News on the brain

Neuroscientists Identify "Oops Center" In The Brain
Have you ever wondered what’s going on in your head when you say, “Ooops!” Neuroscientists at Vanderbilt University have come up with an answer. They have shown that a set of neurons in a specific region of the brain reacts when you realize that you have made a mistake.

Study Sheds New Light On How The "Mind's Eye" Works
In a first-ever demonstration, UCLA School of Medicine and Caltech researchers have shed new light on how the "mind's eye" works, uncovering evidence that single neurons -- individual cells in the brain -- are involved in recalling specific visual images to mind. The study, published in the Nov. 16 issue of the journal Nature, further defines the role that individual neurons play in the brain during imagery and builds upon previous UCLA findings.

Brain Imaging Technology Can Reveal What A Person Is Thinking About
Powerful brain imaging technology is allowing researchers to actually tell what a person is thinking before they even say it. A study, published in the November issue of the international Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, has shown that it is possible for researchers to look at brain imaging data and determine whether a person is imagining a face or a place.

Study Indicates That Brain Wiring Is Largely Inborn
Neurobiologists at Duke University Medical Center mapping the developing visual systems of newborn ferrets have discovered evidence challenging the long-held view that the brain's circuitry is largely wired by experience. Rather, they contend, much of the circuitry is inborn, with experience acting merely to preserve and enhance existing connections.

Faces, Places Different in Brain
Imagining something and actually seeing it are virtually one and the same to the brain, researchers said on Wednesday. They said the same parts of the brain light up when a person thinks of a face or a scene as when the same person actually looks at a photograph of the same face or place.

Monkey brain operates machine
Scientists have used the brain signals from a monkey to drive a robotic arm. As the animal stuck out its hand to pick up some food off a tray, an artificial neural system linked into the animal's head mimicked the activity in the mechanical limb.

Scientists convert bone marrow into brain cells
Scientists have shown it is possible to convert bone marrow tissue into brain cells in an experiment that could undermine arguments for using human embryos to treat patients suffering from neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Two independent teams of researchers have demonstrated that the bone marrow of adult mice can be used as a rich supply of stem cells – the master cells of the body – which developed into functional nerve cells in the brain.

home - special guests - brain benders - news - links - brain - games - Speedwell - Ashton Gate