In the brain, Chinese and English are more similar than they look on paper. Scientists have long known the complex processes involved in reading for languages that involve alphabets, but now, a new study has looked at the processes and brain activity involved in character-based languages like Chinese. The upshot? The brain circuitry for alphabet-based […]
ADHD is a neurobiological disorder, which means it’s brain-based, and not caused by outside environmental factors. Mental health experts believe genetics might play a role in its development, as well as lifestyle behaviors like smoking or drinking during pregnancy. So, it’s not that homework is causing ADHD. But we do know that the environment (we […]
In an important new study, scientists have scanned the brains of preschoolers with symptoms of ADHD. They have found that even in four-year-olds (an age younger than most children are diagnosed) there are “really widespread changes” in the physical brain of children with ADHD, including a smaller brain overall. The researchers will continue to follow […]
What happens when a person with psychosis loses touch with reality, experiencing the equivalent of cognitive “heart attack”? Is there a way to measure factors that might spur such occurrences so that we can take steps to prevent them, much as we do with cholesterol level and blood pressure for the heart? Daniel Barron, a […]
In a recent study, researchers from UCSF found that adult brains don’t produce new neurons. Another, published just a few weeks later by scientists from Columbia University, says they continue to make new neurons at almost the same rate as during childhood. Both from top universities, but with opposite outcomes. Why might that be? The […]
A new archaeological study has discovered that complex cave paintings in Spain were created at least 65,000 years ago—before modern humans lived there. That means the artists must have been Neanderthals. According to one of the researchers, “the conclusion has to be that Neanderthals were cognitively indistinguishable” from Homo sapiens. More on National Geographic: – […]
