Neuroscience

How the brain encodes warm and cool

Researchers from the Max Delbrück Center have found a region of the brain that is responsible for our perception of temperature when we touch things. The paper, which appears in Nature, reports the discovery of a "thermal ...

Health

The true relationship between screens, books and nearsightedness

At one time or another we have surely heard or read that the excessive use of screens is causing an increase in cases of nearsightedness. Moreover, it is said that this relationship is direct, meaning that screens are responsible ...

Neuroscience

Researchers identify neurons that 'learn' to smell a threat

Whether conscious of it or not, when entering a new space, we use our sense of smell to assess whether it is safe or a threat. In fact, for much of the animal kingdom, this ability is necessary for survival and reproduction. ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Exactly how many senses do we really have?

While the notion that people have five basic human senses is often considered a universal truth and can be traced back to Aristotle's "De Anima" ("On the Soul"), many philosophers and neuroscientists are now debating whether ...

Medical research

Researchers reveal an added layer of nuance in our sense of smell

The delicate fragrance of jasmine is a delight to the senses. The sweet scent is popular in teas, perfumes and potpourri. But take a whiff of the concentrated essential oil, and the pleasant aroma becomes almost cloying. ...

Neuroscience

Treating gut pain via a Nobel prize-winning receptor

Targeting a receptor responsible for our sense of touch and temperature, which researchers have now found to be present in our colon, could provide a new avenue for treating chronic pain associated with gastrointestinal disorders ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Scientists find key reason why loss of smell occurs in long COVID-19

The reason some people fail to recover their sense of smell after COVID-19 is linked to an ongoing immune assault on olfactory nerve cells and an associated decline in the number of those cells, a team of scientists led by ...

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