Brain

DARIEN, IL - A new study found that eating less fiber, more saturated fat and more sugar is associated with lighter, less restorative, and more disrupted sleep.

Results show that greater fiber intake predicted more time spent in the stage of deep, slow wave sleep. In contrast, a higher percentage of energy from saturated fat predicted less slow wave sleep. Greater sugar intake also was associated with more arousals from sleep.

DARIEN, IL - A new study found that eating less fiber, more saturated fat and more sugar is associated with lighter, less restorative, and more disrupted sleep.

Results show that greater fiber intake predicted more time spent in the stage of deep, slow wave sleep. In contrast, a higher percentage of energy from saturated fat predicted less slow wave sleep. Greater sugar intake also was associated with more arousals from sleep.

The complex pattern of 'chatter' between different areas of an individual's brain while they are awake could help doctors better track and even predict their response to general anaesthesia - and better identify the amount of anaesthetic necessary - according to new research published in PLOS Computational Biology.

A new study finds that, as zebra finches learn new songs, it's the firing of inhibitory neurons - not the age of the bird - that locks in learning. Numerous species, including humans, learn behaviors through their parents and peers, but little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying this process. In juvenile zebra finches, exposure to songs by "tutors" influences neural plasticity within the region of their brain responsible for song, the HVC, driving patterned neuronal activity in a way thought to be critical to song imitation.

The complex pattern of 'chatter' between different areas of an individual's brain while they are awake could help doctors better track and even predict their response to general anaesthesia - and better identify the amount of anaesthetic necessary - according to new research from the University of Cambridge.

Precise changes in brain circuitry occur as young zebra finches go from listening to their fathers' courtship songs to knowing the songs themselves, according to a study led by neuroscientists at NYU Langone Medical Center and published online in a Science cover report on January 14.

The study reveals how birds learn songs through observation and practice, and the authors hope the work will guide future research into how patients with brain injuries might reacquire the ability to learn skilled behaviors like speech.

Learning to speed read seems like an obvious strategy for making quick work of all the emails, reports, and other pieces of text we encounter every day, but a new report shows that the claims put forth by many speed reading programs and tools are probably too good to be true.

A team of researchers has discovered that differences in the types of memories we have influence the nature of our future encounters. Their findings show how distinct parts of the brain, underlying different kinds of memories, also influence our attention in new situations.

"We've long understood there are different types of memories, but what these findings reveal are how different kinds of memories can drive our attention in the future," explains Elizabeth Goldfarb, the study's lead author and a doctoral candidate in NYU's Department of Psychology.

DURHAM, N.C. -- New research from Duke University reveals how three proteins work in concert to wire up a specific area of the developing brain that is responsible for processing sensory information.

The findings, published in the Jan. 14 issue of the journal Cell, may also lend insight into brain disorders including autism, depression and addiction, because previous research has linked these proteins individually to those diseases.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A new study from Indiana University could help ensure the hundreds of millions of dollars spent each year to develop potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease aren't wasted on targeting the wrong types of memory.

The paper, published today in Current Biology, is the first to confirm that a key aspect of human memory impaired in memory disorders exists in the type of pre-clinical animal models that influence major decisions about drug development.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, have identified for the first time a cell type in the brain of mice that is integral to attention. By manipulating the activity of this cell type, the scientists were able to enhance attention in mice. The results, which are published in the journal 'Cell', add to the understanding of how the brain's frontal lobes work and control behaviour.

Boston, Mass. -- Research from Boston Children's Hospital suggests the possibility of restoring at least some visual function in people blinded by optic nerve damage from glaucoma, estimated to affect more than 4 million Americans, or from trauma.

As you start across the street, out of the corner of your eye, you spot something moving toward you. Instantly, your brain shifts its focus to assess the potential threat, which you quickly determine to be a slow-moving bicycle - not a car - which will pass behind you as you complete your crossing.

Mirroring national trends, 97 percent of the 101 rural counties in Missouri are designated Primary Medical Care Health Professional Shortage Areas by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Many medical schools across the country have developed admission policies and clinical training programs to address rural physician workforce shortages in their state. Now, a recent study by the University of Missouri School of Medicine shows one of its programs enhances training and may increase interest in rural practice for graduating medical students.

Snow -- that icon of winter -- blankets the land with a beautiful silence. Love it or hate it, we all depend on snow. Our year-round water supply largely comes from snowmelt.

But we're not the only ones who need snow.

Species from microscopic fungi to 800-pound-moose require it as much, if not more. They survive the winter by living in nature's igloo: snow.