Neuroscience

Recently, some people subjected themselves to perhaps the most annoying study of 2012; they had to sample and pick the most irritating noises in the world, and they did it for science.  Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how the brains of 13 volunteers responded to a range of sounds. Listening to the noises inside the scanner they rated them from the most unpleasant to the most pleasing. Scientists were then able to study the brain response to each type of sound and they believe they have found the interaction between the region of the brain that…

Researchers say that a form of oxytocin — the hormone correlated with human love — has a similar effect on fish, suggesting it is a key regulator of social behavior that has evolved and endured since ancient times. The findings may help answer an evolutionary psychology question: why do some species develop complex social behaviors while others spend much of their lives alone? To find some clues, they examined the cichlid fish Neolamprologus pulcher, a highly social species found in Lake Tanganyika in Africa. These cichlids are unusual because they form permanent hierarchical social groups…

If you ask an adult for the midpoint between 1 and 9 they say 5. Mentally, they put 9 points on a ine and add 1 and then split that in half. But if you ask a child or someone from a culture not trained in maths, the answer could be different; perhaps 3. It isn't that they don't know how to count, it's because it's actually more natural for humans to think logarithmically instead of linearly, say researchers.  Neural circuits seem to bear out that hypothesis; in psychological experiments, multiplying the intensity of some sensory stimuli causes a linear increase in perceived intensity.…

Scientists have tracked bumblebees to see how they select the optimal route to collect nectar from multiple flowers and return to their nest. They were able to use radar tracking to show how bumblebees discover flowers, learn their location and use trial and error to find the most efficient route between flowers over large distances. It's the classic traveling salesman problem but not theoretical. They're more efficient than UPS trucks, even without all those left-hand turns. Prof. Lars Chittka and Dr. Mathieu Lihoreau from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences and…

The human brain is made up of billions of neurons, specialized cells which form vast, intricate networks among themselves to process and sort through the barrage of sensory and internal stimuli we are constantly bombarded with and mediate the appropriate response. Neurons are long thread-like cells with numerous branches projecting from each end to allow communication with other neurons. When excited, an electrical impulse travels through the neuron and, when it reaches the far end, chemical messengers are released into the synapse, a narrow (microscopic) space between the sending and…

You have heard of biofeedback, controlling bodily responses using audio or visual cues to map performance.  It may be possible to do that with learning, a kind of neurofeedback, according to research at Sandia National Laboratories. They show that it's possible to predict how well people will remember information by monitoring their brain activity while they study.  About 90 volunteers spent nine to 16 hours over five weeks in testing for the memory training techniques study. Their first session developed a baseline for how well they remembered words or images. Most then underwent…

Emotions tag our experiences and act as waypoints in how we steer our behavior, but they seem to be subjective. Avoiding danger and pursuing rewards is essential for successful navigation through a complex environment, and thus for survival, but why are some people afraid of harmless spiders yet most are not afraid of incredibly dangerous horses? The search for the neural correlate of emotions fascinates neuroscientists and psychologists – emotions are a central part of our mental selves. Researchers have set out to understand how emotions are generated in the brain. Just like seeing or…

Researchers have discovered how to store diverse forms of artificial short-term memories - in isolated brain tissue. Memories are often grouped into two categories: declarative memory, the short and long-term storage of facts like names, places and events; and implicit memory, the type of memory used to learn a skill like playing the piano.  In the study, researchers sought to better understand the mechanisms underlying short-term declarative memories such as remembering a phone number or email address someone has just shared.  Using isolated pieces of rodent brain tissue, the…

Well this is objectively awesome. In a report published earlier last week in Science, Berényi et al. demonstrate that carefully controlled electrical stimulation of the rat skull can quickly and drastically diminish abnormal brain activity associated with epilepsy1. The experimental system is a seizure-stopper triggered by seizures: Implanted electrodes monitoring brain electrical activity alert a stimulator when irregular activity occurs, and the stimulator halts the episode via electrical pulses sent across the skull. All told, a rat spontaneously begins to have a seizure, the activity is…

Okay, I am coming out for the interest of Science. I read today this article, which does not really say anything new to me, but for some reason triggered my wish to speak up about the condition. The article explains clearly that some people have a twisted connection in their nerves, sort of a short-circuit, which makes them sneeze when they think about sex (others have the same kind of problem making them sneeze when they are looking at bright light sources, e.g. the sun). I believe the condition is not as uncommon as it is alleged to be, and the main reason of this underestimate is the fact…