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 [...]
Have you ever opted to walk or bike to work instead of driving and noticed increased alertness and overall performance? A University of Illinois Study, led by Dr. Chuck Hillman, found that as little as 20 minutes of exercise can lead to better cognition and memory, and higher scores on tests and examinations. Using MRI, [...]
Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, wrote an important article for Wired Magazine in 2010 about the effect that our modern culture of distraction--specifically the Internet--is having on our brains. "When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning," [...]
Ubiquitous as Facebook has become, it still feels somewhat jarring when a new MRI study is published about its possible effects on the brain. Is Facebook so all-important that medical research studies about it are now necessary? Truly though, what started out as a photo-sharing website for university students has pervaded into nearly every aspect [...]
There's a good reason why composers of operas and musicals have traditionally included an overture intended to precede staged shows--and that reason is now supported by science. The overture and entr-acte, respectively the musical overviews of the first and second halves of a performance, are designed to familiarize the audience with the hooks and choruses [...]
Did you know that LA's Wilshire Boulevard has more MRI machines than the whole of British Columbia? Yes, you read that correctly: there are more MRI machines on one street in Los Angeles than in the entire province of BC. At only 6 MRI machines per 1 million people, Canada trails far behind other developed [...]
One is likely to think of a boxer's left hook or a mishap on the ski hill when the words "sports" and "head injury" appear in the same sentence, but new research suggests an essential element of the world's most popular athletic pastime may cause brain damage over time. The culprit? The ubiquitous 'header', taught to small [...]
Magnetic resonance imaging and modern brain science are synonymous. Without MRI, the scientific community and world at large might still believe such widespread mythologies as 'You only use 10 per cent of your brain' or 'Your IQ score can never change.' The brain is not only the most important organ in the functional processes of [...]
A new MRI study published in online journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first to examine how brain structure and function may pre-determine how a person will learn mathematics. The study, published on April 29 and led by Stanford psychiatry and behavioral sciences professor Vinod Menon, quickly became controversial due to its [...]
You've heard about the right and left brain; in fact, you may have even taken a quiz to find out which side is dominant in you. But were you aware that the brain is asymmetrical both in its function and its shape? A new US MRI study, entitled Increased morphological asymmetry, evolvability and plasticity in human brain [...]