Latest Motor control Stories
New research suggests that a brain system called the mirror neuron system, previously implicated as being dysfunctional in autism appears to function normally in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study, published by Cell Press in the May 13 issue of the journal Neuron, argues that difficulties in social communication experienced by individuals with ASD are caused by neural abnormalities other than a mirror neuron system dysfunction.Impaired social interaction is a hallmark...
Such cells appear to have wider distribution than previously thoughtMirror neurons, many say, are what make us human. They are the cells in the brain that fire not only when we perform a particular action but also when we watch someone else perform that same action. Neuroscientists believe this "mirroring" is the mechanism by which we can "read" the minds of others and empathize with them. It's how we "feel" someone's pain, how we discern a grimace from a grin, a...
Despite the almost universal association of the right with life, right, positive and good things, and the left with death, inadequacy, negative and bad things, recent researches show that left-handed people hold the opposite association. Thus, left-handers become a critical case in which conceptual associations, result of a sensory-motor experience, and those that rely on linguistic and cultural uses, are contradictory. A sensory-motor experience in itself is capable of creating abstract...
Children who are mixed-handed, or ambidextrous, are more likely to have mental health, language and scholastic problems in childhood than right- or left-handed children, according to a new study published today in the journal Pediatrics.The researchers behind the study, from Imperial College London and other European institutions, suggest that their findings may help teachers and health professionals to identify children who are particularly at risk of developing certain problems.Around one...
We've all been in situations before where we get so frustrated or angry about something, we will lash out at someone without thinking. This lashing out "” reactive negativity "” happens when we can't control our emotions. Luckily, we are usually pretty good at self-regulating and controlling our emotions and behaviors. Working memory is crucial for cognitive control of emotions: It allows us to consider information we have and reason quickly when deciding what to do as opposed to reacting...
Students will have to use their brains to get good grades at school this year, according to new University of Toronto research that relates brain activity to undergraduate academic performance.In the first study ever to link academic performance to a neural signal, participants performed a Stroop task "“ a well-known test of cognitive control "“ while hooked up to EEG electrodes that measured their brain activity.U of T researchers monitored a brain signal known as the error-related...
"Practice makes perfect" is the maxim drummed into students struggling to learn a new motor skill "“ be it riding a bike or developing a killer backhand in tennis. In order to become proficient in any motor task, all that practice must eventually modify the performer's nervous system so that stable motor memories of the physical actions are formed. In this week's issue of PLoS Biology, new research reveals that macaque monkeys can achieve a kind of consolidation of motor memory...
Canadian scientists say they've determined the use of magnetic brain stimulation results in an improved ability to learn a skilled motor task. University of British Columbia scientists said they studied transcranial magnetic stimulation of the dorsal premotor cortex region of the brain. They said they found skilled movements can be stored as memories and magnetic stimulation of that brain area can facilitate the learning process. A group of volunteers received four days of training, during...
Animals can simplify the brain control of their limb movements by moving a joint with just one muscle that operates against a spring made of the almost perfect elastic substance called resilin. This principle is analyzed and illustrated by striking photographs and high-speed video footage, published in the open access journal BMC Biology, of the movements of the mouthparts of crabs and crayfish.Malcolm Burrows from the University of Cambridge, UK investigated the presence of resilin, an...
A U.S. evolutionary biologist says chimpanzees, which are several times stronger than humans, gain strength from their brains, as well as their muscles. Although great apes are known to have more powerful muscles than humans, Pennsylvania State University Professor Alan Walker argues humans might lack the strength of chimps because human nervous systems exert more control over human muscles. That fine motor control, he said, prevents great feats of strength but allows the performance of...
