neuroscience

Queen, Abba and the Beach Boys Best Feel-Good Music Science Says

A Dutch neuroscientist has come up with a formula to determine what makes a song uplifting and in the process he's identified the ultimate feel-good track of all-time. - Peter Vincent Source: Queen, Abba and the Beach Boys best feel-good music science says

Storytelling for the Elephant in the Room

123RF.com, Stockphoto Stories are everywhere. They draw people together and hold an enormous capacity to evoke connection and create change. It is how humans interact and has been our main source of passing on knowledge for more than 27,000 years. We are wired to think in narrative and make decisions based on cause [...]

The Placebo Effect 

brainscape.com Placebos are drugs or other sources of treatment that are physically and pharmacologically inert, without any direct therapeutic effects. The neurobiological mechanisms of the placebo effect remain a matter of great research interest. The placebo response is a set of complex psycho-neurobiological mechanisms; it is believed that verbal suggestions and conditioning cues [...]

By |2015-08-27T15:30:50+10:00August 27th, 2015|Categories: Science & Research|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

Long-term Brain Changes Persist Years after Drug Abuse and Recovery

It's known that brain changes are present in drug addicts even when they have been abstinent for a short period of time. Now new research shows that alterations persist in long-term abstinent heroin-depended individuals as well. - Wiley Source: Long-term brain changes persist years after drug abuse and recovery Image from Unsplash

By |2020-10-30T17:20:30+11:00August 24th, 2015|Categories: Drugs & Alcohol|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

Altruism Is Simpler than We Thought, Brain Study Shows

A new computational model of how the brain makes altruistic choices is able to predict when a person will act generously in a scenario involving the sacrifice of money. The work, led by California Institute of Technology scientists and, appearing July 15 in the journal Neuron, also helps explain why being generous sometimes feels so difficult. [...]

By |2015-07-27T14:35:02+10:00July 26th, 2015|Categories: Science & Research|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments

Patients with Recurrent Depression Have Smaller Hippocampi

The brains of people with recurrent depression have a significantly smaller hippocampus (the part of the brain most associated with forming new memories) than healthy individuals, according to a study of nearly 9,000 people called the ENIGMA study. - News Staff Source: Patients With Recurrent Depression Have Smaller Hippocampi

By |2015-07-06T14:11:42+10:00July 5th, 2015|Categories: Science & Research|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

After Learning New Words, Brain Sees Them as Pictures

When we look at a known word, our brain sees it like a picture, not a group of letters needing to be processed. That's the finding from a Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, which shows the brain learns words quickly by tuning neurons to respond to a complete [...]

By |2015-06-21T14:22:18+10:00June 21st, 2015|Categories: Science & Research|Tags: , , , , , , |1 Comment

Switching on One-Shot Learning in The Brain

Most of the time, we learn only gradually, incrementally building connections between actions or events and outcomes. But there are exceptions—every once in a while, something happens and we immediately learn to associate that stimulus with a result. For example, maybe you have had bad service at a store once and sworn that you will [...]

How to Win Any Argument: Pseudo-Scientific Neuro-Gibberish

If you’re hoping to win an argument this week, try talking neuro-gibberish. Irrelevant neuroscience information – or “neurobabble” – makes for the most convincing scientific explanations. - by Jules Montague Source: How to win any argument: pseudo-scientific neuro-gibberish | Science | The Guardian

Cocaine Changes the Brain and Makes Relapse More Common in Addicts

New research published today in The Journal of Neuroscience identifies a molecular mechanism in the reward centre of the brain that influences how recovering cocaine addicts might relapse after stressful events. Importantly, the study identifies a potential mechanism for protecting against such relapses with treatment. - University of East Anglia Source: Cocaine changes the brain and [...]

By |2020-10-30T17:44:36+11:00May 3rd, 2015|Categories: Drugs & Alcohol|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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