brain

If true, that would be terrible news for the world as a whole. Brain fog, poor memory and lower IQ would significantly affect the economy, reduce scientific research, and more generally cause a diminution of well-being and productivity. It could also lead to the election or worse politicians...

A. afarensis still had ape-like brain structure, but longer postnatal brain development, which could be crucial for evolution of humanlike behavior. Blog: https://www.science20.com/news_staff/what_brain_images_of_the_threemillionyear_old_lucy_species_just_revealed-246864 Article...

University of Otago researchers have discovered information about a gene that sets primates—great apes and humans—apart from other mammals, through the study of a rare developmental brain disorder. Dr. Adam O'Neill carried out the research as part of his Ph.D. at the University of Otago, under...

The human brain is disproportionately large. And while abundant grey matter confers certain intellectual advantages, sustaining a big brain is costly—consuming a fifth of energy in the human body. It is an oddity that has long flummoxed scientists: while most organisms thrive with small brains...

If you enjoy listening to music, a live performance is where that enjoyment will peak, according to a new study led by Western researchers. When individuals attend a live concert and listen to music as a group, their brains waves synchronize – a bond that indicates each individual is having a...

Exercise is sustenance for your heart and soul. Exercise is beneficial for mental health, physical fitness, maintaining a healthy weight, and sleep. Recent evidence suggests that we can add brain health to this list. Exercise is good for neurons. Aerobic activity may help the brain stay...

(HealthDay)—Alcohol dependence has deleterious effects on frontal cortical volumes that are compounded by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and drug dependence, according to a study published online March 14 in JAMA Psychiatry. Edith V. Sullivan, Ph.D., from the Stanford University School of...

Executive cognitive functions—abilities that include working memory and underlie mental control and self-regulation—are impaired in schizophrenia. Current pharmacological and behavioral interventions have only modest pro-cognitive effects. In studies of individuals with schizophrenia and...

New research in mice has found that a father's stress affects the brain development of his offspring. This stress changes the father's sperm, which can then alter the brain development of the child. This new research provides a much better understanding of the key role that fathers play in the...

Scanning the brain would be a way to completely eliminate any testing bias, in assessing one's true intelligence. Moreover, it could provide clues as to how we can improve upon intelligence. As well as understanding how to stimulate learning, and improve upon education. Further, it would help us...

Johns Hopkins neuroscientists have discovered how the brain can determine an object's value almost as soon as we see it. The team found the brain can begin processing value just 80 milliseconds after seeing something. That's less than a tenth of a second—and means the brain is basically...

Abstract and symbolic thinking may have began to flourish in Homo Sapiens when our brains became rounder in shape.

Soon brain scans can be used to determine a person's intelligence, rather than an IQ test. The study published on Cell found that connectivity of a person's brain is associated with intelligence. As well as mental disorders, like depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. Yet curiously, one of the...

Pretty interesting read about how the brain works. I can see how fostering repetition through routines can create an addictive experience. Though, I don't see how it could be that stimulating. Wouldn't it feel better to break away from routine, and have new positive experiences? Despite the fact...

Perhaps this could be a better alternative to medication. But I think most people would prefer the non-invasive method. So if you're feeling down, you could just zap your brain, I guess.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6366/1027 Here's the abstract to the paper, but it's behind a paywall. Abstract To better understand the molecular and cellular differences in brain organization between human and nonhuman primates, we performed transcriptome sequencing of 16 regions...

For those who still thought of Neanderthals as brutish retards, think again. It was already known that they had bigger brains than us, they could talk, buried their dead long before Homo sapiens, used medicinal plants, made and used painting and jewellery, and that they may have invented...

"Humans living at high latitude have bigger eyes and bigger brains to cope with poor light during long winters and cloudy days, UK scientists have said. The scientists measured the eye sockets and brain volumes of 55 skulls from 12 populations across the world, and plotted the results...

"One of the most well-documented differences between domesticated animals and their wild counterparts is their brains: across every species that has been looked at, the brains of domesticated animals are smaller. Why does domestication lead to shrinking brains? And what does this mean in...