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A paralysed woman was still able to control a computer cursor with her thoughts 1000 days after having a tiny electronic device implanted in her brain, say researchers who devised the system. The achievement demonstrates the longevity of brain-machine implants. More »
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Brain damage, which can be caused by conditions such as amnesia and Alzheimer's Disease, doesn't just erase memories. In a shocking new discovery, it turns out brain damage can also cause its sufferers to experience false memories of familiarity. More »
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Grey matter is fundamental to our minds - indeed, it's so important that the term is often used to refer the brain as a whole. But it turns out that white matter may be where our thinking happens. More »
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A new advance in recording and interpreting brain activity will open the door to machines that could record and play back your dreams. More »
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Switching off a single gene in mice unlocks a part of their brain that is otherwise inactive, boosting learning and memory. The same gene seems to serve a similar purpose in humans, creating hope that humans could enjoy similar benefits. More »
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Having an impulsive personality means that you jump into situations without thinking through the consequences. Now scientists think they can see "impulsiveness" at work in the brain - and it looks a lot like potential drug addiction. More »
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Don't be fooled by headlines suggesting neuroscience researchers have found the "God spot" in the brain that triggers religious devotion, say experts. Yes, it's back to the drawing board with our "worship me now, fools" raygun. More »
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Hip-hop culture has caused profound harm to American adolescents, according to a new study from the Journal of Neurosurgery. But it doesn't warp teenaged brains or make kids more violent; instead, it's lead to a sharp rise in head injuries. More »
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A growth hormone frequently prescribed for cancer patients has been found to significantly reduce memory loss from Alzheimers disease. The drug, which stimulates the production of red blood cells, essentially washes plaques out of the brain. More »
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In Night of the Living Dead, zombies are brought back from the dead by a "mysterious force" that allows their brains to continue functioning. But how exactly does a zombie brain function? Finally, a Harvard psychiatrist has the answers. More »
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Neuroscientists think they've identified the part of the brain that causes Tourette's Syndrome, the condition that causes random tics including compulsive obscenity. How long before we can hack that part of the brain? More »
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Imagine waking up one morning and being unable to speak. Your mind still churns away, trying to form words, but no sounds will come out. It's like the bleak ending of Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream only, you know, real. This is a fact of life for many people with varying levels of paralysis, who have lost the ability to control their vocal chords, lips, and tongue. But an experimental brain implant promises to change their lives. More »
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Far from just a few hours of psychedelia, a trip on magic mushrooms could stay with you your whole life - in a good way, according to Roland Griffiths, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University. Two thirds* of the 36 men and women who took carefully measured doses of the active trippy ingredient psilocybin reported that even 14 months after the experiment, they still rated it one of the most significant spiritual experiences of their lives. Griffiths believes the outcome shows psilocybin should be, um, 'studied' further, possibly as a treatment for serious mental stress and for help kicking alcohol and drug habits. Wait, what? More »
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Brain implants are here, and they're making people happy. It'll probably still be a while before you can neurointerface directly with the internet or your friends and lovers, but psychologists are testing implantable brain 'pacemakers' that regulate brain activity and so far appear really useful for treating the most stubborn forms of depression. We reported earlier on the Soletra implant, but there are many more. More »
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What if you could convince people to trust you and take risks for you with just a few drops of liquid surreptitiously placed in their water? There would be no drunkenness, no rufie-esque glazed eyes: just pure, human trust created via chemicals. The person wouldn't even know they'd been dosed. A study coming out tomorrow in the journal Neuron explains how this scenario is possible today, with just a small dose of the brain chemical oxytocin. More »
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For over a decade researchers have been treating many different ailments, including depression, with electrodes lodged deep in the brain. Devices like this Soletra brain implant deliver electrical impulses to a targeted brain region, essentially creating artificial activity in an area that the brain won't activate on its own. While there have been anecdotal reports that brain implants can help people with depression or OCD, now there is solid proof. A long-range study being presented at the upcoming meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons demonstrates how patients, over a 10-year period with brain implants, gained increasing control over their moods and obsessive behaviors. More »
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Matthieu Ricard is famous not just because he works with the Dalai Lama, but because a group of neuroscientists have scanned his brain and proven that he's off-the-charts happy. In fact, he's the happiest guy ever to stick his head in an MRI brain scanner, or to wear a zillion EEG sensors on his head (pictured). A couple of years ago, the Buddhist monk took his notoriety from the scientific journals and wrote a self-help book called Happiness. Now he goes to exclusive conferences to teach business execs how to feel happy. If Ricard's own life is any guide, there are just a few ingredients necessary to convert your sad brain into a happy one. More »
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People suffering from dyslexia may find that their problems evaporate when they learn a new language, especially one that works with symbols very different from their native one. A study released yesterday reveals that brain abnormalities in English-speakers with dyslexia are quite different from those in people who speak Chinese. So it's very possible that a person who is dyslexic in Chinese wouldn't be in English, and vice versa. This also helps explain why so many dyslexics are able to excel at computer programming, which requires them to write very precisely in a computer language. More »
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Some autistics are known as "autistic savants" because they develop a genius in one subject, such as mathematics or art. New research shows this syndrome can be induced by tinkering with one protein in the brain which is responsible for building synapses, the brain structures that help neurons talk to each other. Neuroscientists at MIT (pictured) bred rats that lacked this protein, known as Shank1, and discovered the creatures could do spacial learning an extremely rapid clip, though they showed other signs of severe autism. These neuroscientists' work could go in two directions: curing some kinds of autism, and inducing selective superintelligence. More »
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People spend the GDP of Peru in therapy trying to cope with the crap that happened to them when they were kids. It's such a 20th century approach to childhood suckage. Maybe soon, we'll be able to pay to turn our childhoods happy retroactively. Click through for our roundup of ideas for making your childhood a happy one, retroactively, ranked by difficulty. (With time-travel being the hardest.) More »
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