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If you love it when a musician strikes that unexpected but perfect chord, you are not alone. New research shows the musically unexpected activates the reward centre of our brains, and makes us learn about the music as we listen. Continue reading “The unexpected creates reward when listening to music”
Our hands and fingertips are amazingly sensitive to texture. We can easily distinguish coarse sandpaper from smooth glass, but we also pick up more subtle differences across a wide range of textures, like the slick sheen of silk or the soft give of cotton. Continue reading “How the brain responds to texture”
Scientists around the world are still struggling to understand Alzheimer’s better in order to be able to treat and potentially prevent the development of the debilitating disease in the future. No new medications have been approved during recent years. Continue reading “‘Lack of cleaning’ in brain cells is central to Alzheimer’s disease”
Experts from the Basque research centre BCBL have shown for the first time that the way in which the activity of two brains is connected depends on whether the dialogue takes place in the native language or in a foreign language. Continue reading “The language of conversation impacts on the ‘synchronization’ of our brains”
When we evaluate and compare a range of data points — whether that data is related to health outcomes, head counts, or menu prices — we tend to neglect the relative strength of the evidence and treat it as simply binary, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Continue reading “Binary bias distorts how we integrate information”
Poor sleep has long been linked with Alzheimer’s disease, but researchers have understood little about how sleep disruptions drive the disease. Continue reading “Sleep deprivation accelerates Alzheimer’s brain damage”
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