brain

Prion Test For Rare, Fatal Brain Disease Helps Families Cope

11:24am February 06, 2017

by Rae Ellen Bichell

Scientists now have a fairly noninvasive way to test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare form of dementia. A similar test, they say, might offer earlier diagnoses of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

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A self-portrait taken by Cajal in his library when he was in his 30s.

Art Exhibition Celebrates Drawings By The Founder Of Modern Neuroscience

6:15pm January 26, 2017

by Jon Hamilton

Santiago Ramón y Cajal's drawings of nerve cells changed scientists' understanding of the brain. Now, 80 of those drawings are going on display at an art museum in Minnesota.

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A mouse with predatory brain circuits switched on is much more likely to attack and kill prey like this cricket.

Science

Flipping A Switch In The Brain Turns Lab Rodents Into Killer Mice

3:28pm January 12, 2017

by Jon Hamilton

When scientists activate hunting circuits in the brains of genetically modified mice, the animals attack insects and even bottle caps as prey. It gives clues to the evolution of hunting in humans.

From Psychedelics To Alzheimer's, 2016 Was A Good Year For Brain Science

5:00am December 31, 2016

by Bret Stetka

A woman with ALS was able to type just by thinking about the letters, and people with cancer found their anxiety and depression erased by a single encounter with magic mushrooms.

Santa tell me? Ariana Grande performs at the Jingle Ball concert at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 9.

How That Holiday Song Becomes An Inescapable Earworm

5:00am December 24, 2016

by Angus Chen

There's a reason why certain songs get stuck in our brains, scientists say. They interrupt the musical patterns we expect with surprises that we can't help but notice.

A peak of abnormal epileptic brain activity in a brain's hippocampus

Science

Understanding The Traffic Signals In The Brain

1:00pm December 16, 2016

by Shawn Fitzmaurice

Most of us with brains understand that our body is controlled by the noodle in our noggin. Through the sciences, we know how the heart works to pump blood and how our digestive system processes food. But we still don't understand, on many basic levels, how the brain itself works.

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Monkeys' vocal equipment can produce the sounds of human speech, research shows, but they lack the connections between the auditory and motor parts of the brain that humans rely on to imitate words.

Say, What? Monkey Mouths And Throats Are Equipped For Speech

2:58pm December 09, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Monkeys weren't thought to have the right sort of vocal tracts to speak. But a study finds they can make many sounds common in human speech; it's just that their brains aren't "language ready."

Scientists are studying the brain activity of people with dyslexia to better understand it.

Education

How Science Is Rewiring The Dyslexic Brain

2:02pm November 29, 2016

by Gabrielle Emanuel

Scientists are exploring how human brains learn to read — and discovering new ways that brains with dyslexia can learn to cope.

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Comparative psychologist Claudia Fugazza and her dog demonstrate the "Do As I Do" method of exploring canine memory.

Your Dog Remembers Every Move You Make

3:29pm November 23, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

Our canine pals remember lots of facts, like where to find the food bowl. Now there's evidence they also have aspects of "episodic memory," which allow them to relive experiences and events.

Young human brains need loads of stimulation to learn and grow, pediatricians have long known. But a mouse study shows overstimulation also rewires the brain in ways that can interfere with learning.

Heavy Screen Time Rewires Young Brains, For Better And Worse

8:12am November 19, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

Bombarding young mice with video and audio stimulation changes the way the brain develops. But some scientists think those sorts of brain changes could protect kids from stressing out in a busy world.