In the past few days, a great deal of media attention has been paid to Leanne Rowe, a Tasmanian woman who has lived eight years with a French accent she acquired after a car accident. This phenomenon is…
Researchers have used the radioactive fallout from atomic bomb tests to show that new neurons are produced in one part of the human brain throughout life. Studies have shown that rats can grow new neurons…
After many years of research, we still do not completely understand the brains of even the simplest organisms. The human brain with its 80 billion neurons is largely a mystery. But with better tools we…
Brains are smart enough to rewire themselves, a new international study of rats has found. The study turns on its head the common misconception brain damage is irreversible, showing the precise neural…
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a remarkable therapeutic innovation that has restored the lives of many individuals with intractable neurological disorders. Nowhere is this more evident than in crippling…
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation et Michelle See-Tho, The Conversation
Certain types of long term memories can be “rewritten” without drugs or surgery, according to a new study that experts say offers hope for sufferers of post traumatic stress disorder. The study, conducted…
Have you ever noticed that even detailed, sophisticated virtual reality experiences don’t feel completely “real”? It all comes down to your inner ear - and a study published earlier this month using rats…
Neurological disorders can have a devastating impact on the lives of sufferers and their families. Symptoms of these disorders differ extensively - from motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease, memory…
There’s nothing quite like overhearing a hearty belly-laugh, unless perhaps it’s having a good chortle yourself. The happy likelihood is that, in any case, one guffaw will lead to the other. Laughter is…
A research centre where experts will use the latest findings from neuroscience, education and psychology to better understand how students learn will open this year, after the Australian government announced…
Think of your favourite magic trick. Is it as grandiose as David Copperfield’s Death Saw, or is it as simple as making a coin disappear in front of your very eyes? These two very different tricks have…
Fron Jackson-Webb, The Conversation et Odile Gotts, The Conversation
Scientists have found a way to control the reward centre of the brain, using a miniature wireless device that emits light and causes the brain to release dopamine, the chemical associated with pleasure…
If there’s one thing that could be observed from Fairfax’s move to publish its first tabloid-sized broadsheets it was a surprising level of neuro-illiteracy. Fairfax’s head of advertising, Sarah Keith…
Recently, I wrote a sceptical article for The Conversation on the subject of new proposals for computer mapping of the brain. The two top contenders are the European Human Brain Project (HBP - which has…
In the past month, we have seen two major announcements of huge projects to map the brain – the European Human Brain Project (HBP) and the Obama Brain Activity Map (BAM). What you may not have noticed…
Jee Hyun Kim, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
If you could erase your memories, which ones would you choose? As a neuroscientist, one of my raisons d’etre is to achieve, in a way, some form of memory erasure, especially for individuals that suffer…
In May last year, a new attraction called The Ascent opened for a brief season in Brooklyn, New York. Described as “part art installation, part adventure ride and part spiritual journey,” The Ascent consisted…