A simple test taken within a week of a stroke may help predict how well people will have recovered up to three years later, according to a study published in the October 17, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “We found that this test, which takes less […]
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Artificial intelligence helps reveal how people process abstract thought: Study of deep neural networks suggests knowledge comes via sensory experience
As artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated, much of the public attention has focused on how successfully these technologies can compete against humans at chess and other strategy games. A philosopher from the University of Houston has taken a different approach, deconstructing the complex neural networks used in machine learning to shed light on how humans […]
Making the right connections
Researchers at VIB and KU Leuven have uncovered a new molecular interaction that governs the formation of specific functional connections between two types of neurons. It gives an important clue as to how unique interactions give shape to precisely organized neuronal networks in the brain. Pyramidal neurons are named after their cell body, which is […]
How nature, nurture shape the sleeping brain: Study of teenage twins teases apart influence of genes, environment on brain activity during sleep
Some patterns of electrical activity generated by the brain during sleep are inherited, according to a study of teenage twins published in JNeurosci. Pinpointing the relative contributions of biology and experience to sleep neurophysiology could inform therapies for numerous psychiatric disorders in which alterations in brain activity during sleep can be detected. Leila Tarokh and […]
Do rock climbers seek out high-risk climbs?
The sport of rock climbing is gaining international attention, having been approved for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games. But news headlines about the sport are still dominated by reports of gruesome injuries and near-death falls. Are rock climbers going out of their way to seek these risks? A new study published in Risk Analysis: […]
We may hear others’ footsteps, but how do we ignore our own?
A team of scientists has uncovered the neural processes mice use to ignore their own footsteps, a discovery that offers new insights into how we learn to speak and play music. The research is reported in the journal Nature. “The ability to ignore one’s own footsteps requires the brain to store and recall memories and […]
New sensors track dopamine in the brain for more than year: Tiny probes could be useful for monitoring patients with Parkinson’s and other diseases
Dopamine, a signaling molecule used throughout the brain, plays a major role in regulating our mood, as well as controlling movement. Many disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, depression, and schizophrenia, are linked to dopamine deficiencies. MIT neuroscientists have now devised a way to measure dopamine in the brain for more than a year, which they believe […]
Dementia symptoms peak in winter and spring, study finds
Adults both with and without Alzheimer’s disease have better cognition skills in the late summer and early fall than in the winter and spring, according to a new study published this week in PLOS Medicine by Andrew Lim of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues. There have been few […]
Heart-brain connection could be predictive biomarker for epilepsy
Heartbeat irregularities connected to brain activity abnormalities may lead to the ability to predict eventual epileptic seizures in subjects who suffered physical or infectious brain insults, according to Penn State researchers who studied mouse models of cerebral malaria, which often causes epilepsy in those who survive. “We were developing, in a project led by Steven […]
New research presents alternative methods, like robo-advisors, to manage retirement income
The need to help retirees make prudent spending decisions has led to the growth of a large industry of financial advisors, but a new article suggests that improved policy approaches may be more effective. Published in Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, the study reviews the psychology behind rapid spending decisions and presents […]