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Mouse studies suggest a way to reverse both normal age-related memory loss, and dementia.

Although research has so far been confined to mouse studies, researchers are optimistic about the promise of histone deacetylase inhibitors in reversing age-related memory loss — both normal decline, and the far more dramatic loss produced by Alzheimer’s.

Finally a definitive review making clear the limits of the Mozart effect (namely that it's a very small effect when it occurs, and it only occurs in very specific circumstances).

Some years ago I wrote an article discussing the fact that the so-called Mozart effect has proved very hard to replicate since its ‘discovery’ in 1993, but now we have what is regarded as a definitive review, analyzing the entirety of the scientific record on the topic (including a number of unpu

Another study confirms the effects of meditation training on visual perception.

Another study showing the cognitive benefits of meditation has revealed benefits to perception and attention.

A rat study supports the idea that rule learning occurs in sudden switches in the activity pattern of neurons, that may be experienced as moments of sudden insight.

A rat study has revealed that as the rats slowly learned a new rule, groups of neurons in the medial frontal cortex switched quite abruptly to a new pattern corresponding directly to the shift in behavior, rather than showing signs of gradual transition.

Data from an entire birth cohort in Sweden has revealed that poverty and having a poorly educated mother are major risk factors in ADHD (or at least being medicated for it).

A national Swedish study involving the 1.16 million children in a national birth cohort identified nearly 8000 on the country's Prescribed Drug Register as using a prescription for ADHD medication (and thus assumed to suffer from severe ADHD).

A long-running study has revealed that while hours of non-relative childcare in the preschool years affects later behavior, quality of childcare continues to affect academic achievement into adolescence.

Data from the same long-running study (the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development), this time involving 1,364 youth (followed since birth), found that teens who had spent the most hours in non-relative child care in their first 4½ years reported a slightly greater tendency toward i

At the end of first grade, at-risk children showing strong self-regulation in preschool and kindergarten did dramatically better on math, reading and vocabulary, than at-risk children with weaker self-regulation.

A study following nearly 1300 young children from birth through the first grade provides more evidence for the importance of self-regulation for academic achievement.

Anorexic women when starved showed smaller brains, but happily this appears to be reversible.

A study comparing the brains 32 adult women with Anorexia Nervosa and 21 healthy women has revealed that when the women with anorexia were in a state of starvation they had less brain tissue (especially in grey matter) compared to the healthy women.

The first comparison of the brain sizes of social and non-social individuals of the same species provides more support for the social brain hypothesis (we evolved our big brains to deal with social groups).

The first comparison of the brain sizes of social and non-social individuals of the same species provides more support for the social brain hypothesis (we evolved our big brains to deal with social groups).

A new study suggests that our memory for visual scenes may not depend on how much attention we’ve paid to it or what a scene contains, but the context in which the scene is presented.

A new study suggests that our memory for visual scenes may not depend on how much attention we’ve paid to it or what a scene contains, but when the scene is presented.

  • Several reports have come out in recent years on how recent events replay in the hippocampus, a process thought to be crucial for creating long-term memories. Now a rat study suggests that these replays are not merely echoes of past events, but may include possible events that never happened.

Several reports have come out in recent years on how recent events replay in the

It is well known that the onset of puberty marks the end of the optimal period for learning language and certain spatial skills, such as computer/video game operation. A mouse study reveals that this is connected to an increase in a specific brain receptor, and that mild stress may counteract it.

It is well known that the onset of puberty marks the end of the optimal period for learning language and certain spatial skills, such as computer/video game operation.

A study involving patients given on implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) reveals that more than a third of participants had significant cognitive problems six weeks and six and 12 months after ICD surgery. Although most regained their normal abilities within 12 months, a few (10%) first developed difficulties at that point.

An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is a small electronic device that monitors and regulates heartbeat, and many have been implanted in patients — an estimated 114,000 in the U.S. in 2006.

A rat study shows how Ritalin improves concentration and, it now appears, speed of learning. The finding may help the development of better-targeted drugs.

A rat study shows how Ritalin improves concentration and, it now appears, speed of learning. The study reveals that it does this by increasing the activity of

An imaging study has revealed that children (aged 5-15) whose mothers abused methamphetamine and alcohol during pregnancy had structural abnormalities in the brain that were more severe than those seen in children whose mothers abused alcohol alone.

An imaging study has revealed that children (aged 5-15) whose mothers abused methamphetamine and alcohol during pregnancy had structural abnormalities in the brain that were more severe than those seen in children whose mothers abused alcohol alone.

A review of 32 major studies of school-age children reveals that the consequences of prenatal exposure to cocaine for the brain are less sweeping than feared, but the specific areas affected such as sustained attention and self-regulated behavior could lead to serious problems later in life.

When a pregnant woman uses cocaine, it can interrupt the flow of nutrients and oxygen to the baby, putting such children at risk for premature birth, low birth weight and many other problems.

Like human faces, infants are predisposed to pay attention to words. Now a new study shows that they learn concepts from them from a very early age.

Like human faces, infants are predisposed to pay attention to words. Now a new study shows that they learn concepts from them from a very early age.

A rodent study provides more support for the idea that repeated anaesthesia in children can lead to memory impairment.

Supporting the idea that repeated anaesthesia in children can lead to memory impairment, a rodent study has revealed that repeated anaesthesia wiped out a large portion of the stem cells in the

People deprived of speech following a stroke were taught to sing words instead of speaking them in a technique known as 'melodic intonation therapy'.

And in another pilot study, people deprived of speech following a stroke were taught to sing words instead of speaking them in a technique known as 'melodic intonation therapy'.

A pilot study suggests that video games for the Nintendo Wii could help stroke victims recover fine and gross motor function after a stroke.

A pilot study suggests that video games for the Nintendo Wii could help stroke victims recover fine motor function (such as finger dexterity) and gross motor function (such as arm movements) two months after a stroke.

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