Many forms of mental illness can affect our moods. But that isn’t all they do: they can also damage our willpower. Problems such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity…
Scientists say they have found a way to activate the brain cells that trigger particular memories, according to research published today in the journal Science. Researchers at MIT employed optogenetics…
In a 2008 paper on neuroeconomics, Carnegie Mellon University economist George Loewenstein said: “Whereas psychologists tend to view humans as fallible and sometime even self-destructive, economists tend…
Differences in the brains of autistic infants emerge well before behavioural signs.
Awen Photography
For parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the diagnostic process can be a long and stressful journey. Behavioural signs of ASD can appear around the child’s first birthday when he fails…
The monologues in our minds could one day be converted into language, according to researchers who have succeeded in decoding electrical activity in the area of the brain that recognises sounds. The development…
When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, getting your body in shape often tops the list. But what about your brain? If your left or right brain is feeling a little flabby, there’s a wide range of books…
Understanding what is special, if anything, about the human brain is a scientific problem of such magnitude it has defied all manner of investigation for centuries. And human consciousness, our experience…
Dopamine, which is released during gaming, can influence the wiring of the adolescent brain.
Steven Andrew Photography
Teens who frequently play video games have larger reward centres in their brains than those who play less often, according to a study published today in the journal Translational Psychiatry. The researchers…
Neuroimaging is commonplace, but do you know what you’re getting into?
Katrina Lawrence/AFP
This month, fMRI brain imaging celebrates its 20th anniversary. And so it should. It has come to dominate cognitive neuroscience. Massive amounts of precious funding are poured into it and thousands of…
The brain repairs itself only minimally following damage or disease.
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Welcome to the sixth and final part of _On the Brain, a Conversation series by people whose job it is to know as much as there is to know about the body’s most complex organ. Here, Professor Malcolm Horne…
Lachlan Thompson, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Welcome to part five of _On the brain, a Conversation series by people whose job it is to know as much as there is to know about the body’s most complex organ. Here, Lachlan Thompson, head of the Neurogenesis…
Addicts have choices, but those choices might be severely constrained.
davidblume
Neil Levy, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Welcome to part four of _On the brain, a Conversation series by people whose job it is to know as much as there is to know about the body’s most complex organ. Here, Neil Levy, Head of Neuroethics at Florey…