Does a distinctive mechanism work in the brain of congenitally blind individuals when understanding and learning others’ gestures? Or does the same mechanism as with sighted individuals work?
Tag: Neurology / Neuroscience
How the brain processes color and motion provides new understanding of attention
Despite the barrage of visual information the brain receives, it retains a remarkable ability to focus on important and relevant items.
Identification of process producing neuronal diversity in fruit flies’ visual system
New York University biologists have identified a mechanism that helps explain how the diversity of neurons that make up the visual system is generated.
Timing of neuronal generation is linked to how neurons achieve specific brain wiring
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have evidence suggesting that neurons in the developing brains of mice are guided by a simple but elegant birth order rule…
Progress made in understanding how the brain processes visual information
A Montana State University assistant professor in neuroscience is part of a team that has made progress understanding how the brain processes visual information.
Quantitative trait locus analysis enables researchers to explore how the nervous system develops
The circuitry of the central nervous system is immensely complex and, as a result, sometimes confounding.
Some neurons turn to neighbors to get rid of old mitochondria
It’s broadly assumed that cells degrade and recycle their own old or damaged organelles, but researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School…
Findings may open a new way to study individual differences in people’s visual tracking abilities
When tracking a moving object, the two halves of the human brain operate much like runners successfully passing a baton during a relay race, says a University of Oregon researcher.
Controlling brain waves to improve vision
Have you ever accidently missed a red light or a stop sign? Or have you heard someone mention a visible event that you passed by but totally missed seeing?
Motor learning: Lining up our sights
Neurologists at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have studied the role of the vestibular system, which controls balance, in optimizing how we direct our gaze. The results could lead to more effective rehabilitation of patients with vesti…
New genetic disease identified in children
Scientists and parents have worked together to identify a new genetic disease that causes neurologic, muscle, eye and liver problems in children. The discovery was unusually fast thanks to a combination of modern gene-sequencing techniques, social medi…
Information overload acts ‘to dim the lights’ on what we see
Too much visual information causes a phenomenon known as ‘load induced blindness’, with an effect akin to dimming the lights, reports a new UCL study.The new findings could be used to identify high-risk situations in all walks of life and look at ways …
Motion-sensing cells in the eye let the brain ‘know’ about directional changes
How do we “know” from the movements of speeding car in our field of view if it’s coming straight toward us or more likely to move to the right or left?Scientists have long known that our perceptions of the outside world are processed in our cortex, the…
How Galileo’s visual illusion works in the mind’s eye
Scientists have studied a visual illusion first discovered by Galileo Galilei, and found that it occurs because of the surprising way our eyes see lightness and darkness in the world. Their results advance our understanding of how our brains are wired …
New genetic forms of neurodegeneration discovered
In a study published in the journal Science, an international team led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report doubling the number of known causes for the neurodegenerative disorder known as hereditary spastic…
Eye movement speed linked to impulsive decision making
One of the most frustrating things about shopping in a grocery store can be the long lines at the cash register. Do you stand there and wait for the line to go down? Or do you join another line that looks quicker? According to new research, decisions s…
Neurons can use 2 different strategies when responding to sound
When listening to someone speak, we also rely on lip-reading and gestures to help us understand what the person is saying.To link these sights and sounds, the brain has to know where each stimulus is located so it can coordinate processing of related v…
Brain can classify images seen for only 13 milliseconds
Computer processing speeds seem to exponentially increase every year. But a new study suggests that the original computer, the human brain, can process images the eyes see for only 13 milliseconds – a speed much faster than previously thought.
The brain’s data compression mechanisms
Researchers have hitherto assumed that information supplied by the sense of sight was transmitted almost in its entirety from its entry point to higher brain areas, across which visual sensation is generated.
How retinal neurons claim the best brain connections has implications for brain disease, regenerative therapies
Real estate agents emphasize location, location, and – once more for good measure – location. It’s the same in a developing brain, where billions of neurons vie for premium property to make connections. Neurons that stake out early claims often land th…