brain
ScienceDaily (2011-01-24) -- What makes music beautiful? The best compositions transcend culture and time -- but what is the commonality which underscores their appeal? New research suggests that the brain simplifies complex patterns, much in the same way that "lossless" music compression formats reduce audio files, by removing redundant data and identifying patterns. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110120073507.htm
ScienceDaily (2011-01-04) -- Researchers have produced a lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a safe vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine. In their study, published Jan. 4 in the online edition of Molecular Therapy and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the researchers [...]
ScienceDaily (2010-12-17) -- A mother's voice will preferentially activate the parts of the brain responsible for language learning, say researchers. The research team made the discovery after performing electrical recordings on the infants within the 24 hours following their birth. The brain signals also revealed that while the infants did react to other women's voices, these [...]
Today a gunman, upset about his mother's health condition, wounded a doctor then killed his mother and himself. The shootings took place at Johns Hopkins hospital. (The news story can be found here.) As soon as I heard that the shooter targeted the doctor because of his mother's health condition, I immediately thought of the gruesome [...]
Positron emission tomography (PET) scans were used to measure dopamine synaptic markers in adults with unmedicated ADHD and adults without ADHD. The study found that A reduction in dopamine synaptic markers associated with symptoms of inattention was shown in the dopamine reward pathway of participants with ADHD. (Volkow, et al., 2009). This means that for people [...]
The study: Fifteen children with ADHD and 23 children without ADHD (7 to 12 years old) had their sleep monitored by a polysomnography device (see "Glossary" below) and parents completed sleep questionnaires. Children were not on medication, were in good health, and did not have any caffeine for seven days prior to the study. Children were [...]
When you have to have the newest tech gadget or go skydiving for the first time, your ventral striatum may be the culprit. The ventral striatum is also the section of the brain where drug and alcohol use induces the release of dopamine. In addition, compared to people without ADHD, people with ADHD have reduced activation in the ventral [...]
Dr. Charles Limb at Johns Hopkins University used MRIs of jazz musicians to determine the brain's processes during jazz improvisation. When the musicians improvised, the brain's inhibition processes shut down. In addition, the brain's dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, where self-monitoring comes from, also shut down. The brain's medial prefrontal cortex turned on, which provides self-expression. Also, the [...]