Flexibility is good except when it isn’t: Study finds how scientists can reach different conclusions analyzing the same brain scans

Neu­roimag­ing: Many Ana­lysts, Dif­fer­ing Results (Dana Foun­da­tion): For decades, both the research and med­ical com­mu­ni­ties have relied on neu­roimag­ing tools like func­tion­al mag­net­ic res­o­nance imag­ing (fMRI) to give them a win­dow into the liv­ing human brain. Such scans have pro­vid­ed unprece­dent­ed insights into the brain’s struc­ture and func­tion – and the field, as a whole,…

Read More

Machine-learning study finds EEG brain signatures that predict response to antidepressant treatments

– Brain-wave pat­tern can iden­ti­fy peo­ple like­ly to respond to anti­de­pres­sant, study finds (Stan­ford Med­i­cine press release): “A new method of inter­pret­ing brain activ­i­ty could poten­tial­ly be used in clin­ics to help deter­mine the best treat­ment options for depres­sion, accord­ing to a study led by researchers at the Stan­ford School of Med­i­cine. Stan­ford researchers and…

Read More

How do you respond to unfamiliar music?

Music seems to be a social glue. Think of how love songs enhance our roman­tic feel­ings, how march­ing bands inten­si­fy our affin­i­ty for the home team, or how huge rock con­certs make us feel one with a crowd of thou­sands. Music has some spe­cial pow­er to increase our sense of con­nec­tion and help us affiliate…

Read More

Best predictor of sustained weight-loss? Prefrontal cortex activation

_____ New research sug­gests that high­­er-lev­­el brain func­tions have a major role in los­ing weight. In a study among 24 par­tic­i­pants at a weight-loss clin­ic, those who achieved great­est suc­cess in terms of weight loss demon­strat­ed more activ­i­ty in the brain regions of the lat­er­al pre­frontal cor­tex asso­ci­at­ed with self-control.

Read More

Brain imaging show that patients with Alzheimer’s disease can still remember and enjoy their favorite songs

___ Music Acti­vates Regions of the Brain Spared by Alzheimer’s Dis­ease (Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah): “Ever get chills lis­ten­ing to a par­tic­u­lar­ly mov­ing piece of music? You can thank the salience net­work of the brain for that emo­tion­al joint. Sur­pris­ing­ly, this region also remains an island of remem­brance that is spared from the rav­ages of Alzheimer’s disease.…

Read More