The more we know....

MIT researcher finds neuron growth in adult brain

First we thought you never got new brain cells as an adult - then in 1998 that was proven false, and now this.

As much as we think we know - the reality is that we don't know squat. But we're getting more knowledge all the time, so maybe someday it will all begin to fit together.

You've got to be kidding me...

Researchers investigate the case of the disappearing teaspoons

This has nothing to do with brain research - except that some people's brains were clearly bored and needed something to do.

Neuronal baby-steps

New neurons take baby steps in the adult brain

Dropping in Stem-cells or other new cells into an area and just letting them go to work doesn't....well...work. It isn't that easy, you have to know how to make them turn into the cells you want, then you have to convince them to act like the other cells, and interact with them.

All-in-all - a complicated and very unstable process. However, this is definitely good news.

Bigger is better...

Bigger brain size matters for intellectual ability

I seem to remember a number of studies where they concluded that brain size and intelligence didn't matter. This most recent study contradicts the older assumptions.

I'll be interested to see if this gets replicated by other studies in the near future.

More good news on the medical front

New discovery may improve treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and type 2 diabetes

Leap-Frog anyone?

Does baby 'get' tech?

The conclusion of current research? We don't know. There is no evidence that electronic media (games, videos, etc.) actually enhances, or even assists in baby brain development.

They stay that actual time with your baby without tech is still the best.

Those of us with kids roll our eyes and say "Duh!"

Alzheimer's is a new form of Diabetes?

Alzheimer's: A New Form of Diabetes?

Now, I'm no expert on Alzheimer's, but it seems to me that this could potentially be an incredible breakthrough. If it is indeed a form of diabetes that could provide some clues as to how it could be treated.

Let's stay hopeful that this is a positive development.

What to ignore

Discovery disproves simple concept of memory as 'storage space'

Apparently better memory may not be about storage volume, but more about being able to have the ability to filter out useless information and pick out only the things that are worth transferring to awareness.

In other words: smart people are better at ignoring things.

You see Tomato...I see....Tomato

Everyone’s eyes are wired differently

And yet, despite actual physical differences in how our eyes are wired, we perceive color pretty much the same. I posted about this previously, and this only enhances my prior questions - is our perception of color a neurological, physical, or cultural thing?

Nature, nurture...blah, blah, blah....

And this is your brain on Hypnosis....

» Watching the brain under hypnosis

Basically, the brain shows direct evidence of perception of things that are not there. Personally, I'd like to see this linked to false memories as well.

So, now we have images of our brains under stress, and under hypnosis. We also have fMRIs of brains under the influence of various drugs and alcohol including addicted brains. We have images of brains under various types of psychological disorders (depression, schizophrenia, autism, etc.).

So, what's left?

Maybe a brain image of somone in love, under the influence of metaphysical effects...the list is probably pretty endless, and there are likely images of stuff I don't know about.

Ain't medical technology fun?

This is your brain on Stress...

UPHS News: Penn Research Permits First-Ever Visualization of Psychological Stress in the Human Brain

We have lots of studies on the effects of stress on cognitive performance (e.g.: Yerks-Dotson) - but actually getting an IRB passed through that allows us to put a subject under psychological stress and then look at their brains through an fMRI is definitely a good thing.

I wonder what that proposal looked like:

Q: What are the potential harmful effects to the participants?
A: Um...well...stress, for one....

Gaming the future

Researchers use brain scans to predict behavior

The upshot of the article is that fMRI scans seem to show when a brain is planning ahead and anticipating moves in a game.

So, we have identified a future perspective cognitive process in the brain as it relates to a specific type of game.

The Zen of Brain development

Meditation associated with structural changes in brain

Studies have shown that mediation can produce alterations in brain activity, and meditation practitioners have described changes in mental function that last long after actual meditation ceases, implying long-term effects. However, those studies usually examined Buddhist monks who practiced mediation as a central focus of their lives.

Studies also found that, in an area associated with the integration of emotional and cognitive processes, differences in cortical thickness were more pronounced in older participants, suggesting that meditation could reduce the thinning of the cortex that typically occurs with aging.

Mozart for babies

Or something like that...Musical training helps language processing, studies show.

Gaming education

Games turn geography into child’s play

This is a personal project of mine, and one that I think has a LOT of room for growth. Games are not incorporated into education nearly enough.

And don't even get me started on using gaming technology.

Young or old - we can all be distracted

Changes in brain, not age, determine one's ability to focus on task

"We found that both performance and brain-activation differences of older good performers and the older poor performers are predicted by changes in brain structure, specifically by the volume of white matter connecting the right and left hemispheres of the frontal lobes,"

So - regardless of age, focus is a matter of how your brain is built.

[Mr. Miyagi]Focus Daniel-San![/Mr. Miyagi]

Atlas of brain unfolds

New online atlas provides collective maps of human brain folds

While obviously not a "map" as such, seeing as each individual brain's folds are akin to fingerprints in thier uniqueness, but still, a pretty cool. The "map" images are based on averages so there is still a significant amount of data that could be derived from the images.

Blue...no, Yellow!

Color perception is not in the eye of the beholder: It's in the brain

"Researchers at the University of Rochester have found that the number of color-sensitive cones in the human retina differs dramatically among people--by up to 40 times--yet people appear to perceive colors the same way"

This is pretty cool. It brings to mind a study I read and can't find currently of a particular tribe of South American natives that only had language for 2 or 3 colors - green, not green and red. They couldn't really understand other colors like orange or variations of shades of green.

Perhaps the colors we percieve and how we percieve them are related to nurture rather than nature - to find that out would prove to be very interesting indeed.

Sticks and stones....

But apparently the words you use CAN hurt you - at least that's the gist of this study on how labels shape our attitudes toward violence.

Politicians have known this for ages. How you name something, or how you frame it affects the perception of the idea. Think of (for a controversial example) the abortion debate. You aren't pro or anti-abortion you are "pro-life" or "pro-choice" - the words describing the two positions don't refer in any way to the actual concept they are defining.

But, it turns out that it's even deeper than that - the nouns and adjectives we use can be powerful cues to how we make sense of people's behavior.

Emotions rule....everything

Humans are governed by emotions—literally

This actually comes as a surprise to nobody. I can't think of any decisions by any government, ever, that weren't driven primarily by emotional reaction.

Seems like we're coming to a much more complete realization that emotions play a much larger role in our everyday actions than what anyone would have supposed.

Smoking makes you stupid

Well, according to this University of Michigan study: Does smoking cloud the brain? The answer seems to be, yes.

It's long term and it seems that the toxins enter the brain and hasten cognitive decline. So, if you smoke - prepare to get less intelligent more quickly as you grow older.

Of course, putting a known toxic and carcinogenic substance like tobacco smoke into your system willingly argues for a certain lack of intelligence to begin with - but that's just my opinion.

Mind map your computer

TheBrain Technologies Corporation provides some software that lets you organize your computer files in a "mind map" format.

Pretty cool.

Along those same lines - try the Kartoo search engine sometime - it kind of does the same thing for Internet searches.

One more reason to stop...

Does smoking cloud the brain?
Keeping in mind that an association does not necessarily imply that there is causality, it's still worth looking at.

Fish make you smart...

Well, not quite but they mey help you prolong an active mental health.

Cause my brain is bigger...yea, that's the ticket...

Liars' Brains Wired Differently

Apparently they have more grey matter in thier prefrontal cortex as opposed to "normal" brains. They theorize that they use more neuronal connections to master the complexities of deciption.

I'd be interested to see this

Maths and science education gets animated and collaborative online

It's about freaking time. I look out on the web-based learning landscape and I see very little that is truly new and innovative. The main idea seems to be stuck in the mode of online Skinner Boxes.

I'm not sure what the solution should be - but the environment described in the article is pretty cool.

Because the fulcrum isn't aligned with the axis.....

Okay - sorry for the exceptionally obscure quote. I'm not even sure where it's from myself, but I remember it from my childhood in Saudi Arabia. It was a BBC made cartoon for kids, something about a kid with a ball or some such child-oriented basis. The episode revolved around a bully of some sort that was demanding that someone build a box that was actually an optical illusion, the young boy with the ball patiently explained to the ogre that the build was impossible because "the fulcrum doesn't align with the axis" - a statement that he then wen ton to explain to the clueless ogre.

All that is simply the long way of leading into this article: New book explains age-old mystery of geometrical illusions

A finding I think is pretty cool. Check out this marvelous last quote:

The problem for colleagues in physiology and anatomy is that our theory runs counter to what they've been doing for the last fifty years," said Purves. "And their response has understandably been 'Well, OK, that's interesting. But how do you relate this concept of vision to physiology and this anatomy?' It's perfectly valid to say, 'You've got a nice idea and it does explain the phenomenology of what we see, but how does that relate to the neurons that we know and love?'

"The answer is, we don't know," said Purves. "That's going to be the next many years of vision research. It will mean constructing a framework that explains how neurons and the connections among them operate in service of this complex, evolved statistical process called vision.

"Some bright people will certainly do this in the next ten, twenty or thirty years," said Purves. "I don't expect to be around to see it, but inevitably that will happen. But it's going to take people who deeply understand statistics and computer models of neural systems to develop a working theory of how the properties of neurons and anatomical connections are related to the end product of vision.

My brain made me do it.

Yea...that's the ticket!

Indeed.

Dream on...

Brain areas disconnect during deep sleep - LiveScience

Perhaps an explanation for why dreams seem so, well...dreamy?

Odd behavior and creativity may go hand-in-hand

Odd behavior and creativity may go hand-in-hand

A study on schizophrenia and looking for why schizotypal personalities are often thought to be so creative. Brain scans enter the picture and it's actually pretty neat.

Also, it looks like it is on a pretty cool site that I'll have to explore more later.

Research shows where brain interprets 'pitch'

Research shows where brain interprets 'pitch'

For monkeys anyway. It seems odd that this research hasn't been done already.

Evidence of a 'memory code'?

UCI neurobiologists uncover evidence of a 'memory code'

Looking at the text of the article you find that their findings are a bit on the macro level to really be calling their findings a "memory code" - but their findings may hint at such a thing. I mean, equating the "importance" of a tone with the amount of auditory cortex devoted to processing that tone hardly seems to point at a "memory code" in my opinion. But hey, baby steps....

This seems like potentially interesting news

New techniques study the brain's chemistry, neuron by neuron

We keep saying that if we could get down to a cellular level (or even better, a molecular level) of resolution for brain imaging techniques. Maybe this is the first step toward that level of detailed obervation.

Exercise your neural synapses

Creating Passionate Users: Blow your own mind

This site remains one of my favorites. They typically have a business slant to thier posts, but overall they still have a great hold on practical application of cognitive theory.

How's your brain today?

Make sure the blood flow is...well...flowing, I guess.

Scientific Savvy In U.S.

Well, this clearly isn't good news.

For an amusing and disturbing look at this same phenomenon, check out this link.

Have you ever watched the Jay Leno bit where he walks up to people on the street and asks them very simple questions about subjects that I consider common knowledge (basic questions of U.S. history or questions about current affairs or about the city they live in), and the people he shows on TV are so clueless it's downright painful to watch.

It's amusing, and I like to think that these people are the exception and not the rule - but it looks like the percentages of clueless people is much higher than I'd like to admit.

Women are more complex than men

Well, in their voices anyway: ScienceDirect - NeuroImage : Male and female voices activate distinct regions in the male brain

Key quote:

The female voice is actually more complex than the male voice, due to differences in the size and shape of the vocal cords and larynx between women and men, and also due to women having greater natural ‘melody’ in their voices. This causes a more complex range of sound frequencies than in a male voice.

When a man hears a female voice the auditory section of his brain is activated, which analyses the different sounds in order to ‘read’ the voice and determine the auditory face.

When men hear a male voice the part of the brain that processes the information is towards the back of the brain and is colloquially known as the ‘mind’s eye’. This is the part of the brain where people compare their experiences to themselves, so the man is comparing his own voice to the new voice to determine gender.

Pretty cool.

Ignore everything on this site....

Well, maybe not everthing, but then there is this: Most published research findings may be false

Not terribly surprising when you think about it. Most publishing is really just hypothesis gathering - and much of what I report here is really on the fringe of science as far as emerging discoveries. The article probably applies even more in psychological or neurological settings as our level of understanding of basic concepts like "consciousness" or "creativity" is still vague at best.

This phenomenon is also extremely valuable to consider when looking at scientific findings or topics that are highly politically, socially or culturally charged.

What did you say there sonny?

Hearing loss in older adults may compromise cognitive resources for memory

Would this include hearing loss for younger adults for things like injury or repetitive stress?

Let us all marvel....

...at the collosal stupidity of this British researcher's report

Now, I'll be the first to look very curiously evidence of gender difference - but using IQ measurements? Is he being serious?

Let's look at what he says:

Dr Irwing, a senior lecturer in organisational psychology at Manchester University, said he was uncomfortable with the findings. However, he said, the evidence was clear, despite the insistence of many academics that there were no meaningful gender differences in levels of intelligence.

"For personal reasons I would like to believe men and women are equal, and broadly that's true," he said. "But over a period of time the evidence in favour of biological factors has become stronger and stronger.

"I have been dragged in a direction that I don't particularly like, but it would be sensible if the debate was based on what we pretty much know to be the case."

Again, I'm all for challenging accepted wisdom if you have credible evidence on your side. But using IQ scores is NOT a credible way of providing evidence in this case. All he has shown is the females score lower on IQ tests on average. So, isn't it just a little possible that the instrument you're using might just be flawed at being able to measure "intelligence" levels between men and women? Isn't it possible that IQ tests show very little regarding an individual's intelligence outside of their ability to successfully complete an IQ test? Is that the only measure of "intelligence" that you used?

Here's for all you MENSA folks out there - and IQ test shows nothing more than your ability to take an IQ test. That's all. Certainly a form of "intelligence" but not the only or even best indicator.

I will be a very happy man if the perception of IQ tests could ever be turned on its head.

Monkey see.....

Chimps Show Hallmark of Human Culture, Study Finds

I would think that if you looked at this from a strictly behavioristic/operant paradigm you wouldn't see culture so much as repeated behavior.

Spam in the comments

I'm getting a lot of spam comments. I'm trying to delete them as I find them, but they just keep coming. Just watch, there will be a ton of spam comments to this post warning against them.

I don't want to restrict comments to registered users, but I may have to.

Oooo...Toys!

Microscopic brain imaging in the palm of your hand.

Can I have one? Please?

College students everywhere rejoice!

New drug reverses effects of sleep deprivation on brain.

Seriously - all those late night cram sessions now look a whole lot better.

Kim Atwill will be glad to see this

Scientists link genetic pathway to development of hearing.

Good news as a starting point.

If you can't speak the language....

Immigrant children misdiagnosed as language-impaired.

That is a sad, sad commentary on society. Just because you can't speak English, you must be language-impaired. How obtuse...

Meanwhile, all paranormal skeptics say "Duh!"

Not strictly brain development, but still - 'Out-of-body' experiences may come from within.

Every paranormal skeptic is now saying: Uh...yea...duh...

Astral projection has always been one of those things I've looked at with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Flys have goals?

Someone is looking at it that way: Gap-climbing fruit flies reveal components of goal-driven behaviors.

Okay, the idea is more centered on overcoming obstacles, which I suppose could be viewed as goal-oriented, but I doubt that there flys have anything close to the complexity you would see in human behavior.

Playing violent video games can heighten aggression

Well, this study (well, a review of studies actually) seems to indicate that, yes, playing violent video games can heighten aggression.

I'm still not totally sure that we're looking at causality, but the results will certainly be something you'll see soon in media coverage.

Chinese, Americans Truly See Differently

Chinese, Americans Truly See Differently

Wow - who would have thought that cultural norms would affect things like eye-tracking (which I had always heard was an evolutionary development and somewhat hard-wired).

The short version is that Westerners tend to focus on the key or focal object in an image, whereas Eastern peoples tend to look at contextual items.

Neural Communication - do we really understand it?

This article (free registration required) indicates that neural cell communication occurs in other places besides the synaptic endings.

The scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences at UC San Diego found that nerve cells release neurotransmitters outside of synapse, a process they call "ectopic neurotransmission" (which is just fun to say - especially if you're Bill Murray).

A few years ago it was discovered that glial cells played a stronger role in communication than was previously thought, and now this - we're going to have to re-write a few textbooks once we figure out what all of it means.

Alteration of brain protein regulates learning

Alteration of brain protein regulates learning

"Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a biochemical switch that affects how neurons fire in a part of the brain associated with learning, findings that may aid in understanding schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease."

Insight into the processes of 'positive' and 'negative' learners

Insight into the processes of 'positive' and 'negative' learners

A complex enough article that it can't be summarized easily, but it looks like they have found a way to identify when somone is reacting postively or negatively to consequences from their decisions.

A picture may be worth a thousand words...

But it apparently does notautomatically activate a thousand words.

Imaging study shows brain maturing

Imaging study shows brain maturing

I want to see the whole series of images. The movie is pretty cool though.

Waging a high-tech war against sinusitis

Well, it's not the brain, but it's near the brain.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm happy to hear it.

Blogging About Science Blogging

Derek Lowe has some thoughts on science blogging.

I like his thinking. While this blog has previously been a clearing house for all the brain-related links that I find interesting, I hope to devote more time to it and turn it into something much more useful. Like doing what Mr. Lowe suggests and explain what I'm trying to do and why.

Not a bad idea.

The Smackdown Learning Model

The Smackdown Learning Model

Interesting thoughts from a very interesting blog.

Memories light up the corners of our minds

Memories light up the corners of our minds

Researchers pinpoint brain areas that process reality, illusion

Researchers pinpoint brain areas that process reality, illusion

Real vs. false memories

Briain scans show a difference between real and false memories

Music instruction aids verbal memory

Music instruction aids verbal memory

Sleep more if you want to learn

Penn: Office of University Communications: Sleep Deprivation within Five Hours of Learning Impairs Memory Consolidation in Mice

Brain Scans Show Working Memory, Moments Of Insight

FuturePundit: Brain Scans Show Working Memory, Moments Of Insight

Very worthwhile read.

Size = intelligence?

Despite intelligence measurement questions asside, this study on the correlation of the volume and location of gray matter tissue to intelligence is pretty interesting.

In an update to the study, the authors apparently found some very different structure to male and female brains.

Minimize distractions to enhance productivity

Study: Email overload hurts IQ more than marijuana use

Diet enhances learning

Diet, exercise, stimulating environment helps old dogs learn

Well, for dogs anyway.

Proving a point

Students aren't terribly bright about some things.
Pressed to do well on admissions tests, students take drugs

The dangers of this should be quite self-evident.

Plug in your scalp

Electric Current To Scalp Improves Speed Of Word Recall

Hmmm...zap your brain when studying - the general student population probably would take this a little too seriously I fear....

I wish my office had known this

Cornell News: Office temperature and productivity

For all you coffee drinkers

Small, frequent doses of caffeine is the best strategy for staying awake.

But, be careful, because caffeine can have some undesireable side effects.

Yet another reason for women to take their iron supplements

Moderate iron deficiency affects cognitive performance - but iron supplementation improves it

Aftereffects of cognitive drugs

In the previous post about cognitive drugs, it seems you can't enhance one without making sacrifices in another - in long-term vs. short-term memory anyway.

Now THIS would be nice

FuturePundit: Many Cognitive Enhancement Drugs Under Development

Give me some of those drugs NOW!

Enhance your baby's intelligence

By using very-long-chain n-3 fatty acids during pregnancy.

For all you music buffs

Imperial College London - Researchers find way to improve musical performance

This would be nice for humans

Making older mice bright again.

More on crying

Babies' cries linked to their neurological and medical status

Crying affects cognitive development

Or, prolonged crying anyway.

Development of working memory, allowing voluntary control of behavior, defined

Development of working memory, allowing voluntary control of behavior, defined

Children Process Words by Sound While Adults Process by Meaning

A Time to Rhyme: Children Process Words by Sound While Adults Process by Meaning

I find this very cool.

Mature television watching

Television watching may hasten puberty

Mommy! I need to watch TV so I can grow up!

Fetal Brain Gene Expression Patterns Differ By Sex

FuturePundit: Fetal Brain Gene Expression Patterns Differ By Sex

Very related to a previous post regarding gender development.

Brain Overgrowth During First Year of Life in Autism

UCSD Researchers Find Brain Overgrowth During First Year of Life in Autism

So, hyperactive brain development in smaller brains may be the cause of autism - very interesting.

More adolescence effects

Response to new faces varies by temperament, tied to brain activity

Much related to a previous post about adolescent brain development

Brain Gets Sex Orientation Before Genitals

FuturePundit: Brain Gets Sex Orientation Before Genitals

This is just cool, and provides some rather interesting implications toward gender differentiation.

Adolescence Is Tough On The Brain

FuturePundit: Adolescence Is Tough On The Brain

It affects their ability to understand emotions, and hence the likelihood for misunderstandings goes through the roof.

Coke versus Pepsi: who cares?

Coke versus Pepsi: It's all in the head

Well, our brains care apparently, or, at least, our culturally based perception of branding. Marketing folks, take note!

Bandura strikes again

Human see, human do

Seems that modeling is pretty powerful as a learning tool. Which we already knew.

Prenatal alcohol exposure and brain development

Prenatal alcohol exposure can lead to lasting changes in cognitive processing

Seems that alcohol exposure (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) for a fetus affects brain development by slowing down processing.

Just one more reason not to drink when you're pregnant.

Erotic images can blind you

New Scientist Breaking News - Erotic images can turn you blind

I know what you're thinking - but just read the article. It basically is saying that certain types of erotic (or even "exotic") images grab your attention more aggressively and hold it, basically creating a temporary bottleneck of sensory perception. The effect also seems to be greater for some individuals and lesser for others. Thrill seekers (extreme sports enthusiasts) for example don't seem to be affected as much.

Being able to generating that type of bottleneck for less erotic subject matter (read: public education curriculum) would seem to be a fantastic way to generate long-term learning.

Symbolic thinking

Scientific American: Mindful of Symbols
A well presented article that talks about how children are able to think symbolically and the difficulities they encouter in trying to transition to that type of thinking.

In defense of common sense

In the NYTimesIn Defense of Common Sense - a shorter version of John Horgan's book The End of Science.

He makes some very interesting points regarding "brain resesearch" and psychology in general. Worth a read.

Scientists uncover how brain retrieves and stores older memories

Scientists uncover how brain retrieves and stores older memories

Scientists Pinpoint Where Old Memories Are Stored

Scientists Pinpoint Where Old Memories Are Stored

Evidence That Memories are Consolidated During Sleep

Evidence That Memories are Consolidated During Sleep

The (brain) stuff of which dreams are made

The (brain) stuff of which dreams are made

Related stories here and here.

Old habits, both good and bad, are hard to break, suggests study of human memory

Old habits, both good and bad, are hard to break, suggests study of human memory

How the brain creates false memories

How the brain creates false memories

Sleep in - it's good for you

At least...if you're a teenager. High school start times deprive teens of sleep, affect academic performance

Nature determines religiosity?

Some scientists think so.

Violence at a young age

Apparently, some researchers think that humans are at their most violent when they are 2 yrs old.
Registration required

Stress and aggression reinforce each other at the biological level

Stress and aggression reinforce each other at the biological level

Our brains aren't computers

While this may not entirely be a "duh" moment, research suggests that our minds don't process the same as computers. Computers work in packets of info, and brains seem to process continually.

The bionic man/monkey

While not technically on topic with my normal posts, I think this technology is totally cool. Apparently they've installed robotic arms on monkeys, and they work just dandy. Now, they want to do the same thing for humans.

Now, while a robotic arm might not be the newest cool thing, the fact that these arms are wired directly to the brain IS new - and that's what makes it so cool.

Nasal spray clears Alzheimer’s brain plaques

Wow, and here I thought it only helped me breathe better when I get sick. Turns out that nasal spray can do so much more: Nasal spray clears Alzheimer’s brain plaques.

Computer brain

Prediction: this little project will teach us nothing except what we think we already know about the brain.

In other words - it will teach us nothing new about the brain, but might serve to teach us some interesting things that happen when you program/build computers in novel ways.

Attention allocation

As practiced by Buddhist monks anyhow.

Subliminal learning

It looks like we may have identified a neurological mechanism for it - so maybe it isn't the bunk some say it is.

Time will tell.

So, this guy walks into this internet class....

Seems that humor used in online classes enhances learning - or so it seems.

Break out the joke book.

Familiar songs act as memory cues

Hmmm - maybe music in the classroom isn't such a bad idea.

APA: First Graders' Behavior Problems Linked to Caffeinated Cola

Well,duh.

Another example of research that seems so completely obvious once you see it, yet nobody did it until now.

His brain...Her brain

An interesting article if there ever was one.

Rising IQ scores

If you ignore the fact that an I.Q. score is an artificial construct of intelligence, then this article is quite interesting.

I'll buy it to some extent. I have no problem with video games and I do think they have a definite positive effect on developing eye-hand coordination and can help in some types of problem solving. They are not, however, a global development tool - a good development tool for very specific areas yes, global, no.

Where the music is...

So, can they locate and remove some of the more annoying songs? Like say "Who let the dogs out"?

Brain of a Blogger

YES!

Interesting thoughts on neuroscience

Rand Simberg (normally a space guru, but also a technophile and science nerd - in the best possible meaning of the term) has some very interesting thoughts on the future of neuroscience.

His comments revolve around ethical concerns with potential future developments like therapies and enhancements.

I neither agree nor disagree with his thoughts, I merely point them out as being worth thinking about.

Exercise your brain

Well, this could potentially be a great advancement.

Sixth sense....

Not that this is anything new to anyone who is paying attention, but the neurological results are certainly interesting.

Planning your time

Seems our brains work that out WAY in advance.

Deja vu?

Someone is trying to explain it. Again.

Do we really understand brain activity?

This article has some very serious implications for our current care of those who are in a coma and show little or no brain activity.

Fall in love in 3 minutes

At least, that's what some research says...

Cognitive Biases

Wikipedia rocks.

Broken heart?

Well, apparently there are indeed physiological underpinnings for the phrase.

Who knew?

If you're smart...don't worry

Because when you worry - that's when you get in trouble.

Older brains are better....

At pattern recognition anyway...

Dyslexic drivers?

That seems to be the gist of this study.

Youth is dangerous

Well...duh.

What is seeing

Go read this story, then ask that question again.

False memories look different

At least when looked at through fMRI imaging.

Stem cells turned into motor neurons

Seemingly good news. Not practical yet, and the technology is only in its infancy, but we'll see.

Potentially treating damaged brains.

Scientific American on Self-Esteem

An interesting article.

The brain of a gambler

Seems compulsive gamblers may not get satisfaction from winning.

brain activity

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