A fall down the stairs, a car crash, a sports injury or an explosive blast can all cause traumatic brain injury (TBI). Patients often recover. But in the days or weeks following the hit, they can develop other serious, chronic conditions, such as depression and thinking and memory problems. Now scientists report in the journal ACS Nano a potential way to reduce these effects with a neuron-targeting nanoparticle, using an animal model of TBI.
Brain
Spatial reasoning measured in infancy predicts how children do at math at four years of age, finds a new study published in Psychological Science.
"We've provided the earliest documented evidence for a relationship between spatial reasoning and math ability," says Emory University psychologist Stella Lourenco, whose lab conducted the research. "We've shown that spatial reasoning beginning early in life, as young as six months of age, predicts both the continuity of this ability and mathematical development."
Emory graduate student Jillian Lauer is co-author of the study.
New research published online in The FASEB Journal shows that in rats, a substance called a ketone ester significantly increase exercise endurance, cognitive function and energy levels in the heart at high workloads. Ketone esters are small organic chemicals that provide energy for the heart, brain and skeletal muscle in a highly efficient way, but are typically produced by the body only during periods of food scarcity and are not naturally present in typical modern diets.
Software developers listen up: if you want people to pay attention to your security warnings on their computers or mobile devices, you need to make them pop up at better times.
A new study from BYU, in collaboration with Google Chrome engineers, finds the status quo of warning messages appearing haphazardly--while people are typing, watching a video, uploading files, etc.--results in up to 90 percent of users disregarding them.
We might be one step closer to the vision of Internet-connected wireless implanted devices.
University of Washington engineers have introduced a new way of communicating that allows devices such as brain implants, contact lenses, credit cards and smaller wearable electronics to talk to everyday devices such as smartphones and watches.
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Most U.S. school teachers instruct only in English; yet, the number of students from homes where a non-English language is spoken is expected to double by the year 2030, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. New research from the University of Missouri shows that Spanish-speaking preschoolers experience significant improvements in their English skills when they have a good grasp of Spanish letters and numbers. In another study, the researcher found that behavior traits play a role in English learning.
Interracial marriage has grown in the United States over the past few decades, and polls show that most Americans are accepting of mixed-race relationships.
A 2012 study by the Pew Research Center found that interracial marriages in the U.S. had doubled between 1980 and 2010 to about 15 percent, and just 11 percent of respondents disapproved of interracial marriage.
Although strollers and carriers are typically used to safely transport children, injuries do occur while using these products. A study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that, over a 21-year period from 1990 through 2010, almost 361,000 children aged 5 years and younger were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments for stroller- or carrier-related injuries - that's about two children every hour.
We spend up to one-third of our life asleep, but not everyone sleeps well. For couples, it turns out how well you think your partner understands and cares for you is linked to how well you sleep. The results are published in Social Personality and Psychological Science.
"Our findings show that individuals with responsive partners experience lower anxiety and arousal, which in turn improves their sleep quality," says lead author Dr. Emre Selçuk, a developmental and social psychologist at Middle East Technical University in Turkey.
A brain on task differs from a brain at rest. But, how much it differs could depend on the cognitive ability of the person whose brain is being studied. New research published August 17 in The Journal of Neuroscience suggests greater similarity between brain connectivity at rest and on task may be associated with better mental performance.
A new study by King's College London, UCL and Birkbeck, University of London, casts doubt over claims that people are inherently over-optimistic or 'optimistically biased' about the future.
For many decades scientists have believed that people have an 'irrational optimism bias' - a tendency to underestimate their chances of negative experiences, while overestimating their chances of positive events.
Given the choice, many dogs prefer praise from their owners over food, suggests a new study published in the journal Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. The study is one of the first to combine brain-imaging data with behavioral experiments to explore canine reward preferences.
Kissing up to your boss doesn't just impact your relationship with your supervisor, it can influence your co-workers, as well.
In a new study in The Journal of Applied Psychology, University of Florida researcher Trevor Foulk and David Long from The College of William & Mary looked at how "kissing up" -- also known as ingratiation -- affected people who witnessed it. They found that newcomers who saw a co-worker kissing up to the boss were more likely to have a positive perception about the supervisor, while other workers' perceptions were unaffected.
Every day, we rely on our physical surroundings--friends, gadgets, and even hand gestures--to manage incoming information and retain it. In a Review published August 16 in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, two researchers explain the myriad ways in which forms of assistance from gestures to GPS affect both what we know and what we think we know.
Given the choice, many dogs prefer praise from their owners over food, suggests a new study published in the journal Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. The study is one of the first to combine brain-imaging data with behavioral experiments to explore canine reward preferences.