brains

New research has helped understanding of the so-called 'cocktail party effect' -- how our brains develop the ability to pinpoint and focus on particular sounds among a background of noise.

Scientists have long known that women's preferences for masculine men change throughout their menstrual cycles. A new study is the first to demonstrate differences in brain activity as women considered masculinized and feminized male faces and whether the person was a potential sexual partner.

Researchers have shown that the main neurological markers for Alzheimer's disease are exacerbated in the brains of mice fed a diet rich in animal fat and poor in omega-3s.

Details of the study -- which suggests that diets typical of most industrialized countries promote the development of Alzheimer's -- are outlined in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.

Using positron emission tomography to track tracer doses of methamphetamine in humans' brains, scientists find that the addictive and long-lasting effects of this increasingly prevalent drug can be explained in part by its pharmacokinetics -- the rate at which it enters and clears the brain, and its distribution.

Brain imaging shows that the brains of teens that use marijuana are working harder than the brains of their peers who abstain from the drug.

Using positron emission tomography (PET) to track tracer doses of methamphetamine in humans’ brains, scientists at Brookhaven Lab find that the addictive and long-lasting effects of this increasingly prevalent drug can be explained in part by its pharmacokinetics — the rate at which it enters and clears the brain, and its distribution.

Scientists have shown for the first time that our brains automatically consider many possible words and their meanings before we've even heard the final sound of the word.

New research has shown that the evolutionary pressures arising from the older, faster, but less accurate, part of the brain may have shaped the more recent development of the slower-acting but more precise cortex, found in humans and higher animals.

(University of Bristol) New research from the University of Bristol, UK, has shown that the evolutionary pressures arising from the older, faster, but less accurate, part of the brain may have shaped the more recent development of the slower-acting but more precise cortex, found in humans and higher animals.

Researchers have shown that the unfolded protein response, which is a reaction to stress induced by sleep deprivation, is impaired in the brains of old mice.

The findings suggest that inadequate sleep in the elderly could exacerbate an already-impaired protective response.