Neuroscience

How Your Brain Reacts To Emotional Information Is Influenced By Genetics, In Imaging Analysis

Your genes may influence how sensitive you are to emotional information, according to a new study which found that carriers of a certain genetic variation perceived positive and negative images more vividly, and had heightened activity in certain brain re ...

Article - News Staff - May 14 2015 - 8:14pm

Weekend Science: Binge Drinking Behavior Linked To GIRK Brain Protein

Researchers have discovered that a brain protein plays a key role in controlling binge drinking, defined as drinking to the point of intoxication. They found that deleting the gene for this protein in mice ramped up alcohol consumption and prevented the b ...

Article - News Staff - May 15 2015 - 10:18am

Family Genetics Study Provides New Clues To Autism Risk

A study of 2,377 children with autism, their parents and siblings- data from families with one child with autism and one or more children without the condition- has led to new information on how different types of mutations affect autism risk. The genetic ...

Article - News Staff - May 16 2015 - 9:30am

How Do Neurons And Blood Vessels Communicate?

It's been known since the 16th century that neurons and blood vessels often traverse the body side by side but it was only more recently discovered that the growth of neuronal and vascular networks is controlled by the same molecules.  “Most interesti ...

Article - News Staff - May 12 2015 - 3:30pm

Auditory Processing: What We Hear May Be Shaped By What We Expect

Do we hear sounds as they are, or do our expectations about what we are going to hear shape the way sound is processed?  Through the use of computational neuroscience models, Bournemouth University’s Dr. Emili Balaguer-Ballester and colleagues are trying t ...

Article - News Staff - May 18 2015 - 10:30am

Seeing Is Hearing: Blind Echolocators Use Visual Areas Of The Brain

Some blind individuals use echoes from tongue or finger clicks to recognize objects in the distance, such echolocation can almost be a radar 'replacement' for vision.  Recent research showed that echolocation in blind individuals is a full form o ...

Article - News Staff - May 25 2015 - 10:23am

Vibrational Theory Of Olfaction: Controversial Hypothesis Deemed Implausible

Humans can discriminate tens of thousands of odors. While we may take our sense of smell for granted, it adds immeasurably to our quality of life: the aroma of freshly brewed coffee; the invigorating smell of an ocean breeze or a field of wildflowers; the ...

Article - The Conversation - Jun 7 2015 - 11:30am

FMRI And Memory Detectors- Easily Fooled

Real-time brain scans coupled with a machine-learning algorithm can reveal whether a person has memory of a particular subject, but with a little bit of concentration people can easily hide their memories from the computer. Memory is obviously important, ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 11 2015 - 3:00pm

Large Doses Of Antioxidants May Be Harmful To Neuronal Stem Cells

Stem cells are especially sensitive to oxygen radicals and antioxidants shows new research from the group of Anu Wartiovaara in the Molecular Neurology Research Program of University of Helsinki. Mitochondria are cellular power plants that use oxygen to p ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 17 2015 - 10:30am

Longitudinal Brain Changes During Transition From Adolescence To Adulthood Found In ASD

A new study demonstrates that the atypical trajectory of cortical/brain development in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) extends well beyond young childhood and into late adolescence and young adulthood. A considerable amount of work has focused on early str ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 13 2015 - 6:17pm