Brain And Consciousness Research Archives Page 21

Individuals with high fear of crime twice as likely to suffer from depression (9/29/2007)

A new study has shown that people with a strong fear of crime are almost twice as likely to show symptoms of depression. The research also shows that fear of crime is associated with decreased physical functioning and lower quality of life. ...> Full Article

Why Quitting May Be Good for You (9/28/2007)

Are there times when it is better to simply give up? Psychologists have been exploring this question, and more specifically a possible link between tenacity and both physical and mental health. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find Music and Language are Processed by the Same Brain Systems (9/28/2007)

Researchers have long debated whether or not language and music depend on common processes in the mind. Now researchers have found evidence that the processing of music and language do indeed depend on some of the same brain systems. ...> Full Article

Changing our minds (9/27/2007)

The worlds of archaeology and neuroscience have joined forces for the very first time to probe the origins of human thought. ...> Full Article

New way to predict who will succeed as a manager (9/27/2007)

Psychologists have used new computerized measures of "executive intelligence" to predict who will excel in a managerial role or in a competitive academic environment. ...> Full Article

New Study Discovers Why Few People Are Devoid of Racial Bias (9/27/2007)

Why are some individuals not prejudiced? Researchers investigate how some individuals are able to avoid prejudicial biases despite the pervasive human tendency to favor one's own group. ...> Full Article

Research may help explain aspects of synesthesia (9/26/2007)

A research team has published its findings that may help to explain the phenomenon known as synesthesia, in which stimulation of one sensory pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory pathway. ...> Full Article

Sensitivity of brain center for 'sound space' (9/26/2007)

While the visual regions of the brain have been intensively mapped, many important regions for auditory processing remain "uncharted territory." Now, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and elsewhere have identified a region responsible for a key auditory process - perceiving "sound space," the location of sounds, even when the listener is not concentrating on those sounds. ...> Full Article

Scientists explore theme park thrills (9/25/2007)

Scientists are helping to capture the essence of excitement with a live experiment that measures the 'thrill factor' of riding a rollercoaster. ...> Full Article

Hormone Therapy Boosts Sexual Interest But Not Memory, Study Finds (9/25/2007)

Hormone therapy in early post-menopause increases sexual interest, but does not improve memory ...> Full Article

Playing Video Games Reduces Sex Differences In Spatial Skills (9/24/2007)

Researchers have discovered that differences between men and women on some tasks that require spatial skills are largely eliminated after both groups play a video game for only a few hours. ...> Full Article

Brain atrophy in elderly leads to unintended racism, depression, and problem gambling (9/24/2007)

As we age, our brains slowly shrink in volume and weight. This includes significant atrophy within the frontal lobes, the seat of executive functioning. Executive functions include planning, controlling, and inhibiting thought and behavior. In the aging population, an inability to inhibit unwanted thoughts and behavior causes several social behaviors and cognitions to go awry. ...> Full Article

The Launch of Language (9/22/2007)

Scientist uncovering secrets of how the brain learned language. ...> Full Article

What chimpanzees can teach us about economics (9/22/2007)

Chimpanzees make irrational choices, in the same way that humans do, suggesting a common evolutionary origin rather than quirks unique to humans. ...> Full Article

Gene Assigns ID Tags to Help Organize the Developing Brain (9/21/2007)

Gene uses 18,048 different versions of specialized protein to ensure they only bind to an identical form of the protein. ...> Full Article

Understanding the Neuron's Green Architecture (9/20/2007)

Being green is a lifestyle. Turns out, each of your neurons is deeply committed to that green lifestyle - and you didn't even know it. In just a thousandth of a second, a neuron can dump up to 5,000 molecules of its chemical messenger - a neurotransmitter - into the synapse, where it will trigger an impulse in a neighboring nerve cell. ...> Full Article

New genetic research into nicotine addiction shows promise for personalized treatment (9/19/2007)

Whether a smoking-cessation drug will enable you to quit smoking may depend on your genes, according to new genotyping research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). The study, published in the September issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry, found that the enzyme known to metabolize both the smoking cessation drug bupropion and nicotine is highly genetically variable in all ethnicities and influences smoking cessation. ...> Full Article

Biological Model for Intelligence Revealed (9/19/2007)

Researchers have devised a testable model of human intelligence comprised of specific gray-matter processing centers and white-matter connections. ...> Full Article

Can't take my eyes off you: Study shows the power of attraction (9/18/2007)

Whether we are seeking a mate or sizing up a potential rival, good-looking people capture our attention nearly instantaneously and render us temporarily helpless to turn our eyes away from them, according to a new Florida State University study. ...> Full Article

Brain's messengers could be regulated (9/18/2007)

Researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have found that tiny, spontaneous releases of the brain's primary chemical messengers can be regulated, potentially giving scientists unprecedented control over how the brain is wired. ...> Full Article

Shape Encoding May Start In The Retina (9/17/2007)

New evidence from the University of Southern California suggests that there may be dedicated cells in the retina that help compile small bits of information in order to recognize objects. The research was conducted by Ernest Greene, professor of psychology in the area of brain and cognitive sciences at USC. ...> Full Article

Study of New Epilepsy Treatment Underway (9/16/2007)

Study of a new electronic implantable medical device to treat epilepsy before symptoms even appear. ...> Full Article

Barely conscious for five years, brain-injured patient regains critical skills following deep brain stimulation (9/15/2007)

A 38-year-old man with a severe head injury who spent more than five years in a minimally conscious state is now communicating regularly with family members and recovering his ability to move after his brain was stimulated with pulses of electric current. ...> Full Article

3-D Fruit Fly Images To Benefit Brain Research (9/15/2007)

The fragile head and brain of a fly are not easy things to examine but MRC scientists have figured out how to make it a little simpler. And they hope their research will shed light on human disease. ...> Full Article

Personalised treatment for depression a step closer (9/14/2007)

Research carried out at the Brain Mapping Unit may result in more effective treatment of depression, paving the way to a personalised approach in the future. ...> Full Article

Scientists Find Clues to Crack Brain's 'Neural Code' (9/14/2007)

New Study in Nature Suggests Timing of Electrical Pulses Is Key to Understanding How Brain Cells Communicate ...> Full Article

'Fetal' neurons found in adult brain (9/13/2007)

Subplate neurons - once thought to die after directing the wiring of the cerebral cortex or gray matter� remain in the white matter of the adult brain in small numbers and maintain activity, communicating with other neurons in the brain said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Alabama at Birmingham in a report that appears in today's issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. ...> Full Article

Researchers uncover novel mechanism that balances the sizes of functional areas in the brain (9/13/2007)

In the cerebral cortex, the brain's powerful central processing unit responsible for higher functions, specialized subdivisions known as areas are laid out like a map, but little is known about the genetic forces that shape the geography of our brains. ...> Full Article

Brain modelling sheds new light on how we make choices (9/12/2007)

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have used computer modeling to provide a new understanding of the human brain, which could have implications for understanding how we choose what to do next. The new research, which has been published in the prestigious Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, will be presented at the BA Festival of Science in York on Tuesday 11 September 2007. ...> Full Article

Call for closer examination of 'brain death' as the end of life (9/12/2007)

The medical diagnosis of brain death is at odds with our traditional view of when death actually occurs, says a leading academic speaking at an international conference on Death, dying & disposal in Bath today (Wednesday 12 September 2007). ...> Full Article