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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: cognitive science

cognitive science stories: 12 news summaries

Real 'Thinking Cap' May Not
Be So Far Off

Magnetic pulse boosts learning, study shows; headgear next?

Jul 7, 09 2:44 PM CDT
(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 »

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memory • learning • brain • neuroscience • cognitive science • magnetic field • cognitive enhancement • thinking cap

Poor Kids' Stress Harms the Brain, Chance of Success

Elevated stress hormones early can lead to lack of working memory later

Apr 6, 09 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Chronic stress caused by growing up poor appears to impair a developing child’s working memory, the Washington Post reports, pointing to another link between childhood poverty and lessened long-term success. While environmental and experiential factors—such as having fewer toys and more exposure to lead—likely affect the achievement... More »

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memory • children • stress • poverty • cognitive science • cognitive development • scientific study • working memory

 Study Links 
 Video Games to 
 Improved Vision 

Action games improve optics and brain's response

Mar 30, 09 4:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - Adults can apparently improve their eyesight by playing action video games, a treatment less painful—for some, at least—than corrective lenses or eye surgery, according to researchers. Scientists compared study subjects who played the action games Call of Duty and Unreal Tournament 2004 to a group who played the... More »

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study • eye care • cognitive science • The Sims • Call of Duty • video games • eyesight

Long Work Hours Weaken Mental Skills

Putting in 55 or more hours per week hurts memory, reasoning

Feb 25, 09 4:38 PM CST
(Newser) - Working long hours may weaken mental skills, the BBC reports. Researchers administered a series of reasoning and memory tests to 2,214 British civil servants and found that those working more than 55 hours a week did significantly worse than those who worked around 40. The effect was cumulative, meaning... More »

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dementia • depression • work • mental health • stress • employment • cognitive science • employee

Single Nerve
Cell Can Hold a Memory: Study

New findings may shed light on addiction, memory disorders

Jan 26, 09 12:04 PM CST
(Newser) - Individual neurons in the brain can hang on to memories for a minute or longer, a new study finds. Something like a computer’s temporary random access memory (RAM), this working memory is what allows you to keep a phone number in your head for a few seconds, then forget... More »

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memory • addiction • cognitive science • dopamine • scientific discoveries • scientific study • neurons • short-term memory • working memory

Brain Looks Beyond Eyes to Recognize Faces: Scientists

New research shows that eyebrows, noses are key to distinguishing people

Jan 19, 09 3:43 PM CST
(Newser) - Want to make yourself hard to recognize? Get a nose job and shave your eyebrows, say facial-recognition experts, who have yet to fully understand—or agree upon—how we “see” or “read” faces. Psychologists and neuroscientists, fueled by the need to quickly and correctly identify people in the... More »

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intelligence • homeland security • brain • cognitive science • academic research • security system • scientific breakthroughs • identification • facial recognition technology

 Researchers Push 
 'Brain Steroids' for All 

Future drugs could boost job, classroom performance

Dec 8, 08 10:15 AM CST
(Newser) - Healthy adults should be able to take brain-boosting drugs for a competitive advantage at work or on an exam, researchers say in a provocative paper. Seven authors say ethical questions about cognitive-enhancement pills are both warranted and imminent, and that such medicinal aid is no less moral than caffeine consumption,... More »

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drugs • pharmaceutical companies • brain • cognitive science • cognitive development • health research • cognitive enhancement

'Number Sense' Predicts Math Success: Study

Ability to guess group size linked to algebra, calculus skill

Sep 8, 08 6:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - The skill of estimating group size at a glance is directly linked to success in higher forms of math like algebra and calculus, reports the Washington Post. A new study found that students with better “number sense”—the ability to quickly and accurately guess numbers in a group—... More »

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Duke University • cognitive science • Johns Hopkins University • mathematics • National Institutes of Health • algebra • calculus • trigonometry • number sense

It's Official:
Bikinis Make
Men Stupid

Scientists say
sex drive trumps
common sense

Jun 20, 08 12:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - Men make dumb decisions when ogling bikini-clad beauties—conventional wisdom, sure, but now there's some science behind it. Belgian researchers found that men bombarded with sexy images have a definite drop-off in cognitive skills when compared with those who gaze at landscapes, reports MSNBC. The experiment supports earlier findings that... More »

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science • economics • cognitive science • sexual behavior • male brain • bikini

Missing Protein May Explain 'Rain Man'

Brain deficiency could play role in creating autistic savants

Feb 13, 08 4:27 PM CST
(Newser) - The absence of a certain brain protein may play a role in the development of “autistic savants”—patients who exhibit the socio-cognitive impairments of autism but possess exceptional aptitude in highly specific areas, Live Science reports. Researchers found mice lacking the Shank1 protein, used for building synapses, learned... More »

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autism • neuroscience • cognitive science • synapse

Caught My Yawn? Aren't You Sweet

Study discovers
contagious yawning
is sign of empathy

Sep 11, 07 3:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - If you yawn when someone nearby does, it may mean you're an empathetic person, a new study has found. Research shows that infectious yawning is a psychological phenomenon, limited to humans and some of their ape relatives, and that those more likely to "catch" yawns appear to be more... More »

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study • psychology • yawning • cognitive science • neurology • yawn • empathy

Toddlers Learn Language Slowly and Quickly

Kids stockpile simple words in buildup to vocab explosion

Aug 3, 07 4:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Toddlers learn to speak by simply using small, familiar words to acquire harder ones, new research says, throwing a curveball at scientists who assumed a more complex cognitive system. Youngsters can rapidly go from spouting babble to intelligible chatter as long as their words have varying levels of difficulty, Scientific ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
children • learning • language • Bob McMurray • University of Iowa • cognitive science • vocabulary • toddler

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