10/28/2009 - 3:42pm

Brain Training May Help The Blind-Sighted To See

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research have found that brain training may help people who are blind due to injury to the brain region responsible for vision, gain some vision.

Patients whose primary visual cortex has been damaged through a stroke or trauma cannot consciously see, but at some level their brains are still processing their visual environment. Through brain training, these patients may regain some conscious awareness of what their minds can see.

10/27/2009 - 12:08pm

Scientists Find Way to Reverse Insomnia-Induced Cognitive Impairment

Sleep deprivation affects cognitive function and learning and memory are the cognitive functions most affected by lack of sleep. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have identified a molecular pathway in the brain that causes the cognitive impairment due to insomnia. They have also found that by reducing the concentration of a specific enzyme that builds up in the hippocampus, they can reduce the inability to focus, learn or memorize that is symptomatic of sleep deprivation.

10/26/2009 - 9:38am

Music and the Brain

Several interesting studies about Music and the Brain were presented at the 158th Acoustical Society of America meeting that was held in San Antonio in October.

Music Can Train the Brain

One study of the brain’s electrical and magnetic signals showed that musical training changes the auditory cortex-the part of the brain where the processing of sound takes place.

09/17/2009 - 11:40am

Some Exercises Better Than Others For Your Brain

Research with laboratory mice in Taiwan has shed some interesting light on the link between exercise and improved brain function.

It seems mice that were allowed to do their usual exercise of running around their rodent wheels as much as possible, improved their brain function. But a second group of mice that were pushed harder on a mini-treadmill at a speed and duration controlled by the scientists, out-performed their lab mates in cognitive performance.

09/09/2009 - 2:30pm

BBC Conducting Largest Ever Test of Brain Training

The BBC will be launching an experiment designed by Prof.  Clive Ballard of Kings College, London and the director of research at the UK Alzheimer’s Society and Dr. Adrian Owen of the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit Cambridge, to test whether brain training actually works.

09/09/2009 - 10:53am

Male Brains and Female Brains: Nature or Nurture?

Scientists have established that there are definitely anatomical differences between male and female brains. Are these differences caused by male/female behavior or do these differences cause the male/female behavior?

Using sophisticated MRI scanning, Peg Nopoulos, Jessica Wood and colleagues at the University of Iowa have been trying to shed light on the nature vs. nurture conundrum.

09/06/2009 - 2:17pm

New Brain Technology Helps Understanding Brain Function

A new way of using MRI scanners has been developed that will help doctors and scientists to understand how our brains function. The new technique is called Diffusion Tensor Imaging. DTI tracks the motion of water molecules in the brain which allows us to see where nerve fibers led and give scientists the ability to map the fiber bundles that are wiring together in the cortex of the brain, called connectomes. Until now, scientists have been using fMRI which doesn’t measure brain function directly.

09/06/2009 - 12:37pm

Moderate Drinking May Actually Be Helpful to the Brain

According to an analysis of several studies that was published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, people over 60 who consume moderate amounts of alcohol have  reduced  risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
 
15 studies that followed more than 28,000 subjects for at least two years were analyzed for the publication. Male drinkers reduced their risk for dementia by 45 % as compared to non-drinkers and women by 27%.

08/27/2009 - 10:00am

Children, Bilingualism and Brain Plasticity

Studies have found that the best age to learn a language is between birth and 7. This leaves most of the population out of learning a second language well enough to be considered a native speaker. Scientists have been looking into why children are able to learn languages so quickly and whether there is any way to apply the ability to adult language learning.

08/27/2009 - 9:55am

Obesity and the Brain

It is known that obesity and overweight take their toll on our bodies- increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and cancer. Now there is scientific evidence that obesity and even overweight have a detrimental effect on our brains as well. Recent research has shown that obese people have 8% less brain tissue than people who are of normal weight and overweight people 4%. The brains of obese people looked 16 years older than the brains of people who were lean, and overweight people’s brains looked 8 years older.