Science Daily

The complex relationship between memory and silence
People who suffer a traumatic experience often don't talk about it, and many forget it over time. But not talking about something doesn't always mean you'll forget it; if you try to force yourself not to think about white bears, soon you'll be imagining polar bears doing the polka. A group of psychological scientists explore the relationship between silence and memories.
Placebos and distraction: New study shows how to boost the power of pain relief, without drugs
Placebos reduce pain by creating an expectation of relief. Distraction -- say, doing a puzzle -- relieves it by keeping the brain busy. But do they use the same brain processes? Neuromaging suggests they do. When applying a placebo, scientists see activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. That's the part of the brain that controls high-level cognitive functions like working memory and attention -- which is what you use to do that distracting puzzle.
To make a social robot, key is satisfying the human mind
Understanding the human mind is the key to social robotics, and researchers describe what we can expect from this field in the future.
Schizophrenia: When hallucinatory voices suppress real ones, new electronic application may help
When a patient afflicted with schizophrenia hears inner voices something is taking place inside the brain that prevents the individual from perceiving real voices. A simple electronic application may help the patient learn to shift focus.
How to tell apart the forgetful from those at risk of Alzheimer’s disease
It can be difficult to distinguish between people with normal age-associated memory loss and those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). However people with aMCI are at a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and identification of these people would mean that they could begin treatment as early as possible. New research shows that specific questions, included as part of a questionnaire designed to help diagnose AD, are also able to discriminate between normal memory loss and aMCI.
Untangling the mysteries of Alzheimer's
Researchers have found new evidence that confirms the significance of a protein that neuroscientists call tau to the development of Alzheimer's disease. While earlier studies have focused on tau's aggregation into twisted structures known as "neurofibrillary tangles," the new work emphasizes intermediary steps between single protein units and the much larger tangles – small assemblages of two, three, four or more proteins, which the investigators believe are the most toxic entities in Alzheimer's.
Men behaving nicely: Selfless acts by men increase when attractive women are nearby
Men put on their best behavior when attractive ladies are close by. When the scenario is reversed however, the behavior of women remains the same.
Facebook is not such a good thing for those with low self-esteem, study finds
In theory, the social networking website Facebook could be great for people with low self-esteem. Sharing is important for improving friendships. But in practice, people with low self-esteem seem to behave counterproductively, bombarding their friends with negative tidbits about their lives and making themselves less likeable, according to a new study.
Here is what real commitment to your marriage means
What does being committed to your marriage really mean? A psychology professors answer this question in a new study based on their analysis of 172 married couples over the first 11 years of marriage.
Alzheimer's disease may spread by 'jumping' from one brain region to another
For decades, researchers have debated whether Alzheimer's disease starts independently in vulnerable brain regions at different times, or if it begins in one region and then spreads to neuroanatomically connected areas. A new study strongly supports the latter, demonstrating that abnormal tau protein, a key feature of the neurofibrillary tangles seen in the brains of those with Alzheimer's, propagates along linked brain circuits, "jumping" from neuron to neuron.
In times of scandal, corporations are likely to use others' misconduct to justify their behavior
Among corporations involved in the 2006 stock-option backdating scandal, those implicated earlier were more likely to dismiss their top executives than those that surfaced later on, according to new research.
Why the brain is more reluctant to function as we age
New findings reveal a novel mechanism through which the brain may become more reluctant to function as we grow older.
Encouraging results with stem cell transplant for brain injury
Experiments in brain-injured rats show that stem cells injected via the carotid artery travel directly to the brain, where they greatly enhance functional recovery.
Dyslexia-linked genetic variant decreases midline crossing of auditory pathways
Scientists have found that a rare dyslexia-linked genetic variant of the ROBO1 gene decreases normal crossing of auditory pathways in the human brain. The results link, for the first time, a dyslexia-susceptibility gene to a specific sensory function of the human brain.
Men more likely to have an accurate memory of unpleasant experiences
Researchers reveal how pleasantness and emotional intensity affects memories. A woman's memory of an experience is less likely to be accurate than a man's if it was unpleasant and emotionally provocative, new research suggests.
Decaffeinated coffee may help improve memory function and reduce risk of diabetes
In an animal study, researchers found that decaffeinated coffee may improve glucose utilization in the brain, reducing the risk for Type 2 diabetes and the brain dysfunction associated with some neurological disorders.
Testosterone makes us less cooperative and more egocentric
Testosterone makes us overvalue our own opinions at the expense of cooperation, new research has found. Higher levels of testosterone were associated with individuals behaving egocentrically.
Gene mutation in autism found to cause hyperconnectivity in brain's hearing center
New research might help explain how a gene mutation found in some autistic individuals leads to difficulties in processing auditory cues and paying spatial attention to sound.
Scientists decode brain waves to eavesdrop on what we hear
Neuroscientists and surgeons have recorded electrical activity in the temporal lobe -- the seat of the auditory system -- to discover how the brain encodes sound. Their model allows them to predict what a person heard based solely on temporal lobe activity. If, as studies suggest, internal "imagined" conversations activate similar areas of the temporal lobe, it may be possible to hear the internal verbalizations of people who cannot talk because of paralysis or stroke.
Short-term memory is based on synchronized brain oscillations
Holding information within one's memory for a short while is a seemingly simple and everyday task. We use our short-term memory when remembering a new telephone number if there is nothing to write at hand, or to find the beautiful dress inside the store that we were just admiring in the shopping window. Yet, despite the apparent simplicity of these actions, short-term memory is a complex cognitive act that entails the participation of multiple brain regions. However, whether and how different brain regions cooperate during memory has remained elusive. Researchers in Germany have now come closer to answering this question. They discovered that oscillations between different brain regions are crucial in visually remembering things over a short period of time.
Researchers visualize the development of Parkinson's cells
In the US alone, at least 500,000 people suffer from Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder that affects a person's ability to control his or her movement. New technology lets researchers observe the development of the brain cells responsible for the disease.
College reduces odds for marriage among disadvantaged
For those with few social advantages, college is a prime pathway to financial stability, but it also unexpectedly lowers their odds of ever marrying, according to a new study.
For a winning ad at Super Bowl: Less shock and more sophisticated storyline
Research shows a storyline that really makes the viewer pay attention may score the highest. Marketing narratives are more likely to trigger a positive response when following the storyline requires some mental work.
Mom's love good for child's brain
School-age children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress. The new research, by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists, is the first to show that changes in this critical region of children’s brain anatomy are linked to a mother’s nurturing.
Addicts' cravings have different roots in men and women
A new brain imaging study suggests stress robustly activates areas of the brain associated with craving in cocaine-dependent women, while drug cues activate similar brain regions in cocaine-dependent men. The study suggests men and women with cocaine dependence might benefit more from different treatment options.
Divorce hurts health more at earlier ages
Divorce at a younger age hurts people's health more than divorce later in life, according to a new study.
Willpower and desires: Turning up the volume on what you want most
Trying to resist that late-night tweet or checking your work email again? The bad news is that desires for work and entertainment often win out in the daily struggle for self-control, according to a new study that measures various desires and their regulation in daily life.
Harnessing the predictive power of virtual communities
Scientists have created a new algorithm to detect virtual communities, designed to match the needs of real-life social, biological or information networks detection better than with current attempts.
Lifelong payoff for attentive kindergarten kids
Attentiveness in kindergarten accurately predicts the development of "work-oriented" skills in school children, according to a new study.
Want your enemies to trust you? Put on your baby face
Do baby-faced opponents have a better chance of gaining your trust? By subtly altering fictional politicians' faces, researchers examined whether minor changes in appearance can affect people's judgment about "enemy" politicians and their offer to make peace. In the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the research showed that peace offers from baby-faced politicians had a better chance of winning over the opposing population than the exact same offer coming from more mature-looking leaders.
The pupils are the windows to the mind
The eyes are the window into the soul -- or at least the mind, according to a new article.
The amygdala and fear are not the same thing
In a 2007 episode of the television show Boston Legal, a character claimed to have figured out that a cop was racist because his amygdala activated – displaying fear, when they showed him pictures of black people.
Making memories last: Prion-like protein plays key role in storing long-term memories
Memories in our brains are maintained by connections between neurons called "synapses." But how do these synapses stay strong and keep memories alive for decades? Neuroscientists have discovered a major clue from a study in fruit flies: Hardy, self-copying clusters or oligomers of a synapse protein are an essential ingredient for the formation of long-term memory.
Sex role stereotyping and prejudices in children explored
Girls are not as good at playing football as boys, and they do not have a clue about cars. Instead they know better how to dance and do not get into mischief as often as boys. Prejudices like these are cultivated from early childhood onwards by almost everyone, a researcher asserts.
Family history of psychiatric disorders shapes intellectual interests, study suggests
A family history of psychiatric conditions such as autism and depression could influence the subjects a person finds engaging, new research suggests. Although preliminary, the findings provide a new look at the oft-studied link between psychiatric conditions and aptitude in the arts or sciences.
Are you a happy shopper? Research website helps you find out
Psychologists have found that buying experiences makes people happier than possessions, but who spends their spare cash on experiences? Extraverts and people who are open to new experiences are more likely to make a habit of "experience shopping" and are happier as a result, according to new research.
Making sense of sensory connections: Researchers identify mechanism behind associative memory by exploring insect brains
A key feature of human and animal brains is that they are adaptive; they are able to change their structure and function based on input from the environment and on the potential associations, or consequences, of that input. To learn more about such neural adaptability, researchers have explored the brains of insects and identified a mechanism by which the connections in their brain change to form new and specific memories of smells.
How a parent's education can affect the mental health of their offspring
Could depression in adulthood be tied to a parent's level of education? A new study by a medical sociologist suggests this is the case.
In the brain, signs of autism as early as 6 months old
Measuring brain activity in infants as young as six months may help to predict the future development of autism symptoms. In their first year of life, babies who will go on to develop autism already show different brain responses when someone looks at or away from them. The findings suggest that direct brain measures might help to predict the future development of autism symptoms in infants as young as six months.
Prenatal testosterone linked to increased risk of language delay for male infants, study shows
New research by Australian scientists reveals that males who are exposed to high levels of testosterone before birth are twice as likely to experience delays in language development compared to females. The research, published in Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, focused on umbilical cord blood to explore the presence of testosterone when the language-related regions of a fetus' brain are undergoing a critical period of growth.
Men at higher risk for mild memory loss than women, study finds
Men may be at higher risk of experiencing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or the stage of mild memory loss that occurs between normal aging and dementia, than women, according to a new study.
Genes influence criminal behavior, research suggests
Your genes could be a strong predictor of whether you stray into a life of crime, according to a new research paper. The study focused on whether genes are likely to cause a person to become a life-course persistent offender, which is characterized by antisocial behavior during childhood that can later progress to violent or serious criminal acts later in life.
Adolescents with autism spend free time using solitary, screen-based media
Children with autism spectrum disorders tend to be fascinated by screen-based technology. A new study found that adolescents with autism (64.2 percent) spend most of their free time using solitary, or non-social, screen-based media (television and video games) while only 13.2 percent spend time on socially interactive media (e-mail, Internet chatting).
How kids with autism spend screen time
Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) tend to be preoccupied with screen-based media. A new study looks at how children with ASDs spend their “screen time.” Researchers found a very high rate of use of solitary screen-based media such as video games and television with a markedly lower rate of use of social interactive media, including email.
Being ignored hurts, even by a stranger
Feeling like you're part of the gang is crucial to the human experience. All people get stressed out when we're left out. A new study finds that a feeling of inclusion can come from something as simple as eye contact from a stranger.
Attack or retreat? Circuit links hunger and pursuit in sea slug brain
If you were a blind, cannibalistic sea slug, living among others just like you, nearly every encounter with another creature would require a simple cost/benefit calculation: Should I eat that -- or flee? In a new study, researchers report that these responses are linked to a simple circuit in the brain of the sea slug Pleurobranchaea.
Protein in brain could be a key target in controlling Alzheimer’s
A protein recently discovered in the brain could play a key role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
In schizophrenia research, a path to the brain through the nose
A significant obstacle to progress in understanding psychiatric disorders is the difficulty in obtaining living brain tissue for study so that disease processes can be studied directly. Recent advances in basic cellular neuroscience now suggest that, for some purposes, cultured neural stem cells may be studied in order to research psychiatric disease mechanisms. But where can one obtain these cells outside of the brain?
Facebook is a community
Researchers in Italy have used two high-speed computer algorithms to analyze the connections between a large sub-set of the more than half a billion users of the social networking site Facebook to reveal that the system has a very strong structure. The study shows that Facebook has a well-defined community structure that follows a statistical power law in which there are a huge number of people with few connections and a much smaller number with a large number of connections.
Learning to 'talk things through in your head' may help people with autism
Teaching children with autism to "talk things through in their head" may help them to solve complex day-to-day tasks, which could increase the chances of independent, flexible living later in life, according to new research.
Cohabitating Valentines Are Happier Than Wedded Couples
When it comes to the well-being of married versus cohabitating Valentines, wedded couples experience few advantages in psychological well-being and social ties, according to a new study at Cornell University.
It's evolution: Nature of prejudice, aggression different for men and women
Prejudice against people from groups different than their own is linked to aggression for men and fear for women, suggests new research.
Babies are born with 'intuitive physics' knowledge, says researcher
While it may appear that infants are helpless creatures that only blink, eat, cry and sleep, one researcher says that studies indicate infant brains come equipped with knowledge of "intuitive physics."
How longstanding conflict influences empathy for others
A young researcher had long been drawn to conflict -- not as a participant, but an observer. In 1994, while doing volunteer work in South Africa, he witnessed firsthand the turmoil surrounding the fall of apartheid; during a 2001 trip to visit friends in Sri Lanka, he found himself in the midst of the violent conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan military. He is now exploring how longstanding conflict influences empathy for others.
Religion helps us gain self-control, study suggests
Thinking about religion gives people more self-control on later, unrelated tasks, according to results from a series of recent studies.
Children with autism have lower levels of HDL
Scientists looked at blood levels of lipids and fatty acids in two groups of South Korean children – one group of typically developing boys and another group of boys with an autism diagnosis. Even though there were no major differences in what these children ate, those with autism had a lower omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio and lower levels of high density lipoprotein, more commonly known as HDL. For both levels, it’s often believed, the higher the better.
Positive affirmation appears to improve medication adherence in hypertensive African-Americans
Positive affirmation along with patient education appears to help African-American patients with high blood pressure more effectively follow their medication regimen, according to a new study.
Lifelong brain-stimulating habits linked to lower Alzheimer's protein levels
People who have made mental engagement a lifelong habit have lower levels of a key protein linked to Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study by neuroscientists. The findings could provide support for cognitive therapies to help prevent the onset of a debilitating disease.
Spotting dyslexia before a child starts school
Children at risk for dyslexia show differences in brain activity on MRI scans even before they begin learning to read, finds a new study. Since developmental dyslexia responds to early intervention, diagnosing children at risk before or during kindergarten could head off difficulties and frustration in school, the researchers say.
Magic mushrooms' effects illuminated in brain imaging studies
Brain scans of people under the influence of the psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, have given scientists the most detailed picture to date of how psychedelic drugs work. The findings of two new studies identify areas of the brain where activity is suppressed by psilocybin and suggest that it helps people to experience memories more vividly.

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