that folks with lots of working memory are not easily distracted ...> Full Article

Perceiving touch and your self outside of your body (8/7/2009)

When you feel you are being touched, usually something is physically touching you and you perceive that your "self" is located in the same place as your body. Reporting in PLoS ONE, EPFL neuroscientists investigated bodily self-consciousness and the spatial representation of touch stimuli. They found that sensations of touch can be felt and mislocalized towards where a "virtual" body is seen. These findings provide new avenues for the animation of virtual worlds and machines. ...> Full Article

Autism study finds visual processing 'hinders ability' to read body language (8/7/2009)

The way people with autism see and process the body language of others could be preventing them from gaging people's feelings, according to new research. ...> Full Article

Looking at language (8/6/2009)

Eye movements of Parkinson's disease patients during sentence comprehension support subcortical role in processing syntax ...> Full Article

Brain difference in psychopaths identified (8/5/2009)

Professor Declan Murphy and colleagues Dr. Michael Craig and Dr. Marco Catani from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London have found differences in the brain which may provide a biological explanation for psychopathy. The results of their study are outlined in the paper "Altered connections on the road to psychopathy," published in Molecular Psychiatry. ...> Full Article

Invisible ink? What Rorschach tests really tell us (8/4/2009)

One of the most well-known psychological tools is the Rorschach Inkblot Test. A viewer looks at ten inkblots, one at a time, and describes what they see. However, does the inkblot really reveal all? According to a report in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, despite its popularity, the Rorschach may not be the best diagnostic tool and practitioners need to be cautious in how they use this technique and interpret their results. ...> Full Article

Protein 'Tweek' rare but critical in synaptic process (8/2/2009)

Recycling is a critical component in the process of transmitting information from one neuron to the next, and a large protein called Tweek plays a critical role, said an international consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the current issue of the journal Neuron. ...> Full Article

Scientists obtain real time snapshot of the learning process (8/1/2009)

To learn from experience, it is essential to know whether a past action was associated with a desired outcome. Now, scientists have demonstrated how this information can be coded by a single cell. The research, published in the July 30 issue of the journal Neuron, provides strong support for a neural mechanism that allows reward signals to be combined over time to drive successful learning. ...> Full Article