Albert Einstein was five years old when he handled his father's compass and found himself awestruck by a powerful curiosity: what invisible forces of nature were responsible for the device's unerring ability to point northward? Many professionals report similar childhood experiences in which a new subject piqued their interest so urgently that their subsequent education [...]
Early detection of Alzheimer's or dementia is just as important as it is for any health malady: catching symptoms as early as possible means These findings were published Oct. 7 in Radiology in a study entitled Arterial Spin Labeling May Contribute to the Cognitive Deterioration in Healthy Elderly Individuals. The study found that individuals whose [...]
Osteoarthritis is so common (affecting 1 in 10 Canadians according to the Arthritis Society) that it has led many people to dismiss it as an inevitable part of the aging process. However, while the disease, which causes the cartilage of the joints to wear down, is not curable, it is possible to keep its severity [...]
Do you tweet while you watch TV? Surf the net while you Skype? Work on multiple screens simultaneously? If the answer is yes, you may want to consider a device detox--new MRI research has shown lowered gray-matter volume in such multi-taskers. The study, entitled Higher Media Multi-Tasking Activity is Associated with Smaller Gray-Matter Density in [...]
In a scientific landscape where "Survival of the fittest" is as accepted as biological fact, a certain group of humans behaving benevolently--altruists--has puzzled scientists for years. An altruist will go so far as to endanger their own self to help another, even a complete stranger. A new study called Neural and cognitive characteristics of extraordinary [...]
The term 'neurocinematics', coined by Princeton psychology professor Uri Hasson, refers to the effects that movies have on the human brain. For his 2004 paper entitled Intersubject Synchronization of Cortical Activity During Natural Vision, Hasson found that the MRI brain scans of cinema-goers watching a clip of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly showed that [...]
"Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own," said Goethe. A bold statement, but there may be some truth to it: A new Swedish study has found that when learning a new language, certain areas of the brain literally grow. The study, entitled Growth of language-related brain areas after foreign language [...]
In 1959, British physicist and novelist C.P. Snow delivered a lecture called The Two Cultures, an influential think piece in which he outlined how many of the western world's problems were the result of an intellectual barrier that exists between scientific and literary thinkers. Snow wrote: "A good many times I have been present at [...]
Over July 14-16, AIM's Medical Director Dr. Raj Attariwala was invited to take part in NIST's Workshop on Standards for Quantitative MRI at NIST's headquarters in Boulder, CO. NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), which was founded in 1901, is one of the oldest physical science labs in the United States. NIST supports the research and [...]
Canadian astronaut and online sensation Chris Hadfield piqued the interests of millions of people worldwide when he published breathtaking photos of the planet during his commanding stint aboard the International Space Station. He continued to make headlines upon his return, but for another reason--he lost one per cent of his bone density for each month [...]