Month: April 2013
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Why we buy music
New study shows what happens in the brain to make music rewarding A new study reveals what happens in our brain when we decide to purchase a piece of music when we hear it for the first time. The study, conducted at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – The Neuro, McGill University and published…
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Getting a grip on hand function
Discovering key spinal cord circuits – Professor and neurosurgeon Dr. Rob Brownstone and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Tuan Bui have identified the spinal cord circuit that controls the hands’ ability to grasp. The world’s leading neuroscience journal, Neuron, published the breakthrough finding in its latest issue.
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Shedding light on a gene mutation that causes signs of premature aging
Research from Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute sheds new light on a gene called ATRX and its function in the brain and pituitary. Children born with ATRX syndrome have cognitive defects and developmental abnormalities.
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Major health benefits of music uncovered
In the first large-scale review of 400 research papers in the neurochemistry of music, a team led by Prof. Daniel J. Levitin of McGill University’s Psychology Dept. has been able to show that playing and listening to music has clear benefits for both mental and physical health.
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Researchers shine light on how stress circuits learn
Researchers at the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute have discovered that stress circuits in the brain undergo profound learning early in life. Using a number of cutting edge approaches, including optogenetics, Jaideep Bains, PhD, and colleagues have shown stress circuits are capable of self-tuning following a single stress.