Neuroscience

Predictive Coding Theory: How Our Brains Recognize Faces From Minimal Information

Our brain recognizes objects within milliseconds, even if it only receives rudimentary visual information. Researchers believe that reliable and fast recognition works because the brain is constantly making predictions about objects in the field of view a ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 1 2015 - 7:30am

Diabetes-Cognitive Decline Link Isn't Just A Western Issue

Diabetes is a known risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia, age-related conditions that affect memory and thinking skills. ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 26 2015 - 7:30am

Calcium Channel Cav3.1 Essential For Deep Sleep

Sleep seems simple enough to define, it is a state of rest and restoration that almost every vertebrate creature must enter regularly in order to survive. Yet the brain responds differently to stimuli when asleep than when awake, and it is not clear what ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 30 2015 - 2:23pm

Rats Dream Paths To A Brighter Future

When rats rest, their brains simulate journeys to a desired future such as a tasty treat, finds new UCL research funded by the Wellcome Trust and Royal Society. The researchers monitored brain activity in rats, first as the animals viewed food in a locati ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 30 2015 - 8:11pm

Male And Female Pain Involves Different Cells

Males and females process pain using different cells, a new study with mice suggests. The findings could help researchers develop the next generation of medications for chronic pain—the most prevalent health condition humans face. “Research has demonstrate ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 30 2015 - 8:30am

Patients With Recurrent Depression Have Smaller Hippocampi

The brains of people with recurrent depression have a significantly smaller hippocampus (the part of the brain most associated with forming new memories) than healthy individuals, according to a study of nearly 9,000 people called the ENIGMA study. The re ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 4 2015 - 8:30am

Two Techniques Of Temporal Migraine Surgery 'Equally Effective'

Two migraine surgery techniques targeting a specific "trigger site" are both highly effective in reducing the frequency and severity of migraine headaches, according to a randomized trial. Patients with temporal-type migraine derive similar and ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 6 2015 - 8:30am

Medial Temporal Lobe And How New Memories Are Formed

In a new study, researchers found that neurons in a specific brain region play a key role in rapidly forming memories about every day events, a finding that may result in a better understanding of memory loss and new methods to fight it in Alzheimer’s and ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 2 2015 - 7:46am

Long-Term Memories Maintained By Prion-Like Proteins

Researchers have uncovered further evidence of a system in the brain that persistently maintains memories for long periods of time. Paradoxically, it works in the same way as mechanisms that cause mad cow disease, kuru, and other degenerative brain diseas ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 13 2015 - 9:02am

Wind Farms: Can You Actually Hear Inaudible Sound?

Are wind farms harmful to humans? Some believe so, others refute this; this controversial topic makes emotions run high. To give the debate more objectivity, an international team of experts dealt with the fundamentals of hearing in the lower limit range ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2015 - 7:30am