Finnish researchers identify a link between the choroid plexus and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) Neuroscientists at Aalto University, working together with colleagues at Helsinki University Hospital and Harvard Medical School, report a previously unrecognized association between enlargement of the choroid plexus and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). The findings, published in the journal Scientific … Read more

What’s in a name? New research finds video game usernames reveal real-world personality traits and age-related patterns Psychologists at the University of York have shown that the usernames of online gamers can carry meaningful information about the players behind them. By analysing half a million anonymised records from a hugely popular multiplayer game, researchers found … Read more

Summary: Can a single concussion from your youth still affect your brain a decade or two later? New research suggests the answer is yes. Using high-speed eye-tracking, researchers found that people who experienced mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs) more than ten years ago still show subtle but measurable delays in how their eyes follow moving … Read more

Researchers reveal how neurons respond to streams of familiar and unfamiliar images As visual scenes become increasingly complex, our brains constantly sort and recognize a rapid flow of images. A new study from the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), a joint collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, examines … Read more

Summary: New research shows that context plays a central role in how people perceive others’ emotions. Source: UC Berkeley Context Matters: Faces Alone Don’t Always Reveal True Emotions In the film 127 Hours, actor James Franco appears to smile as he records a video diary. Only when the camera pulls back to reveal his arm … Read more

Summary: A new study finds that experiencing vital exhaustion—a form of psychological distress—during late midlife is associated with an increased risk of developing dementia in later life. Psychological Distress in Midlife Linked to Higher Dementia Risk Researchers from the Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen, together with collaborators at the National Research … Read more

Summary: Researchers report that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) primes neural connections in the visual cortex for reorganization. Source: RUB Scientists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum have advanced understanding of how transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) affects functional connectivity among neurons. Using voltage-sensitive fluorescent dyes to visualize neuronal activity, the team demonstrated in an animal model that high-frequency TMS … Read more

Seven Healthy Habits May Reduce Dementia Risk Even for Those With High Genetic Risk Summary: New research reports that adopting seven simple cardiovascular and brain-healthy habits can lower the chance of developing dementia — even for older adults with the highest genetic risk. The study tracked lifestyle, genetic risk, and dementia outcomes over 30 years. … Read more

Summary: Newly identified “simulation neurons” in the amygdala enable animals to reconstruct the mental states of social partners and predict their intentions. Dysfunction in these neurons may contribute to social behavior disorders such as autism and social anxiety. Source: UPF Barcelona Psychologists and philosophers have long proposed that simulation is the mechanism people use to … Read more

Summary: Brain regions that process spatial information also appear to encode and organize data about social relationships and social network structure. Source: SfN New research published in Journal of Neuroscience shows that the brain represents information about our social relationships using regions commonly associated with spatial processing. Humans maintain hundreds of social ties, and keeping … Read more