Brain

A little practice goes a long way, according to researchers at McMaster University, who have found the effects of practice on the brain have remarkable staying power.

The study, published this month in the journal Psychological Science, found that when participants were shown visual patterns—faces, which are highly familiar objects, and abstract patterns, which are much less frequently encountered—they were able to retain very specific information about those patterns one to two years later.

Rhythms in the brain that are associated with learning become stronger as the body moves faster, UCLA neurophysicists report in a new study.

The research team, led by professor Mayank Mehta, used specialized microelectrodes to monitor an electrical signal known as the gamma rhythm in the brains of mice. This signal is typically produced in a brain region called the hippocampus, which is critical for learning and memory, during periods of concentration and learning.

A University of Colorado Boulder research team has developed a new software program allowing neuroscientists to produce single brain images pulled from hundreds of individual studies, trimming weeks and even months from what can be a tedious, time-consuming research process.

Marijuana is the most prevalent illicit drug used by teenagers and adults around the world. Nearly a third of high school students in the United States report smoking it, and most high schoolers say they have access to the drug.

To many people, smoking pot is no big deal. They cite reasons such as: "it isn't dangerous or addictive" and "everybody is doing it."

Denise Walker, co-director of the University of Washington's Innovative Programs Research Group, disagrees.

INDIANAPOLIS – A large, long-term study confirms that medications with anticholinergic activity, which include many drugs frequently taken by older adults, cause cognitive impairment. The research is also the first to identify a possible link between these drugs – which include over-the-counter and prescription sleep aids and incontinence treatments – and risk of death.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - An archaeological team from the University of Maryland is unearthing a unique picture of the Baltimore-area's early Irish immigrants - of city children taught to read and write at home before widespread public education and child labor laws, as well as insular rural residents who resisted assimilation for one hundred years.

The excavation in the city represents the first formal archaeological research to focus on Baltimore's early Irish settlement and labor force.

Lithium profoundly prevents the aggregation of toxic proteins and cell loss associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) in a mouse model of the condition.

A side effect of many commonly used drugs appears to increase the risks of both cognitive impairment and death in older people, according to new research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Cambridge, Mass. – June 23, 2011 – Albert Einstein defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Practicing the same task repetitively, though, tends to be the default procedure when trying to learn a new motor skill.

A study led by Maurice Smith and colleagues at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) suggests that simple task repetition may not be the most efficient way for the brain to learn a new move.

Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a natural mechanism that might one day be used to block the expression of the mutated gene known to cause Huntington's disease. Their experiments offer not an immediate cure, but a potential new approach to stopping or even preventing the development of this relentless neurodegenerative disorder.

COLLEGE STATION, TX—Service learning involves the incorporation of community service into a course as a requirement for credit or graduation. In the service learning model, students participate in ''real life'' and hands-on activities while also working within the community. Researchers T.M. Waliczek and J.M. Zajicek reported on a study of service learning integrated into a university-level horticulture course in HortTechnology.

Johns Hopkins researchers have found a likely explanation for the slow growth of the most common childhood brain tumor, pilocytic astrocytoma. Using tests on a new cell-based model of the tumor, they concluded that the initial process of tumor formation switches on a growth-braking tumor-suppressor gene, in a process similar to that seen in skin moles.

The findings, published in the June 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, could lead to better ways of evaluating and treating pilocytic astrocytomas.

DALLAS – June 23, 2011 – UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified compounds that appear to inhibit a signaling pathway in Huntington's disease, a finding that may eventually lead to a potential drug therapy to help slow the progression of degenerative nerve disorders.

Madison, Wis. — Just like human teenagers, fruit flies that spend a day buzzing around the "fly mall" with their companions need more sleep. That's because the environment makes their brain circuits grow dense new synapses and they need sleep to dial back the energy needs of their stimulated brains, according to a new study by UW- Madison sleep researchers.

Rather than count sheep, drink warm milk or listen to soothing music, many insomniacs probably wish for a switch they could flick to put themselves to sleep.