The early Earth might have been habitable much earlier than thought, according to new research from a group led by University of Chicago scientists. Continue reading “Earth could have supported continental crust, life earlier than thought”
How the brain performs flexible computations
Humans can perform a vast array of mental operations and adjust their behavioral responses based on external instructions and internal beliefs. For example, to tap your feet to a musical beat, your brain has to process the incoming sound and also use your internal knowledge of how the song goes. Continue reading “How the brain performs flexible computations”
How the brain constructs the world
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”
The coming of the Greeks to Provence and Corsica: Y-chromosome models of archaic Greek colonization of the western Mediterranean
Here we present the ‘Abstract‘ of the corresponding paper by Roy J King, Julie Di Cristofaro, Anastasia Kouvatsi, Costas Triantaphyllidis, Walter Scheidel, Natalie M Myres, Alice A Lin, Alexandre Eissautier, Michael Mitchell, Didier Binder, Ornella Semino, Andrea Novelletto, Peter A Underhill and Jacques Chiaroni. Continue reading “The coming of the Greeks to Provence and Corsica: Y-chromosome models of archaic Greek colonization of the western Mediterranean”
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