During adolescence, some young people have stable best-friend relationships, while others change best friends frequently. Development psychologist Lisa Schreuders has studied the brains of young adolescents: “It seems that friendships in your early years can have consequences for your friendships later in life.” Her article on the research, written together with Berna Güroğlu and other […]
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Tapping the brain to boost stroke rehabilitation
Stroke survivors who had ceased to benefit from conventional rehabilitation gained clinically significant arm movement and control by using an external robotic device powered by the patients’ own brains. The results of the clinical trial were described in the journal NeuroImage: Clinical. Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal, director of the Non-Invasive Brain Machine Interface Systems Laboratory at […]
What neural networks playing video games demonstrate about the human brain
When you are driving a car, your brain is taking in an enormous amount of visual information and using it to make driving decisions, such as when to brake or change lanes. The brain needs to determine what kind of information in your field of view is necessary for making these decisions. For example, the […]
Exploring the role of prefrontal-amygdala brain circuits in social decision-making
In recent years, neuroscientists have been trying to understand the neural underpinnings of social behaviors and cognition. Studies on animal species, including primates and rodents, have identified a number of brain regions and neural circuits that may underpin social behaviors. Researchers at Yale University have been conducting extensive research investigating the roles of the medial […]
This brain protein may be key to treating Parkinson’s—study in rats shows
Parkinson’s disease, a brain disorder that affects over 10 million people worldwide, is caused by the gradual loss of dopamine neurons. The loss of these neurons leads to involuntary tremors, stiffness and balance problems. While there are drugs to treat these symptoms, no drugs exist to slow the progression of the disease. However, we found […]
Research unlocks new information about reading through visual dictionary in the brain
The uniquely human ability to read is the cornerstone of modern civilization, yet very little is understood about the effortless ability to derive meaning from written words. Scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have now identified a crucial region in the temporal lobe, know as the mid-fusiform cortex, which […]
Dizzy spells could be warning that brain is being damaged by BREAD
Dizzy spells, clumsiness and falls could be a warning sign that your brain is being damaged by eating BREAD Doctors say difficulties can be due to reaction to gluten, which is found in bread Condition, gluten ataxia, occurs when immune system attacks part of the brain Patients can suffer stroke-like symptoms such as difficulty talking […]
Teenag who 'switched off' half her brain has to relearn how to talk
When Imogen Golder was four years old, she began to have life-threatening seizures. It took 12 years for her to finally get a diagnosis of rasmussen’s encephalitis, a rare inflammatory neurological disease that can cause dementia. Sufferers of the illness experience frequent and severe seizures, loss of motor skills and speech, weakness on one side […]
New technique isolates brain cells associated with Parkinson’s disease
Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a new technique for isolating a type of brain cell associated with Parkinson’s disease symptoms, enabling them to study that cell type in detail. The technique, which works only in specially bred mice, costs less than previous methods for isolating these brain cells, said Alyssa Lawler, a Ph.D. student […]
I admitted myself to a psychiatric ward after struggling with 'brain fog'
I was diagnosed with a major depressive disorder 10 years ago and have had to endure debilitating lows, feelings of worthlessness and physical pain that has left me bedridden. If these symptoms weren’t bad enough, my ability to think, plan and, sometimes, speak have been impaired so much that I’ve contemplated giving up work and […]