New Brain Cells Bump Old Memories

(NEWSER) - Decoding part of the complex system used by the brain to store memories has allowed scientists to determine a person’s location by looking at brain scans, Wired reports. A study took images of the hippocampus—the part responsible for spatial relationship and short-term memories—as individuals navigated a virtual-reality room, and researchers found that certain activation patterns correlated to the subject’s location in the virtual room. More»

But they're still not sure about the 'why' part

(NEWSER) - From the scariest nightmares to the most bizarre fantasies, some dreams are remembered forever, and a team of Italian scientists knows how. Researchers at L'Aquila and Bologna universities have determined that it's all about the theta waves. If those slow electrical oscillations are present in the cerebral cortex during the REM cycle, the dream is remembered. If not, it's lost forever. These same waves are at work in waking life, when we form an "episodic memory" of events. More»

Sleeping for 90 minutes at midday boosts the brain's ability to learn

(NEWSER) - Taking a nap after lunch helps the brain "reset" and prepare to assimilate new information, researchers say. "It's as though the e-mail inbox in your hippocampus is full and, until you sleep and clear out those fact e-mails, you're not going to receive any more mail," says the author of a new study. "It's just going to bounce until you sleep and move it into another folder." More»

Harsh techniques damaged subject's facility for recall

(AP) - The CIA's harsh interrogations are likely to have damaged the brains of terrorist suspects, diminishing their ability to recall and provide the detailed information the spy agency sought, according to a new scientific paper. The paper scrutinizes the techniques used by the CIA under the Bush administration through the lens of neurobiology and determines the methods to be counterproductive, no matter how much the suspects might have eventually talked. More»

Magnetic pulse boosts learning, study shows; headgear next?

(NEWSER) - A magnetic pulse directed at a certain area of the brain may enhance learning and memory, the Telegraph reports. Canadian researchers subjected volunteers to a test that required they track a dot moving on a computer screen with a joystick, and volunteers who received stimulation fared much better. More»