Brain

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- What makes people great? Popular theorists such as the New Yorker's Malcolm Gladwell and the New York Times' David Brooks argue that intelligence plays a role -- but only up to a point. Beyond that, they say, it's practice, practice, practice.

Zach Hambrick agrees with the practice argument -- imagine where Bill Gates would be if he hadn't honed his programming skills, after all -- but the Michigan State University scientist takes exception to the view that intelligence plays no role in determining excellence.

Zinc plays a critical role in regulating how neurons communicate with one another, and could affect how memories form and how we learn. The new research, in the current issue of Neuron, was authored by Xiao-an Zhang, now a chemistry professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), and colleagues at MIT and Duke University.

Our behavior is often guided by the desire to obtain positive outcomes and avoid negative consequences, and neuroscientists have put a great deal of effort into looking for reward and punishment "centers" in the brain. Now, new research published by Cell Press in the October 6 issue of the journal Neuron reveals that neural signals related to reinforcement and punishment are far more broadly distributed throughout the entire human brain than was previously thought.

Winning may not be the only thing, but the human brain devotes a lot of resources to the outcome of games, a new study by Yale researchers suggest.

The study published in the Oct. 6 issue of the journal Neuron shows that when participants play games, such as rock-paper-scissors, almost the entire brain is engaged, not just the reward centers of the brain, which have been assigned the central role for shaping adaptive human behavior.

In the best of circumstances, raising a toddler is a daunting undertaking. But parents under long-term stress often find it particularly challenging to tap into the patience, responsiveness, and energy required for effective child rearing.

Taking the new generation anti-inflammatory drug natalizumab for two years lowers the number of remitting multiple sclerosis patients who experience relapses and progression of disability. This is the main finding of a systematic review published in the latest edition of The Cochrane Library.

The social behavior of mice seems to be dictated by creation of new neurons in adolescence.

In this video, the subject mouse in white has had normal creation of neurons in adolescence and interacts normally with control (marked with black dot).

This white mouse has had neurogenesis blocked in adolescence and actively avoids control mouse.

(Photo Credit: Courtesy of Yale University)

Source: Yale University

The human body has a love-hate relationship with iron. Just the right amount is needed for proper cell function, yet too much is associated with brain diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Science knows that men have more iron in their bodies and brains than women. These higher levels may be part of the explanation for why men develop these age-related neurodegenerative diseases at a younger age.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg show that interactive technology generates new ways of seeing, showing and creating. The new technology boosts creativity.

ORLANDO, Fla., October 4, 2011 –The fat we typically think of as body fat is called white fat. But there's another type—known as brown fat—that does more than just store fat. It burns fat. Scientists used to think that brown fat disappeared after infancy, but recent advances in imaging technology led to its rediscovery in adult humans. Because brown fat is so full of blood vessels and mitochondria—that's what makes it brown—it's very good at converting calories into energy, a process that malfunctions in obesity.

It's no secret that women often gain weight as they get older. The sex hormone estrogen has an important, if underappreciated, role to play in those burgeoning waistlines.

Now, researchers reporting in the October Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, have traced those hormonal effects on metabolism to different parts of the brain. The findings may lead to the development of highly selective hormone replacement therapies that could be used to combat obesity or infertility in women without the risks for heart disease and breast cancer, the researchers say.

Toronto, Canada – Canadian scientists who specialize in learning, memory and language in children have found exciting evidence that pre-schoolers can improve their verbal intelligence after only 20 days of classroom instruction using interactive, music-based cognitive training cartoons.

A new study using MRI scans, led by Professor Jianfeng Feng, from the University of Warwick's Department of Computer Science, has found that depression frequently seems to uncouple the brain's "Hate Circuit". The study entitled "Depression Uncouples Brain Hate Circuit" is published today (Tuesday 4th October 2011) in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

HOUSTON -- The brain damage that characterizes Alzheimer's disease may originate in a form similar to that of infectious prion diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob, according to newly published research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

In a close-up headshot, Serena Williams' eyes are pressed tensely closed; her mouth is wide open, teeth bared. Her face looks enraged. Now zoom out: The tennis star is on the court, racket in hand, fist clenched in victory. She's not angry. She's ecstatic, having just beaten her sister Venus at the 2008 U.S. Open.