How are raw sensory signals transformed into a brain representation of the world that surrounds us? The question was first posed over 100 years ago, but new experimental strategies make the challenge more exciting than ever. SISSA investigators have now uncovered the contributions to perception of a brain region called posterior parietal cortex. In two separate papers published in Neuron and Nature, they show that posterior parietal cortex contributes to the merging of signals from different sensory modalities, as well the formation of memories about the history of recent stimuli. Continue reading “How the brain constructs the world”
Why people become more prone to distraction with age
Older adults appear more easily distracted by irrelevant information than younger people when they experience stress or powerful emotions — and a specific network in the brain recently identified as the epicenter for Alzheimer’s and dementia may be to blame. Continue reading “Why people become more prone to distraction with age”
Scientists show how brain circuit generates anxiety
Neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have identified a neural circuit in the amygdala, the brain’s seat of emotion processing, that gives rise to anxiety. Their insight has revealed the critical role of a molecule called dynorphin, which could serve as a target for treatment of anxiety-related disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Continue reading “Scientists show how brain circuit generates anxiety”
Study shows how students understand mathematics
It’s both the bane of many parents and what has been called a major national vulnerability: the inability of many children to understand mathematics. Understanding that problem and developing strategies to overcome it is the research focus of Nicole McNeil, Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame, and the researchers in her lab. Continue reading “Study shows how students understand mathematics”
Music moves brain to pay attention, Stanford study finds
Using brain images of people listening to short symphonies by an obscure 18th-century composer, a research team from the Stanford University School of Medicine has gained valuable insight into how the brain sorts out the chaotic world around it. Continue reading “Music moves brain to pay attention, Stanford study finds”
Can’t get an image out of your head? Your eyes are helping to keep it there.
Even though you are not aware of it, your eyes play a role in searing an image into your brain, long after you have stopped looking at it. Continue reading “Can’t get an image out of your head? Your eyes are helping to keep it there.”
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