Suspicion Resides in Two Regions of the Brain
Our baseline level of distrust is distinct and separable from our inborn lie detector. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on my parahippocampal gyrus. Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have found that suspicion resides in two distinct regions of the brain: the amygdala, which plays a central role [...]
Brain Network Reveals Disorders
Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich identify a new method of unerringly detecting the presence of pathophysiological changes in the brain. The new method was developed in order to gain a mechanistic understanding of schizophrenia and other spectrum disorders, which will lead to more accurate diagnoses and more effective treatments. When mathematical [...]
New Finding Offers Neurological Support for Adam Smith’s Theories of Morality
The part of the brain we use when engaging in egalitarian behavior may also be linked to a larger sense of morality, researchers have found. Their conclusions, which offer scientific support for Adam Smith’s theories of morality, are based on experimental research published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of [...]
Scientists Search for Source of Creativity
It takes two to tango. Two hemispheres of your brain, that is. USC researchers are working to pin down the exact source of creativity in the brain and have found that the left hemisphere of your brain, thought to be the logic and math portion, actually plays a critical role in creative thinking. “We want [...]
An Off Switch for Pain
Chemists build light-controlled neural inhibitor. The notion of a pain switch is an alluring idea, but is it realistic? Well, chemists at LMU Munich, in collaboration with colleagues in Berkeley and Bordeaux, have now shown in laboratory experiments that it is possible to inhibit the activity of pain-sensitive neurons using an agent that acts as [...]
Brain Differences Seen at 6 Months in Infants Who Develop Autism
Researchers have found significant differences in brain development in infants as young as six months old who later develop autism, compared with babies who don’t develop the disorder. The study, by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and other centers, involved infants considered [...]
Chess Experts Help Researchers Understand How We See the World
UT Dallas team aids study of how humans view game boards, faces and other visual information. Just as expert chess players scrutinize a board to calculate their next moves, UT Dallas cognitive neuroscientists are studying the way these players’ brains work to better understand how visual information is processed. In three recent papers, Dr. James [...]
Gene Therapy for Inherited Blindness Succeeds in Patients’ Other Eye
In three adults, repeat dose safely improves vision. Gene therapy for congenital blindness has taken another step forward, as researchers further improved vision in three adult patients previously treated in one eye. After receiving the same treatment in their other eye, the patients became better able to see in dim light, and two were able [...]
Working Memory and the Brain
Visual working memory not as specialized in the brain as visual encoding, study finds. Researchers have long known that specific parts of the brain activate when people view particular images. For example, a region called the fusiform face area turns on when the eyes glance at faces, and another region called the parahippocampal place area [...]
Obesity Reduces the Size of Your Brain
New research from Uppsala University shows that a specific brain region linked to appetite regulation is reduced in elderly people who are obese. Poor eating habits over a lifetime may therefore weaken brain function that helps us to control our desire to eat. The findings are published in The International Journal of Obesity. Researchers Samantha [...]
