Brain/Neuroscience
Why studying human chimeras offers best hope for finding Parkinson’s cure
Spectrum: Why do researchers want to study mouse-human chimeras? Rudolf Jaenisch: Traditionally, researchers have studied human conditions by mutating the ...
Genetic switch may dictate if you crave more high-fat or high-sugar foods
We all love eating junk food even though we know it's not part of a healthy diet...Now a team of ...
How CRISPR could change the world—And why that frightens many of us
Gene editing could revolutionize the world in a way akin to how the personal computer did. Most Americans are unaware ...
How human chimeras could revolutionize science and medicine
The NIH appears ready to fund scientists who want to make and study human chimeras. What can we hope to ...
100,000 brains: UK Biobank Imaging Study releases first batch of disease progression data
[R]esearchers [have recently] released the first results from the UK Biobank Imaging Study, a massive effort that ultimately aims to ...
Men are from Earth, women are too: Sexes not so different when it comes to sex
There are gender differences in sexual behavior, to be sure, but with certain phenomena, women are far more similar to ...
Why autism genes persist in human gene pool
It has been suspected for some time that numerous defective genes are responsible for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but now, ...
Genetic therapies won’t solve depression anytime soon
Can a better understanding of the genetics of depression lead us to safer, more effective treatments for the disease? ...
Our brains can’t handle lack of explanation for lone-wolf terror attacks
[I]t would be nice if we could develop some profile of the sorts of people who become lone-wolf attackers...Unfortunately, this ...
Swedish scientist edits DNA of healthy embryos—Should the public worry?
[On Sept. 22,] an NPR report, "Breaking Taboo, Swedish Scientists Seeks To Edit DNA of Healthy Human Embryos," stokes the ...
Artificial intelligence: Should we worry?
Hollywood has a long history of depicting artificial intelligence. But as it inches closer to making the jump from the ...
GMO Bt corn’s underrated ability to reduce mycotoxins benefits health and economy
One side benefit of Bt corn is its ability to reduce mycotoxin contamination, which could provide health and economic benefits ...
What Mr. X’s struggles with hemispatial neglect reveals about human consciousness
When I was a graduate student 25 years ago, I met a man I’ll call Mr. X, who had recently ...
Suppressing unwanted recollections may interfere with formation of other memories
[A] recent study...suggests that trying to banish that memory may cause you to forget the details of your conversation more ...
Human chimera research key to understanding unknown aspects of human development
How is it possible that we understand exquisitely well how worms, fruit flies, and rodents develop, but our own species’ ...
Blind use visual cortex region of brain to solve math problems
While a leading theory suggests our visual experiences are linked to our understanding of numbers, a study of people who ...
New York PTA’s proposed bans on GMOs, milk from rBST-treated cows flunk science
Scientists say the NY PTA has been hijacked by anti-GMO activists who want to impose their beliefs on the food ...
Genetic Literacy Project’s Top 6 Stories for the Week, September 19, 2016
From this past week, here are the #GLPTop6 among many great stories on human and agriculture genetics around the world ...
Stem cells injected into brain of Parkinson’s patient for first time
Doctors from the Royal Melbourne Hospital successfully injected stem cells onto the brain of a 64-year old Parkinson’s Disease patient ...
Matching brain with genitals: Complicated neuroscience of gender identity
Finger length, empathy levels and even brain size don’t determine our gender identity. But what does? ...
Neurons have surprising amount of genomic diversity
Our brains contain a surprising diversity of DNA. Even though we are taught that every cell in our body has ...
Specific neurons may code for social learning in humans
At least one type of social learning, or the ability to learn from observing others’ actions, is processed by individual ...
Federal investigation throws doubt on Luminosity’s supposed IQ benefits
The brain-training giant Lumosity is recalibrating its strategy and facing new challenges as it reels from a federal crackdown on bold ...
Message to college students: How your all nighters affect your learning and memory
The all-nighter is now as synonymous with a college student's life as the frat party, but it is detrimental to ...
Brain scans show that dogs do understand human speech
[S]cientists in Hungary...have published a groundbreaking study that found dogs understand both the meaning of words and the intonation used to ...
Scientists aim to sync various brain maps to create ‘Google Maps’ for brain
Brain maps seem to come out in rapid succession these days. They take various forms: a map for word concepts, ...
Can the hallucinogenic drug LSD make you more creative?
While studies into LSD still face stigmas, in the past several years, scientists have found potential small-scale, fascinating effects on ...
