Articles tagged with Cognition
Researchers develop molecular tool called SynTrogo, which enables selective dismantling of synaptic connections in brain circuits. By harnessing astrocytes, the system reduces synapse number while strengthening remaining connections, leading to enhanced long-term potentiation and improved memory.
Researchers found that faces presented behind observers are perceived as more emotionally intense than those in front. This 'behind-enhancement bias' is observed even when participants view the face via a virtual mirror without turning around. The study suggests a spatially modulated perceptual bias related to processing of emotionally...
Researchers developed a nasal spray that reversibly reduces brain inflammation, restores cellular power plants, and improves memory. The treatment bypasses the brain's protective shield through intranasal delivery, suppressing chronic inflammation and promoting successful brain aging.
Researchers discovered a crucial connection between the two hippocampal hemispheres in mice, which is necessary for navigation and remembering locations. The study also found that this circuit is altered in mice carrying a genetic mutation associated with schizophrenia.
A major European study found that loneliness affects the memory of older adults, but does not speed up mental decline over time. Participants who reported high levels of loneliness performed worse on initial memory tests, but their ability to recall information declined at a similar rate as those with lower loneliness levels.
Researchers analyzed brain interactions to explain attention, decision-making, and memory. Models with competitive interactions outperform cooperative ones, enabling flexible activation of regions and intelligent behavior. This breakthrough brings us closer to creating realistic digital twins of the human brain for personalized medicine.
A new review paper proposes that brain categorization is part of a predictive process to efficiently meet needs, rather than an intellectual exercise comparing sensory inputs to a fixed prototype. This approach predicts the world and anticipates actions, allowing for efficient survival and thriving in a fast-paced environment.
Cichlids use a specific sequence of behaviors to build nests, involving digging, grasping, and sand-flicking. Practice and repeated exposure solidify these skills, even after long periods without access to shells.
A Georgia State University study found that Alzheimer's affects men's and women's brains differently, with women showing steeper and more widespread decline. The research suggests that brain compensation mechanisms may help maintain cognitive performance in women earlier in the disease.
Research suggests that mental time travel activates the brain's reward system, reinforcing behavior and making it easier to plan for the future. However, excessive mental time travel can also lead to negative emotions and maladaptive behavior, such as catastrophizing projections.
A new study found that older people who forego necessary dental procedures due to financial barriers may experience heart failure, a heart attack, a stroke, or dementia. The researchers suggest that alleviating upstream factors such as financial constraints could prevent chronic disease.
A Northwestern University study found that imagination is not just a copy of sensation, but emerges at later stages of processing when the brain represents information holistically. The researchers mapped brain activity during imagination and perception, finding overlap in higher-level association areas.
A recent study using sea slugs identified a cellular mechanism that strengthens long-term memory when exposed to new information at the same time each day. This discovery could provide insights into the most effective learning strategies.
A new study reveals that women excel in aligning confidence with correctness, particularly in fluid intelligence tests. The research challenges long-held assumptions about gender differences, suggesting that efforts should focus on encouraging greater self-awareness and calibrated confidence among men.
A research team led by LEE Doyun and KIM Yee-Joon found that the primary visual cortex encodes motion summaries and variability before higher brain regions transform them into category signals. This process, known as ensemble perception, allows the brain to capture the overall structure of a scene at a glance.
A study of 10,978 participants found that cooking at home at least once a week is associated with a lower risk of dementia. Novice cooks with few culinary skills saw a 70% reduction in risk, while skilled cooks still benefited from regular meal prep
Researchers discovered that mild hypoxia shortly after birth hinders learning and memory into adulthood through altered neuron-to-neuron communication in the hippocampus. The study also found a second protein involved in hypoxia's effects on this channel's functioning, which was restored when targeted.
A multicenter randomized clinical trial found no significant differences in cognitive improvement between exercise, intensive pharmacological reduction of cardiovascular risk factors, or both in older adults. The study results challenge current recommendations on lifestyle modifications for dementia prevention.
A study led by Waseda University's Associate Professor Chie Nakamura investigated how listeners interpret structurally ambiguous sentences using eye-tracking technology. The researchers found that listeners actively build sentence structure in real-time, predicting how the sentence will continue before all information is available.
A new study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that high meat consumption is associated with better cognitive trajectories and lower dementia risk among individuals with the APOE 34/44 genotype. The finding contradicts previous expectations, highlighting potential clinical and public health relevance for this population.
A new Northwestern University study has discovered a novel biomarker of schizophrenia that could also serve as a new drug candidate to treat the cognitive symptoms of the disorder. The study found that levels of the protein Cacna2d1 signal are reduced in patients with schizophrenia, resulting in overactive brain circuits.
Researchers found that adults with ADHD exhibit more sleep-like brain activity, leading to more lapses in attention. This increased activity may be a key brain mechanism underlying attention problems in ADHD. Further study is needed to explore potential strategies to mitigate this activity.
New research from the University of Mississippi suggests that storytelling is just as effective, and sometimes better, than survival processing in improving memory. By creating a narrative with unrelated nouns, participants were able to remember more than those who used survival processing or pleasantness processing.
Researchers found that cortisol significantly worsens orientation in individuals, particularly in environments without landmarks. The brain's internal GPS system, grid cells, lose function under stress, leading to impaired navigation.
A new study from Dartmouth College finds that social information can significantly impact how people experience negative events, including physical pain and mentally demanding tasks. When others describe an experience as painful, individuals tend to feel it that way, even when the actual experience is low in intensity.
Researchers discovered that the aging gastrointestinal tract produces specific molecules that blunt the activity of a key gut-brain neuronal pathway, leading to age-related cognitive decline. Stimulating specific gut sensory neurons and targeting the vagus nerve can restore youthful cognitive function in old mice, suggesting that brain...
Cognitive neuroscientists are integrating genetics and AI to study language development and disorders. AI-based models can predict language development in children, while genetics research links rhythm disorders and dyslexia. The brain's wiring connecting language regions also reveals that language is a system, not a single 'thing'.
A novel blood-based biomarker, p-tau217, can predict a woman's risk of developing dementia up to 25 years before symptoms appear. Higher levels of p-tau217 were strongly associated with future mild cognitive impairment and dementia among older, cognitively healthy women.
A cross-sectional study found that smartphone use during school hours is associated with reduced cognitive control in youths aged 11-18. The study highlights the need for school-level policies and digital literacy programs to address habitual smartphone-checking behaviors that fragment attention.
Pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) are associated with cognitive decline, which may be linked to hormonal dysregulation and gut microbiota alterations. Surgical intervention improves cognitive function, suggesting a potential endocrine mechanism underlying cognitive dysfunction and recovery.
A new study published in JCOM found that AI disclosure labels may have the opposite effect of what regulators intend, decreasing the credibility of true scientific information while increasing that of false claims. The study tested 433 participants and found a counterintuitive pattern where the same label reduces credibility in opposit...
A new study models brain aging and resilience over the lifespan, uncovering individual factors that affect cognition and identifying potential biomarkers of healthy brain aging. Researchers are now incorporating diverse data, including social and lifestyle factors, to create a broader picture of the aging brain.
A review of 900 scientific articles identified several biological markers associated with cognitive decline in viral infections, including activated monocytes and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Conversely, certain markers like anti-inflammatory cytokines are linked to better preservation of cognitive abilities.
Researchers investigated which characteristics of crystals made them fascinating to early humans, using experiments with chimpanzees. The chimps showed a strong attraction to transparent and crystalline properties, suggesting that this attraction may have deep evolutionary roots.
A team of MIT engineers identified tacit knowledge in volunteers who classified images, shifting focus to easier-to-classify areas without awareness. Bringing this concealed knowledge to the surface enhances experts' performance, suggesting a method for boosting learning experience in disciplines requiring keen observation skills.
Researchers investigated low-dose lithium as a potential treatment for mild cognitive impairment in a pilot clinical trial. The study found that none of the primary outcomes met the significance threshold, but effect size estimates suggest potential benefits for future trials.
A cross-sectional study of former American football players found prior participation to be associated with worse later-life cognitive and neuropsychiatric function. The findings support a dose-response association with years and level of play, providing context for clinicians and researchers assessing symptom risk among former players.
A minimally invasive surgical procedure called lymphovenous anastomosis (LVA) is being explored as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease. By improving brain lymphatic flow, LVA may help reduce clearance of neurotoxins and alleviate symptoms.
A new study reveals that brain rhythms shift attention multiple times per second, affecting focus and increasing susceptibility to distractions. This rhythmic occurrence may help us avoid overfocus on one thing, but also make us more prone to digital alerts and visual stimuli.
A Dartmouth study challenges the conventional view of the amygdala as a primitive 'fear center' by revealing its role in mediating between competing learning strategies. The research suggests that the amygdala favors action-based learning, promoting exploration and flexibility to overcome fear.
Researchers found that inhibiting LETM1, a protein regulating mitochondrial calcium, can significantly improve performance in tasks requiring long-term memory. This approach enhances metabolic stimulation and leads to overproduction of ATP, prolonging energy production beyond normal brain activity.
A study published in JAMA Neurology found that adhering to healthy dietary patterns, such as the DASH diet, is associated with lower subjective cognitive decline and better cognitive function. The findings highlight the importance of a balanced diet for maintaining long-term brain health.
Research shows that expert birders have more compact attention- and perception-related brain areas, linked to accurate bird identification. These structural changes persist in older birders and may benefit cognition as people age.
A new study suggests that a lack of fiber in the diet may impair emotional memory in older adults, linked to cognitive problems and inflammation. The amygdala, responsible for processing fearful experiences, is sensitive to highly processed diets, regardless of fat or sugar content.
A study published in Neurology found an association between prenatal lead exposure and lower performance on tests of thinking and memory skills in female participants, even decades later. The study analyzed baby teeth for lead levels and tested cognitive function, revealing a strong link between lead exposure and cognitive decline.
Researchers at Tampere University found that humanoid robots perceived as having eyes exhibit greater agency and experience, evoking emotional responses and increasing empathy. This suggests that the presence of eyes shapes human perception of a robot's mind, with implications for design and ethics.
Research finds a specific link between hearing loss and cognitive decline in presbycusis, a neurodegenerative disorder. The Functional-Structural Ratio (FSR) identifies reduced connections between brain areas involved in sound processing and memory, associated with worse hearing thresholds and poorer performance on memory and executive...
A recent study questions AI model Centaur's ability to simulate human cognition, suggesting it relies on statistical patterns rather than genuine understanding.
Scientists have identified specific patterns of brain chemical activity in honey bees that predict how quickly individual bees learn new associations. The findings may help explain why humans learn at different speeds and provide implications for understanding brain disorders.
A cohort study found that historically Black college or university attendance was associated with improved cognitive function compared to predominantly white institution attendance. The association held true for those attending college before and after legal racial segregation and discrimination in education.
A new study found that nearly one in five adults with tinnitus have had to reduce their working hours or leave employment due to the condition. The research also revealed that targeted interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, can improve work productivity and overall wellbeing.
A study published in JAMA found that higher consumption of caffeinated coffee and tea is associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Moderate intake levels showed the most pronounced association, with better cognitive function also observed.
Researchers at the University of Rochester found that the brain analyzes global patterns of image motion caused by eye movements to understand how objects move and where they are located in 3D space. This discovery challenges conventional ideas that image motion produced by eye movements is visual noise to be subtracted off.
A new study by University of Toronto researchers found that day-to-day fluctuations in mental sharpness predict success or struggle. Mental sharpness is linked to productivity, goal-setting, and mood, with sharper days leading to more challenging goals and lower-sharpness days stalling on routine tasks.
Researchers discovered that while older rats were as social as younger ones, a subpopulation preferred familiar peers. Altering neural communication reversed this preference, enhancing approach towards new peers. This suggests a distinct neural system underlying aging-related social behavior.
A new study led by Dr. Chu Chen suggests that combining THC with celecoxib may improve cognition and reduce Alzheimer's-related brain pathology in mice. The combination produced better outcomes than low-dose THC alone, including improved learning and memory performance and reduced markers of neuroinflammation.
A new study found that prenatal exposure to air pollution is associated with lower cognitive performance in newborns, with stronger associations observed for black carbon and PM2.5. The strongest effects were seen in boys, suggesting potential sex-specific vulnerability.
A new scientific review summarizes 12 human clinical trials on the cardiometabolic effects of wild blueberries, finding improvements in blood vessel function and beneficial changes to the gut microbiome. Regular consumption of one cup per day may support overall health benefits.
Caring for grandchildren may help prevent cognitive decline in older adults, according to a recent study published by the American Psychological Association. Grandparents who provided childcare scored higher on tests of memory and verbal fluency compared to those who didn't.
Researchers observed episodic memory in rats, suggesting they can model complex cognitive processes. The study shows rats can recall memories with accuracy and context, even after a long delay, implying evolutionarily ancient forms of memory.