Mind, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 19, 2023

Mysterious spiral signals in the human brain could be key to our cognition

Mysterious, spiral signals have been discovered in the human brain, and the scientists who found the swirls think they could help to organize complex brain activity. The signals, which appeared as swirling spirals of brain waves across the outer layer of the brain, were discovered in functional magnetic resonance imaging...

Jul 14, 2023

'Smoothness' in parts of brain's surface may boost risk of depression, study suggests

Having a smoother brain surface could reveal your likelihood of developing major depressive disorder (MDD), according to a new study. The outer layer of the brain, called the cerebral cortex, is folded into distinct patterns known as gyri. The process by which these wrinkles and grooves form — gyrification —...

Jul 25, 2023

How do brain cells send messages?

In a fraction of a second, we conjure thoughts, experience sensations and respond to our ever-changing world. Quick-fire bursts of brain activity grant us these abilities and have enabled us to outwit predators, write poetry and even contemplate the nature of our existences. But how do brain cells send messages?...

Jul 28, 2023

Spherical 'minibrains' to be grown on the International Space Station

Stem cells destined to be grown into tiny, simplified, spherical versions of the human brain will soon be launched to the International Space Station (ISS). In preparation for their journey to space, the cells were derived from adult human skin cells, according to a statement from the ISS National Lab,...

Aug 2, 2023

Google's 'mind-reading' AI can tell what music you listened to based on your brain signals

By examining a person's brain activity, artificial intelligence (AI) can produce a song that matches the genre, rhythm, mood and instrumentation of music that the individual recently heard. Scientists have previously reconstructed other sounds from brain activity, such as human speech, bird song and horse whinnies. However, few studies have...

Aug 3, 2023

Strange, two-faced brain cells confirmed to exist, and they may play a role in schizophrenia

A strange class of brain cell has two features that seem to contradict each other, leading scientists to question whether it really exists. But now, a new study of mouse and human brains not only supports these paradoxical cells' existence but also hints that they could help explain the neurological...

Aug 5, 2023

Do we really use only 10% of our brains?

In 1936, American writer Lowell Thomas wrote in his introduction to Dale Carnegie's book How to Win Friends and Influence People what would become an oft-repeated claim: Professor William James of Harvard used to say that the average man develops only 10% of his latent mental ability. This idea took...

Aug 16, 2023

Listen to Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall,' as decoded from human brain waves

(Audio credit: Bellier et al., 2023, PLOS Biology, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)) By recording and decoding people's brain activity as they listened to Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall, scientists recreated recognizable snippets of the 1979 protest song. In some clips, you can make out a Roger Waters-like voice crooning...

Sep 30, 2023

Electrifying time-lapse video shows neurons shooting across the inside of a chick embryo

Electrified blue and red wires squirm their way across the screen, sparks of bright light sporadically exploding along their lengths. This incredible time-lapse video isn't of lightning in the sky or some strange alien lifeforms — it shows developing nerve cells shooting across the inside of a chick embryo. The...

Oct 5, 2023

Neurons aren't the only cells that make memories in the brain, rodent study reveals

Neurons, the brain cells responsible for relaying chemical and electrical messages, have long been considered the key players in memory formation — but new research in rodents suggests that the cells may have an unsung-but-crucial collaborator. The findings could have implications for research into memory and associated diseases, such as...

Jan 8, 2024

In a 1st, 'minibrains' grown from fetal brain tissue

For the first time, scientists have grown cerebral organoids — three-dimensional, lab-grown minibrains — from human fetal brain tissue. The new organoids grew to the size of a grain of rice and contained many types of cells that self-organized into complex 3D structures. The researchers also triggered the growth of...

Jan 8, 2024

Cerebral organoids: What are lab-grown 'minibrains'?

In the past decade, lab-grown blobs of human brain tissue began making news headlines, as they ushered in a new era of scientific discovery and raised a slew of ethical questions. These blobs — scientifically known as brain organoids, but often called minibrains in the news — serve as miniature,...

Jan 17, 2024

Universal process that wires the brain is consistent across species

Mouse, insect or worm — in all these creatures, the same principle guides the formation of super strong connections between neurons in the brain, a new study confirms. The research helps validate the idea that, regardless of species, there's a universal mechanism that underlies how brain networks form. Different animals...

Jan 18, 2024

Brain signature of desire uncovered in lovesick rodents, and it may be in people, too

Drop that bow, Cupid — scientists may have discovered a biological signature of desire that underlies strong interpersonal bonds and may explain why getting over an ex or mourning a loved one hurts so much. The caveat: The research was in lovesick rodents, not in people. In a new study,...

Jan 30, 2024

Neuralink chip implanted into human brain for the 1st time, Elon Musk says

The neurotechnology company Neuralink implanted a brain chip into its first human subject on Nov. 28, founder Elon Musk announced on X. The brain-computer interface (BCI), called Telepathy, is intended to translate a user's brain signals into information that can be processed by a computer, via Bluetooth. This should allow...