Brain | Page 103 of 152 | SpiritIndia.com

Brain :: Deal or no deal – Need for immediate reward linked to more active brain region

How people might play the popular game show — whether they’d accept an offer for quick cash or hold out for the chance to win $1 million — probably has less to do with what?s inside each briefcase than what’s inside each contestant’s brain, suggests a study. While researchers didn’t study players of the game, their research in normal adults provides new insight about reward-based decision making and may have implications for understanding and treating addiction.

Brain :: Cognitive training for older adults may help slow decline of daily functioning abilities

Older adults who received cognitive training reported improved cognitive function for up to five years afterwards and less decline in the ability to perform daily activities as compared to those who did not receive the training, according to a study in the Dec. 20 issue of JAMA.

Brain :: Electrical activity alters language used by nerve cells

University of California, San Diego biologists have shown that the chemical language with which neurons communicate depends on the pattern of electrical activity in the developing nervous system. The findings suggest that modification of nerve activity could have potential as a treatment for a wide range of brain disorders.

Brain :: Impulsiveness linked to activity in brain’s reward center

A new imaging study shows that our brains react with varying sensitivity to reward and suggests that people most susceptible to impulse — those who need to buy it, eat it, or have it, now — how the greatest activity in a reward center of the brain. The study appears in the Dec. 20 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

Alzheimer’s Disease :: Androgen therapy slows Alzheimer’s disease progress

Experiments on mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease suggest that treatment with male sex hormones might slow its progression. The findings, published in the Dec. 20 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, provide new insight into the relationship between testosterone loss and AD, which affects 4.5 million Americans.

Dreams :: MIT team reports new insights on animal dreams

Memories of our life stories may be reinforced while we sleep, MIT researchers report December 17 in the advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience.

Stress :: High-quality marriages help to calm nerves

A University of Virginia neuroscientist has found that women under stress who hold their husbands’ hands show signs of immediate relief, which can clearly be seen on their brain scans.

Smell :: Biological clock for smell

Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered a large biological clock in the smelling center of mice brains and have revealed that the sense of smell for mice is stronger at night, peaking in evening hours and waning during day light hours.

Smell :: Sniffers show that humans can track scents, and that two nostrils are better than one

Do animals use their two nostrils to locate scents in the same way they use two ears to locate sounds? UC Berkeley neuroscientists Noam Sobel and Jess Porter set out to test that question, using human volunteers on all fours to track a chocolate scent through the grass. With other senses blocked by gloves, earplugs and a blindfold, they were able to track scents and did better with two open nostrils than one.

Alcoholism :: Low to moderate blood alcohol level linked to reduced mortality following traumatic head injury

Patients who have low to moderate blood alcohol levels may be less likely to die after arriving at the hospital with a traumatic brain injury than those with no alcohol in their bloodstream, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, those with the highest alcohol levels appear to have an increased risk of dying in the hospital.