by Katie Willis, University of Alberta Our ability to edit our memories allows us to grow and change how we perceive ourselves and our experiences, says U of A psychology researcher. The perspective through we which recall our memories—seeing them through our own eyes as a participant or seeing ourselves in them as a third-party...
Category: <span>Neuroscience</span>
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New method classifies brain cells based on electrical signals
by Massachusetts Institute of Technology For decades, neuroscientists have relied on a technique for reading out electrical “spikes” of brain activity in live, behaving subjects that tells them very little about the types of cells they are monitoring. In a new study, researchers at the University of Tuebingen and MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and...
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Scorpion toxin that targets ‘wasabi receptor’ may help solve mystery of chronic pain
by University of California, San Francisco Researchers at UC San Francisco and the University of Queensland have discovered a scorpion toxin that targets the “wasabi receptor,” a chemical-sensing protein found in nerve cells that’s responsible for the sinus-jolting sting of wasabi and the flood of tears associated with chopping onions. Because the toxin triggers a...
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Old MS Drug May Improve Cognitive Function
Damian McNamara August 06, 2019 A potassium channel blocker that was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration nearly a decade ago to improve walking in adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) may also increase information-processing speed (IPS) in this patient population, new research suggests. In a randomized controlled trial, participants who took 10 mg...
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Abnormal blood pressure in middle and late life influences dementia risk
JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE In a study that spanned two and a half decades and looked at data from more than 4,700 participants, Johns Hopkins researchers have added to evidence that abnormal blood pressure in midlife persisting into late life increases the likelihood of developing dementia. Although not designed to show cause and effect, the study...
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Nerve stimulation and repetitive sounds help improve hearing
by American Physiological Society Combining seizure-preventing electrical stimulation with repetitive musical tones improves processing of sounds in the brain, according to new research. The discovery may provide relief for chronic ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and aid communication skills in people with autism. The first-of-its-kind study, published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurophysiology...
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Being left-handed doesn’t mean you are right-brained—so what does it mean?
by Emma Karlsson, The Conversation There have been plenty of claims about what being left-handed means, and whether it changes the type of person someone is—but the truth is something of an enigma. Myths about handedness appear year after year, but researchers have yet to uncover all of what it means to be left-handed. So...
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Researchers investigate how the brain changes with different learning experiences
Posted Today A new collaboration with an independent school in Menlo Park, Calif., is helping Stanford researchers better understand how different learning experiences drive changes in the brain. The Brainwave Learning Center at Synapse School brings together researchers, teachers and students to gain new insights into how young learners’ brains transform as they acquire new...
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How We Are Wired for Smell: Scientists explore the brain’s “olfactory map”
By Ryan P. Dalton on August 13, 2019 Subject cDa29—well-known yet anonymous—resides somewhere in the north of England. You can almost see it: the peat stacks and old textile mills; the limestone and turf ruins where, on divine calling, Hadrian marked the northernmost reach of the Roman Empire. But even were you there, you wouldn’t...
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Scientists reverse aging process in rat brain stem cells
by University of Cambridge New research, published today in Nature, reveals how increasing brain stiffness as we age causes brain stem cell dysfunction, and demonstrates new ways to reverse older stem cells to a younger, healthier state. The results have far reaching implications for how we understand the ageing process, and how we might develop...