Tag: brain
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Damaged brains…
Researchers have identified specific sub-populations of brain cells in the prefrontal cortex, a key part of the brain that regulates social behavior, that are required for normal sociability in adulthood and are profoundly vulnerable to juvenile social isolation in mice. (1) Damaged brain. Making us distance ourselves. Undamaged brain. Making us speak with others. Afraid…
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Raise your hand!
Scientists show that it is possible to distinguish between left-handed and right-handed people by noninvasively monitoring just their brain activity during passive tactile stimulation. These results are key in haptic research (the study of sensory systems) and have various important implications for brain-computer interfaces, augmented reality, and even artificial intelligence. (1) Raise your hand. Clap.…
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Rewards. Creativity.
Creativity is one of humanity's most distinctive abilities and enduring mysteries. Innovative ideas and solutions have enabled our species to survive existential threats and thrive. Yet, creativity cannot be necessary for survival because many species that do not possess it have managed to flourish far longer than humans. So what drove the evolutionary development of…
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Both hemispheres. Superpowers. Human powers.
Infants and young children have brains with a superpower, of sorts, say neuroscientists. Whereas adults process most discrete neural tasks in specific areas in one or the other of their brain's two hemispheres, youngsters use both the right and left hemispheres to do the same task. The finding suggests a possible reason why children appear…
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Getting ready to see…
A KAIST research team's computational simulations demonstrated that the waves of spontaneous neural activity in the retinas of still-closed eyes in mammals develop long-range horizontal connections in the visual cortex during early developmental stages. You see, to prepare the animal to see when its eyes open, neural circuits in the brain's visual system must begin…
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