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Neuroscience news

Psychology & Psychiatry

No, your brain doesn't suddenly 'fully develop' at 25. Here's what the neuroscience actually shows

If you scroll through TikTok or Instagram long enough, you'll inevitably stumble across the line: "Your frontal lobe isn't fully developed yet." It's become neuroscience's go-to explanation for bad decisions, like ordering ...

Genetics

Why the human brain matures slower than its primate relatives

The human brain is a fascinating and complex organ that supports numerous sophisticated behaviors and abilities that are observed in no other animal species. For centuries, scientists have been trying to understand what is ...

HIV & AIDS

Brain chemistry can reactivate or suppress dormant HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are still fairly common and an estimated 40 million people worldwide are currently living with this condition. The HIV virus attacks the body's immune system and thus makes those ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Humans could have as many as 33 senses

Stuck in front of our screens all day, we often ignore our senses beyond sound and vision. And yet they are always at work. When we're more alert, we feel the rough and smooth surfaces of objects, the stiffness in our shoulders, ...

Neuroscience

To flexibly organize thought, the brain makes use of space

Our thoughts are specified by our knowledge and plans, yet our cognition can also be fast and flexible in handling new information. How does the well-controlled and yet highly nimble nature of cognition emerge from the brain's ...

Neuroscience

How age affects recovery from spinal cord injury

A study published in Neurology looks at how age may affect recovery for people with spinal cord injuries. "With population growth and improvements in medicine, the number of people diagnosed with spinal cord injury is increasing ...

Neuroscience

Why there's always room for dessert—an anatomist explains

You push back from the table after Christmas lunch, full from an excellent feast. You really couldn't manage another bite—except, perhaps, a little bit of pudding. Somehow, no matter how much you've eaten, there always ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Compulsive behaviors may stem from too much (misguided) self-control

A long-held view is that compulsive behaviors involve individuals getting stuck in a "habit loop" that overrides self-control, but new research in rats from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) suggests this might not ...

Oncology & Cancer

How brain tumor cells influence neurons and vice versa

Gliomas are cancers that originate directly in the brain, instead of spreading to the brain from other parts of the body. These cancers cannot be cured with conventional cancer treatments, as they spread into healthy brain ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Exploring why some people tend to persistently make bad choices

When people learn that surrounding visuals and sounds may signify specific choice outcomes, these cues can become guides for decision making. For people with compulsive disorders, addictions, or anxiety, the associations ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Neuroimaging sheds light on why people believe lies

Detecting lies involves processing social information. How do people process social information and evaluate honesty? And do people process this information differently when it comes from a friend versus a stranger?

Psychology & Psychiatry

Personalized brain stimulation shows benefit for depression

A more precise and personalized form of electric brain stimulation may be a more effective and faster treatment for people with moderate to major depression compared to other similar treatments, according to a UCLA Health ...

Neuroscience

Tinnitus linked to cognitive impairment in older adults

In adults aged 60 years and older, tinnitus, especially severe and prolonged tinnitus, is significantly associated with cognitive impairment, according to a study published online Aug. 15 in Brain Sciences.

Oncology & Cancer

How small cell lung cancer hijacks neuronal synapses

An international research team has shown that lung cancer cells can form functional synapses with neurons, effectively hijacking the body's neural circuits to grow faster. The finding reveals a startling new dimension of ...

Neuroscience

How early brain structure primes itself to learn efficiently

Vision happens when patterns of light entering the eye are converted into reliable patterns of brain activity. This reliability allows the brain to recognize the same object each time it is seen. Our brains, however, are ...

Neuroscience

Can't sleep? Insomniacs may experience accelerated brain aging

People with chronic insomnia may experience faster declines in memory and thinking skills as they age—along with brain changes that can be seen on imaging scans—than people who do not have chronic insomnia, according ...