Brain | Page 289 | Science Codex

Scientists reveal how animals find their way 'in the dark'

Scientists have revealed the brain activity in animals that helps them find food and other vital resources in unfamiliar environments where there are no cues, such as lights and sounds, to guide them.

Animals that are placed in such environments display spontaneous, seemingly random behaviors when foraging. These behaviors have been observed in many organisms, although the brain activity behind them has remained elusive due to difficulties in knowing where to look for neural signals in large vertebrate brains.

Calcium waves in the brain alleviate depressive behavior in mice

Researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan have discovered that the benefits of stimulating the brain with direct current come from its effects on astrocytes -- not neurons -- in the mouse brain. Published in Nature Communications, the work shows that applying direct current to the head releases synchronized waves of calcium from astrocytes that can reduce depressive symptoms and lead to a general increase in neural plasticity -- the ability of neuronal connections to change when we try to learn or form memories.

The weight of rejection

Imagine yourself in a speed-dating situation -- five minutes to impress, or not, the person across the table from you. It's enough to unnerve even the most confident individuals. But for heavier women, the effects are even worse. Research shows that concerns about rejection and devaluation due to one's weight can lead to negative health consequences.

Sleep suppresses brain rebalancing

Why humans and other animals sleep is one of the remaining deep mysteries of physiology. One prominent theory in neuroscience is that sleep is when the brain replays memories "offline" to better encode them ("memory consolidation").

City birds are smarter than country birds

Birds living in urban environments are smarter than birds from rural environments.

But, why do city birds have the edge over their country friends? They adapted to their urban environments enabling them to exploit new resources more favorably then their rural counterparts, say a team of all-McGill University researchers.

Better safe than sorry: Babies make quick judgments about adults' anger

Adults often form fast opinions about each other's personalities, especially when it comes to negative traits. If we see someone argue with another driver over a parking space, for instance, we may assume that person tends to be confrontational.

Two new research studies with hundreds of 15-month-old infants demonstrate that babies form similar generalizations about others and make attempts to appease adults they consider prone to anger.

Seeing isn't required to gesture like a native speaker

People the world over gesture when they talk, and they tend to gesture in certain ways depending on the language they speak. Findings from a new study including blind and sighted participants suggest that these gestural variations do not emerge from watching other speakers make the gestures, but from learning the language itself.

Tracing the scent of fear

SEATTLE - The odor of bobcat urine, if you ever get a chance to take a whiff, is unforgettable -- like rotten meat combined with sweat, with something indescribably feral underlying it. To humans, it's just nose-wrinklingly disgusting.

But to mice, it smells like one thing: fear.

Rodents respond instinctually to this trace of their natural predator. Even those mice raised in the lab, which have never been exposed to bobcats -- or cats of any sort -- respond to it.

The invisible world of human perception

TORONTO, ON - Stage magicians are not the only ones who can distract the eye: a new cognitive psychology experiment demonstrates how all human beings have a built-in ability to stop paying attention to objects that are right in front of them.

Fewer Americans now pray, believe in God

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (March 21, 2016)--The percentage of Americans who prayed or believed in God reached an all-time low in 2014, according to new research led by San Diego State University psychology professor Jean M. Twenge.

Researchers track neural stem cells by coloring chicken eggs from the inside

Athens, Ga. - An overwhelming number of researchers still struggle within the black hole of the effectiveness and safety of stem cell therapy for neurological diseases. While the complexity of understanding how neurons grow, connect and function has long been studied, it remains a mystery, one that graduate student Forrest Goodfellow in the University of Georgia Regenerative Bioscience Center is helping unravel.

Beyond Alzheimer's: Study reveals how mix of brain ailments drives dementia

A new analysis based on two long-term aging studies--one of Roman Catholic nuns, the other of Japanese American men--provides what may be the most compelling evidence yet that dementia commonly results from a blend of brain ailments, rather than from a single condition. This is often the case even when an Alzheimer's diagnosis has been given, say the researchers.

IUPUI researchers use stem cells to identify cellular processes related to glaucoma

INDIANAPOLIS -- Using stem cells derived from human skin cells, researchers led by Jason Meyer, assistant professor of biology, along with graduate student Sarah Ohlemacher of the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, have successfully demonstrated the ability to turn stem cells into retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the neurons that conduct visual information from the eye to the brain. Their goal is the development of therapies to prevent or cure glaucoma.

The National Dental PBRN as a learning health system

Los Angeles, Calif., USA - Today at the 45th Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research, researcher Jeffrey Fellows, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland, Oregon, USA, will present a study titled "The National Dental PBRN as a Learning Health System." The AADR Annual Meeting is being held in conjunction with the 40th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research.

Turning mortal enemies into allies? Ants can.

On an African plateau surrounded by flat-topped trees as far as the eye could see, wind whistled through the acacia thorns like someone blowing across a bottle. Kathleen Rudolph was more concerned with the ants raining down on her from the trees. The hat, long sleeves and garden gloves the University of Florida researcher wore for protection didn't help.