Neuroscience

Why Scratching Feels Good

In the first study to use imaging technology to see what goes on in the brain when we scratch, researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have uncovered new clues about why scratching may be so relieving – and why it can be hard to stop. ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 31 2008 - 1:08pm

Brain Imaging Study Shows Men Really Do Enjoy Video Games More Than Women

In a first-of-its-kind imaging study, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have shown that the part of the brain that generates rewarding feelings is more activated in men than women during video-game play. More than 230 million video and com ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 4 2008 - 3:10pm

Identified: Chemical Signature Of Manic Depression

Manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder, is a psychiatric condition characterized by alternating mania and depression, affecting about one in every hundred people worldwide. Although it is known that the condition can be treated relatively effecti ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 5 2008 - 2:40pm

Suicide Risk And Anorexia

Among the many benefits accruing from the Genetics of Anorexia Nervosa Collaborative Study funded by the NIH is the ability to study other issues related to AN. A recent paper on Suicide Attempts in Anorexia Nervosa published in Psychosomatic Medicine off ...

Article - Laura Collins - Feb 12 2008 - 8:23pm

Study: Prefrontal Cortex In Jazz Musicians Winds Down When Improvising

Scientists funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) have found that, when jazz musicians are engaged in the highly creative and spontaneous activity known as improvisation, a large region of the brain involved ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 27 2008 - 12:34am

FMRI Study Examines How The Brain Handles Maternal Love

The distinctive ability of mothers to identify the cries of their offspring is widely evident in nature, where it is critical to the survival of these offspring. In humans, we are aware that the distinctive ability of mothers to recognize and respond to th ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 28 2008 - 2:46pm

Researchers Discuss MEGF10 Gene Assocation To Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia emerges from an altered pattern of brain development and researchers have long searched for genes that cause the brain to develop along a path that ultimately leads to schizophrenia. In a new Biological Psychiatry article, researchers report ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 29 2011 - 10:03am

Study: A Biological Reason Why Girls Have Better Language Skills Than Boys

Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Haifa say they have shown that areas of the brain associated with language work harder in girls than in boys during language tasks, and that boys and girls rely on different parts of the brain ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 3 2008 - 2:57pm

Study: RGS2 Gene Variant Linked To Increased Risk Of Anxiety Disorders

Researchers writing in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry have discovered evidence linking variation in a particular gene with anxiety-related traits. The team describes finding that particular versions of the RGS2 protein, which affects the ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 3 2008 - 9:19pm

Hearing Through Noise: Study Looks At The Neuronal Mechanism Of Temporal Fine Structure

Just picture the scene: you’re at a cocktail party, talking to someone you would like to get to know better but the background noise is making it hard to concentrate. Luckily, humans are very gifted at listening to someone speaking while many other people ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 4 2008 - 9:48pm