Category Archives: Cognitive Neuroscience

Abnormalities found in the brain of psychopaths

Impulsive, anti-social, lack of empathy and remorse, or eccentric personality; all these characteristics could describe someone who suffers from psychopathy. This mental disease is underlined by brain impairments and it seems that a recent research is helping to understand this disorder. Brains of psychopaths seem to show differences in their structure and function compared to [...]

New tip to understand how attention skills work

As surprising as it could be, some of our brain cells have to be deactivated in order to become concentrated in a more efficient way! This observation was made by a team of French neuroscientists who studied different neuron networks. This study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, demonstrated that the default-mode network seems to [...]

Exercise is beneficial for the brain

We often hear advice telling us that doing some kind of physical activity is good to develop muscle, lose weight, or generally to stay healthy. But what if doing exercise was also good for mental abilities? Last February, we already said that being physically active is very important for our cognitive health. Recently, two teams [...]

Internet may Influence your Memory Skills

Internet is well known to be a quick and easy way to access to knowledge. But did you know that using it could affect the way we store information? The team of Betsy Sparrow, assistant professor in psychology at Columbia, analysed the impact of the huge accessibility of data through Internet on memory skills. One [...]

Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease and Cognitive Decline

A response to The New York Times article, “Years Later, No Magic Bullet Against Alzheimer’s Disease”, dated Aug 28, 2010 based on the NIH Report “Preventing Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline” from Dr. Peter Magaro. In late spring 2010, the National Institute for Health (NIH) produced a review of research on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and [...]

Music is Good for Your Brain

Whether it is classical, jazz, or good old-fashioned rock and roll, almost everyone enjoys listening to some form of music. Music can also be good for the brain as highlighted in a recent Cochrane Systematic Review of the prevailing research on music therapy, titled Music Therapy for Acquired Brain Injury. When someone suffers from an [...]

Vitamin D and Cognitive Health

This week Dr. Katherine Tucker of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging published a report in the Journals of Gerontology which makes the claim that elderly individuals may be able to help sustain their cognitive function by maintaining sufficient levels of vitamin D. The study (Vitamin D Is Associated with Cognitive [...]

Cognitive Ability is More Important than Age

In neuroscience news this week, a newly published study by Scott Huettel, Ph.D. (Associate Professor of psychology and neuroscience and director of the Duke Center for Neuroeconomic Studies) attempts to help disprove the myth that simply aging makes us inferior at financial decision making compared to our younger counterparts. Dr. Huettel’s study was published earlier [...]

The Journey Towards Alzheimer’s Prevention

On April 26-28, 2010, the National Institute for Health, hosted a conference entitled “State-of-the-Science Conference, Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease and Cognitive Decline“. It was open to both professionals and the public. The goal of the independent panel of health professionals and public officials at the meeting was to assess whether previous research on purported risk or [...]

Hypertension and Cognitive Decline

Can Reducing Hypertension Also Reduce the Risk of cognitive decline? The ill effects of hypertension (high blood pressure) have been well documented by the medical community. If you suffer from high blood pressure, there is a good chance you might also suffer from: Pulsating headaches Retinopathy or related eye damage and vision impairments Nausea and [...]