Cortex News and Research

RSS

Researchers study how the auditory system achieves accurate speech recognition

For humans to achieve accurate speech recognition and communicate with one another, the auditory system must recognize distinct categories of sounds - such as words - from a continuous incoming stream of sounds.

27 Mar 2019

Damage to anxiety-associated brain region heightens monkeys’ defensive response

Damage to parts of the orbitofrontal cortex heightens monkeys’ defensive response to non-threatening stimuli, according to new research published in JNeurosci. The study proposes a critical role for subregions of this brain area in different anxiety disorders.

From Society for Neuroscience 26 Mar 2019

New research illuminates positive effects of exercise on the brain

Anyone who trains for a marathon knows that individual running workouts add up over time to yield a big improvement in physical fitness.

25 Mar 2019

Early life trauma may affect brain structure, contribute to major depressive disorder

Early life trauma may affect the structure of the brain in a way that makes clinical depression more likely to be severe and recurrent, according to a two-year observational study of 110 patients published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal.

22 Mar 2019

New mathematical algorithm objectively classifies shapes of neurons in the brain

For nearly 100 years, scientists have been trying to name cells. They have been describing them in the same way that Darwin described animals and trees. Now the Blue Brain Project has developed a mathematical algorithm to objectively classify the shapes of the neurons in the brain.

22 Mar 2019

Artificial neural networks can predict how different areas in the brain respond to words

Can artificial intelligence (AI) help us understand how the brain understands language? Can neuroscience help us understand why AI and neural networks are effective at predicting human perception?

21 Mar 2019

Study provides new understanding of how the brain recovers from damage caused by stroke

Each year, approximately 265,000 Americans have a stroke that causes visual impairment. New research, which appears in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, sheds light on how the damage in the brain caused by a stroke can lead to permanent vision impairment.

21 Mar 2019

Sounds and vibrations are quite similar for the brain, finds new study

We all know the feeling of a mobile phone vibrating in our hands when announcing an incoming call. If we perceive these vibrations so clearly, it is due to specialized receptors that transduce them into neural signals sent to our brain.

21 Mar 2019

Researchers measure brain metabolite levels in people with mild memory problems

Using strong and targeted but noninvasive magnets at specific sites in the brains of people with and without mild learning and memory problems, Johns Hopkins researchers report they were able to detect differences in the concentrations of brain chemicals that transmit messages between neurons.

20 Mar 2019

Researchers identify way to improve common treatment for PTSD

Researchers may have found a way to improve a common treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder by changing how the brain learns to respond less severely to fearful conditions, according to research published in Journal of Neuroscience.

19 Mar 2019

Scientists create process for classifying neurons in mouse brain

It's been estimated that the human brain contains roughly 100 billion neurons, together completing countless tasks through countless connections.

14 Mar 2019

Study uncovers dramatic differences in the brains of Hispanics with dementia

A major new study from the UC Davis Alzheimer's Center has uncovered dramatic differences in the brains of Hispanics with a dementia diagnosis compared with those of non-Hispanic whites and of African Americans.

12 Mar 2019

Discarding information from the brain linked to more mental effort, finds study

Discarding information from the brain is associated with more mental effort than keeping it, finds a human neuroimaging study published in JNeurosci.

From Society for Neuroscience 12 Mar 2019

Intentional forgetting may take more mental effort than remembering

Choosing to forget something might take more mental effort than trying to remember it, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin discovered through neuroimaging.

12 Mar 2019

Brain stimulation reduces depression symptoms, shows study

With a weak alternating electrical current sent through electrodes attached to the scalp, UNC School of Medicine researchers successfully targeted a naturally occurring electrical pattern in a specific part of the brain and markedly improved depression symptoms in about 70 percent of participants in a clinical study.

12 Mar 2019