Credit: Leipold et al., JNeurosci 2021
The brains of musicians have stronger structural and functional connections compared to those of non-musicians, regardless of innate pitch ability, according to new research from
JNeurosci.
Years of musical training shape the brain in dramatic ways. A minority of musicians with Mozart and Michael Jackson in their ranks also possess absolute pitch, the ability to identify a tone without a reference. But, it remains unclear how this ability impacts the brain.
In the biggest sample to date, Leipold et al. compared the brains of professional musicians, some with absolute pitch and some without, to non-musicians. To the team s surprise, there were no strong differences between the brains of musicians with and without absolute pitch ability; instead absolute pitch may shape the brain in more subtle ways. Compared to non-musicians, both types of musicians had stronger functional connectivity the synchronized activity of brain regions in 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.
Published: Dec 21, 2020
BOSTON, Dec. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ Emulate, Inc., a leading provider of advanced
in vitro models, today unveiled the Emulate Brain-Chip, which is designed for neuroscience researchers investigating neuroinflammatory disease and for drug developers seeking to improve drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer s and Parkinson s. The comprehensive model incorporates cells from the human brain, including the blood-brain barrier, in a dynamic microenvironment which enables cell-cell interaction.
Emulate Organ-Chips, including the Brain-Chip, are designed to enable researchers to investigate the safety and efficacy of therapeutic treatments in development, in order to reduce the high drug development failure rates that result from a poor understanding of drug mechanism of action, toxicity, pharmacokinetic profile, or overall applicability and translation of animal and
Credit: Zhao et al., JNeurosci 2020
Pairing brain stimulation with an emotion management technique blunts negative emotions, according to research recently published in
JNeurosci. The combination may improve emotional regulation in people with psychiatric disorders.
Managing your emotions is a key component to navigating difficult situations. People with psychiatric disorders like PTSD and depression struggle to do this. The brain regulates emotions through the dorsolateral (DLPFC) and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). The two regions work by shifting attention and reinterpreting situations, respectively. Harnessing the independent, separate roles of these regions may offer a novel treatment for the emotional symptoms of psychiatric disorders.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — Graduate Program Coordinator, Neuroscience Program : The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education jbhe.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jbhe.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.