Mind, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 3, 2014

Being Curious Can Boost Your Memory

Everyone knows it's easier to learn about a topic you're curious about. Now, a new study reveals what's going on in the brain during that process, revealing that such curiosity may give a person a memory boost. When participants in the study were feeling curious, they were better at remembering...

Oct 10, 2014

Taser's 50,000-Volt Jolt Can Mess Up Your Brain

A 50,000-volt shock from a Taser is powerful enough to immobilize a person, but how does such a strong jolt affect the brain? A burst of electricity from a stun gun can impair a person's ability to remember and process information for about an hour after the jolt, new research...

Oct 25, 2014

Mind Maze: How Your Memory Deceives You

Two beloved sci-fi franchises returned to the screens this fall burdened with shaky memories. In ABC's superhero spy TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the lead character, Phil Coulson, is still reeling from a case of implanted memories. Meanwhile, the movie adaptation of the young-adult novel The Maze Runner opens on...

Oct 27, 2014

Cocoa Compound Staves Off Memory Loss

Compounds found in cocoa beans, which are used to make chocolate, may reverse the normal age-related memory decline seen in healthy older adults, researchers say. In a new study, people who were randomly assigned to eat a diet high in these compounds, called flavanols, for three months performed significantly better...

Nov 3, 2014

Anesthesia-Related Memory Loss Lasts Days, Study Warns

People who are put under general anesthesia may wind up with memory and cognitive deficits for days or weeks after surgery. But now, a new study in mice reveals a possible way to reverse the ill effects of anesthesia drugs on memory. In the study, scientists gave mice a common...

Nov 10, 2014

Cholesterol-Lowing Drug Reverses Memory Deficit in Mice

A common statin drug taken by millions of Americans to lower their cholesterol level also may reverse certain types of learning deficits, according to a new study in mice. The statin drug lovastatin dramatically improved memory and restored normal cognitive function in mice specially bred to have a genetic disorder...

Nov 20, 2014

Trans Fats May Hurt Memory

CHICAGO — It might be difficult to carefully avoid all of the tasty foods that contain harmful trans fats, but now there's one more reason to try: A new study shows that this type of fat may damage memory in young people. The findings suggest that memory problems belong on...

Nov 24, 2014

Late-Night Meals May Interfere with Memory, Research Suggests

The hectic pace of modern life means that people are often eating at odd times of the day and night, and these shifted schedules could be taking a toll on memory, new research suggests. A study in mice found that eating during times of day when one would normally be...

Dec 1, 2014

Eyewitness Testimony is Far From Perfect

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Twenty eyewitnesses testified before the grand jury investigating the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. None of these accounts is fully consistent with any other. Moreover, eyewitnesses...

Dec 9, 2014

Why Painful Memories Linger

Memories of traumatic events can be hard to shake, and now scientists say they understand why. Studies on laboratory rats have revealed, for the first time, the brain mechanism that translates unpleasant experiences into long-lasting memories. The findings support a 65-year-old hypothesis called Hebbian plasticity. This idea states that in...

Dec 19, 2014

Déjà Vu All Over Again: This Man Relived Every New Moment

Trapped in a time loop: That's how one man felt because of his recurring déjà vu episodes. Unlike the vague, fleeting sensation most people experience in déjà vu, his episodes were persistent and long. The 23-year-old British man started to have frightening episodes of déjà vu shortly after starting college,...

Feb 14, 2015

Why Brian Williams May Have Misremembered (Op-Ed)

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Many of us have asked ourselves in the past few days: can you really falsely remember something as significant as being in a helicopter that was shot down? And...

May 29, 2015

Memory-Boosting Research Could Help Soldiers Recall Skills

Soldiers are often under pressure to learn and remember skills from their training up to months or years later, sometimes in the heat of combat. Now, the U.S. military's R&D agency is funding research on ways to boost skill-based memory in soldiers who face these obstacles. The two-year Restoring Active...

Jun 17, 2015

Trans Fat May Impair Memory

Even as a new rule will force food companies to stop adding trans fat to food, research continues to show the negative effects of trans fat on health. Today, new findings show that consuming trans fat may be linked to worsening memory in young men, according to a new study....

Sep 17, 2015

Paralyzed Man Can 'Feel' Again with Brain-Connected Prosthetic Hand

A prosthetic hand that is connected directly to the brain successfully enabled a paralyzed man to feel again, according to researchers at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The 28-year-old male, who suffered a spinal cord injury and has been paralyzed for more than a decade, was able to...