The human brain is one crazy computer, and while it’s been around for ages, there’s still a lot to learn about how it works. To that end, the Obama Administration is revving up to announce at ten-year plan to create a comprehensive map of the human brain, just like the one we have of the human genome. To know thyself, right? More »
A team of Japanese researchers has achieved something incredible: they’ve captured, for the first time ever, a movie which shows how thoughts form in the brain. More »
The brain is a weird and wonderful part of the body, and one we don’t completely understand. You might already know that thinking actually changes the structure of your brain—but it can also improve your physical abilities, too. More »
Computers can do practically anything these days, but they’re still a far cry from robotic brains that don’t just do what they’re told but actually think for themselves. The Semantic Pointer Architecture Unified Network, or Spaun, is one of those, and it’s creeping up on human intelligence. More »
A brain-computer interface is a nice thing to dream about, but it’s not exactly around the corner. We are always getting closer, however. Newly developed carbon microthreads could serve as the long-lasting kind of brain implants you’d need to be able to mind-control computers. More »
Humans tend to remember good news and attenuate the bad: our brains filter the two, and make us remember positive things more strongly than negative. It’s a standard human trait—and now scientists understand how it happens. More »
Fears are formed when we associate things with a strong, negative emotional response. Now, a team of scientists have developed a technique which lets them erase new emotional memories from the human brain—which could make it possible to wipe out your fears for good. More »
As a species, we’ve spent a lot of time learning how the human brain works, but we’ve had to go without a true, thorough map of how genes manifest themselves in our craniums; previous maps have been limited to the simpler minds of mice. The Allen Institute for Brain Science is now known to have solved that mystery by recently finishing an extensive, detailed 3D atlas of genetic expression within our own brain tissue. Accomplishing the feat required no small amount of resources, including the definition of 900 subdivisions, conducting over 62,000 gene expression probes and producing the MRI scans of two and a half brains, but the result is a potentially vital tool for neuroscience and education. Curious web users can see a visual map of gene expression based on virtually any criteria they need, whether it’s a physical region of the brain, a disease type or the exact gene they’d like to track down. For many, the best news about the map may simply be that it’s free and public: anyone with enough experience in genetics can learn more about what makes the mind tick through their browsers, and what they find might just lead to new discoveries.
Allen Institute completes gene expression map of the human brain in high-resolution 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you’ve ever felt like time slows down as a baseball hurtles towards you, you’re not alone. In fact, a series of new experiments suggests that our perception of time slows to varying degrees as we prepare to make physical actions—which could explain why some pros are so damn good. More »
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