brain

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Computer Cursor Can Be Controlled by Thought

Study participants moved it by thinking of sounds oo, ah, ee, and eh

(Newser) - Advances in mind-reading technology have made it possible for people with disabilities to control a computer cursor using only their thoughts, say Washington University researchers. The team has demonstrated that people can move a cursor around a computer screen and "click" by thinking of a particular vowel sound—in...

Hockey: Another Brain Damage Culprit?

Brain tissue of Bob Probert shows chronic traumatic encephalopathy

(Newser) - Hockey is famed for its rough-and-tough brawling, but most of the recent conversation about the perils of high-impact sports on the brain have centered around NFL players . That might change. Researchers at Boston University this week announced that they noted chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the brain tissue of Bob Probert,...

Our Brains Are Shrinking!
Our Brains
Are Shrinking
Jan 3, 2011 4:46 AM CST

Our Brains Are Shrinking

But do smaller brains mean we are getting dumber, or less aggressive?

(Newser) - Today's human brain is 10% smaller than that of our Cro-Magnon ancestors, but scientists are divided on whether that means we are getting smarter or dumber. Some say it does represent a dumbing down, but that our increasingly complex society means individuals don't need as much intelligence to survive and...

Liberals, Conservatives Have Different Brains
Liberals, Conservatives
Have Different Brains
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 2, 2011 7:37 AM CST

Liberals, Conservatives Have Different Brains

Or least different-sized parts, say scientists

(Newser) - Here's a study sure to stoke controversy—British researchers have found that political orientation correlates to the relative size of certain parts of the brain. Liberals can boast of thicker gray matter at the anterior cingulate, while conservatives can brag about their bigger amygdalas, reports the Sydney Morning Herald . How...

Protein Discovery Could Spur 'Gold Rush' for New Drugs

Identification of key brain proteins could aid treatment of conditions

(Newser) - Scientists are hailing a potential breakthrough in the treatment of 130 conditions following the identification of more than 1,400 crucial brain proteins. When faulty, these proteins have been found to contribute to conditions including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, autism, and learning disabilities, and their identification could accelerate the...

Brain Learns New Words in 15 Minutes

... if it hears them over and over and over

(Newser) - It takes the brain just 15 minutes to learn a new word, new research suggests. The trick is hearing it, oh, say 160 times in 15 minutes, the Telegraph reports. If that happens, the brain creates a neural network that is "virtually indistinguishable" from those surrounding familiar words, Cambridge...

Tiny Electric Shocks to Brain Improve Number Skills

Research could help those with dyslexia-like disorder

(Newser) - Don't try this at home (or school): A tiny, imperceptible electrical current applied to a certain part of the brain seems to improve numerical skills, the BBC reports. Researchers exploring the brain's parietal lobe found that running such a current across the lobe increased people's ability to complete a puzzle...

Scientists May Soon Be Able to 'Record' Dreams

Brain activity research could be applied to sleeping subjects

(Newser) - Sounds like something out of a movie, but it's real: Someday, scientists may be able to "record" your dreams. Research published in the journal Nature explains that it is already possible to record higher-level brain activity, and the same methods could be applied to dreams—though there is still...

Your Brain Is Like the Internet

It's a series of interconnected networks: study

(Newser) - The human brain works like a personal Internet and not a "top-down" command structure as previously thought, scientists say. USC neurologists used a novel technique for tracing signals throughout the brain that allowed them to see the direction of connections in brain tissue—that is, where certain signals were...

Twitter Will Make You Smarter
 Twitter Will Make You Smarter 
opinion
Jun 11, 2010 12:14 PM CDT

Twitter Will Make You Smarter

Like other new media, site beefs up brain if used wisely

(Newser) - It's fashionable to cry about how Twitter and other new forms of electronic media are making us intellectually lazy and downright stupid. In fact, the opposite is true, writes Harvard's Steven Pinker. "Don’t rail at PowerPoint or Google," he writes. "It’s not as if habits...

The Strange Odyssey of Einstein's Stolen Brain

And the breakthrough it led to

(Newser) - When Thomas Harvey performed Albert Einstein's autopsy, he removed his brain, which was standard procedure. But what he did next wasn't standard at all: He put the brain in a jar of formaldehyde and made off with it. NPR relates the strange tale in a segment this morning. Harvey said...

Dreaming Makes You Smart





 Dreaming Makes You Smart 
Apr 23, 2010 4:38 AM CDT

Dreaming Makes You Smart

Brain processes tasks while you snore

(Newser) - If studying hard makes you sleepy, you may as well indulge. New research from Harvard Medical School suggests that dreaming about a new piece of information helps you remember it. The findings could help improve memory and learning. Students, for instance, may be better off studying before bedtime or taking...

Being Fat Hurts Your Brain
 Being Fat Hurts Your Brain 
Apr 21, 2010 2:50 PM CDT

Being Fat Hurts Your Brain

Studies link obesity with declining mental faculties

(Newser) - Being fat could make you lose your mind, recent research suggests. One recent long-term study found that overweight people experienced a much more pronounced and rapid decline in brain functions, writes Olivia Judson at the New York Times Opinionator blog. Another found that middle-aged obese people have smaller, more atrophied...

Your Brain Can't Tell Which Tooth Aches

Scientists are trying to get a handle on mouth pain

(Newser) - A new study confirms what a lot of dentists already know: patients are often way off when they try to pinpoint a toothache. In fact, the brain can't seem to differentiate whether the pain is coming from the top or bottom row, Wired reports. It can pinpoint discomfort precisely in...

'Puberty Pill' Could Make Kids Smarter

Drug would act on brain, blocking receptor that slows learning

(Newser) - Studying, schmudying: A pill that boosts teenagers’ ability to learn may be in the pipeline soon. A receptor in the hippocampus area of the brain appears to slow down learning when kids hit puberty, researchers at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn report. Give kids a steroid to suppress that receptor, and...

To Get Smarter, Take a Nap
 To Get Smarter, 
 Take a Nap 
Feb 21, 2010 4:02 PM CST

To Get Smarter, Take a Nap

Sleeping for 90 minutes at midday boosts the brain's ability to learn

(Newser) - Taking a nap after lunch helps the brain "reset" and prepare to assimilate new information, researchers say. "It's as though the e-mail inbox in your hippocampus is full and, until you sleep and clear out those fact e-mails, you're not going to receive any more mail," says...

Insomnia Linked to Shrinking Brains

Decision-making part of the brain less dense in chronic insomniacs

(Newser) - In news unlikely to make insomniacs rest any easier, a study has linked sleepless nights to loss of gray matter for the first time. Neurologists using brain imaging technology found that chronic insomniacs had significantly lower brain density in the parts of the brain responsible for resting and decision-making. They...

Family Gets Grandma's Brain in Bag, Sues

Claims funeral home lumped gray matter in with personal effects

(Newser) - A New Mexico family is suing a pair of funeral homes they say gave them their grandmother’s brain in the same bag as her personal effects. One of the family members says he took the bag, which was unsealed, unaware that it contained the brain, and left it in...

Reading Beefs Up Kids' Brains
 Reading Beefs Up Kids' Brains 
Dec 11, 2009 10:58 AM CST

Reading Beefs Up Kids' Brains

Builds info-carrying networks in white matter

(Newser) - Time children spend reading doesn't just improve their reading skills, it changes the structure of their brains. A new study found that poor readers have weak information-carrying highways in their brains' "white matter," and that through intensive reading practice, kids with previously "low quality" white matter can...

Lose Weight: Do a Puzzle
 Lose Weight: Do a Puzzle 
Nov 25, 2009 11:44 AM CST

Lose Weight: Do a Puzzle

Mental puzzles can help you shed a few pounds, says brain trainer

(Newser) - Hunkering down with a Sudoku puzzle could help you shed some pounds. Tim Forrester, the man behind brain training website cannyminds.com, says mental exercise doubles as real exercise, with the body burning 90 calories for every hour spent working on crossword puzzles or brain teasers. A passive brain requires...

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