Higher levels of education correlate with cognitive reserve.
Having a little education goes a long way toward ensuring you’ll recover from a serious traumatic brain injury. In fact, people with lots of education are seven times more likely than high school dropouts to have no measurable disability a year later.
Continue reading… “Education better equips the brain to recover from traumatic injury”
The “off-switch” could help scientists develop treatments for patients with some brain diseases.
Scientists have essentially developed an “off-switch” for the brain by using light pulses to effectively shut down neural activity.
Continue reading… “Scientists develop an ‘off-switch’ for the brain”
In recent decades, many Western nations have experienced significant declines in crime, but could the removal of lead from gasoline explain that?
Continue reading… “Did removing lead from gasoline spark a decline in crime rates?”
Blockade of p25 generation in the brain of an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model mitigates amyloid plaque buildup.
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s in mice have been reversed by limiting a certain protein in the brain, according to a report by neuroscientists at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory.
Continue reading… “Neuroscientists reverse symptoms of Alzheimer’s in mice”
‘Brain Trip’
The Centraal Museum in Utrecht, the Netherlands, is offering an additional experience for its ‘Surreal Worlds’ exhibition that monitors visitors’ brain waves. Interactive agency Rhinofly developed the interactive installation ‘Brain Trip’, which enriches visitors’ trip and enables them to experience surrealism in an innovative way. (Video)
Continue reading… “Brain Trip: Brain wave reading game gives museum visitors a surreal trip”
Electric ‘thinking cap’
Cram sessions that are fueled by caffeine are routine occurrences on any college campus. But what if there was a better, safer way to learn new or difficult material more quickly? What if “thinking caps” were real?
Continue reading… “Electric ‘thinking cap’ can help you learn faster and better”
The discovery of cannabinoid receptors may help explain why marijuana users say they take the drug mainly to reduce anxiety.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University have found cannabinoid receptors, through which marijuana exerts its effects, in a key emotional hub in the brain involved in regulating anxiety and the flight-or-fight response.
Continue reading… “Researchers discover marijuana’s anxiety relief effects”
Mary Lou Jepsen
Mary Lou Jepsen, an expert on cutting-edge digital displays, studies how to show our most creative ideas on screens. And as a brain surgery patient herself, she is driven to know more about the neural activity that underlies invention, creativity, thought. She meshes these two passions in a rather mind-blowing talk on two cutting-edge brain studies that might point to a new frontier in understanding how (and what) we think. (Video)
Continue reading… “Could future devices read images from our brains?”
Programmers use existing language regions of the brain to understand code.
Computer programming is a deeply complex but relatively new human activity. Its young age has lent itself to countless battles and hotly debated topics that despite the many compelling arguments presented, we seemingly have no definitive answers for. All that is about to change: An international team of scientists lead by Dr. Janet Siegmund is using brain imaging with fMRI to understand the programmer’s mind. Understanding the brain offers us the chance to distill these complex issues into fundamental answers.
Continue reading… “Neuroscience of programming: Understanding programmers’ brains”
Placebo effect
Placebos are the miracle pills that shouldn’t really do anything. They come in all shapes and sizes, but they contain no active ingredient. And yet, mysteriously, they often seem to work.
Continue reading… “Placebos – the medicine in our minds”
Genius happens when a seasoned mind sees a problem with fresh eyes.
The former frontman of the band LCD Soundsystem, James Murphy, made what he called the biggest mistake of his life at 21, when he turned down a writing job on a sitcom that was about to launch.
Continue reading… “Your late 30’s is when your biggest breakthroughs will happen”
Neurocam
Scientists at Keio University have developed a “neurocam” — a wearable camera system that detects emotions, based on an analysis of the user’s brainwaves. (Video)
Continue reading… “Wearable ‘neurocam’ reads your brainwaves and records your interests”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.