Mind, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2004

Scientists Teach Sparrows to Sing Backward

You wouldn't think sparrows need to be taught how to whistle a happy tune, but Gary Rose wanted to try it anyway. Rose and his colleagues captured about two dozen baby sparrows -- with permission, honest! -- and separated them so they wouldn't hear any sparrow songs. When the little...

Oct 31, 2004

Why Old Habits Die Hard

Despite your best intentions, you may find it hard to avoid the eating and drinking habits of the holidays. The problem, new research shows, is your brain's tendency to revert to deep-rooted memories. It may not be only the deliciousness of traditional holiday treats that makes them so hard to...

Nov 30, 2005

Marital Spats Slow Healing of Wounds

If you've got a physical wound, you'd be wise to avoid arguments. The stress of a half-hour marital spat can add a day or more to the healing process of a wound, according to a study announced today. And if hostility in your house is routine, count on a wound...

Nov 30, 2005

Scientists Predict What You'll Think of Next

To recall memories, your brain travels back in time via the ultimate Google search, according to a new study in which scientists found they can monitor the activity and actually predict what you'll think of next. The work bolsters the validity of a longstanding hypothesis that the human brain takes...

Nov 30, 2005

Adult Brain Cells Do Keep Growing

The apocryphal tale that you can't grow new brain cells just isn't true. Neurons continue to grow and change beyond the first years of development and well into adulthood, according to a new study. The finding challenges the traditional belief that adult brain cells, or neurons, are largely static and...

Oct 31, 2005

Key to a Good Memory: Predict What You Need to Remember

It's one thing to stuff a lot of facts into your brain. Marking them as important is a whole other talent. Yet this predictive ability is a key to having a good memory, a new brain-imaging study suggests. While one part of the brain was very active when study subjects...

Aug 31, 2005

Fine Line Revealed Between Creativity and Insanity

History suggests that the line between creativity and madness is a fine one, but a small group of people known as schizotypes are able to walk it with few problems and even benefit from it. A new study confirms that their enhanced creativity may come from using more of the...

Jul 31, 2005

Scientists: You Learn Without Knowing It

You can learn without realizing what your are doing, a new study finds. The process is similar to how other animals learn, scientists suspect. The idea is that humans have a robust capacity for habit learning, independent of conscious memory, said Larry Squire of the University of California, San Diego....

Jun 30, 2005

Why We Blink Without Noticing

Scientists have figured out why we rarely notice our own blinking. Our brains simply miss it, they say. The quest for the new discovery began in the 1980s, when researchers found that visual sensitivity starts decreasing just before we blink. But what goes on in the brain remained a mystery....

May 31, 2005

Old Brains Shrink But Work Just as Well

Scientists know that our brains shrink with aging, but does less gray matter really matter? Apparently not, according to a new study of 446 people in Australia. We found that, on average, men aged 64 years have smaller brains than men aged 60, said Helen Christensen of the Australian National...

May 31, 2005

Why You Can't Tickle Yourself

The human brain anticipates unimportant sensations, such as your own touch, so it can focus on important input like, say, a tarantula crawling up your neck. The results might explain why it's hard to tickle yourself, scientists said today. In the study, 30 people used a finger on their right...

Apr 30, 2005

Study Finds Kids Can't Hit Slow Pitches

You're throwing a ball for a toddler to smack with a plastic bat. You toss it gently, slowly, to make it easier. He just can't hit it. It's because you throw too slowly, a new study finds. Kids' brains aren't wired for slow motion. When you throw something slowly to...

Apr 30, 2005

Monkeys Brains Alter to Work Robotic Arm

Scientists have shown in multiple studies that monkeys can manipulate robotic devices with their thoughts. Turns out the thoughts run deep. A new study finds a monkey's brain structure adapts to treat a robotic arm as if it was a natural appendage. The finding, announced Tuesday afternoon, bolsters the notion...

Apr 30, 2005

Children Beat Adults in Memory Contest

When you need to remember specific details, try thinking like a child. A new study pitted college-aged adults against 5- to 11 year-old kids in a memory contest. The younger contestants won by paying better attention to the details. Adults, it seems, get lazy. In the experiment, both test groups...

Mar 31, 2005

Latest Buzz: Fly Brains Manipulated by Remote Control

Like a hypnotist who gets a man to act like a chicken when he hears a code word, scientists have genetically modified fruit flies to jump or beat their wings when flashed with lasers. This is a new approach to neuroscience, said Gero Miesenbock from the Yale University School of...