Latest Brain Stories
WATCH VIDEO: [Forebrain Engraftment In Mice] redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online A group of non-neural cells found in the human central nervous system may be more essential to the complexity of our brains than previously believed, according to new research published in Thursday’s edition of the journal Cell Stem Cell. A team led by Steven A. Goldman and Maiken Nedergaard of the University of Rochester Medical Center’s (URMC) Center for Translational...
New framework for brain communications offers insight into brain disease, says TAU researcher The transistors and wires that power our electronic devices need to be mounted on a base material known as a "motherboard." Our human brain is not so different — neurons, the cells that transmit electrical and chemical signals, are connected to one another through synapses, similar to transistors and wires, and they need a base material too. But the cells serving that function in the brain...
A region of the brain known to play a key role in visual and spatial processing has a parallel function: sorting visual information into categories, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Chicago. Primates are known to have a remarkable ability to place visual stimuli into familiar and meaningful categories, such as fruit or vegetables. They can also direct their spatial attention to different locations in a scene and make spatially-targeted movements, such as...
In the din of a crowded room, paying attention to just one speaker's voice can be challenging. Research in the March 6 issue of the Cell Press journal Neuron demonstrates how the brain hones in on one speaker to solve this "Cocktail Party Problem." Researchers discovered that brain waves are shaped so that the brain can selectively track the sound patterns from the speaker of interest and at the same time exclude competing sounds from other speakers. The findings could have important...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A research team led by the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has found the first evidence that selective activation of the dentate gyrus, a portion of the hippocampus, can reduce anxiety without affecting learning. The findings suggest therapies targeting this brain region could treat certain anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder and post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). These treatments, as described in the study, would...
A New Direction for Men and Women Who Want to Improve Memory and Focus. HOUSTON, March 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- It's a classic situation - you meet someone new, and then moments later you've forgotten their name! Names, passwords, pin and telephone numbers... the list is endless - with so much to memorize is it really possible to improve how much you can remember? (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130306/CG71794) The good news is, yes! Just like every muscle in...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online An international team of researchers led by Cornell University reveals that it is possible to tell who a person is thinking about by analyzing images of his or her brain. Nathan Spreng, assistant professor of human development in Cornell's College of Human Ecology, and his colleagues demonstrate that our mental models of people produce unique patterns of brain activation, which can be detected using advanced imaging techniques....
Introductions at a party seemingly go in one ear and out the other. However, if you meet someone two or three times during the party, you are more likely to remember his or her name. Your brain has taken a short-term memory - the introduction - and converted it into a long-term one. The molecular key to this activity is mTORC2 (mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2), according to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in an article that appeared online in the journal Nature Neuroscience....
Access to Latest Science and Best Practices is Available at 95% Pricing Discount Until March 17th, 2013 WASHINGTON, March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- SharpBrains, the leading market research firm tracking brain health innovation, announced today it is offering a 95% pricing discount on more than 25 hours of exclusive presentation content from the leading minds in applied cognitive science to honor Brain Awareness Week, held March 11(th)-17(th). This content was presented and discussed...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Two US neuroscientists have discovered new cells are added to a person’s brain when they go through puberty – a biological change designed to better equip growing boys and girls for the rigors of becoming adults. Previously, experts had believed the human brain maintained a set number of cells from birth through old age, but then studies demonstrated that new brain cells were formed in adults. Initially, it was believed those...
Latest Brain Reference Libraries
Formation and Orientation The development of the brain is broken down into stages. The basic evolution begins in the third week of the embryonic process where the neural plate is formed. By week four, the neural plate has developed into the neural tube. The anterior part of the tube, the telencephalon, grows rapidly as it prepares to later give way to the brain. As time goes on, cells begin to classify themselves as either neurons or glial cells, thus determining their functions. Glial...
