MIT neuroscientists have uncovered a cellular pathway that allows specific synapses to become stronger during memory formation. The findings provide the first glimpse of the molecular mechanism by which long-term memories are encoded in a region of the hippocampus called CA3. Continue reading “Molecular mechanisms of memory formation revealed”
Does dim light make us dumber?
Spending too much time in dimly lit rooms and offices may actually change the brain’s structure and hurt one’s ability to remember and learn, indicates groundbreaking research by Michigan State University neuroscientists. Continue reading “Does dim light make us dumber?”
Children as young as 3 have brain network devoted to interpreting thoughts of other people
Humans use an ability known as theory of mind every time they make inferences about someone else’s mental state — what the other person believes, what they want, or why they are feeling happy, angry, or scared. Continue reading “Children as young as 3 have brain network devoted to interpreting thoughts of other people”
Genomes of five late Neandertals provide insights into Neandertal population history
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have sequenced the genomes of five Neandertals that lived between 39,000 and 47,000 years ago. These late Neandertals are all more closely related to the Neandertals that contributed DNA to modern human ancestors than an older Neandertal from the Altai Mountains that was previously sequenced. Their genomes also provide evidence for a turnover in the Neandertal population towards the end of Neandertal history. Continue reading “Genomes of five late Neandertals provide insights into Neandertal population history”
Ancient DNA tells tales of humans’ migrant history
Scientists once could reconstruct humanity’s distant past only from the mute testimony of ancient settlements, bones, and artifacts. Continue reading “Ancient DNA tells tales of humans’ migrant history”
A Life Centred on Christ or on Ourselves?
The third Sunday of Matthew, and the Gospel reading, attempts, perhaps more than at any other time, to get us to move us to make a change, to put to right inclinations which are foreign and alien to us. In the text, the Evangelist castigates the perpetual, disordered attitude among many people- then among pagans and idolaters, now among those influenced by our Western life-style- who, rather than having Christ and the opportunity of an encounter with Him as their priority, instead have any trivial, banal thing that’s given value by our sick adherence to what’s become our culture. Continue reading “A Life Centred on Christ or on Ourselves?”
Novo Scriptorium 