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Erotic images elicit strong response from brain
A new study suggests the brain is quickly turned on and "tuned in" when a person views erotic images.   view more (2006-06-14)

Cortical plasticity: it's time to get excited about inhibition
Research from Brandeis University published online this week in Nature offers new insight into how neural circuits are shaped by experience. The article provides new evidence for the mechanisms that affect the ability of the visual cortex to plastically rearrange itself following periods of visual deprivation.   view more (2006-08-24)

Revealing the machinery underlying the 'plastic' juvenile brain
Among the central mysteries of neurobiology is what properties of the young brain enable it to so adeptly wire itself to adapt to experience—a quality known as plasticity.   view more (2007-03-01)

Human cerebellum and cortex age in very different ways
Researchers have found that the two primary areas of the human brain appear to age in radically different ways: The cortex used in higher-level thought undergoes more extensive changes with age than the cerebellum, which regulates basic processes such as heartbeat, breathing and balance.   view more (2005-08-02)

The Fancier the Cortex, the Smarter the Brain?
Why are some people smarter than others? In a new article in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Eduardo Mercado III from the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, describes how certain aspects of brain structure and function help determine how easily we learn new... view more... (2009-07-17)

Ritalin packs punch by elevating norepinephrine, suppressing nerve signal transmissions
Methylphenidate (Ritalin) elevates norepinephrine levels in the brains of rats to help focus attention while suppressing nerve signal transmissions in the sensory pathways to make it easier to block out extraneous stimuli, a Philadelphia research team has found.   view more (2006-05-30)

Neuroimaging suggests that truthfulness requires no act of will for honest people
A new study of the cognitive processes involved with honesty suggests that truthfulness depends more on absence of temptation than active resistance to temptation.   view more (2009-07-14)

First significant genetic finding in severe PMS, or PMDD
The first significant genetic finding in premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) has now been reported. PMDD is a very severe form of the more commonly known premenstrual syndrome, or PMS.   view more (2007-10-03)

Two minutes of magnetic stimulation can change your brain for an hour
A couple of minutes is all it takes to 'knock out' bits of your brain for an hour, according to a new study by a University College London (UCL) team. The team have been working on ways to improve a method known as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and are now using their adapted version of TMS to investigate possible treatments for stroke... view more... (2005-01-17)

A mother's criticism causes distinctive neural activity among formerly depressed
Formerly depressed women show patterns of brain activity when they are criticized by their mothers that are distinctly different from the patterns shown by never depressed controls, according to a new study from Harvard University.   view more (2009-04-01)

Is sleep 'hard-wired' into the brain?
Falling asleep is usually thought of as something we can control ourselves as part of our behaviour patterns. In a new article in the December Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Dr Bidi Evans argues that waking and sleeping is actually controlled by a physical mechanism that is 'hard-wired' into the brain. She suggests that evidence from... view more... (2002-11-25)

Brain's 'social enforcer' centers identified
Researchers have identified brain structures that process the threat of punishment for violating social norms. They said that their findings suggest a neural basis for treating children, adolescents, and even immature adults differently in the criminal justice system, since the neural circuitry for processing the threat of such punishment is not... view more... (2007-10-04)

Scientists unmask brain's hidden potential
Previous research has found that when vision is lost, a person's senses of touch and hearing become enhanced. But exactly how this happens has been unclear.   view more (2008-08-27)

Altered brain activity in schizophrenia may cause exaggerated focus on self
Schizophrenia may blur the boundary between internal and external realities by overactivating a brain system that is involved in self-reflection, and thus causing an exaggerated focus on self, a new MIT and Harvard brain imaging study has found.   view more (2009-01-22)

UCLA study shows different areas of the brain respond to belief, disbelief and uncertainty
The human mind is a prolific generator of beliefs about the world. The capacity of our minds to believe or disbelieve linguistic propositions is a powerful force for controlling both behavior and emotion, but the basis of this process in the brain is not yet understood.   view more (2007-12-12)

Brain imaging links chronic insomnia to reversible cognitive deficits without changes in behavior
A neuroimaging study in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal Sleep is the first to find that cognitive processes related to verbal fluency are compromised in people with insomnia despite the absence of a behavioral deficit.   view more (2008-09-02)

Alcoholics' deficits in smell are linked to frontal lobe dysfunction
Prior research has shown that chronic alcoholism is associated with numerous olfactory deficits in odor judgment, odor identification, odor sensitivity, and the ability to qualitatively discriminate between odors. New findings indicate that olfactory deficits among alcoholics are associated with prefrontal cognitive dysfunction, specifically,... view more... (2006-07-25)

Resemblance between cataplexy during status cataplecticus, normal REM sleep
The first efforts to identify the neural structures and pathways underlying cataplexy during status cataplecticus in a narcoleptic patient, with the use of brain perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), have led to the discovery that cataplexy during status cataplecticus, a case of prolonged cataplexy, partially resembles... view more... (2007-02-01)

PLoS Biology Press Release: The Neural Basis of Executive Control in Homing Pigeons, Combating Antibiotic Resistance, and More
Deep Thoughts of a Birdbrain Several recent publications have highlighted the neural complexity and intelligence associated with the brains of birds. Many studies suggest that the neural seat of both working memory and executive control - which together encompass planning, creativity, reasoning, abstraction, and most of the other higher-order... view more... (2005-05-03)

Thinking the pain away? Study shows the brain's painkillers may cause 'placebo effect'
Just thinking that a medicine will relieve pain is enough to prompt the brain to release its own natural painkillers, and soothe painful sensations, a new University of Michigan study finds.   view more (2005-08-24)
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