ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News |
| Dietary fiber reduces brain inflammation during aging Posted: 14 Sep 2018 05:48 AM PDT As mammals age, immune cells in the brain known as microglia become chronically inflamed. In this state, they produce chemicals known to impair cognitive and motor function. That's one explanation for why memory fades and other brain functions decline during old age. But, according to a new study, there may be a remedy to delay the inevitable: dietary fiber. |
| How skin begins: New research could improve skin grafts, and more Posted: 14 Sep 2018 05:48 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a key mechanism by which skin begins to develop in embryos. |
| Scientists reveal drumming helps schoolchildren diagnosed with autism Posted: 14 Sep 2018 05:48 AM PDT Children diagnosed with autism perform better in school if they participate in two 30-minute drumming sessions a week, according to a new scientific study. |
| Suspending young students risks future success in school Posted: 13 Sep 2018 10:45 AM PDT New research finds that young suspended students -- especially boys -- are likely to be suspended again later in elementary school. |
| People show confirmation bias even about which way dots are moving Posted: 13 Sep 2018 08:39 AM PDT People have a tendency to interpret new information in a way that supports their pre-existing beliefs, a phenomenon known as confirmation bias. Now, researchers have shown that people will do the same thing even when the decision they've made pertains to a choice that is rather less consequential: which direction a series of dots is moving and whether the average of a series of numbers is greater or less than 50. |
| Enhanced 3-D imaging poised to advance treatments for brain diseases Posted: 13 Sep 2018 08:39 AM PDT Researchers have developed a combination of commercially available hardware and open-source software, named PySight, which improves rapid 2-D and 3-D imaging of the brain and other tissues. |
| Eyes have a natural version of night vision Posted: 13 Sep 2018 08:39 AM PDT To see under starlight and moonlight, the retina of the eye changes both the software and hardware of its light-sensing cells to create a kind of night vision. Retinal circuits that were thought to be unchanging and programmed for specific tasks actively adapt to different light conditions, say the scientists who made the discovery. |
| One in three college freshmen worldwide reports mental health disorder Posted: 13 Sep 2018 08:39 AM PDT A new study finds that more than one-third of first-year university students in eight industrialized countries around the globe report symptoms consistent with a diagnosable mental health disorder. |
| Computer avatars play a part in dementia detection Posted: 13 Sep 2018 08:38 AM PDT Scientists have demonstrated the possibility of detecting dementia from conversations in human-agent interaction. Their research shows how a machine can learn characteristics of sounds of elderly people who answered easy questions from avatars on a computer. |
| The art of storytelling: Researchers explore why we relate to characters Posted: 13 Sep 2018 08:38 AM PDT For thousands of years, humans have relied on storytelling to engage, to share emotions and to relate personal experiences. Now, psychologists are exploring the mechanisms deep within the brain to better understand just what happens when we communicate. |
| Posted: 13 Sep 2018 05:21 AM PDT Doctors have long known that a high level of the protein CCL17 in the body indicates an allergic reaction. Now scientists have discovered a completely new function: CCL17 also influences signal transmission in the brain. There may even be a molecular link to autism. |
| Poorest Americans most likely to have used prescription opioids Posted: 12 Sep 2018 05:24 PM PDT New research finds that among older Americans, the poorest are the most likely to have used prescription opioids. The study also raises important questions about access to pain management options for the disadvantaged in the current climate of the opioid epidemic. |
| Keep them guessing, keep them gaming Posted: 12 Sep 2018 11:44 AM PDT While conventional wisdom says that people don't like uncertain gains or rewards, a new study finds that uncertainty can play an important role in motivating repeat behaviors. |
| Business genius can be taught, study says Posted: 12 Sep 2018 10:35 AM PDT How did Steve Jobs do it? What about Whole Foods Market and Starbucks? These kinds of 'breakout' success stories show what is possible when business leaders imagine into the future rather than re-enacting the past -- a strategy that a new study says is crucial for business success in a rapidly changing world. |
| Minding the brain to curb pain hypersensitivity Posted: 12 Sep 2018 10:34 AM PDT A new study may open new opportunities for treating neuropathic pain, a difficult-to-treat type of chronic pain caused by nerve damage that can make the lightest touch intensely painful. Scientists demonstrate that neurons that originate in the brain's cortex influence sensitivity to touch. The circuit they describe could explain why mind-body techniques to control pain seem to help many people. |
| Posted: 12 Sep 2018 08:18 AM PDT A new study finds that people who use drugs in New York City have adjusted their behaviors to avoid overdose. |
| Older adults fitted with cochlear implants exhibit poor brain function Posted: 12 Sep 2018 08:17 AM PDT Older adults fitted with a cochlear implant to compensate for severe hearing loss have significantly poorer cognitive function than their normal-hearing counterparts. Hearing loss is a risk factor for cognitive decline, so this new finding suggests cochlear implants cannot fully compensate for this deterioration in brain function. Rehabilitation treatment should be tailored to the cognitive profile of cochlear implant patients, with further research determining the impact of cochlear implants on cognition and its decline. |
| New sensors track dopamine in the brain for more than year Posted: 12 Sep 2018 05:12 AM PDT Neuroscientists have devised a way to measure dopamine in the brain for up to a year, which they believe will teach them much more about its role in key brain functions and in disorders such as depression and Parkinson's disease. |
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