Our brains must deal with a lot of uncertainty. Incoming sensory information is noisy and incomplete; our environment is continuously changing and unpredictable. Our eyes, for example, continuously make very fast eye movements known as saccades to scan the environment. Watch your friend’s eyes; you will notice that the eyes are never still. However, when…
Tai Chi Reduces Falling Risk For Older Adults
Researchers have compared the effects of tai chi to leg strengthening exercises, a physical therapy called “lower extremity training,” or LET, in reducing falls. Falls are a leading cause of serious injuries in older adults and can lead to hospitalization, nursing home admission, and even death. Arthritis, heart disease, muscle weakness, vision and balance problems,…
We Should Use Placebos More Often, Especially In Surgery
You’re ill, probably scared, not sure of the future. Your doctor talks to you about your condition and says that, unfortunately, there are no effective treatments. However, she knows of a clinical trial for a new drug, and they’re currently recruiting participants. The problem is that you’ll be “randomised” to one of two groups. One…
Grid Cells’ Role In Human Imagination Revealed
Evidence of grid cell activity has been seen in healthy volunteers asked to imagine moving through an environment in new research from University College London. Grid cells are brain cells that act as an internal coordinate system, firing at a series of locations that form a hexagonal grid across our environment as we move around…
Why Are We Becoming So Narcissistic? Here’s The Science
The subject of narcissism has intrigued people for centuries, but social scientists now claim that it has become a modern “epidemic”. So what is it, what has led to its increase, and is there anything we can do about it? The term narcissism originated more than 2,000 years ago, when Ovid wrote the legend of…
Psaptides Attack Ovarian Cancer On Two Fronts
Two forms of a peptide derived from a naturally-occurring human protein can force tumors to shrink significantly in an animal model of metastatic ovarian cancer, according to a team led by researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital’s Vascular Biology Program, the University of Bergen and Weill Cornell Medical College. The peptides, dubbed psaptides, stimulate a response…
Neural Patterns Separating Food Cravings From Eating
Researchers investigating eating disorders often study chemical and neurological functions in the brain to discover clues to overeating. Understanding non-homeostatic eating— or eating that is driven more by palatability, habit and food cues— and how it works in the brain may help neuroscientists determine how to control cravings, maintain healthier weights and promote healthier lifestyles.…
Serotonin Synthesis Enzyme Lack Linked With Rheumatoid Arthritis
Experimentally-induced rheumatoid arthritis in serotonin-deficient mice is worse than the same disease reported in no-deficient mice, a recent study shows. Additionally, it was found that some effects of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be reduced by serotonin or its agonists (compounds that activate serotonin receptors). This is the first time, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) has been directly…
Fetal Motor Neuron Imbalance Can Hardwire Later Problems
Motor neuron connections are refined in the weeks before and just after birth, and they are crucial for normal development later, University of Queensland research suggests. The discovery could lead to a better understanding of developmental disorders such as autism and epilepsy, say two School of Biomedical Sciences neuroscientists, Associate Professors Peter Noakes and Mark…