Bad Vibes: How Hits To The Head Are Transferred To The Brain
A question about heading soccer balls inspired a series of experiments to understand how the brain changes shape when someone's head takes a hit.
Brain research
Scientists Improve Mood By Stimulating A Brain Area Above The Eyes
People with symptoms suggesting depression felt better immediately when tiny pulses of electricity reached a brain area called the lateral orbitofrontal cortex.
Researchers Uncover A Circuit For Sadness In The Human Brain
When people are feeling glum, it often means that brain areas involved in emotion and memory are communicating. Researchers have now observed the circuit in action in humans.
Neuroscientists Debate A Simple Question: How Does The Brain Store A Phone Number?
Working memory is where the brain keeps bits of information in everyday life handy. But brain scientists don't agree on how working memory works.
The Underestimated Cerebellum Gains New Respect From Brain Scientists
A brain structure that helps us walk in a straight line also appears to play a central role in emotional control and decision-making. The findings about the cerebellum challenge years of dogma.
In Lab Turned Casino, Gambling Monkeys Help Scientists Find Risk-Taking Brain Area
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have identified a brain region in monkeys that influences their desire to take big risks. When this area is inactivated, the monkeys tend to hedge their bets.
Infectious Theory of Alzheimer's Disease Draws Fresh Interest
Money has poured into Alzheimer's research, but until very recently not much of it went toward investigating infection in causing dementia. A million dollar prize may lead more scientists to try.
What Makes A Human Brain Unique? A Newly Discovered Neuron May Be A Clue
The human brain isn't just bigger than a mouse brain. It contains at least one kind of brain cell that isn't found in rodents.
How The Brain Helps You Sing Or Say What You Mean
The richness of human vocal communication turns partly on our ability to control pitch, scientists say. Consider the difference you hear between "Let's eat, Grandma" and "Let's eat Grandma."
Doctors Try Genetically Modified Poliovirus As Experimental Brain Cancer Treatment
Duke University researchers say some patients with brain cancer survived long after receiving treatment with a weakened poliovirus. But the response rate was limited and there were side effects.