Calculated surprise leads to groundbreaking discovery in cognitive control research

Humans control their behavior in numerous ways, from stopping the urge pick at a scab to resisting the impulse to eat an entire box of chocolates. Suppressing undesired behavior, referred to as “cognitive control,” traditionally has been linked to the functioning of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in the front of the brain. Activity in dACC is observed across […]

Continue reading »

The first test to detect dysphagia in patients with cognitive problems

Researchers from the Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Centre (CIMCYC) of the University of Granada (UGR) have designed a test to detect dysphagia, a disorder that prevents people from swallowing when eating. It affects 8 percent of the world’s population. Dysphagia is prevalent among older people in particular (30 percent to 40 percent of the elderly people admitted to hospitals […]

Continue reading »

Schizophrenia risk gene linked to cognitive deficits in mice

Researchers have discovered in mice how one of the few genes definitively linked to schizophrenia, called SETD1A, likely confers risk for the illness. Mice genetically engineered to lack a functioning version of the enzyme-coding gene showed abnormalities in working memory, mimicking those commonly seen in schizophrenia patients. Restoring the gene’s function corrected the working memory deficit. Counteracting the gene’s deficiencies […]

Continue reading »

Should scores on mild cognitive impairment tests be adjusted for sex?

Using sex-specific scores on memory tests may change who gets diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by 20 percent, with possibly more women and fewer men being diagnosed, according to a study published in the October 9, 2019, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to dementia, is when […]

Continue reading »

ICU patients with non-brain-related injuries may suffer undetected cognitive dysfunction

A new study led by Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute has found that most patients entering hospital intensive care units (ICU) for non-brain-related injuries or ailments also suffer from some level of related cognitive dysfunction that currently goes undetected in most cases. The findings were published today in the influential scientific journal, PLOS ONE. Many patients spend time […]

Continue reading »

Deep stimulation improves cognitive control by augmenting brain rhythms

In a new study that could improve the therapeutic efficacy of deep-brain stimulation (DBS) for psychiatric disorders such as depression, a team of scientists shows that, when DBS is applied to a specific brain region, it improves patients’ cognitive control over their behavior by increasing the power of a specific low-frequency brain rhythm in their prefrontal cortex. The findings, published […]

Continue reading »

AI and MRIs at birth can predict cognitive development at age two, study finds

Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine used MRI brain scans and machine learning techniques at birth to predict cognitive development at age 2 years with 95 percent accuracy. “This prediction could help identify children at risk for poor cognitive development shortly after birth with high accuracy,” said senior author John H. Gilmore, MD, Thad and Alice […]

Continue reading »

New study on cognitive archaeology and tactile responses to the lithic industry

The Paleoneurobiology group of the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), led by Emiliano Bruner, has just published, in collaboration with the Museo de la Evolución Humana (MEH) in Burgos and the company Sociograph from Valladolid, a new paper on cognitive archaeology in which the hand-tool relationship is studied, analyzing the geometry of the tools, the grasp […]

Continue reading »

Mouse study mirrors human findings that link chemotherapy and APOE4 to cognitive issues

The research, led by Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) investigators and published in Neurotoxicity Research, complements findings from another GUMC-led study, published Oct. 3, that found a subset of breast cancer patients who experience long lasting cognitive deficits also have the APOE4 gene. Cancer survivors often report memory difficulties and this study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), […]

Continue reading »

AI could predict cognitive decline leading to Alzheimer’s disease in the next five years

A team of scientists has successfully trained a new artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to make accurate predictions regarding cognitive decline leading to Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Mallar Chakravarty, a computational neuroscientist at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, and his colleagues from the University of Toronto and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, designed an algorithm that learns signatures from […]

Continue reading »
1 2