Mounting research shows that going for a swim can preserve memories, reduce mood disorders and increase mental acuity in all age groups.
Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland and Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative Party leader, in a pre-election debate.
PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Plus, how researchers have discovered a biological switch that can turn neuroplasticity on and off in the brain. Listen to episode 13 of The Conversation Weekly podcast.
The colors in this microscope photo of a fruit fly brain show different types of neurons and the cells that surround them in the brain.
Sarah DeGenova Ackerman
Adaptable neurons are tied to learning and memory but also to neurological disorders. By studying fruit flies, researchers found a mechanism that controls neuroplasticity.
Our brains communicate information in a manner that can be likened to an air traffic controller.
(Shutterstock)
Air traffic controllers have to process and manage large amounts of information to get airplanes to their destinations. The brain manages the incessant traffic of neurons in a similar fashion.
The average Canadian adult consumes more than triple the daily limit of 25g added sugar recommended by the World Health Organization.
(Unsplash/muhammad ruqiyaddin)
Our ability to smell is a function of the brain, so it makes sense that an impaired sense of smell can point to cognitive decline. The good news is training our noses may be effective.
Microdosers take such small quantities of psychedelic substances that there are no noticeable effects.
By AppleZoomZoom
Popular accounts of the effects of microdosing don’t quite match the experience of long-term microdosers, according to this new research.
Many board games strengthen the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of the brains of players. This results in improved cognitive functions such as IQ, memory, information retention and problem-solving.
(Shutterstock)
Neuroscience labs around the world may need to reevaluate some of their assumptions about whether what works in animals will really produce meaningful treatments for people.
Biomedical engineering involves the application of engineering solutions to medical problems. Employment in the field is projected to grow 23 per cent from 2014 to 2024.
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One professor explains how war in Iran led her to a career in biomedical engineering - a rapidly growing field that offers students exciting opportunities to serve humanity.
Brain training programs support healthy brain ageing – but you’ve got to choose the right one.
from www.shutterstock.com
Research into how feelings and opinions can be shaped using technology or drugs could impact the whole of society not just the individuals concerned.
Your pain is in fact produced in your head and it will produce it more readily and more intensely if you have what you think is clear evidence that something is wrong.
Mislav Marohnić/Flickr
People develop a long-term problem after an episode of back pain if they expect to not recover. Steps by the medical sector to avoid catatrophising back pain by not suggesting scans will help.
People who stay mentally stimulated and physically active can delay onset of cognitive decline.
Daniel Erkstam/Flickr
Reema Rattan, The Conversation and Nicki Russell, The Conversation
Older people may be able to learn more from visual information than their younger counterparts, according to a study published today in the journal Current Biology. “The take-home message the study authors…
It’s not all bad news for older brains.
Man image via www.shutterstock.com
For years, conventional wisdom held that growing older tends to be bad news for brains. Past behavioral data largely pointed to loss in cognitive – that is, thinking – abilities with age, including poorer…
Childhood memories seem few and far between – if they still exist at all. So why can’t we dig them up as adults?
Rob./Flickr
Memories from early childhood are notoriously elusive but why can’t we recall our most formative experiences? New research suggests it could be a case of the old making way for the new – neurons, that…