Neocortex News and Research

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New study shows striking similarity in the evolution of cities and human brains

Cities are organized like brains, and the evolution of cities mirrors the evolution of human and animal brains, according to a new study by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

3 Sep 2009

Stages of sleep have distinct influence on process of learning and memory

Research on the sleeping brain has revealed some fascinating stage-dependent interactions between areas involved in formation and storage of long term memories.

25 Feb 2009

Researchers find evidence for precise communication across brain areas during sleep

By listening in on the chatter between neurons in various parts of the brain, researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have taken steps toward fully understanding just how memories are formed, transferred, and ultimately stored in the brain--and how that process varies throughout the various stages of sleep.

25 Feb 2009

Gene find sheds light on motor neuron diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Scientists have identified a gene in mice that plays a central role in the proper development of one of the nerve cells that goes bad in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and some other diseases that affect our motor neurons.

22 Oct 2008

Cigarette smoking may accelerate disability in multiple sclerosis

Persons with multiple sclerosis who smoke risk increasing the amount of brain tissue shrinkage, a consequence of MS, and the subsequent severity of their disease, new research conducted at the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC) at the University at Buffalo has shown.

15 Oct 2007

Memory storage molecule PKMzeta stores memories in neocortex

The memory storage molecule PKMzeta maintains long-term memories in the neocortex and its presence is continually required in order for the memory to endure, according to a finding by researchers at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel and SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York.

17 Aug 2007

Sexual selection had an important influence on primates brains

When male primates tussle and females develop their social skills it leaves a permanent mark, on their brains.

11 May 2007

Scientists answer brain mystery

The taste of champagne, the sound of a train, the flash of a pop fly into left field - indeed all of human perception ' begins in the brain's center. That's where sensory information passes from the thalamus to the neocortex for processing.

5 Mar 2007

Gentle electric currents stimulate the brain and boost the memory

German scientists say they have found that gentle electric currents which stimulate the brain while sleeping can boost the memory.

6 Nov 2006

A new discovery shows that the brain rewires itself following an experience

The research further shows that this process of creation, testing, and reconfiguring of brain circuits takes place on a scale of just hours, suggesting that the brain is evolving considerably even during the course of a single day.

8 Aug 2006

Changes in our early sensory experiences resulting from disease or environmental factors may shape our sensory perceptions

Our brain's ability to combine sensory information from a single event - such as seeing an ambulance and hearing its siren - has been shown to speed our reactions, help us identify objects and heighten our awareness.

21 Nov 2005

Researchers develop tiny, highly efficient heat spreader for epileptic seizure treatment device

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers are developing a tiny, highly efficient heat spreader to be used in a new device to be implanted in the brain of patients who suffer from severe epileptic seizures.

26 Jul 2005

Novel way in which the brain size of developing mammals may be regulated

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered a novel way in which the brain size of developing mammals may be regulated. They have identified a signaling pathway that controls the orientation in which dividing neural progenitor cells are cleaved during development.

14 Jul 2005

Researchers identifiy brain circuit that appears crucial in converting short-term memories into long-term memories

The circuit links the major learning-related area of the brain to another region that governs the brain's higher functions.

6 Oct 2004

Mefloquine, an anti-malarial drug plays a critical role in movement, vision and memory

Brown University researchers have discovered that mefloquine, an anti-malarial drug, blocks two gap junction proteins, or connexins, in low doses and with very few side effects in the brains of laboratory mice.

5 Aug 2004