How Genetics Shape Our Addictions: Genes Predict the Brain’s Reaction to Smoking
Have you ever wondered why some people find it so much easier to stop smoking than others? New research shows that vulnerability to smoking addiction is shaped by our genes.
Predicting How Patients Respond to Therapy
A new study led by MIT neuroscientists has found that brain scans of patients with social anxiety disorder can help predict whether they will benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy.
New Diagnostic Biomarkers Offer Ray of Hope for Alzheimer’s Disease
Investigators report on the development of imaging-based biomarkers that will have an impact on diagnosis before the Alzheimer’s disease process is set in motion.
Math Ability Requires Crosstalk in the Brain
A new study finds strength of communication between the left and right brain hemispheres predicts performance on basic arithmetic problems. Findings shed light on the neural basis of human math abilities and suggest a possible route to aiding those who suffer from dyscalculia – an inability to understand and manipulate numbers.
Psychologists Link Emotion to Vividness of Perception and Creation of Vivid Memories
Have you ever wondered why you can remember things from long ago as if they happened yesterday, yet sometimes can’t recall what you ate for dinner last night? A new study suggests it’s because how much something means to you actually influences how you see it as well as how vividly you can recall it later.
Brain Hubs Boil when Hoarders Face Pitching Their Own Stuff
In patients with hoarding disorder, parts of a decision-making brain circuit under-activated when dealing with others’ possessions, but over-activated when deciding whether to keep or discard their own things.
The Seat of Meta-Consciousness in the Brain
Studies of lucid dreamers visualise which centers of the brain become active when we become aware of ourselves. Studies demonstrate that a specific cortical network consisting of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the frontopolar regions and the precuneus is activated when this lucid consciousness is attained.
Controlling Monkey Brains and Behavior With Light
Researchers can control the behavior of monkeys by using pulses of blue light to very specifically activate particular brain cells. The findings represent a key advance for optogenetics, a state-of-the-art method for making causal connections between brain activity and behavior. Researchers say that similar light-based mind control could likely also be made to work in humans for therapeutic ends.
Persistent Changes to Sensory Experience can Promote Rewiring of Aging Brain
Max Planck Florida Institute Study Shows: Persistent Sensory Experience Is Good For The Aging Brain Despite a long-held scientific belief that much of the wiring of the brain is fixed by the time of adolescence, a new study shows that changes in sensory experience can cause massive rewiring of the brain, even as one ages. [...]
Oxytocin Could Help Improve Processing Social Information in Children With Autism
Oxytocin Improves Brain Function in Children with Autism Preliminary results from an ongoing, large-scale study by Yale School of Medicine researchers shows that oxytocin, a naturally occurring substance produced in the brain and throughout the body, increased brain function in regions that are known to process social information in children and adolescents with autism spectrum [...]
