Competition between two brain regions influences the ability to make healthy choices. Almost everyone knows the feeling: you see a delicious piece of chocolate cake on the table, but as you grab your ...
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Predicting response to treatment for anxiety and depression
Prescribing the right medication or therapy for anxiety and depression often consists of a trial and error approach. It is very difficult to tell who is going to respond to a specific treatment becaus ...
A little shut-eye helps consolidate new memories
Next time you fall asleep at your desk, just tell them you are trying to make sure you remember everything from the meeting. In an article to be published in the journal  Psychological Science, Micha ...
What you gain by training your brain
Short-term mindfulness meditation can physically alter the connections in your brain. And according to the authors of a recent study, these results “…could provide a means for intervention to impr ...
A face in the crowd
What helps you spot a face in the crowd? Research suggests that it’s an angry or emotional face we tend to register first. A recent study takes it even further suggesting that whether smiling or gri ...
Focus your attention
A recent article in the New York Times describes the “Risky Rise of the Good-Grade Pill.” Teenagers are taking (and in some cases snorting) Adderall, an amphetamine prescribed for the treatment of ...
The plastic brain: Behavior is modified by experience
Neuroscience has demonstrated that the brain changes, for better or worse, and that brain “plasticity” can be evaluated. Stress, for example, can physically alter not only the connections between ...
Omega-3s in walnuts may lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease
Omega-3 fatty acids, found in foods such as fish, chicken and nuts, may be associated with lower blood levels of a protein called beta-amyloid, which is thought to play a role in Alzheimer’s dis ...
It Doesn’t Mean You’re Crazy -Talking To Yourself Has Cognitive Benefits
Most people talk to themselves at least every few days, and many report talking to themselves on an hourly basis. What purpose is served by this seemingly irrational behavior? Previous research has su ...
Creativity and reasoning during decision-making
Our ability to adapt to our environment often relies on considering multiple behavioral strategies and potentially creating a new strategy to succeed. The frontal lobes of our brains, which make execu ...
Meditation and creativity
Certain meditation techniques can promote creative thinking. This is the outcome of a study by cognitive psychologist Lorenza Colzato and her fellow researchers at Leiden University, published 19 Apri ...
Use it or lose it: Cognitive training can help healthy older adults
Cognitive training including puzzles, handicrafts and life skills are known to reduce the risk, and help slow down the progress, of dementia amongst the elderly. A study published in BioMed Central ...
Brain benefits from berries
Strong scientific evidence exists that eating blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and other berry fruits has beneficial effects on the brain and may help prevent age-related memory loss and other ...
Risk and reward under stress
Hold off on making those big decisions when you feel you have too much on your plate. Feeling stressed alters how you calculate risk and reward. It might be better to first focus on crossing the littl ...
Rosemary scent boosts brain performance
When most people think of rosemary, it typically brings to mind something delicious to eat, but not necessarily its mind altering effects. That just goes to show that we still have a lot to learn abou ...