Neuroscience

System that uses light stimulation to modulate brain waves

Researchers have developed a system which uses light stimulation to modulate brain waves. This opens up new avenues to explore for possible treatment of conditions such as epilepsy, Parkinson's and migraine.

Sleep apnea

AI model can diagnose obstructive sleep apnea

A random forest (RF) model has similar accuracy to a support vector machine (SVM) for differentiating patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), according to a study published online Oct. 12 in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Psychology & Psychiatry

How the pandemic may have altered your personality

From rethinking workspaces to how we socialize with one another, there hasn't been a part of our lives unaffected by the pandemic. A new study shows the effects of the pandemic could even have altered our personality.

Genetics

Discovery gives insight into brain function, breakdowns

Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University have identified a long-sought gene-encoded protein that enables the brain to communicate a broad range of signals across gaps between neurons, known as synapses. The discovery ...

Neuroscience

Mindfulness training provides a natural high, study finds

New research from the University of Utah finds that a mindfulness meditation practice can produce a healthy altered state of consciousness in the treatment of individuals with addictive behaviors. Not unlike what one might ...

Neuroscience

New tool reveals what happens in the brain when we learn

Scientists at Scripps Research have developed a new tool to monitor brain plasticity—the way our brains remodel and physically adapt as we learn and experience things, from watching a movie to learning a new song or language. ...

page 1 from 40

Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some primitive animals such as jellyfish and starfish have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while sponges lack any nervous system at all. In vertebrates, the brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing, balance, taste, and smell.

Brains can be extremely complex. The cerebral cortex of the human brain contains roughly 15-33 billion neurons depending on gender and age, linked with up to 10,000 synaptic connections each. Each cubic millimeter of cerebral cortex contains roughly one billion synapses. These neurons communicate with one another by means of long protoplasmic fibers called axons, which carry trains of signal pulses called action potentials to distant parts of the brain or body and target them to specific recipient cells.

The most important biological function of the brain is to generate behaviors that promote the welfare of an animal. Brains control behavior either by activating muscles, or by causing secretion of chemicals such as hormones. Even single-celled organisms may be capable of extracting information from the environment and acting in response to it. Sponges, which lack a central nervous system, are capable of coordinated body contractions and even locomotion. In vertebrates, the spinal cord by itself contains neural circuitry capable of generating reflex responses as well as simple motor patterns such as swimming or walking. However, sophisticated control of behavior on the basis of complex sensory input requires the information-integrating capabilities of a centralized brain.

Despite rapid scientific progress, much about how brains work remains a mystery. The operations of individual neurons and synapses are now understood in considerable detail, but the way they cooperate in ensembles of thousands or millions has been very difficult to decipher. Methods of observation such as EEG recording and functional brain imaging tell us that brain operations are highly organized, but these methods do not have the resolution to reveal the activity of individual neurons.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA