neuroscience

A study of 17 people who had been blind since birth found that areas of the brain usually devoted to visual information become active when a blind person is solving math problems.

When Blind People Do Algebra, The Brain's Visual Areas Light Up

6:23pm September 19, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

A study of 17 people who have been blind since birth found that areas of the brain usually devoted to visual information become active when a blind person is solving math problems.

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Experimental drugs that clear clumps of proteins from the brains of Alzheimer's patients haven't panned out yet.

Test Of Experimental Alzheimer's Drug Finds Progress Against Brain Plaques

6:31pm August 31, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

Researchers have failed repeatedly in their efforts to slow or halt Alzheimer's disease. But there are hints that an experimental drug can do what previous medicines could not.

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Their Masters' Voices: Dogs Understand Tone And Meaning Of Words

4:51pm August 30, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

When humans talk to dogs, the canine brains seem to separate the meaning of the words from the intonation used and to analyze each aspect independently.

Lucky laboratory mice got to watch scenes from Orson Welles' classic Touch of Evil, starring Janet Leigh and Charlton Heston.

A Mouse Watches Film Noir And Offers Clues To Human Consciousness

4:36pm July 13, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

Researchers in Seattle have created a public observatory for studying the visual circuitry in a mouse's brain. Among the attractions: watching 18,000 neurons respond to Orson Welles' Touch of Evil.

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Jess Thom (left) and Jess Mabel Jones from Thom's show, Backstage in Biscuit Land. Thom's website says she's "changing the world, one tic at a time."

Tourette's Tics Are A Challenge, But Misunderstanding Of Tics Can Be Worse

5:24pm June 17, 2016

by Lisa Fine

One British performance artist does live shows about living with a constant compulsion to say the word "biscuit." Onstage and online, people with Tourette's syndrome are reaching out to clear the air.

Dr. Christian Macedonia led the military's Gray Team of doctors and scientists charged with finding the "ground truth" about traumatic brain injuries. Now, he's a maternal and fetal health specialist at Lancaster General Health's Women and Babies Hospital

An Army Buddy's Call For Help Sends A Scientist On A Brain Injury Quest

5:34pm June 08, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

Harvard researcher Kit Parker built his academic career studying the heart. But Parker, also an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, switched his focus to figuring out how IED blasts damage the brain.

'You Are Getting Sleepy,' Said The Scientist To The Fruit Fly

12:45pm May 19, 2016

by Bret Stetka

Research on sleep-deprived fruit flies identified specific brain cells that can trigger sleep. The finding of these sleep circuits in insects could help scientists better understand human insomnia.

MRI scans suggests words stimulate different regions of the brain depending on their meaning.

Scans Show 'Brain Dictionary' Groups Words By Meaning

8:32pm April 27, 2016

Brain maps constructed by MRI show that language meaning is distributed throughout the brain's outer layer. And it turns out that different people organize language in similar ways.

Angelica Pereira feeds her daughter Luiza, who was born with microcephaly, at her mother's house in Santa Cruz do Capibaribe, Brazil.

Zika Virus Can Cause Brain Defects In Babies, CDC Confirms

6:28pm April 13, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

U.S. health officials say they are now convinced that Zika virus can target the developing brain before birth, leading to a severe type of microcephaly and other brain abnormalities.

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Could You Hack Your Brain To Get More Motivated?

6:27pm March 03, 2016

by Angus Chen

Volunteers learned to activate a part of the brain linked to motivation when they got feedback from an MRI. It's much more specific than older forms of biofeedback. But could it help change habits?