Reinterpreting Our Brain’s Body Maps

Our brain maps out our body to facilitate accurate motor control; disorders of this body map result in motor deficits. For a century, the body map has been thought to have applied to all types of motor actions. Yet scientists have begun to query how the body map...

Memory making involves extensive DNA breaking

To quickly express genes needed for learning and memory, brain cells snap both strands of DNA in many more places and cell types than previously realized, a new study shows The urgency to remember a dangerous experience requires the brain to make a series of...

The Key Role of Astrocytes in Cognitive Development

Astrocytes are cells in the brain which have long been considered only as mere support cells for neurons. In recent years, the study of astrocytes has grown, gradually revealing their importance in brain function. Researchers from Inserm, CNRS and Collège de...

The Gateway to Conscious Awareness

Researchers find out how some sensory information breaks through to conscious experience. During our waking hours, the brain is receiving a near-constant influx of sensory signals of various strengths. For decades, scientists have wondered why some signals rise to the...

How neurons get past “no”

Inhibitory neurons target the weakest-responding neurons in the brain to facilitate transmission of signals When looking at a complex landscape, the eye needs to focus in on important details without losing the big picture—a charging lion in a jungle, for...

Picky neurons

In the visual thalamus, neurons are in contact with both eyes but respond to only one The visual thalamus is classically known to relay visual stimuli coming from the retina to the cerebral cortex. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology now show...

Memory for Therapists

Memory Core Resource for The Science of Psychotherapy Standard Members Recall of memory is a creative process. What the brain stores is thought to be only a core memory. Upon recall, this core memory is then elaborated upon and reconstructed, with subtractions,...

Brain mechanism of curiosity

Curiosity is the motivational drive for exploring and investigating the unknown and making new discoveries. It is as essential and intrinsic for survival as hunger. Until recently, the brain mechanisms underlying curiosity and novelty seeking behavior were unclear....

The Sensitive Brain at Rest

Research uncovers patterns in the resting brains of highly sensitive people You know that raw overwhelm people have been reporting after months of a pandemic, compounded by economic issues and social unrest? Does fatigue and compulsive social media scrolling strike a...

Could leak in blood-brain barrier cause poor memory?

Have you forgotten where you laid your keys?  Ever wondered where you had parked your car? Or having trouble remembering the name of the new neighbor? Unfortunately, these things seem to get worse as one gets older. A big question for researchers is where does...