Archive for April, 2009

A glimpse at vision: First impressions count

Thursday, April 30th, 2009
pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9c6CL1BmDoj8Vm41sZhGzmPY12I/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9c6CL1BmDoj8Vm41sZhGzmPY12I/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9c6CL1BmDoj8Vm41sZhGzmPY12I/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9c6CL1BmDoj8Vm41sZhGzmPY12I/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pHuman brain can recognize objects much faster than some have thoughtimg src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/BrainMysteries/~4/OsiqPdno934" height="1" width="1"/

Making waves in the brain

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aMaknRu7fFklQax0Unt4depmO14/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aMaknRu7fFklQax0Unt4depmO14/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aMaknRu7fFklQax0Unt4depmO14/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aMaknRu7fFklQax0Unt4depmO14/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pResearchers use lasers to induce gamma brain waves in miceimg src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/BrainMysteries/~4/Xo4CIYJd5vw" height="1" width="1"/

Early brain activity sheds new light on the neural basis of reading

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rI7LLWYTpY3r4mtn42jpZDgrF5Y/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rI7LLWYTpY3r4mtn42jpZDgrF5Y/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rI7LLWYTpY3r4mtn42jpZDgrF5Y/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rI7LLWYTpY3r4mtn42jpZDgrF5Y/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pMost people are expert readers, but it is something of an enigma that our brain can achieve expertise this recent cultural invention, which lies at the interface between vision and language. Now, a better understanding of the brain basis of reading has been reported in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE. The research was led by Piers Cornelissen, Morten Kringelbach, Ian Holliday and Peter Hansen from the Universities of York, Oxford, Aston and Birmingham UK.img src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/BrainMysteries/~4/wmqe8RqpY14" height="1" width="1"/

Brain music

Monday, April 27th, 2009
pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/GCQHKOg3KBxu7NbXkt5dR6Wd4r8/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/GCQHKOg3KBxu7NbXkt5dR6Wd4r8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/GCQHKOg3KBxu7NbXkt5dR6Wd4r8/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/GCQHKOg3KBxu7NbXkt5dR6Wd4r8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pEvery brain has a soundtrack -- probably many. Can those soundtracks be made useful?img src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/BrainMysteries/~4/vDAJkXu58fk" height="1" width="1"/

A warm TV can drive away feelings of loneliness and rejection

Sunday, April 26th, 2009
pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2gCySY57GyVDCi0Q495T6rZrPI0/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2gCySY57GyVDCi0Q495T6rZrPI0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2gCySY57GyVDCi0Q495T6rZrPI0/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2gCySY57GyVDCi0Q495T6rZrPI0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pStudies find that illusionary relationships with TV characters can give us real pleasureimg src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/BrainMysteries/~4/WBIOGKIQYuk" height="1" width="1"/

Think memory worsens with age? Then yours probably will

Saturday, April 25th, 2009
pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/40JbxuGKYK--Yz10m4YqnZXIZok/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/40JbxuGKYK--Yz10m4YqnZXIZok/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/40JbxuGKYK--Yz10m4YqnZXIZok/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/40JbxuGKYK--Yz10m4YqnZXIZok/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pThinking your memory will get worse as you get older may actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that senior citizens who think older people should perform poorly on tests of memory actually score much worse than seniors who do not buy in to negative stereotypes about aging and memory loss.img src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/BrainMysteries/~4/4iumM6YQttQ" height="1" width="1"/

The price of pain and the value of suffering

Saturday, April 25th, 2009
pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Zews4TpaCgppBvpeWZX_VSjVmDY/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Zews4TpaCgppBvpeWZX_VSjVmDY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Zews4TpaCgppBvpeWZX_VSjVmDY/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Zews4TpaCgppBvpeWZX_VSjVmDY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pA new study reveals that demand for pain relief is almost completely dependent on pain experienced in the recent past and the available cash on hand. That is, the participants were willing to pay more money to avoid pain if that pain was more intense compared to previous trials. In addition, the price they were willing to pay was based on what they were given (money-in-the-pocket) rather than on their overall wealth.img src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/BrainMysteries/~4/f2KJ-rrA1zY" height="1" width="1"/

Do good looks get high school students good grades?

Friday, April 24th, 2009
pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/h1AnFT_uOTwZNZsOgwtlWTd9xQs/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/h1AnFT_uOTwZNZsOgwtlWTd9xQs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/h1AnFT_uOTwZNZsOgwtlWTd9xQs/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/h1AnFT_uOTwZNZsOgwtlWTd9xQs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pUniversity of Miami study shows that physical attractiveness, personality, and grooming are good predictors of grades in high school and may indicate future success in college and labor marketsimg src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/BrainMysteries/~4/2Er_CxqVaNc" height="1" width="1"/

Translating the conversation between the brain and blood vessels

Friday, April 24th, 2009
pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/maXD-beW5piJcXdBGkPoLXoq7hA/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/maXD-beW5piJcXdBGkPoLXoq7hA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/maXD-beW5piJcXdBGkPoLXoq7hA/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/maXD-beW5piJcXdBGkPoLXoq7hA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pTwo researchers on neural control of the cardiovascular system receive APS awardsimg src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/BrainMysteries/~4/fT7X_vJ7YgE" height="1" width="1"/

Controlling our brain’s perception of emotional events

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vguinxmt0bKPdgDOAmxvZy4oDZg/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vguinxmt0bKPdgDOAmxvZy4oDZg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vguinxmt0bKPdgDOAmxvZy4oDZg/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vguinxmt0bKPdgDOAmxvZy4oDZg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pResearch performed by Nicole Lauzon and Dr. Steven Laviolette of the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario has found key processes in the brain that control the emotional significance of our experiences and how we form memories of them. A lack of proper brain function in this area is what lies beneath such conditions as schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder.img src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/BrainMysteries/~4/Ap2qkwFf5f4" height="1" width="1"/