It's Your Brain's Fault Your Family Drives You Nuts

Three theories

(NEWSER) - You share a set of genes. You grew up in the same place, around the same family. So why aren’t you and your siblings at all alike? Researchers have long puzzled over the question of why brothers and sisters can wind up so different, and NPR tracks down three theories:

• The Darwin Theory: Evolution was driven, some theorize, by competition, with organisms specializing so they didn’t compete directly. Siblings may do the same thing, taking on different roles to less directly compete for their parents time and attention.

Cortex controlling action and attention lags three years behind

(NEWSER) - The brains of hyperactive children appear to develop more slowly than those of their peers, researchers have discovered, with the cortex—the area that affects attention and action— maturing 3 years later than in other children. The finding accounts for the fact that many kids with ADHD grow out of the problem by the time they reach adulthood, NPR reports, and may prompt new ways to understand and treat the disorder. More»

They share abnormalities that make them more vulnerable

(NEWSER) - New hope in the treatment of addiction? A study shows that people hooked on drugs or alcohol have abnormalities in the brain that make them more susceptible. Researchers were able to determine that the abnormalities existed before the addiction set in because they found the same abnormalities in the brains of non-addicted siblings, reports Reuters . Somehow, the siblings managed to stay clean, and further study of how they did that could be key. More»

About 25% of seniors have had them

(NEWSER) - "Silent strokes" may be taking a toll on seniors' memory. A new study shows that seniors who have suffered such strokes—they don't have obvious symptoms but leave behind dead brain cells—do worse on memory tests, reports USA Today . It's no small thing: An estimated 1 in 4 seniors have had the strokes. More»

Brain activity research could be applied to sleeping subjects

(NEWSER) - Sounds like something out of a movie, but it's real: Someday, scientists may be able to "record" your dreams. Research published in the journal Nature explains that it is already possible to record higher-level brain activity, and the same methods could be applied to dreams—though there is still a long way to go, the BBC reports. Scientists found that certain neurons are associated with objects or concepts in each of our brains—when you think about "Marilyn Monroe," a specific neuron lights up. More»