Brain | Page 1197 | Science Codex

Computer games and science learning

Computer games and simulations are worthy of future investment and investigation as a way to improve science learning, says LEARNING SCIENCE: COMPUTER GAMES, SIMULATIONS, AND EDUCATION, a new report from the National Research Council.

The study committee found promising evidence that simulations can advance conceptual understanding of science, as well as moderate evidence that they can motivate students for science learning. Research on the effectiveness of games designed for science learning is emerging, but remains inconclusive, the report says.

Typically Italian, isn't it?

Typically Italian, isn't it?

Study links emotional and neural responses to musical performance

Study links emotional and neural responses to musical performance

Mount Sinai researchers develop mouse model to help find how a gene mutation leads to autism

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that when one copy of the SHANK3 gene in mice is missing, nerve cells do not effectively communicate and do not show cellular properties associated with normal learning. This discovery may explain how mutations affecting SHANK3 may lead to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The research is currently published in Molecular Autism.

Researchers suggest diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder are lacking

(Boston) - Current diagnostic procedures for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) fail to adequately reflect research into the broad nature of a traumatic event, according to a study that will appear in the January print issue of Psychological Bulletin.

Using digitized books as 'cultural genome,' researchers unveil quantitative approach to humanities

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Researchers have created a powerful new approach to scholarship, using approximately 4 percent of all books ever published as a digital "fossil record" of human culture. By tracking the frequency with which words appear in books over time, scholars can now precisely quantify a wide variety of cultural and historical trends.

The four-year effort, led by Harvard University's Jean-Baptiste Michel and Erez Lieberman Aiden, is described this week in the journal Science.

CHOP experts collaborate in gene survey of childhood brain cancer; intriguing clues found

Pediatric cancer researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia contributed important expertise to a new landmark study of medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor typically found in children. The large multicenter study defines the genetic landscape of this cancer, and holds intriguing clues to gene changes on signaling pathways that may become fruitful targets for future therapies.

Emotional intelligence peaks as we enter our 60s, research suggests

Older people have a hard time keeping a lid on their feelings, especially when viewing heartbreaking or disgusting scenes in movies and reality shows, psychologists have found. But they're better than their younger counterparts at seeing the positive side of a stressful situation and empathizing with the less fortunate, according to research from the University of California, Berkeley.

Fear discovery could lead to new interventions for PTSD

Researchers at the University of Iowa have pinpointed the part of the brain that causes people to experience fear – a discovery that could improve treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety conditions.

When the brain knows no fear

A new study, published online on December 16 in Current Biology, a CellPress publication, offers new insight into the emotional life of aunique individual who completely lacks the function of an almond-shapedstructure in the brain known as the amygdala. Studies over the last 50years have shown that the amygdala plays a central role in generatingfear reactions in animals from rats to monkeys. Based on the detailedcase study of the woman identified only as SM, it now appears that thesame is true of humans.

MRI scans reveal brain changes in people at genetic risk for Alzheimer's

MRI scans reveal brain changes in people at genetic risk for Alzheimer's

Kids got the blues? Maybe they don't have enough friends

Montreal, December 16, 2010 – Friendless kids can become social outcasts who risk spiraling into depression by adolescence, according to new research from Concordia University, Florida Atlantic University and the University of Vermont. Yet for most shy and withdrawn children, the study reports in the journal Development and Psychopathology, friends can be a form of protection against sadness.

Hemodynamic responses to the mother's face in infants by near-infrared spectroscopy

A Japanese research group led by Prof. Ryusuke Kakigi and Dr. Emi Nakato (National Institute for Physiological Sciences: NIPS) and Prof. Masami K Yamaguchi (Chuo University) found that there was the different hemodynamic response in the temporal cortex between infants' perceptions of their own mother and of female strangers. The presentation of mother's face elicited increased hemodynamic responses in the bilateral temporal cortex. This finding was reported in Early Human Development.

Allô allô! Mom's voice plays special role in activating newborn's brain

Allô allô! Mom's voice plays special role in activating newborn's brain

Second brain death exam may be unnecessary, hurt organ donation rates

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Requiring a second exam on a person who is considered brain dead may be unnecessary, according to a study on the impact of a second brain death exam on organ donation rates. The research is published in the December 15, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

For the study, scientists reviewed the cases of 1,229 adults and 82 children ages one and older pronounced brain dead. The information was taken from the New York Organ Donor Network database during a 19-month period.