Feature Channels: Cognition and Learning

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A new blood biomarker correctly predicted which concussion victims went on to have white matter tract structural damage and persistent cognitive dysfunction following a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). If validated in larger studies, this blood test could identify concussion patients at increased risk for persistent cognitive dysfunction or further brain damage and disability if returning to sports or military activities.

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Research in recent years has suggested that young Americans might be less creative now than in decades past, even while their intelligence — as measured by IQ tests — continues to rise. But new research from the University of Washington Information School and Harvard University, closely studying 20 years of student creative writing and visual artworks, hints that the dynamics of creativity may not break down as simply as that. Instead, it may be that some aspects of creativity — such as those employed in visual arts — are gently rising over the years, while other aspects, such as the nuances of creative writing, could be declining.

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Language acquisition has traditionally been considered a social, interactive process, however new research from Boston University College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College reveals that toddlers are able to acquire the meanings of words even in “socially impoverished contexts” where social or visual information is absent.

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As little as 20 minutes of moderate exercise three times per week during pregnancy enhances the newborn child’s brain development, according to researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine children’s hospital. This head-start could have an impact on the child's entire life.

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Psychology and neurobiology researchers develop new brain imaging model to examine how memories are used in decision making.

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With the help of computerized eye trackers, a new cognitive science study finds that at least 50 percent of people can see the movement of their own hand even in the absence of all light.

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Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery for adults, but for babies it's their foremost tool for learning. Now researchers from the University of Washington and Temple University have found the first evidence revealing a key aspect of the brain processing that occurs in babies to allow this learning by observation.

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Children are more apt to believe a nice, non-expert than a mean expert according to researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas. In the study published in Developmental Science, the authors examine how preschoolers decide whom to believe when provided with two conflicting pieces of information given by a nice or mean adult.

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Light enhances brain activity during a cognitive task even in some people who are totally blind, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Montreal and Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The findings contribute to scientists’ understanding of everyone’s brains, as they also revealed how quickly light impacts on cognition.

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Can complex thinking stave off the effects of aging? A new study from the University of Texas at Dallas shows that learning new, mentally challenging tasks, such as digital photography, improves memory in seniors, while less demanding tasks, such as socializing or playing simple games, does not.

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Long-term memory loss, difficulty understanding verbal or written communication or impaired ability to pay attention may still occur five years after heart surgery if a patient has a certain gene variation, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. This gene was found to be related to a decline in cognitive capabilities compared to those who do not have the variation.

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Brain training games, apps, and websites are popular and it’s not hard to see why – who wouldn’t want to give their mental abilities a boost? New research suggests that brain training programs might strengthen your ability to hold information in mind, but they won’t bring any benefits to the kind of intelligence that helps you reason and solve problems.

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The left and right hemispheres of Albert Einstein’s brain were unusually well connected to each other and may have contributed to his brilliance.

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New psychology research shows how genes can be stimulated or suppressed depending on the child's environment and could help bridge the achievement gap between rich and poor students.

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Researchers have found that the skeleton, acting through the bone-derived hormone osteocalcin, exerts a powerful influence on prenatal brain development and cognitive functions such as learning, memory, anxiety, and depression in adult mice. Findings from the mouse study could lead to new approaches to the prevention and treatment of neurologic disorders. The study was published today in the online edition of Cell.

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A recent critical literature review conducted by Ana Inés Ansaldo and Ladan Ghazi Saidi -Ph.D student- points to three interventional avenues to promote cross-linguistic effects of language therapy (the natural transfer effects that relearning one language has on the other language).

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A new study provides evidence that one important part of memory undergoes substantial development even after the age of 7.

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New UT-Austin psychology study shows even preschool children are quick to conform to ritualistic behavior while learning.

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Getting kids to share their toys is a never-ending battle, and compelling them to do so never seems to help. New research suggests that allowing children to make a choice to sacrifice their own toys in order to share with someone else makes them share more in the future. The new findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

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New research from Washington University in St. Louis sheds light on the brain mechanisms that underlie a type of memory, known as prospective memory, revealing two distinct processes that support our ability to remember to remember.

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A University of Virginia study using brain scans has found that people experience risk to friends in the same way they feel risk to themselves.

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While the effect of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) in infant formula on children's cognitive development may not always be evident on standardized developmental tasks at 18 months, significant effects may emerge later on more specific or fine-grained tasks.

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It's been a long-held belief by many that singing in a foreign language can help you learn that language. A new study provides the first scientific evidence to affirm that claim. The finding is particularly relevant as internationalization increases and the importance and necessity of learning a second language grows.

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Using direct human brain recordings, a research team from Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania, UCLA and Thomas Jefferson University has identified a new type of cell in the brain that helps people to keep track of their relative location while navigating an unfamiliar environment.

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By activating a subset of brain cells in mice, researchers changed the way the animals remembered a particular setting. To determine if they could alter the way a mouse remembered a setting by activating neurons associated with it, researchers attempted to change whether or not a mouse was afraid of a particular cage. Their experiements implicated neurons in the brain's dentate gyrus as being responsible for inducing the animal's false memory of their cage.

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A team of neuroscientists has identified a protein in laboratory mice linked to impairments similar to those afflicted with Angelman syndrome—a condition associated with symptoms that include autism, intellectual disability, and motor abnormalities.

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The larva of the fruit fly is helping scientists understand the way humans learn information from each other. Fruit flies have long served as models for studying behaviour, but new findings show their larvae may be even more valuable.

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The “Love Hormone” Oxytocin, improves men’s ability to identify competitive relationships whereas in women it facilitates the ability to identify kinship, according to a recent study. “These findings coincide with the theory that claims the social-behavioral differences between men and women are caused by a combination of cultural as well as biological factors”, concluded Prof. Simone Shamay-Tsoory who led the research

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A new Florida State University study has found that adolescent boys who are hurt in just two physical fights suffer a loss in IQ that is roughly equivalent to missing an entire year of school. Girls experience a similar loss of IQ after only a single fighting-related injury.

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Less contact during practice could mean a lot less exposure to head injuries for young football players, according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and Virginia Tech.

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Artificial and natural knowledge researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago IQ-tested one of the best available artificial intelligence systems and learned that it’s about as smart as the average 4-year-old.

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The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation will honor seven young mental health researchers for their exceptional research on Fri. July 26, 2013 at the Annual Klerman and Freedman Awards, and present an online briefing for media about the honorees’ latest cutting-edge research on July 23, 2013.

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The clues that parents give toddlers about words can make a big difference in how deep their vocabularies are when they enter school, new research at the University of Chicago shows. By using words to reference objects in the visual environment, parents can help young children learn new words, according to the research.

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People who experience any stroke symptoms—but do not have a stroke—may also be more likely to develop problems with memory and thinking, according to new research published in the June 19, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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For less than $100, University of Washington researchers have designed a computer-interfaced drawing pad that helps scientists see inside the brains of children with learning disabilities while they read and write.

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New research from the University of Adelaide shows that weight gain and increased head size in the first month of a baby's life is linked to a higher IQ at early school age.

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An abnormal heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation, is associated with memory and thinking problems, according to new published research.

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Scientists, like Buddhist monks and Zen masters, have known for years that meditation can reduce anxiety, but not how. Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, however, have succeeded in identifying the brain functions involved.

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e suffering from type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are at an increased risk of cognitive decline, according to a new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

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A series of studies conducted by an Iowa State University research team shows it is possible to manipulate an existing memory simply by suggesting new or different information. The key is timing and recall of that memory.

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Research has shown that healthy behaviors are associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, but less is known about the potential link between positive lifestyle choices and milder memory complaints, especially those that occur earlier in life and could be the first indicators of later problems.

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New research by University of Iowa psychologists show pigeons can make informed choices, and use a computerized touch-screen as well. The study by Ed Wasserman and colleagues appears in the journal "Animal Cognition."

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A brief visual task can predict IQ, according to a new study. This surprisingly simple exercise measures the brain’s unconscious ability to filter out visual movement. The study shows that individuals whose brains are better at suppressing background motion perform better on standard measures of intelligence.

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Older people with a history of migraines and depression may have smaller brain tissue volumes than people with only one or neither of the conditions, according to a new study in the May 22, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Praying for a romantic partner or close friend can lead to more cooperative and forgiving behavior toward the partner, according to a new study co-authored by a Florida State University researcher.

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A drug developed by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, known as J147, reverses memory deficits and slows Alzheimer's disease in aged mice following short-term treatment. The findings, published May 14 in the journal Alzheimer's Research and Therapy, may pave the way to a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease in humans.

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Children with autism see simple movement twice as quickly as other children their age, and this hypersensitivity to motion may provide clues to a fundamental cause of the developmental disorder, according to a new study.

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Adding captivating visuals to a textbook lesson to attract children’s interest may sometimes make it harder for them to learn, a new study suggests.

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Opposing thumbs, expressive faces, complex social systems: it’s hard to miss the similarities between apes and humans. Now a new study with a troop of zoo baboons and lots of peanuts shows that a less obvious trait—the ability to understand numbers—also is shared by man and his primate cousins.

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A University of Iowa study shows that older people can put off the aging of their minds by playing a simple game that primes their processing speed skills. The research showed participants' cognitive skills improved in a range of functions, from improving peripheral vision to problem solving. Results published in the journal PLOS One.