10/28/2009 - 3:15pm

Scientists Find How Brains Keep Track of Time

Keeping track of time and remembering things that happened in the past is one of the brain’s most important functions. A recent study has identified the neurons in primate brains that code time.

Neuroscientists have theorized that the brain “time stamps” events as they happen, allowing us to keep track of where we are and when past events occurred. Scientists were not able to find evidence that such time stamps existed. But a study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has now found that missing evidence.

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.

10/05/2009 - 2:53pm

Surrealism for Sharper Thinking

Psychologists at the University of California in Santa Barbara and the University of British Columbia have shown that when subjects are exposed to surrealistic stories the cognitive mechanisms involved in learning are enhanced.

09/16/2009 - 11:41am

Sport Advantage- Players' Skill and Brains

We can all agree that professional sportsmen are better at their particular sport than you or I. Is it because of intense practice or are they simply born with better skills? Or is there perhaps something else at work there?

Swiss and British researchers have been looking into this matter and have come up with some interesting insights.

Any sport that involves moving objects (like tennis), requires three levels of response for timing:

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.

08/27/2009 - 3:03pm

Summer Vacation Takes Its Toll on Young Minds

Now that the summer vacation is just about behind us, it is time to evaluate what that long break does to all the things children learned during the school year.
 
Research has shown that children can lose an average of two months learning over the summer months if they don’t stay mentally active and are mentally stimulated. When they do finally return to classes, it may take more than one month to get back into the swing of things and get back on track with their lessons.
 

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.

06/22/2009 - 10:08am

You Always Knew Your Dog Was Smart- Now Proof of Dog’s Learning Capabilities

Just like their owners, dogs can form abstract concepts. Scientists at the University of Vienna have shown that dogs can classify complex color photographs and place them into categories in the same way that humans do.

05/11/2009 - 10:21am

10 ways to increase your brain’s learning ability

For some of us, learning can be a very difficult process. Below you will find 10 easy to follow tips that hopefully will help make learning easier:

1. Look and listen- Some of us find it easier to absorb auditory, rather than visual information. Reading information out loud while reading increases the chance of better remembering it later, since we use more than one modality to code it.