Brain/Neuroscience
Brain damage may spur extreme religious fundamentalism, study finds
Scientists found that damage in a certain part of the brain is linked to an increase in religious fundamentalism. In ...
How 1100 pound woman’s rare genetic disorder helps unravel mystery of obesity
The root causes of the obesity epidemic remain elusive. Studying rare one-gene cases may provide clues to help scientists understand ...
Do we have a human right to the privacy of our brain activity?
Do we have a human right to the privacy of our brain activity? Is “cognitive liberty” the foundation of all ...
Epigenetics Around the Web: Marie Claire’s missteps on probiotics and microbiome; Dad’s role in fetal health
Missteps on science, journalism and advertising; Overhyping the epigenetic relationship between healthy fathers and healthy children ...
Star Trek-like transporter might solve brain disease mysteries, understand religious belief
Scientists have modeled a Star Trek-like transporter illusion to learn about how the human brain shapes our sense of spatial ...
Pediatric cancer: Can CRISPR gene editing help?
[Simone T. Sredni, associate professor of pediatric neurosurgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine] said that after so many years ...
How to treat a crying baby? Brain waves offers window
Could a baby’s cry mean an anesthetic isn’t working well during a procedure? That a painkiller for postoperative pain has worn ...
New transplantation era beckons if we’re ok with growing organs in pigs
Some day, human organs from pigs may fill the organ gap, and the needed science and engineering is advancing rapidly, ...
‘Hunger hormone’ may also boost growth of brain cells
Could fasting boost your brainpower? A stomach hormone that stimulates appetite seems to promote the growth of new brain cells ...
Neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero’s ‘brainless’ proposed ‘head transplant’ project
When Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero recently announced his plans to conduct a human head transplant, that is, to put an ...
Mendel meets Tinder: GenePeeks screen maps babies’ genetic risks — before conception
Genetic screening offers prospective parents new insights into the potential disease risks facing their offspring -- and maybe a chance ...
Here’s why conscious robots are possible — and needed
People often ask me whether human-level artificial intelligence will eventually become conscious. My response is: Do you want it to ...
Natural chefs? Chimps learn to use an oven, sparking debate on how humans learned to cook
If you give a chimp an oven, he or she will learn to cook. That's what scientists concluded from a ...
Treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other forms of dementia may already be in your medicine cabinet
Tried, true, and FDA-approved drugs for cancer and depression—already in medicine cabinets—may also be long-sought treatments for devastating brain diseases ...
Epigenetics Around the Web: IFL Science doesn’t f****** understand how humans ‘inherit’ modifications
The popular science site IFL Science whiffs at covering a major study; and can we please stop talking about 'space ...
Decrying ‘neurosexism’: Are attempts to find biological gender differences justified?
“Neurosexism,” “populist science,” “neurotrash,” the problem with using terms like these to describe scientific investigations of sex differences is that ...
Fetal lambs grown in artificial womb — are humans next?
[A] new study [has taken] the first step toward an artificial womb [by developing eight fetal lambs in what looks ...
Junk food cravings? That burning desire for chocolate may be genetic
[A]ccording to some new research on how your genes affect the foods you seek out, it’s not your fault [if ...
Shocking: Electrical zaps to your brain may improve memory
Zapping the brain with just a bit of electricity at the right time may help to improve memory function in ...
Can quantum mechanics explain human consciousness?
Despite all the research we’ve done, we still know relatively little about how the human brain works, and we know ...
Why you can tell the difference between fake laughter and the real thing
Most of us will laugh at a good joke, but we also laugh when we are not actually amused. Fake ...
Two halves better than one: Why our brain evolved to be symmetrical
The human brain evolved to have two halves — and a new review of previous research suggests that this dual ...
Epigenetics Around the Web: Evolution of instincts — How ‘real’ is behavioral plasticity?
A researcher's decision to broadcast his controversial hypothesis about the evolution of instincts is irresponsible, and a study throws cold ...
Designer muscles: How gene doping could change sports
[Editor's Note: Adam Piore is an award-winning journalist and author of the new book The Body Builders: Inside the Science ...
Why do people with autism tend to repeat themselves? It may be genetics
April is Autism Awareness Month and even MIT scientists are getting in on the action with compelling new genetic research...[R]esearchers ...
Behold the octopus: Problem solver, tool user and now, gene editor
The more we learn about octopuses and squids, the more mysterious they become. The ability to edit their own RNA ...
Does the administration’s block of the chlorpyrifos pesticide ban signal a changing regulatory landscape?
One of the first things this administration did was to rescind a government proposal to ban a pesticide used on ...
