Memory Styles Are Reflected In Intrinsic Brain Patterns

Why is it that some people have richly detailed recollections of past experiences (episodic memory), while others tend to remember just the facts without details (semantic memory)? A research team from the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences has shown for the first time that these different ways of experiencing the past are associated…

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This Scientist Scanned His Brain 2X a Week for 18 Months

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning for a year and a half, Russell Poldrack started off his day by climbing into an MRI machine and scanning his brain for 10 minutes. The self-experimentation has made the psychologist’s brain the most studied in the world. Poldrack, who began the work at the University of Texas and has…

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Bacterial Circadian Clocks Set By Metabolism, Not Light

Most organisms on Earth, from bacteria to humans, possess a circadian clock, a biological mechanism that synchronizes activities such as rest or growth to daily changes in a 24-hour day. Although commonly thought to be tied to the day-night cycle, the circadian clock actually appears to be set by metabolic rhythms, according to a new…

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Shank3 Gene’s Role In Autism And Schizophrenia Unraveled

Although it is known that psychiatric disorders have a strong genetic component, untangling the web of genes contributing to each disease is a daunting task. Scientists have found hundreds of genes that are mutated in patients with disorders such as autism, but each patient usually has only a handful of these variations. To further complicate…

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CRISPR-Cas9 Helps Uncover Genetics Of Exotic Organisms

The simplicity of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing will soon make studying the genes of any organism, from the simplest slime mold to the octopus, as easy as it now is to study the genes controlling development in standard lab animals such as nematodes, fruit flies, frogs and mice. A new study from the University of California,…

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Apigenin Flavonoid In Spices And Herbs Increases Brain Connections

Apigenin, a substance found in parsley, thyme, chamomile and red pepper, improves neuron formation and strengthens the connections between brain cells, Brazilian researchers from D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) have shown. Previous experiments with animals had already shown that substances…

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Brain Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Arousal Regulation Identified

Adjusting a specific deep-brain circuit’s firing frequency immediately and dramatically alters rats’ forebrain activity and alertness levels, Stanford University School of Medicine investigators have shown. The findings hold direct implications for an increasingly widespread therapeutic approach called deep-brain stimulation. They point to DBS’s potential for restoring consciousness in minimally conscious patients and countering other cases…

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Oxytocin May Raise, Not Lower, Anxiety In Women

Oxytocin, a hormone that plays a role in intimacy and social bonding, is being investigated as a treatment for anxiety, depression, and PTSD. But a new study with mice raises important questions about the differing effects the hormone has on men and women. Says Brian Trainor, an associate professor of psychology at the University of…

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Finding Alternatives To Antibiotics To Preserve Their Usefulness

For the past decade we’ve consistently heard antibiotics don’t work as well as they used to. Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to their effects and we are approaching a time when many bacteria could be resistant to all the antibiotics we have. Apocalyptic premonitions of the post-antibiotic era aside, what is being done about it?…

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