New research uses "noise," sound waves formed from many thousands of completely unpredictable random numbers played as a sound, to probe how the human brain acquires auditory memories. The study, published by Cell Press in the May 27 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals that learning new sounds is quick, robust, and long-lasting, resembling a sudden insight.
Brain
PASADENA, Calif.—The process of learning requires the sophisticated ability to constantly update our expectations of future rewards so we may make accurate predictions about those rewards in the face of a changing environment. Although exactly how the brain orchestrates this process remains unclear, a new study by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) suggests that a combination of two distinct learning strategies guides our behavior.
A paper about the work will appear in the May 27 issue of the journal Neuron.
The use of modified measles virus may represent a new treatment for a childhood brain tumor known as medulloblastoma, according to a new study appearing in Neuro-Oncology.
Montreal, May 26, 2010 – "Catch that car!," was the instruction given to 22 men sitting in a driving simulator. The more "macho" the man, the more risks he took on the road, according to a study by Julie Langlois, a graduate student at the University of Montreal Department of Psychology, who presented her findings at the annual conference of the Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS).
A team of American psychologists and neuroscientists have found that adult brain volume, which can be reduced by Anorexia Nervosa, can be regained. The research, published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, says that through specialist treatment patients with this eating disorder can reverse this symptom and regain grey matter volume.
One of the most devastating events in the insect world – the locust swarm – has extraordinary effects on the insect's brains, scientists in Cambridge have discovered.
Although desert locusts are infamous for their swarming behaviour – when they migrate en masse and consume everything in their path – they usually occur in a solitary form, living alone and actively avoiding fellow locusts.
NEW YORK (May 24, 2010) -- Physician-scientists from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center will present their latest research findings at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in New Orleans, May 22 to 26. Among the most significant presentations are the following:
University of Rochester Medical Center scientists discovered a defect in cellular pathways that provides a new explanation for the earliest stages of abnormal skull development in newborns, known as craniosynostosis.
Mutations of the WNT and FGF signaling pathways set off a cascade of events that regulate bone formation at the stem cell level, according to the article, published May 25, 2010, in the journal Science Signaling.
BOSTON (May 25, 2010) — Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine have zeroed in on a protein that may play a role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The team found that increasing levels of the protein (called GGA3) prevented the accumulation of an enzyme linked to Alzheimer's. The strategy may lead to new treatments for the neurodegenerative disease. The findings were published online May 18 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
UCSF scientists have discovered a new stem cell in the developing human brain. The cell produces nerve cells that help form the neocortex – the site of higher cognitive function -- and likely accounts for the dramatic expansion of the region in the lineages that lead to man, the researchers say.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – People with brain injuries may produce low amounts of melatonin, which affects their sleep, according to a study published in the May 25, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
For the study, 23 people who had a severe traumatic brain injury an average of 14 months earlier and 23 healthy people of the same age spent two nights in a sleep laboratory.
Exposure to specific bacteria in the environment, already believed to have antidepressant qualities, could increase learning behavior according to research presented today at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.
"Mycobacterium vaccae is a natural soil bacterium which people likely ingest or breath in when they spend time in nature," says Dorothy Matthews of The Sage Colleges in Troy, New York, who conducted the research with her colleague Susan Jenks.
Tampa, Fla. (May 24, 2010) – The timing of umbilical cord clamping at birth should be delayed just a few minutes longer, suggest researchers at the University of South Florida's Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair.
Children and adolescents with an injury or disability may use mobility aids such as crutches, walkers and wheelchairs to help them move around more easily. However, use of these aids has been associated with risk for injury. A new study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that more than 63,000 pediatric mobility aid-related injuries were treated in United States emergency departments from 1991-2008, and the annual number of cases increased 23 percent during the 19-year study period.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, May 24, 2010 – Knowledge regarding environmental factors influencing the risk of Alzheimer's disease is surprisingly scarce, despite substantial research in this area. In particular, the roles of smoking and alcohol consumption still remain controversial. A new study published this month in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease suggests a protective effect of alcohol consumption on the risk of Alzheimer's disease, particularly in women who do not smoke.