Season of birth defines personality, but it’s “not astrology,” say researchers
The season in which babies are born can have a dramatic effect on their future risk of neurological disorders, including…
Love the pain away
Passionate, intense feelings of love can provide amazingly effective pain relief, claims a new Stanford University School of Medicine study…
Depression caused by brain inflammation?
Chronic depression is an adaptive, reparative neurobiological process gone wrong, say two University of California, San Diego, researchers. They suggest…
Doh! Scientists uncover Homer Simpson gene
Deleting a certain gene in mice (one that is also found in humans) makes them smarter, but the Emory University…
Words decoded from brain signals
In an early step toward letting severely paralyzed people speak with their thoughts, researchers have translated brain signals into words…
New link found between yoga and “feel-good” brain chemical
After finding a link between yoga postures and increased gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels in the brain, Boston University School of Medicine…
Alzheimer’s breakthrough: A chemical to make brain cells grow
“It was blind luck,” say the researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern (UTS) who discovered a chemical that makes…
Sense of direction hard-wired into brain
First suggested by 18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant, University College scientists now have empirical evidence for the theory that a…
Neural implant “melts” onto brain
Scientists have developed a brain implant that essentially melts into place, snugly fitting to the brain’s surface. According to the…
Researchers tracking autism’s roots
New research has found that in fragile X syndrome – a genetic defect that is the best-known cause of autism…
Traveling into the future… with sugar
Researchers looking into how blood glucose levels impact our thought processes have found that when we have more energy available…
Common chemical found to feminize boys’ brains
Adding to earlier investigations that linked two common phthalates to abnormal male genital development, the same researchers now say that…
Obesity linked to stupidity, brain scans show
A person’s risk of cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and hypertension is known to be linked to obesity, and now…
Brain treats tools as body parts
When we use a tool – even for just a few minutes – it changes the way our brain represents…
Guitarists’ brains synchronized
When guitarists play along together it isn’t just their instruments that are in time – their brain waves are too,…
Musicians’ brains optimized to identify emotion
In research that may lead to new therapies for children with autism and Asperger’s syndrome, researchers from Northwestern University have…
New evidence linking marijuana use to brain abnormalities in adolescents
Young people who are heavy users of marijuana are more likely than non-users to have disrupted development in the areas…
Asymmetrical brain gives up its secrets
Two newly identified proteins are responsible for the tug-of-war between the two sides of the developing human brain that causes…
Brain Wired For Adventure
Scientists have identified a key region of the brain which encourages us to be adventurous. The region, located in a…
Monkey Mind Over Matter
A monkey has successfully fed itself using a robotic arm controlled by signals from its brain. The researchers behind the…
Stem Cell Decimation Behind “Chemo Brain”
A study by researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center and Harvard Medical School has linked the widely used…
This Is Your Brain On Jazz
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), two scientists have discovered that when jazz musicians improvise, their brains turn off areas…
Aggression As Rewarding As Sex
Vanderbilt University researchers have shown for the first time that the brain processes aggression as a reward – much like…
Switching Gayness On And Off
While the nature-nurture argument about homosexuality continues to be debated, a team of neurobiologists from the University of Illinois at…
Blood Could Be Integral Part Of Brain’s Processing Power
Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology believe that blood may actually help us think, in addition to its well-known…
Uncovering Autism’s Disconnects
Scientists from Wake Forest University School of Medicine (WF) have discovered that in autistic individuals, connections between brain cells may…
Writer’s Cramp A Sign Of Brain Abnormalities
Compared to healthy individuals, people with serious cases of writer’s cramp have less brain tissue in areas of the brain…
ADHD Drug Affects Developing Brain
Ritalin – used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder – may cause long-term changes in children’s brains, suggests a new study…
Mirror Neurons Show Their Xenophobic Side
The infamous middle finger salute is recognized by nearly everyone in our society, but to someone from a foreign country,…