Brain
Expert typists are able to zoom across the keyboard without ever thinking about which fingers are pressing the keys. New research from Vanderbilt University reveals that this skill is managed by an autopilot, one that is able to catch errors that can fool our conscious brain.
The research was published in the Oct. 29 issue of Science.
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL Minn. (October 28, 2010) – University of Minnesota Medical School and Minneapolis Veterans Affair Medical Center researchers have discovered a correlation between increased circuit activity in the right side of the brain and the debilitating, involuntary flashbacks triggered by post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The ability to objectively diagnose PTSD through concrete evidence of neural activity, its impact and its manifestation is the first step towards effectively helping those afflicted with this severe anxiety disorder.
With Election Day right around the corner, political egos are on full display. One might even think that possessing a "big ego" is a prerequisite for success in politics, or in any position of leadership. High achievers–CEO's, top athletes, rock stars, prominent surgeons, or scientists–often seem to be well endowed in ego.
The virus, called enterovirus 71, is closely related to poliovirus, and was first detected in California in the 1960s. Since then the virus has spread across Asia, affecting mostly children and some adults. Serious cases of the disease can include neurological disorders such as meningitis, paralysis and encephalitis.
Pittsburgh, PA— During the winter months the days grow colder and the nights longer causing households to use more electricity, often resulting in higher bills. Most households have no way of monitoring how much electricity is being consumed; however, researchers in Pittsburgh believe a new monitoring system may soon be available for residential use. The research is published in a special issue of Yale's Journal of Industrial Ecology on environmental applications of information and communication technology sponsored by CSC's Leading Edge Forum.
Two people can learn to cooperate with each other intuitively – without communication or any conscious intention to cooperate. But this process breaks down in groups of three or more.
A study by members of the University of Leicester's School of Psychology and Department of Economics set out to explain how two people learn to cooperate without even knowing that they are interacting with each other. In larger groups, explicit communication is needed to coordinate actions.
Is there a relation between the structure of specific regions of the brain and nicotine dependence? This is the question researchers of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) Berlin have been investigating lately. The results of these investigations extend and specify those of preceding studies: A specific region of the cerebral cortex of smokers is thinner than that of people who have never smoked in their lives. This region is decisive for reward, impulse control, and the making of decisions.
The complexity of the immune system and nervous system turn Neuroimmunology into one of the most exciting fields of modern biomedicine. Between October 26th and 30th takes place in Sitges (Barcelona, Spain) the X International Congress of Neuroimmunology of the International Society of Neuroimmunology. This event highlights the advances that have been made in recent years thanks to new technologies, but also highlights the long road ahead.
Every day our brains are flooded by stimulation — sounds, sights and smells. At the same time, we are constantly engaged in an inner dialogue, ruminating about the past, musing about the future. Somehow the brain filters all this input instantly, selecting some things for long- or short-term storage, discarding others and focusing in on what's most important at any given instant.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Talking with other people in a friendly way can make it easier to solve common problems, according to a new University of Michigan study, but conversations that are competitive in tone, rather than cooperative, have no cognitive benefits.
It's a prediction often met with worry: In 20 years, there will be more Americans over 60 than under 15. Some fear that will mean an aging society with an increasing number of decrepit, impaired people and fewer youngsters to care for them while also keeping the country's productivity going.
US scientists have found a correlation between increased circuit activity in the right side of the brain and the suffering of involuntary flashbacks by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) sufferers.
Using a technique called Magnetoencephalography (MEG), which involves analysing the occurrence of magnetic charges given off when neuronal populations in our brain connect and communicate, the researchers have undertaken clinical trials to try and find differences between brain activity of PTSD sufferers and those with a clean bill of mental health.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have found that a molecule long believed to be a beneficial tumor suppressor — and thus a potential cancer drug target — appears to act as an oncogene in some lethal brain tumors.
People love to speculate about differences between the sexes, and neuroscience has brought a new technology to this pastime. Brain imaging studies are published at a great rate, and some report sex differences in brain structure or patterns of neural activity. But we should be skeptical about reports of brain differences between the sexes, writes psychological scientist Cordelia Fine in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.