Psychology news

• Brain power: Why do humans have the largest cerebral cortex?

  02-06-2016 21:20
  The expansion of the cerebral cortex sets humans apart from the rest of their fellow primates. Yet scientists have long wondered what mechanisms are responsible for this evolutionary development. New research has pinpointed a specific long nocoding ribonucleic acid that regulates neural development.
  
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• Study suggests new ways to protect against neurodegeneration

  02-06-2016 21:17
  A new study has found evidence that an enzyme known as NMNAT2 may help protect against the debilitating effects of certain degenerative brain diseases, including Alzheimer's.
  
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• Wiretapping the senses: Scientists monitor conversation between sensory perception, behavior in the mouse brain

  02-06-2016 19:26
  Sensory information enters the brain at the primary sensory cortex, where they are processed by different layers of cells in ways that ultimately influence an animal's perception and behavioral response. Scientists have now watched the flow of information between the different layers of the cortex for the first time in awake, active mice. Their work provides new insights into links between sensory stimuli and behavior.
  
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• Brain power: Gene critical for human brain development identified and workings unravelled

  02-06-2016 19:26
  Compared to other mammals, humans have the largest cerebral cortex. A sheet of brain cells that folds in on itself multiple times in order to fit inside the skull, the cortex is the seat of higher functions. It is what enables us to process everything we see and hear and think.
  
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• Scientists discover new protein crucial to normal forgetting

  02-06-2016 19:24
  A new aspect of how the process forgetting works has been uncovered by researchers. The finding indicates a protein called 'Scribble' orchestrates the intracellular signaling processes for forgetting, joining several molecules to forge a pathway.
  
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• Are EEG neurofeedback benefits due to placebo effects?

  02-06-2016 18:22
  Neurofeedback using electroencephalograpy boasts thousands of practitioners and appears to both improve normal brain function and alleviate a wide variety of mental disorders -- from anxiety to alcoholism. But after examining the scientific literature and consulting experts in Europe and the U.S., researchers now conclude that clinical improvements from this increasingly popular alternative therapy are due to placebo effects.
  
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• A Vision for Revamping Neuroscience Education

  02-06-2016 18:03 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: ScienceDailyThe expanding scope and growing number of tools used for neuroscience is moving beyond what is taught in traditional graduate programs, say leaders in American neuroscience education, funding, and policy. Researchers call for reinvestment in neuroscience graduate and post-graduate training to meet the challenges of this new era in brain science -- such as creating programs to broaden student experiences across disciplines and reimagining...
  
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• Undiagnosed dementia may be putting older adults' safety at risk

  02-06-2016 18:00
  
  Adults who have dementia but who have not been formally diagnosed are more likely to engage in potentially unsafe activities than those with a diagnosis.
  
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• Why are high school memories burned into our brains? | Frank T McAndrew

  02-06-2016 17:16
  
  Trapped in a holding pen of teenagers brimming with hormones, we experience emotions so strong they monopolize our recollectionsFor better or worse, many of us never forget high school: the unrequited romantic crushes, chronic embarrassment, desperate struggles for popularity, sexual awakening, parental pressure and, above all else, competition – social, athletic, academic.There’s even an entire genre of entertainment that revolves around high school. Beverly Hills 90210, Mean Girls,
  
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• Fountain of youth? Dietary supplement may prevent and reverse severe damage to aging brain, research suggests

  02-06-2016 15:52
  A dietary supplement containing a blend of thirty vitamins and minerals--all natural ingredients widely available in health food stores--has shown remarkable anti-aging properties that can prevent and even reverse massive brain cell loss, according to new research. It's a mixture scientists believe could someday slow the progress of catastrophic neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, ALS and Parkinson's.
  
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• Brainwaves could be the next health vital sign

  02-06-2016 15:48
  Researchers hope that a brain vital-sign test becomes as routine during a doctor's check-up as taking a blood pressure or heart rate measurement.
  
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• Mice on wheels show scientists how exercise benefits their brains

  02-06-2016 14:32
  The relentless desire by mice to run on cage 'exercise' wheels has helped explain at a molecular level how exercise benefits a mammal's brain.
  
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• Neuroscience: How threatened mice freeze or flee

  02-06-2016 13:00
  
  The brain circuits underlying defensive behaviours, such as freezing or flight, in mice are reported in a paper published this week in Nature.
  
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• Therapists often discriminate against black and poor patients

  02-06-2016 05:54 via cnn.com
  
  Experts worry that therapist bias could be an important barrier to mental health care for minority and low-income groups.
  
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