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Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.
- Tech
One day, computers may decode your dreams
Scientists are learning how to translate brain activity into words and thoughts. This may one day allow people to control devices with their minds.
- Brain
Explainer: How to read brain activity
Electricity underlies the chattering of brain cells. Here’s how scientists eavesdrop on those conversations.
- Health & Medicine
Blame your ‘environment’ for your taste in music
Some scientists had thought we are born with our musical tastes. But a new study finds that what the ear prefers depends on what we listened to as we were growing up.
- Health & Medicine
To remember something new: Exercise!
People who exercised strenuously for a half hour after learning something new cemented those memories. But the trick: Wait four hours before getting the heart pumping vigorously.
- Brain
Hormone affects how teens’ brains control emotions
Using scans of brain activity, scientists show that surging hormones drive where emotions get processed in a teen’s brain.
- Brain
Teen drinking may damage ability to cope with stress
Teens are often tempted to drink alcohol. Drinking too much — and repeatedly — can hurt their ability to manage stress, a study in rats indicates.
- Brain
Mapping word meanings in the brain
A detailed new map shows that people comprehend words by using regions across the brain, not just in one dedicated language center.
- Tech
Control a computer with your tongue
Thousands of severely paralyzed people could venture into cyberspace with the use of this new tongue-controlled computer mouse. It was developed by a teen.
- Brain
Dragons sleep like mammals and birds
Lizards seem to alternate between two sleep states, just as mammals and birds do. This finding could change our understanding of how sleep evolved.
- Brain
A ‘cocktail’ in the brain can trigger sleep
A new study finds that a ‘cocktail’ of chemicals in the brain can directly cause mice to fall asleep or waken.
- Health & Medicine
The cool science of hot peppers
Why are chili peppers spicy? Why does anyone crave food that burns? Uncovering this fiery veggie’s secrets could help fight pain and obesity.
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: When loud becomes dangerous
Many people don’t realize that sounds — even those of the music they love — can prove harmful when they get too loud.
