brain

Stories 141 - 160 | << Prev   Next >>

Nuclear Bombs Prove Our Brains Keep Growing

Research uses fallout from tests to show we get new brain cells as adults

(Newser) - Congratulations, your adult brain isn't meekly withering into a useless mass after all—it is instead generating new neurons all the while. Scientists have long debated whether the brain keeps growing into adulthood, and new research in Cell seems to have settled the mystery. What's more, the Swedish...

Bad at Math? Consider a Zap to the Brain

 Bad at Math? 
 Consider a 
 Zap to the Brain 
study says
May 17, 2013 1:45 PM CDT

Bad at Math? Consider a Zap to the Brain

Study finds that 'transcranial random noise stimulation' helps

(Newser) - Terrible at math? No worries, it's nothing that a little electrical stimulation can't help. Researchers from the UK and Austria found that transcranial random noise stimulation ( Popular Science describes it as "a painless zap to the brain") helped subjects to learn arithmetic more quickly—and...

Big Boozer? Exercise Will Protect Your Brain
Big Boozer? Exercise Will Protect Your Brain
study says
Apr 17, 2013 9:41 AM CDT

Big Boozer? Exercise Will Protect Your Brain

Or, its white matter, more specifically: study

(Newser) - If you're a wino who prizes your white matter, just work out, according to a new study. It makes a connection between two areas of previous research: that heavy drinkers are more likely to display damage to their brain's white matter (which is what allows different parts of...

Obama Announces $100M Brain-Mapping Project

Set to devote $100M to initiative

(Newser) - President Obama today unveiled a major federal project to map out the human brain , discovering "how millions of brain cells interact," in the words of a White House scientist. Obama is directing $100 million toward the program, which has been compared to the Human Genome Project and could...

Scientists Link Brains of Two Rats
Scientists Link Brains
of Two Rats
Feb 28, 2013 4:25 PM CST

Scientists Link Brains of Two Rats

Signals from one affect the other, say researchers

(Newser) - It is, in the words of Wired , a "rodent mind meld." A Duke neuroscientist planted electrodes in the brains of two rats and discovered that signals from one could control the actions of the other, reports the New York Times . In one experiment, the rats were trained to...

White House Plans to Map Human Brain

Experts hope for economic boost from potential $3B project

(Newser) - When President Obama mentioned mapping the brain in his State of the Union address, he may have been hinting at a big science goal for the White House. The administration is readying a project to investigate the human brain at a level on par with the Human Genome Project, the...

Behold: A Thought Being Formed

Researchers capture the first such images, from a zebrafish

(Newser) - Japanese researchers say they have captured the first images of a thought being formed in a brain, reports Gizmodo . The remarkable little movie shows a zebrafish thinking about a meal as prey swims nearby. Primitive thinking, maybe, but "this is a fundamental leap forward in our understanding of how...

CTE Rampant Among Those With Frequent Head Trauma

Research points to long-term brain damage

(Newser) - Concern is growing over a link between repeated hits to the head and brain disease—and a new study adds fuel to the fire. Researchers studied donated brain samples from 85 deceased people who'd experienced frequent, mild episodes of traumatic brain injury, and found signs of a certain brain...

Smoking Rots Your Brain, Too
 Smoking Rots Your Brain, Too 
in case you missed it
Dec 1, 2012 7:54 AM CST

Smoking Rots Your Brain, Too

Study finds it's associated with cognitive decline

(Newser) - Bad news, smokers: The nicotine habit doesn't just hurt your lungs, it also rots your brain, according to a new study. Researchers gave brain tests to participants over the age of 50, and repeated those tests after four years and again after eight. They found a "consistent association"...

Einstein's Brain Shows Why He Was So Smart

Study shows that his gray matter had extra folds

(Newser) - Albert Einstein had quite the advantage in contemplating the universe, according to a new study . Photographs of his brain reveal unusually complex folding patterns in several areas, particularly his frontal lobes, which are linked to planning and abstract thought, LiveScience reports. "It's a really sophisticated part of the...

Even Moderate Boozing Bad for the Brain
 Even Moderate 
 Boozing Bad 
 for the Brain 
STUDY SAYS
Oct 26, 2012 11:26 AM CDT

Even Moderate Boozing Bad for the Brain

Study: One or two drinks a day could affect ability to learn new things

(Newser) - Binge drinking bad, moderate drinking OK, right? Wrong, say scientists at Rutgers. They exposed lab rats to an all-you-can-drink diet, spiking some of the liquid with alcohol, and then looked at their motor skills and brain function over two weeks. Even though the rats maintained a blood-alcohol level of .08%,...

To Prevent Shrinking Brain, Exercise in Your 70s

Just a few walks a week can help: Study

(Newser) - To keep your brain fighting fit in your 70s, it seems that physical exercise beats mental workouts. Scientists found that in 638 people beyond retirement age, the most physically active subjects suffered less brain shrinkage over three years, the BBC reports; shrinking is associated with trouble thinking and remembering. Just...

Is Young Blood the Fountain of Youth?

 Is Young Blood 
 the Fountain 
 of Youth? 
new study
Oct 18, 2012 12:02 AM CDT

Is Young Blood the Fountain of Youth?

Young blood reverses some brain aging in old mice

(Newser) - Vampires have known; now research mice are beginning to learn. Experiments on mice have shown that it's possible to rejuvenate animals by giving them blood from the young, according to a Standford University study. Blood from young mice reversed some of the effects of brain aging, improving learning and...

Moms Can Carry Sons' DNA in Brains for Years

New study finds first evidence of phenomenon in humans

(Newser) - For the first time, researchers have found that DNA from fetuses can migrate into a mother's brain and stay there for years, LiveScience reports. The process of mothers and fetuses exchanging cells, known as microchimerism, has been observed in the past, but until now scientists had only found evidence...

iPad App Gives You Access to... Einstein's Brain

Scanned images available for researchers and regular people alike

(Newser) - Want a look at Einstein's brain? For $9.99 it's yours, as long as you have an iPad. A new application launched today includes detailed scans of the genius' brain: After he died, his brain was removed, sliced up, and turned into almost 350 slides, and a medical...

Blood Sugar Might Be Shrinking Your Brain

Even high end of normal appears harmful, researcher say

(Newser) - We've all been told sugar rots the teeth—but the brain as well? A new study has linked blood sugar levels even at the high end of normal to shrinkage of parts of the brain involved in memory and emotions, reports ABC . The "robust" link between blood sugar...

Complainers Damage Neurons in the Brain

Entrepreneur Trevor Blake offers tips to save yourself

(Newser) - That pain you feel listening to complainers? It's real enough to peel away neurons from your brain and render it pretty much useless, reports Inc . "The brain works more like a muscle than we thought," says Trevor Blake, an entrepreneur who wrote Three Simple Steps: A Map ...

Why Hoarders Can&#39;t Let Go
 Why Hoarders 
 Can't Let Go 
in case you missed it
Aug 11, 2012 12:46 PM CDT

Why Hoarders Can't Let Go

Decision-making parts of their brains go into 'overdrive'

(Newser) - If you've ever watched A&E's Hoarders and wondered what makes it so hard for the show's subjects to throw away their clutter, a new study may have an answer for you. Researchers scanned the brains of 43 people with the hoarding disorder and compared them to...

Chronic Pain: An Emotional Reaction?

 Chronic Pain: An 
 Emotional Reaction? 
in case you missed it
Jul 7, 2012 8:00 AM CDT

Chronic Pain: An Emotional Reaction?

Brain regions may cause pain to linger on

(Newser) - About 30 million to 40 million American adults suffer from chronic pain—but it may be all in their heads, a new study says. Researchers looked at 40 volunteers, all back pain sufferers, and found that brain scans could predict with 85% accuracy whether their pain would become chronic. At...

Artificial Brain Learns to Watch Cat Videos

Google experiment may make you feel better about your online habits

(Newser) - It turns out our future robot overlords love watching cats on the Internet, too. Google used 16,000 computer processors to create an artificial brain, connected it to the Internet, and fed it random images from 10 million YouTube videos so it could "learn." Its response was to...

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