Latest

auditory cortex

·October 24, 2013·3 min read

Feedback Loops and Localization Errors

A new study describes a feedback loop which modulates the processing of auditory signals in a frequency-dependent manner.

The image shows the scalp topography associated with the research. The caption best describes the image.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·October 23, 2013·3 min read

Seeing the Song: How and When the Auditory System Registers Complex Auditory-Visual Synchrony

Researchers investigate how the brain responds to complex audio-visual stimuli.

This is a cerebral cortex brain slice under a microscope.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 6, 2013·3 min read

Class of Cortical Inhibitory Neurons That Specialize in Disinhibition Identified

VIP interneurons specialize in inhibiting other inhibitory neurons in multiple regions of the cerebral cortex under specific behavioral conditions, a new study shows.

The diagram shows the location of the primary and secondary auditory cortex in the brain.

Featured Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·September 25, 2013·3 min read

Getting an Expected Award is Music to the Brain’s Ears

A new study adds to the mounting evidence that the auditory cortex does more than just process sound.

This illustration shows the anatomy of the brain with the auditory cortex highlighted in green.

Featured Psychology

·June 30, 2013·4 min read

Researchers Discover Link Between Fear and Sound Perception

Researchers have discovered how fear can increase or decrease the ability to discriminate among sounds, depending upon context. The study provides insight into distorted sound perception with victims of PTSD.

The image shows a chemical synapse schema.

Electrophysiology Featured Neuroscience

·May 27, 2013·3 min read

Scientists Discover the Origin of a Giant Synapse

Researchers discover the mechanism and protein responsible for the creation of the giant Calyx of Held synapse in the brain's auditory system.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 19, 2012·2 min read

How the Brain Forms Categories

Neurobiologists investigated how the brain is able to group external stimuli into stable categories. They found the answer in the discrete dynamics of neuronal circuits.

Autism Featured

·September 19, 2012·5 min read

Autistic Adults Have Unreliable Neural Responses, Carnegie Mellon-Led Research Team Finds

Neuroscientists take the first step toward deciphering the connection between general brain function and emergent behavioral patterns in autism. Study shows that autistic adults have unreliable neural sensory responses to visual, auditory and somatosensory, or touch, stimuli.

Featured Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·September 18, 2012·3 min read

Theory: Music Underlies Language Acquisition

Contrary to the prevailing theories that music and language are cognitively separate or that music is a byproduct of language, theorists at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) advocate that music underlies the ability to acquire language.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 6, 2012·2 min read

Noisy Surroundings Take Toll on Short-term Memory

Scientists found that adverse listening situations are difficult for the brain, partly because they draw on the same, limited resources supporting our short-term memory. The new findings are particularly relevant to understanding the cognitive consequences of hearing damage, a condition that affects an increasing number of people.

Featured Neurology

·August 7, 2012·3 min read

Making It Easier to Learn to Read: Dyslexia Caused by Signal Processing in the Brain

Major step in understanding the cause of dyslexia is taken. Scientists have discovered an important neural mechanism underlying dyslexia and shown that many difficulties associated with dyslexia can potentially be traced back to a malfunction of the medial geniculate body in the thalamus.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·July 10, 2012·4 min read

Study Shows the Deaf Brain Processes Touch Differently

Lacking sound input, the primary auditory cortex “feels” touch. The finding reveals how the early loss of a sense affects brain development. It adds to a growing list of discoveries that confirm the impact of experiences and outside influences in molding the developing brain.