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Neurons in the Brain Tune into Different Frequencies for Different Spatial Memory Tasks
By Jason von Stietz
April 29, 2014

Your brain transmits information about your current location and memories of past locations over the same neural pathways using different frequencies of a rhythmic electrical activity called gamma waves, report neuroscientists at The University of Texas at Austin.

 

The research, published in the journal Neuron on April 17, may provide insight into the cognitive and memory disruptions seen in diseases such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s, in which gamma waves are disturbed.

 

Previous research has shown that the same brain region is activated whether we're storing memories of a new place or recalling past places we've been.

 

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Scientists Discover Brain’s Anti-Distraction System
By Jason von Stietz
April 18, 2014

Two Simon Fraser University psychologists have made a brain-related discovery that could revolutionize doctors’ perception and treatment of attention-deficit disorders.

 

This discovery opens up the possibility that environmental and/or genetic factors may hinder or suppress a specific brain activity that the researchers have identified as helping us prevent distraction.

 

The Journal of Neuroscience has just published a paper about the discovery by John McDonald, an associate professor of psychology and his doctoral student John Gaspar, who made the discovery during his master’s thesis research.

 

This is the first study to reveal our brains rely on an active suppression mechanism to avoid being distracted by salient irrelevant information when we want to focus on a particular item or task.

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama Meets Scientists on 'Mapping the Mind'
By Jason von Stietz
April 15, 2014

His Holiness the Dalai Lama participated in a two-day conference on Mapping the Mind: A Dialogue between modern science and Buddhist science in Kyoto in Japan from 11-12 April. The conference was organised by Kotoro Research Center of Kyoto University and the US-based Mind & Life Institute.

 

The conference brought together experts from the Buddhist contemplative tradition, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with experts from modern psychology, philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and other relevant disciplines.

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BCI and Robotic Prosthetic Paralympic Competition
By Jason von Stietz
April 9, 2014

Switzerland will host the world’s first Cybathlon, an Olympic-style competition for parathletes using robotic assistive devices and brain computer interfaces.

 

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Part of brain linked to gambling addiction identified
By Jason von Stietz
April 8, 2014

New research reveals that brain damage affecting the insula – an area with a key role in emotions – disrupts errors of thinking linked to gambling addiction.

 

The research, led by Dr Luke Clark from the University of Cambridge, was published on April 7 2014 in the journal PNAS.

 

During gambling games, people often misperceive their chances of winning due to a number of errors of thinking called cognitive distortions. For example, ‘near-misses’ seem to encourage further play, even though they are no different from any other loss. In a random sequence like tossing a coin, a run of one event (heads) makes people think the other outcome (tails) is due next; this is known as the ‘gambler’s fallacy’.

 

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Mind Over Mechanics
http://youtu.be/rpHy-fUyXYk
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