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IMAGE: The greatest strength of current stimulation of the brain over Wernicke s area (on the right) view more
Credit: SPbU
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive method of brain stimulation, in which electrodes are applied over certain places on the scalp, creating a weak electric field. It is currently used for a variety of purposes: from treating depression and pain syndromes to better acquisition of new words and even sports techniques.
During stimulation, the active electrode can transmit a positive or negative electrical charge. In the former case, this stimulation is called anodal ; in the latter one, it is called cathodal . Researchers believe that anodal tDCS generally leads to depolarisation of neurons, which increases the likelihood of their excitation when new information arrives. Cathodal tDCS, on the contrary, suppresses the excitability of neurons, which negatively affects neural functions. However, the work of St Pet
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IMAGE: Vighnesh Viswanathan, a Research Technician in the Reinhart Laboratory, explains the experimental task instructions to study volunteer Eleni Kouvaras before beginning data collection. view more
Credit: Reinhart Lab
At times, we all double-check whether we locked the door, or wash our hands again just to be sure. However, one billion people worldwide experience these urges so intensely and continuously that they cannot help but do these actions compulsively, over and over again. Despite the prevalence of this distressing condition, our mechanistic understanding of these behaviors is incomplete and effective therapeutics are unavailable. Dr. Robert Reinhart, Assistant Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Boston University and Director of the Reinhart Lab, along with his students, Shrey Grover, John Nguyen, and Vighnesh Viswanathan published research in
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IMAGE: A collaboration between the University of Tsukuba and the NEI in the US has discovered that fast-spiking neurons in the basal ganglia allow monkeys to associate different values with the. view more
Credit: University of Tsukuba
Tsukuba, Japan How valuable are earmuffs? The answer to this simple question can depend. What brand are they? Are they good quality? What is the weather like? Given the choice between earmuffs and suntan lotion, most people would choose to have the earmuffs on a cold winter day and the lotion on a sunny day at the beach. This ability to place different values on objects depending on the environmental context is something that we do all the time without much thought or effort. But how does it work? A new study led by Assistant Professor Jun Kunimatsu at the University of Tsukuba in Japan and Distinguished Investigator Okihide Hikosaka at the National Eye Institute (NEI) in the United States has discovered the part of the brain th
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IMAGE: Regions showing enhanced activation during the maintenance of self-associated stimluli (left), including both classic self-referential processing regions (VMPFC) and regions in the working memory network. view more
Credit: Yin et al., JNeurosci 2021
A brain region involved in processing information about ourselves biases our ability to remember, according to new research published in
JNeurosci.
People are good at noticing information about themselves, like when your eye jumps to your name in a long list or you manage to hear someone address you in a noisy crowd. This self-bias extends to working memory, the ability to actively think about and manipulate bits of information: people are also better at remembering things about themselves.
If you re a bit more forgetful or having more difficulty processing complex concepts than in the past, the problem may be your menopause stage. A new study claims that menopause stage is a key determinant of cognition and, contrary to previous studies, shows that certain cognitive declines may continue into the postmenopause period. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).