Neuroscience

The Origin Of Empathy In...Chickens?

A new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B says it is the first to demonstrate that birds possess empathy- and they say they have verified it using both behavioral and physiological methods to measure these traits. Using non-invasive physiological m ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 8 2011 - 11:35pm

Bilingualism Is Like A Mental Gymnasium For The Brain

Recent research indicates that bilingual speakers can outperform monolinguals in certain mental abilities, such as editing out irrelevant information and focusing on important information, said Judith Kroll, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Penn Stat ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 17 2011 - 4:00am

Karaoke Reveals A Neurological Basis For Embarrassment

A group of patients withneurodegenerative diseases have helped researchers discover a neurological basis of embarrassment.     The thumb-sized bit of tissue in the right hemisphere of the front part of the brain is called the pregenual anterior cingulate c ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 15 2011 - 9:14am

Is There A Brainwave 'Fingerprint'?

A new study of electroencephalography (EEG) readings published in the Journal of Neuroscience says that despite the major neural overhaul underway during adolescence, most teens maintained a unique and consistent pattern of underlying brain oscillations.   ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 26 2011 - 7:18pm

"Self-Devouring"- The Answer To Neurodegenerative Diseases?

Scientists have identified a biochemical abnormality behind the potentially fatal neurodegenerative Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) and, using several models of the disease, were able to reverse the problem in what may be a crucial step towards a cure for hum ...

Article - Catarina Amorim - May 3 2011 - 2:00am

Noam Chomsky Was Right? We Have Inborn Language Sense, Says Study

Fifty years ago, the philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky speculated that humans are able to learn language easily as children because knowledge of grammar is 'hardwired' into human brains. In other words, we know some of the fundamental things ...

Article - News Staff - May 16 2011 - 11:38am

Astrocytes Cultivated In The Lab Dish

The astrocyte, most common cell in the human nervous system, is finally getting some respect; researchers have used embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to cultivate the star-shaped astrocyte. Not just putty in the brain and spinal cord The ability ...

Article - News Staff - May 22 2011 - 5:28pm

Building A Virtual Brain: A Dialogue

On June 6 th  2005, EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland) and IBM launched the Blue Brain Project, an ambitious attempt at simulating a mammalian brain down to a molecular level. Headed by professor Henry Markram, the Blue Brain Pro ...

Article - Gunnar De Winter - Jun 3 2011 - 12:06pm

Brain Scans Show Violent People Have Bigger Mesolimbic Areas

It is generally accepted that pathological violence is a combination of factors, both biological and psychological, but brain studies of violent criminals haven't revealed much. However, a new brain imaging study suggests that men with a history of vi ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 6 2011 - 6:36pm

Routine Screening For Autism Unnecessary

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently recommended that screening for autism be incorporated into routine physician check-ups, even if no concern has been raised by the parents. Such routine screening of all children for autism gets a thumbs down fro ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 13 2011 - 11:23am