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Your Pet Can Tell How Long You've Kept Them Waiting
Are you taking your time when feeding your pet? Fluffy and Fido are on to you — and they can tell when you are dawdling. A new study has found some of the clearest evidence yet that animals can judge time. By examining the brain’s medial entorhinal cortex, the researchers discovered a previously unknown set of neurons that turn on like a clock when an animal is waiting.
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Neurons Reliably Respond to Straight Lines
Single neurons in the brain’s primary visual cortex can reliably detect straight lines, even though the cellular makeup of the neurons is constantly changing, according to a new study. These findings lay the groundwork for future studies into how the sensory system reacts and adapts to changes.
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Drug Could Combat Brain Cell Death in Those with Alzheimer’s Disease
One of the hallmark traits of Alzheimer’s disease, a debilitating disorder marked by memory deficits and general cognitive decline, is the accumulation in the brain of a protein called b-amyloid. Researchers have discovered a drug that blocks b-amyloid plaques from attaching to brain cells, preventing the extensive cell death.
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How the Brain's Epigenetic Factors Change in Alzheimer's
Pioneering research into the mechanisms controlling gene activity and epigenetic factors in the brain could hold the key to understanding Alzheimer’s disease and might help identify effective treatments in the future.
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How Good News Influences Our Gut Instincts
We make judgements quite rationally or "by the gut". Not only experience and relevant information play an important role, but also our preferences. A study by the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne shows how the reward system in the brain conveys judgements affected by one's own desires, and how our inner beliefs are altered more by good than bad news.
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Grant Brings Ultrasound Therapy for Neurological Disease a Step Closer
The emerging technology of sonogenetics—a technique where cells are controlled by sound—offers the potential to one day replace pharmaceutical drugs or invasive surgical treatments for neurological conditions like epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease or post-traumatic stress disorder. A new research program could take this technique to the next level with $750,000 of funding.
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Brain Wave Device Claims to Enhance Memory Function
The entrainment of theta brain waves with a commercially available device not only enhances theta wave activity, but also boosts memory performance. That’s according to new research from the Center for Neuroscience at the University of California, Davis, published recently in the journal Cognitive Neuroscience.
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The Brain at a Buffet
At holiday buffets and potlucks, people make quick calculations about which dishes to try and how much to take of each. Johns Hopkins University neuroscientists have found a brain region that appears to be strongly connected to such food preference decisions.
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Is There a Link Between Herpes and Alzheimer's?
Possible links between herpes and Alzheimer's disease have been assessed in a recent review.
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The Building Blocks of an Electronic Brain
Computer bits are binary, with a value of 0 or 1. By contrast, neurons in the brain can have all kinds of different internal states, depending on the input that they received. This allows the brain to process information in a more energy-efficient manner than a computer. A new study hopes to bring the two closer together.
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