Neuroscience

One-Shot Learning: Now With A Switch

Most of the time, we learn only gradually, incrementally building connections between actions or events and outcomes. But there are exceptions--every once in a while, something happens and we immediately learn to associate that stimulus with a result. For ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 28 2015 - 6:23pm

Positive Vs. Negative Association Brain Circuitry Discovered In Mice

Neuroscientists have discovered brain circuitry for encoding positive and negative learned associations in mice. After finding that two circuits showed opposite activity following fear and reward learning, the researchers proved that this divergent activi ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 29 2015 - 2:59pm

Functional Differences In Brain Communication Of Cocaine Users

The brain function of people addicted to cocaine is different from that of people who are not addicted, and often linked to highly impulsive behavior. The variation in the way that different regions of the brain connect, communicate and function in people ...

Article - News Staff - May 2 2015 - 11:30am

Space Travel Worry: Cosmic Ray Exposure Leads To Dementia-Like Impairments

There is discussion of a U.S. manned mission to Mars but if recent history is any indication, the next president will undo the space program of the current one, just as the current one undid the manned space program of the last. It may be for the best, at ...

Article - News Staff - May 2 2015 - 8:00am

Why Space Travel May Be Bad For Your Brain

There is bad news for those planning to go to Mars in the near future: a study in mice has suggested that radiation in space could cause cognitive decline in astronauts. However, we know from past research that mental, social and physical exercise can boo ...

Article - The Conversation - May 2 2015 - 11:00am

Insomnia Linked To Greater Pain Sensitivity

People with insomnia and other sleep problems also report increased sensitivity to pain, reports a new study. The study included more than 10,400 adults from a large, ongoing Norwegian health study. Each subject underwent a standard test of pain sensitivi ...

Article - News Staff - May 9 2015 - 9:00am

The Neuroscience Reason We Fall Over When Drunk

Alcohol is used and sometimes abused by millions of people worldwide, though how it acutely changes brain function, to cause inebriation, and then chronically changes brain function, to cause dependency, remain largely unknown.  Since dependence can destro ...

Article - Michael Forrest - May 4 2015 - 9:52am

'Fuzzy Thinking' In Women With Bipolar Disorder And Depression Is Real, Says Study

People with depression or bipolar disorder often feel their thinking ability has gotten "fuzzy", or less sharp than before their symptoms began, and a new study published in BRAIN finds that the effect is real- and rooted in brain activity diffe ...

Article - News Staff - May 9 2015 - 9:23pm

Late-Night Snacking: Your Brain Blame

If you have ever wondered why you need to snack more at night and many people don't, there may be a neuroscience answer:  areas of the brain that get a satiety "food high" may not get it in the evening.  In a new study, exercise professors ...

Article - News Staff - May 5 2015 - 2:32pm

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Brain Stimulation Detrimental To IQ Scores

Transcranial direct current stimulation, using a weak electric current in an attempt to boost brainpower or treat conditions, has become popular among cognitive do-it-yourselfers and the neuroscience equivalent of people selling dietary supplements, but a ...

Article - News Staff - May 5 2015 - 3:07pm