10 Neuroscience Studies That Will Change How You See Yourself (P)
Why we have hair, automatically divide the day into chapters, how we judge art, where our sense of self lives and more.
Category: Neuroscience
This Major Depression Treatment Works Where Other Therapies Fail (M)
The therapy reduces symptoms of depression in those that have not responded to antidepressants, talking therapies or other interventions.
Why Good People Do Terrible Things When Given Orders (M)
The neural mechanism behind some of history’s most disturbing acts of obedience.
What Overwork Does To The Structure Of The Brain (M)
Working long hours might be altering more than just mood.
Targeted Magnetic Pulses Reduce Key Autism Traits For 2 Months (M)
When the pulses are timed correctly, they work to ‘unstick’ the brains of autistic people.
Why Faces From Another Race Are Harder To Tell Apart (M)
What your brain really sees when you look at faces from another race.
How Nature Rewires The Brain’s Pain Response (M)
Even virtual nature can ease pain — no medication required.
Everyone’s Brain Anatomy Is Unique — Like A Fingerprint
Both our genetics and the circumstances of our lives influence the exact shape that our brains form.
Both our genetics and the circumstances of our lives influence the exact shape that our brains form.
Just like fingerprints, the anatomy of everyone’s brain is unique.
Both our genetics and the circumstances of our lives influence the exact shape that our brains form.
Our brains change under the influence of what we do.
For example, the brains of musicians and golfers have particular anatomical characteristics that reflect what they do.
However, even relatively short-term activities leave their mark on our brains.
For example, keeping one arm still for two weeks causes a thinning in the areas of the brain that control it.
Professor Lutz Jäncke, who led the study, said:
“We suspected that those experiences having an effect on the brain interact with the genetic make-up so that over the course of years every person develops a completely individual brain anatomy.”
For their study, the researchers scanned the brains of almost 200 healthy older people three times over two years.
Each one had characteristics that allowed the scientists to identify it with 90% accuracy just from the scan.
Professor Jäncke said:
“With our study we were able to confirm that the structure of people’s brains is very individual.
The combination of genetic and non-genetic influences clearly affects not only the functioning of the brain, but also its anatomy.”
Although identifying people by their brains on a routine basis is not practical, it does show how far the technology has come, said Professor Jäncke:
“Just 30 years ago we thought that the human brain had few or no individual characteristics.
Personal identification through brain anatomical characteristics was unimaginable.”
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Valizadeh et al., 2018).
The Future-Focused Mind: A Breakthrough In Addiction Treatment (M)
Imagining the future might hold the secret to overcoming addiction and controlling cravings in the moment.
How Quickly Junk Food Rewires The Brain For Obesity (M)
The brain ‘remembers’ junk food, and it does not forget easily.
