Neuroscience

As promised, here's part three of the nails-in-the-brain trilogy. Only, while nails may be the brain-poking standby, they're not the only foreign bodies to be shot, shoved or stabbed into the human brain. For example, after getting into a fistfi ...

Article - Garth Sundem - Aug 30 2010 - 6:06am

Self-Trepanation: A DIY Skylight For Your Brain

Today, trepanation, or drilling a hole in the head, is commonly used to release the pressure of swelling inside the skull. Throughout history, it's been used to treat epilepsy, migraines, mood disorders and pretty much any other head condition that s ...

Article - Garth Sundem - Sep 4 2010 - 7:43pm

Fuggedaboudit (The Easy Way)

If only you could ditch that traumatic memory, that craving, that debilitating fear of ventriloquist dummies (autonomatonophobia)! But these tendencies are so deeply ingrained that try as you might, you can't dig them out. Maybe you can drug them out ...

Article - Garth Sundem - Nov 6 2010 - 11:20am

Yawns, Brain Sweat, And Boiled Parakeets

We know the mouth is a useful orifice for venting our feelings: if we're "hot," speaking our anger can help us "cool off". And so the bigger the mouth, the better the cooling, right? Actually, yes. When our brain gets hot, we cool ...

Article - Garth Sundem - Nov 24 2010 - 9:11pm

Religion In The Brain

What happens when you die? What's right and wrong? What's the purpose of life? Aaaaarrghhh! Chill out, God has the answers. And the religious part of your brain knows it. The anterior cingulated cortex is the human home of anxiety. And it's ...

Article - Garth Sundem - Dec 4 2010 - 10:25am

"Near Misses" Encourage Problem Gambling

Problem gamblers react more intensely to "near misses" than casual gamblers, possibly spurring them on to play more, according to new research published in The Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers found that the brain region that responds to rewa ...

Article - News Staff - May 4 2010 - 5:40pm

Alcohol Dependency Seen In C. Elegans

Neuroscientists from the University of Southampton investigating alcohol dependency and withdrawal in C. elegans worms say they exhibit alcohol-dependent behaviors similar to humans, despite their evolutionary distance, and very simple brain consisting of ...

Article - News Staff - May 5 2010 - 10:56am

The Adolescent Brain Of Our Species

The word "adolescent" is defined as a young person; one who is at the stage between childhood and adulthood. The word means "lack" or "be short of", and it has been used by humanity since centuries ago for the young persons wh ...

Article - Arturo Pèrez-Arteaga - May 11 2010 - 5:33pm

Music Improves Memory In Alzheimer's Patients

As the effort continues to find new treatments for Alzheimer's Disease (AD), researchers have found that music may have a role to play. A study from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has shown that patients with the disease are better able t ...

Article - News Staff - May 12 2010 - 11:06am

A Scientific Explanation For Sudden Insights

Our daily lives are filled with changes that force us to abandon old behavioral strategies and develop new, more appropriate responses. While it is clear that new rules are often deduced through trial-and-error learning, the neural dynamics that underlie t ...

Article - News Staff - May 12 2010 - 12:15pm