http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Human intelligence cannot be explained by the size of the brain's frontal lobes, say researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-human-brain-frontal-lobes-large.html Neuroscience Mon, 13 May 2013 15:00:08 EST news287657730 Glial cells – a family of cells found in the human central nervous system and, until recently, considered mere "housekeepers" – now appear to be essential to the unique complexity of the human brain. Scientists reached this conclusion after demonstrating that when transplanted into mice, these human cells could influence communication within the brain, allowing the animals to learn more rapidly. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-human-brain-cells-mice-smarter.html Medical research Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:17:12 EST news281884624 Good mental health and clear thinking depend upon our ability to store and manipulate thoughts on a sort of "mental sketch pad." In a new study, Yale School of Medicine researchers describe the molecular basis of this ability—the hallmark of human cognition—and describe how a breakdown of the system contributes to diseases such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-human-cognition-slow-firing-neurons.html Neuroscience Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:17:02 EST news280584997 (Medical Xpress)—Even with a constant task, human performance fluctuates in time-scales from seconds to minutes in a fractal manner. In a recent study a Finnish research group found that the individual variability in the brain dynamics as indexed by the neuronal scaling laws predicted the individual behavioral variability and the conscious detection of very weak sensory stimuli. These data indicate that individual neuronal dynamics underlie the individual variability in human cognition and performance. Results may also have a strong impact in understanding the neuronal mechanism of neuropsychiatric diseases in which behavioral dynamics are abnormal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-memories-brain-streaks-individual-behaviour.html Neuroscience Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:46:37 EST news279909984 (Medical Xpress)—Looking at a tangled mass of network cables plugged into a crowded router doesn't yield much insight into the network traffic that runs through the hardware. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-analysis-techniques-neural.html Neuroscience Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:29:05 EST news266754535 With the discovery that the unconscious mind plays a key role in the placebo effect, researchers have identified a novel mechanism that helps explain the power of placebos and nocebos. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-placebo-response-pain-nonconscious.html Medical research Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:00:12 EST news266491942 Over the first few years of life, human cognition continues to develop, soaking up information and experiences from the environment and far surpassing the abilities of even our nearest primate relatives. In a study published online today in Genome Research, researchers have identified extended synaptic development in the human brain relative to other primates, a finding that sheds new light on the biology and evolution of human cognition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-synaptic-cognitive-edge-primates.html Genetics Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:00:08 EST news247337372 Smartphones may be the new hot tool in cognitive psychology research, according to a paper in the online journal PLoS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-smartphones-revolutionize-cognitive-science.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:42:40 EST news236454152