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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: brain

brain stories: 106 news summaries

21 - 40 of 106 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >>

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'Rogue' Protein Spread Key to Alzheimer's 

Discovery casts light on tangles found in brains of disease sufferers

Jun 8, 09 8:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - A protein linked to Alzheimer’s can run amok in the brain, affecting healthy tissue, scientists have found. All nerve cells contain the tau protein, but a “rogue form” can lead to protein clumps in cells, called neurofibrillary tangles, that are believed to play a major role in Alzheimer’... More »

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medical breakthrough • brain • protein • neurology • Alzheimer's Disease • spread • tau protein

 Scientists 
 Locate Brain's 
 Sentimental Center 

Same Spot as Sex Urges

May 20, 09 4:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - It turns out sex and sentimentality are linked after all, reports Reuters. Scientists have pinpointed areas of the brain that determine an individual's warm and fuzzy feelings—which they say are the same regions that control sex and some food urges. Researchers hope the findings may help explain brain evolution... More »

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autism • schizophrenia • brain • neuroscience • personality • Cambridge University





 Retire Later, Delay 
 Alzheimer's: Study 

Work keeps brain alert, cells connected

May 18, 09 1:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - It may be a bitter pill to swallow, but delaying retirement is one way to stave off Alzheimer's, a new study has found. Each extra year of work amounted to a six-week delay in the condition's development among patients studied. Alzheimer's is caused by brain cell loss, and the mental... More »

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work • retirement • brain • medical study • Alzheimer's Disease

Pentagon Project Aims to Create Telepathic Troops

DARPA boffins tasked with turning brain waves into silent words

May 15, 09 8:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Pentagon has launched a project officials hope will help soldiers of the future read each other's minds on the battlefield, Wired reports. DARPA—dubbed the military's "mad scientist" division—has been given $4 million to develop technology that can detect and analyze brain waves that precede specific speech.... More »

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Pentagon • US military • brain • neuroscience • DARPA • scientific research • Jay-ZTV • telepathy

OPINION

 Even in Geniuses,
 Hard Work Trumps IQ 

Latest research says greatness more due to sweat than brains

May 1, 09 9:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - In today’s scientific age, research suggests that genius isn’t a “hard-wired” trait, writes David Brooks in the New York Times: instead, it suggests “a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical” perspective. Greatness may start with “slightly above average” talent, but what counts is thousands of... More »

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work • brain • research • geniuses • practice

 Study: Fatty Foods 
 Boost Memory 

Hormone may have helped early humans remember where the rich pickings were

Apr 28, 09 3:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - The same foods blamed for clogging arteries may help the brain build memories, National Geographic reports. Researchers studying obesity discovered that rats given oleoylethanolamide, or OEA—a compound produced in the intestines when fat is digested—demonstrated improved memory retention in tasks. They believe the same mechanism exists in humans... More »

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food • memory • brain • long term memory • memory consolidation • Alzheimer's Disease

(Newser) - A new federal study may be music to the ears of stressed firefighters and bomb squads, the New Scientist reports. The Department of Homeland Security is trying to record their brain activity when alert or calm, translate it into music, and play it back to soothe their frayed nerves. But... More »

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brain • Department of Homeland Security • Federal government • music therapy

(Newser) - The Alzheimer’s patient had forgotten nearly everything, including his own name, but the sound of Frank Sinatra moved him to grab his wife and dance. The phenomenon demonstrates how deep-seated music is in the human brain, Sara Davidson writes for the New York Times’ New Old Age blog. “... More »

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elderly • dementia • aging • brain • physical therapy • brain damage • Alzheimer's Disease • music therapy

 Researcher Sends 
 Telepathic Tweet 

Research should help paralysis victims to communicate

Apr 21, 09 12:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - In a perhaps inevitable move, a researcher posted an update to Twitter earlier this month simply by thinking about it, the Wisconsin Technology Network reports. But don’t make any plans for telepathic tweeting just yet—the doctoral student is researching a communication system for paralyzed patients, not lazy social... More »

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brain • Twitter

2 Languages Better Than 1 for Baby's Brain

Bilingual kids may talk later but excel at 'executive functions'

Apr 18, 09 5:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - Some teachers complain that children raised in bilingual households tend to lag behind their peers in school, but a new study suggests multilingual kids' brains may be better organized, the Economist reports. Polyglot babies have stronger "executive function": processes in the brain that help humans plan, prioritize, and switch... More »

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parenting • Italy • brain • baby • psychology • language • bilingual education

 New Drug 
 Could Halt 
 Alzheimer's 

Treatment removed damaging protein from blood, brains of patients

Apr 14, 09 4:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - British researchers believe a new drug has the potential to stop Alzheimer's disease in its tracks, reports the BBC. Testing found that the drug, called CPHPC, removed a protein thought to play a key role in Alzheimer's from the blood and, unexpectedly, the brain, in five patients treated for 3... More »

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drugs • dementia • brain • medical research • Alzheimer's Disease

 Docs Track Autism 
 to Brain's Fever Center 

Batch of neurons may be key to treatment

Apr 7, 09 12:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Mulling over the evidence that the symptoms of autistic children recede during a fever—long reported by parents and confirmed by a study 2 years ago—two New York doctors had a “eureka moment,” seeing that link as a clue to treating the condition, Time reports. The same... More »

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autism • brain • medical treatment • fever • neurotransmitter • neurons

Moody Teen? 
Must Have
an Immature
Frontal Lobe

Decision-making area matures last: study

Apr 6, 09 12:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists studying teenage brains believe the growth process is responsible for some of the more unpleasant traits of adolescence, the Daily Telegraph reports. Brain scans revealed that the front of the frontal lobe—responsible for impulses and decision-making—was among the very last parts of the brain to mature, which... More »

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brain • human behavior • adolescents • teenager • National Institute of Mental Health

 Counting Chicks 
 Redefine Birdbrain 

Study shows chickens can do basic math

Apr 2, 09 11:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - No dumb clucks, young chickens appear capable of basic arithmetic, Discover reports. Scientists relied on two innate chick traits—an instinct to flock with the biggest group and an attachment to objects—to test the birds’ noggins. After hiding yellow balls of varying numbers behind screens, they released the chicks.... More »

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brain • scientific study • mathematics • chicken • scientific breakthroughs • animal

opinion

 Globalization Is 
 Changing Our Brains 


Mar 29, 09 6:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Having boogied in 70 countries on all seven continents, Matt Harding concludes that “globalization is forcing our brains to evolve." Known via the Internet for dancing poorly with locals in far-flung locations, Harding argues that our brains were designed for social interaction within a small tribe—but we... More »

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evolution • globalization • brain • tribes • NPR • cavemen • social behavior

(Newser) - Gyms offering to exercise the brain instead of the body are attracting thousands of aging Americans seeking to tone their gray matter, the Wall Street Journal reports. The gyms are generally based around brain-fitness software, but some offer courses in brain nutrition as well as mental-fitness assessments with personal trainers... More »

MORE ABOUT:
memory • dementia • aging • brain • brain fitness • Alzheimer's Disease

commentary

Exposing Autism's Violent Side One Mother's Last Hope

Condition created 'the perfect storm' in him, she says

Mar 26, 09 11:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - After years of painting autism as “beautiful, mysterious, perhaps even evolutionarily necessary,” Ann Bauer has been moved by the transformation of son Andrew into a violent monster to write about the condition’s violent side. Bauer forgave her son’s attacks—which broke three of her ribs—until... More »

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autism • murder • brain • violence • mental illness

(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... More »

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memory • brain • fMRI • short-term memory • brain scans • hippocampus

 Fast Thinking 
 Makes People Happy 

Rapid thoughts can make people feel happier

Feb 25, 09 9:16 PM CST
(Newser) - Happy people think fast thoughts, say researchers at Princeton and Harvard. They asked two groups to perform the same tasks—problem-solving, reading, and watching TV—at different speeds. Those forced to move along briskly felt more elated, creative, even powerful, Scientific American reports. The findings suggest a crossword puzzle or... More »

MORE ABOUT:
brain • psychology • dopamine • scientific study • happiness • mood

(Newser) - A British neuroscientist thinks the children of today, exposed to “instant new screen images flashing up with the press of a key,” will develop differently from past generations, and that’s not a good thing. Facebook, for instance provides an experience “devoid of cohesive narrative and long-term... More »

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social networking • Facebook • children • brain • neuroscience • Britain • attention deficit disorder

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