neuroscience

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Fruit Flies Pause to Think About Decisions

Tiny flies share decision-making gene with humans

(Newser) - The fruit fly's tiny speck of a brain has astonished researchers once again. The flies, given the choice of flying into different chambers with varying levels of a scent they associated with danger, lingered longer over the decision as the differences became smaller, showing signs of the same decision-making...

New Alzheimer's Treatment: Hot Cocoa?

Study indicates that it can improve patients with impaired neurological coupling

(Newser) - Here's some medicine that will go down easy: A new study suggests that drinking hot cocoa can help seniors sharpen their memories, at least if their brains already suffer some impairment. Researchers had a group of 60 seniors drink two cups of hot cocoa a day, with half getting...

Supercomputer Simulates Human Brain for One Second

...or 1% of the human brain, anyway

(Newser) - Artificial intelligence can do some amazing things, but can it really replicate actual human brain activity? A group of Japanese researchers say the answer is yes, albeit pretty ponderously. In an experiment run on one of the world's fastest supercomputers, the researchers managed to completely simulate the actions of...

We Can Now Do Human Head Transplants: Neuroscientist

Italian scientist says we have the technology

(Newser) - Scientists have been carrying out head transplants on animals since the 1970s, when a monkey's head was moved to another monkey's body; the resulting creature survived, paralyzed, for a few days. But so far, no one has attempted to put a human head on a different human body....

Inside the Fight for Junior Seau's Brain

How the NFL directed Seau's brain to the NIH

(Newser) - An in-depth report from Frontline and ESPN's Outside the Lines describes the fight for Junior Seau's brain following his suicide last year—a fight that ESPN reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru, who are working on a book and documentary about brain injuries in football, call "a...

Psychopaths Have a Lousy Sense of Smell

 Psychopaths Have 
 a Lousy Sense 
 of Smell 
study says
Sep 21, 2012 1:35 PM CDT

Psychopaths Have a Lousy Sense of Smell

Study suggests it's no coincidence both originate in orbito-frontal complex

(Newser) - If you know someone with a terrible sense of smell, you might want to be careful around them. A new study suggests a link between a crappy olfactory and being psychopathic, AFP reports via Raw Story . Both phenomena have separately been linked to the same part of the brain, the...

Thinking, Religion Don't Mix: Study

Analytical thought tends to drown out faith, researcher finds

(Newser) - People prone to analytical thinking are less prone to religious faith, a new study has concluded. Scientists have long believed that analytical thinking can override one's intuitive responses, and studies have shown that religion is rooted in intuitive thought. So Canadian researcher Will Gervais set out to see if...

Scientists Get Step Closer to Decoding Our Thoughts

Computers track brain activity as words are heard

(Newser) - Scientists have taken a big step toward being able to decode our thoughts. Researchers working with brain surgery patients taught computers to decipher the brain activity that takes place when words are heard. The brain, they found, breaks sounds down into their consistent acoustic frequencies. Using that computer model, they...

Awareness Detected in 'Vegetative' Patients

Study results could provide new hope for patients thought to be unresponsive

(Newser) - A new study could have a life-changing impact on patients thought to be in a “vegetative” state: Three such patients displayed signs of full consciousness in a simple test. “It sure looks as if there’s not just a little bit of consciousness but a lot” in these...

Scientists Make Neurons From Skin

New process promises major breakthroughs in neurobiology

(Newser) - A key scientific breakthrough will help researchers get around one of the major obstacles to testing conditions like Alzheimer's: a lack of brain donors. The team has found an efficient way to turn skin cells into neurons by adding a few short strands of genetic material, the Independent reports....

You Might Be Only Half Awake
 You Might Be Only Half Awake 
Apr 28, 2011 2:37 PM CDT

You Might Be Only Half Awake

Study shows parts of the brain can shut off

(Newser) - Ever feel so bushwhacked that you tell someone you’re “half asleep”? Well, it turns out you probably were. Researchers have found that parts of your brain actually do turn off when you’re fatigued—sometimes even before you’re consciously aware that you’re tired, according to...

Do We Exist?

 Do We Actually Exist? 


IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 26, 2011 6:49 AM CDT

Do We Actually Exist?

'I think, therefore I am' doesn't always hold true

(Newser) - The fact that we exist is inarguable, right? After all, if the world were just a dream, we'd need to be dreaming to experience it, writes Julian Baggini for the Independent . Maybe not. Throughout the ages, people have claimed that the self actually doesn't exist—and such claims are gathering...

Before Oscar, Portman Was Science Geek

The celebrated actress has a side you may not know about

(Newser) - You probably already know that Natalie Portman is an Academy Award-winning actress , but did you know that she's also a science prodigy? In high school—while she was already starring in films alongside Julia Roberts and Jack Nicholson—Portman made it to the semifinals of the Intel Science Talent Search,...

Brain Links Sex, Violence


 Brain Links 
 Sex, Violence 

Study says
Feb 10, 2011 1:47 PM CST

Brain Links Sex, Violence

Scientists finds cluster of brain cells in mice

(Newser) - The same section of the brain may process both sexual and violent urges, a new study suggests. In experiments on mice, scientists discovered a tiny cluster of cells in the hypothalamus that flared to life both while the mice were fighting and while they were having sex, Scientific American explains....

UCLA Animal Prof Sent 'AIDS Tainted' Razor Blades

Animal rights group attacks neuroscientist studying addiction

(Newser) - An animal rights group has claimed responsibility for sending "bloody AIDS-tainted" razor blades to the home of a UCLA neuroscientist whom activists claim injects rodents and primates with addictive drugs. "How would David Jentsch like the same thing done to him?" asks a statement by a group called...

Tiny Electric Shocks to Brain Improve Number Skills

Research could help those with dyslexia-like disorder

(Newser) - Don't try this at home (or school): A tiny, imperceptible electrical current applied to a certain part of the brain seems to improve numerical skills, the BBC reports. Researchers exploring the brain's parietal lobe found that running such a current across the lobe increased people's ability to complete a puzzle...

Brain Waves Translated Into Words

Study proves electrodes can capture speech signals

(Newser) - University of Utah researchers have translated brain waves into words using microelectrodes planted over the brain's speech centers. They stress that although the technology is in its infancy—they could only distinguish the correct word from 10 possibilities half the time—the study proves that it can be done, and...

Gadgets Are Frying Your Brain

Our brains need downtime to think, scientists say

(Newser) - Our love affair with gadgets is robbing our minds of the critical downtime they need to properly process our experiences, scientists tell the New York Times . Experiments show that when rats learn a new skill, such as running a maze, their brains actually process the experience only when they take...

Neuroscientist Discovers He's a 'Born Killer'
 Neuroscientist 
 Discovers He's 
 a 'Born Killer' 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jul 3, 2010 8:19 AM CDT

Neuroscientist Discovers He's a 'Born Killer'

Expert on killer brains spots one in his head

(Newser) - A neuroscientist who spent the last 20 years studying the brains of killers was more than a little surprised to discover that he had one. Jim Fallon—after learning that his father's side of the family tree was full of alleged killers, including Lizzie Borden—analyzed family brain scans and...

Lie-Detecting Brain Scan May Debut in Court

Lawyer hopes to have it admitted into evidence

(Newser) - Who needs Perry Mason when we've got neuroscience? A Brooklyn attorney wants to prove someone is telling the truth by introducing a scan of her brain activity into evidence this week, reports Wired . It would be a legal first and could open the door to more such evidence being used...

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