“This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs… any questions?” Scientists now are asking how public service announcements (PSAs) such as that powerful 1987 anti-drug ad affect the teenage brain. New research suggests that persuasive anti-drug ads activate both the emotional and executive functions of the teenage brain.
Changing how people direct their attention – and the associated brain patterns – could be key to some promising behavioral therapies to help everyone from smokers to patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A symposium Tuesday morning at CNS 2013 set out to integrate the current state of research on the neural networks involved in attention with research in perception, memory, and other aspects of cognitive science.
Behavioral scientists need to move away from using terms like “fear” when discussing the workings of the brain, to better integrate the study of the mind. That was Joseph LeDoux’s message during Tuesday morning’s keynote session at CNS 2013. The New York University-based scientist argued that, to minimize confusion around such terms as “fear” and “emotion,” an over-arching “mind science” could help match behavior with what we now know about the physiological workings of the brain.
April 16, 2013 – San Francisco – Brain scans are increasingly able to reveal whether or not you believe you remember some person or event in your life. In a new study presented at a cognitive neuroscience meeting today, researchers used fMRI brain scans to detect whether a person recognized scenes from their own lives, as captured in some 45,000 images by digital cameras. The study is seeking to test the capabilities and limits of brain-based technology for detecting memories, a technique being considered for use in legal settings.
Language plays a critical role in the development of the brain. As Patricia Kuhn demonstrated during Monday morning’s keynote session at CNS 2013, early childhood exposure to multiple languages not only enhances the ability to learn languages later in life, but also improves mental flexibility and creative thinking. But what can the way the brain handles language tell us about the inner workings of cognition and memory? Monday afternoon’s at CNS 2013 took a hard look at the link between memory and language, in everyone from healthy patients to those with schizophrenia and amnesia.