Max Planck Society

Genetics

Massive genome study informs the biology of reading and language

What is the biological basis of our uniquely human capacity to speak, read and write? A genome-wide analysis of five reading- and language-based skills in many thousands of people, published in PNAS, identifies shared biology ...

Neuroscience

How different flavors of inhibition save the day

During development, lack of sensory experience elicits powerful plasticity mechanisms that alter brain circuitry. Many inhibitory neuron subtypes are known to influence circuit dynamics, but how they interact with plasticity ...

Neuroscience

Your brain is a prediction machine that is always active

This is in line with a recent theory on how our brain works: it is a prediction machine, which continuously compares sensory information that we pick up (such as images, sounds and language) with internal predictions. "This ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Tuberculosis vaccine passes safety test

No other infectious disease has killed more people than tuberculosis. Currently, only one vaccine is available to prevent severe courses: Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG). However, it is not equally effective against all types ...

Neuroscience

Children compensate for lack of concentration through creativity

Children have a hard time with concentration tasks, but are often good at discovering hidden "tricks" to make the task easier. Spontaneous strategy changes help them to do this, according to a study on learning behavior in ...

Neuroscience

Sentences have their own timing in the brain

The brain links incoming speech sounds to knowledge of grammar, which is abstract in nature. But how does the brain encode abstract sentence structure? In a neuroimaging study published in PLOS Biology, researchers from the ...

Neuroscience

Neuronal processes involved in musical interactions

Making music together is a unique challenge: Not only must a musician plan and execute the sounds made by their own instrument, but they have to coordinate their actions with those of others. This is an extraordinary accomplishment ...

Neuroscience

Researchers identify a brain network for social attraction

Humans and many other animals live in societies. At a fundamental level, social interactions require individuals to identify others as belonging to their own kind. This usually happens in fractions of a second, often instinctively. ...

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