Mouse brains produce random, strong bursts of dopamine and are able to control them. This may challenge many long-held ideas about learning and motivation.
A plant fruit in Nigeria shows potential for a new drug for epilepsy treatment.
Kateryn Kon/Science Photo Library
An extract of a plant’s fruit in Nigeria could protect against seizure and prevent brain degeneration. It could therefore be studied further for the development of a new antiepileptic drug.
The ‘hourglass’ tracks how much sleep we’ve had.
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From the archive: new research helps unpick clues about the brain’s ability to change its structure. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
Not being able to hold and hug loved ones has been one of the more difficult parts of the pandemic.
Alex Chan Tsz Yuk/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Lack of human touch can lead to greater stress, anxiety and loneliness – and that is what made the social distancing during the pandemic so hard for many.
We know very little about the human brain.
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A researcher who studies physical skills explains how getting your conscious thoughts out of the way lets your body do what it knows how to do, better.
In both ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, reflected images were thought to hold mysterious powers. Damaging a mirror was believed to invite the wrath of the gods.
Ready to party post-pandemic, but at the same time feeling shy? Here’s how social isolation affects the brain – and what research suggests about the effects of resocialization.
The brain can see a lot of things that aren’t there.
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Fetal brains are changing rapidly over the course of pregnancy, but so are the brains of mothers-to-be. Neuroscience research shows one way worry can start taking hold – and a simple way to help.
To tell you the truth, nobody really knows. But it’s probably got to do with the fact that signals from your nose and your eyes arrive in the same area of your brain.