Neuroscience

“The phrase ‘necessary and sufficient’ blamed for flawed neuroscience”

“The logic of the term is at the heart of the dispute. It’s too often used as shorthand to mean ‘linked to’ or ‘important for’, the authors say. And this sloppy use, they argue, can lead scientists in the…

“Music that upsets expectations is what makes your gray matter sing”

“Understanding the mechanisms of violated expectations in music elucidates some of the basic functions of learning, memory, and our perception of time. Along with enhancing our understanding of music, the study…

“A vivid emotional experience requires the right genetics”

“a substantial proportion of Europeans and Africans have a variation on ADRA2b that deletes the alpha2b adrenoreceptor, possibly cutting some of the wires on the norepinephrine brakes. People with this deletion had stronger…

“Migraine photophobia originating in cone-driven retinal pathways”

“To determine whether there is a colour preference to migraine-type photophobia, we assessed the effects of white and four different colours of light on: (i) proportion of migraine patients who reported changes in…

“Evolution doesn’t give a damn what you think a brain region is called”

“The danger is that naming a bit of brain makes us think it is a discrete thing, a bit that just lifts right out, which we can study and marvel at in isolation. But how evolution (and development) conspire…

“Thousands of Mutations Accumulate in the Human Brain Over a Lifetime”

“Cells of the human body acquire mutations over time, whether because of errors introduced during DNA replication or damage incurred during transcription and other cellular processes. But, until recent…

“Why Your Brain Has Trouble Bailing Out Of A Bad Plan”

“The study found that stopping an action required three key brain areas to communicate with eight other areas. Previous research had suggested fewer areas were required.

The team also found that all the…