Brain/Neuroscience
Are we ready to welcome intelligent robots into the human family?
Artificial intelligence (AI) may become so advanced that some computer minds achieve consciousness and self-awareness. Would these machines be granted ...
Are we ready, without professional help, to decide what to do when our genes tell us we have a potential disorder?
The FDA's decision to allow 23andMe to offer consumers disease screening has triggered a debate over whether the public is ...
Parkinson’s stem cell therapy 2.0: New treatment coaxes the brain to repair itself
For the past five decades pharmaceutical drugs like levodopa have been the gold standard for treating Parkinson’s disease. These medications ...
Scientists push back over criticism that they pander to political correctness for rejecting genetic-based male-female differences
Mainstream journals increasingly publish studies that reveal how misleading assumptions about the sexes bias the framing of hypotheses, research design ...
Why we sleep less as we age
It’s a known fact that as we age, we sleep less. But the reasoning behind this phenomenon is poorly understood ...
Video: How gene therapy could treat rare, incurable ‘day blindness’
[Editor's note. Achromatopsia is a visual disorder sometimes referred to as "day blindness".] Imagine stepping out into a bright South ...
Tumor zapper: Brain cancer survival rates boosted by electric skull cap
An electric skull cap designed to zap cancer cells trying to grow in the brains of wearers proved useful at ...
Talking Biotech: Florida neurosurgeon Duane Mitchell on how genetic engineering opens doors in cancer fight
Neuroscientist Duane Mitchell discusses genetically enhancing T-cells and other cutting edge cancer immunotherapies ...
How dyslexia affects brain function: It’s not just about reading and language
Dyslexia is not just about reading, or even language. It’s about something more fundamental: How much can the brain adapt ...
Seeing patterns that aren’t there? Understanding how the brain forms opinions — And implications for science
Humans have a natural inclination to 'order the world,' our minds imposing familiar patterns on the chaos of life. Could ...
Umbilical cord stem cells may yield treatment for autism
Gracie [Gregory] was one of 25 children who took part in the first-of-its-kind study at Duke University in Durham, North ...
Was the EPA right not to ban the crop pesticide chlorpyrifos?
The EPA decision allowing farmers to continue using the popular pesticide chlorpyrifos has drawn both praise and scorn, each side ...
Deep breaths: Calming effects of meditation may be rooted in brain stem
During yoga pranayama exercises people practice controlling the breath, or prana, to induce a state of calm and focus... Research ...
Paralysis relief? Brain signals used to regain control of patient’s paralyzed arm
[Editor's note: William Kochevar was paralyzed from the shoulders down in a 2006 bike accident.] Now, with the help of ...
Why does physical damage sometimes increase cognitive abilities?
As it turns out, there are reliable reports in the medical literature of—yes—bullet wounds to the head, stroke, concussion, meningitis, ...
Why do some people have great memories? It’s in the genes
Researchers have identified more than 100 genes important for memory in people. The study is the first to identify correlations ...
Born killer or normal mind? Genes, brain scans and mental health
What's a normal mind? Do brain scans provide any insight? The answer is stranger than you think ...
‘High quality diet’ likely source of primate brain growth — not social nature, study finds
In the past two million years, humans have experienced a massive increase in brain size, one not seen in any ...
Brain, ovarian cancers linked to new gene mutations in two studies
Genetic changes and variants linked to the development of brain and ovarian cancers have been discovered in two new studies ...
How humans got smart: Rush of blood to the head
[Editor's note: Roger Seymour is professor emeritus of physiology at the University of Adelaide.] The blood flow to the cognitive part ...
Animal cyborgs: 6 nature-inspired robots that could revolutionize science, medicine and farming
1. Light-controlled dragonflies In January, R&D company Draper and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute announced a partnership aimed at turning ...
4 human genetics organizations that put ideology ahead of science
There are legitimate concerns about the rapid pace of genetics research. But some of the most well known groups seen ...
Human skin, brain and bone cells grown on plants offer path for tissue implants
To grow clusters of human stem cells that mimic organs in the lab and might be used someday in tissue ...
Evolutionary survival mechanism ‘gone-awry’ likely source of sleep walking
Recent research from Stanford University shows that up to 4 per cent of adults might have [walked in their sleep] ...
Half our brain’s neurons are in cerebellum but its region’s role in consciousness unclear
One of the best-known regions of the brain, the cerebellum accounts for just 10 percent of the organ's total volume, ...
How brain ages may depend on genetic variant linked to Alzheimer’s risk
Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have discovered a common genetic variant that greatly impacts normal brain aging, starting at ...
Can a specific exercise make you smarter: Sprinting, jogging or weightlifting?
Exercise...augments adult neurogenesis, which is the creation of new brain cells in an already mature brain...[R]esearchers at the University of ...
