Study of jazz players shows common brain circuitry processes music and language
The brains of jazz musicians engrossed in spontaneous, improvisational musical conversation showed robust activation of brain areas traditionally associated with spoken language and syntax, which are used to interpret the structure of phrases and sentences. But this musical conversation shut...
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Hippocampus region called CA2 key to answering: ‘Have I been here before?’
To answer the seemingly simple question "Have I been here before?" we must use our memories of previous experiences to determine if our current location is familiar or novel. In a new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience researchers from the...
Read moreDetailsThe lunar cycle doesn’t influence rate of search and rescue incidents
The moon has been blamed for bar fights, mental health problems, increased fertility, and more. But new research casts doubt on the belief that the lunar cycle influences human psychology in an observably negative way. A study published in the...
Read moreDetailsSmelling with our eyes: Descriptions affect odor perception
According to Simona Manescu and Johannes Frasnelli of the University of Montreal’s Department of Psychology, an odour is judged differently depending on whether it is accompanied by a positive or negative description when it is smelled. When associated with a...
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Call to scientists: Stop excluding left-handed people from scientific studies!
Left-handed people really do have different brains and genes from right-handed people. Yet left-handed people are almost never included as study subjects in scientific research. Therefore in an article inNature Reviews Neuroscience, Roel Willems and his colleagues from the Donders...
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Stanford psychologist shows why talking to kids really matters
Fifty years of research has revealed the sad truth that the children of lower-income, less-educated parents typically enter school with poorer language skills than their more privileged counterparts. By some measures, 5-year-old children of lower socioeconomic status (SES) score two...
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Mathematical beauty activates same brain region as great art or music
People who appreciate the beauty of mathematics activate the same part of their brain when they look at aesthetically pleasing formula as others do when appreciating art or music, suggesting that there is a neurobiological basis to beauty. There are...
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Your brain is fine-tuning its wiring throughout your life
The white matter microstructure, the communication pathways of the brain, continues to develop/mature as one ages. Studies link age-related differences in white matter microstructure to specific cognitive abilities in childhood and adulthood.
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Feeling powerless increases the weight of the world… literally
Scientists have found that people who feel powerless actually see the world differently, and find a task to be more physically challenging than those with a greater sense of personal and social power.
Read moreDetailsHow your memory rewrites the past
Your memory is a wily time traveler, plucking fragments of the present and inserting them into the past, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. In terms of accuracy, it's no video camera.
Read moreDetailsUCSF team reveals how the brain recognizes speech sounds
UC San Francisco researchers are reporting a detailed account of how speech sounds are identified by the human brain, offering an unprecedented insight into the basis of human language.
Read moreDetailsBrain works like a radio receiver
Initial evidence is found that the brain has a ‘tuning knob’ that is actually influencing behaviour. Brain circuits can tune into the frequency of other brain parts relevant at the time.
Read moreDetailsStudy reveals how the brain links memories of sequential events
Suppose you heard the sound of skidding tires, followed by a car crash. The next time you heard such a skid, you might cringe in fear, expecting a crash to follow — suggesting that somehow, your brain had linked those...
Read moreDetailsFast eye movements: A possible indicator of more impulsive decision-making
Using a simple study of eye movements, Johns Hopkins scientists report evidence that people who are less patient tend to move their eyes with greater speed.
Read moreDetailsThe human brain can process images the eye sees for 13 milliseconds
Imagine seeing a dozen pictures flash by in a fraction of a second. You might think it would be impossible to identify any images you see for such a short time.
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