Brain

Brain

When every face is a stranger’s face

Some people can’t recognize faces — any faces, even their mother’s. Scientists are working to understand this ‘face blindness’ and help those who suffer from it.

Brain

Scientists discover itch-busting cells

A study in mice finds the body has a special way of dealing with an itch that’s caused by a light touch. The results could lead to treatments for chronic itch.

Brain

Scientists Say: Neurotransmitters

When brain cells need to communicate, they use chemicals as messengers. These molecules have a special name.

Brain

Lessons from failure: Why we try, try again

We all suffer failures. But we don’t always try again. Focusing on what they can be learned might help people keep going, brain imaging data now show.

Brain

Males and females respond to head hits differently

Men and women are playing sports equally — and getting concussions in comparable numbers. But how their brains respond may differ greatly.

Brain

Can’t sing on-key? Blame the brain

Tone-deafness doesn’t mean that someone can’t hear music. The brain just misinterprets what it “hears”, a new study suggests.

Brain

New light on brain science

A combination of physics, biology and engineering lets scientists use light to trigger actions by specific brain cells. Called optogenetics, this technology is shining new light on how the brain works.

Brain

Explainer: What is anxiety?

Anxiety is the stress linked to worries about an upcoming event — one that may not even happen. But anxiety can affect the body every bit as much as does the stress provoked by staring down a hungry lion.

Brain

Study challenges safety for teens of two depression drugs

Scientists reanalyze data on the safety of common drugs to treat depression and find that they don’t seem to help teens. Worse, the drugs may harm them.

Brain

Stuffy classrooms may lower test scores

New research links fresh air in classrooms to test scores. Elementary-school students in stuffy classrooms, it found, may perform worse on standardized tests.

Brain

Parents’ math anxiety can ‘infect’ kids

A study of first- and second- graders found that kids whose parents fear math learn less math at school ¬— but only when parents help with homework.

Brain

Childhood stress can leave changes in the adult brain

A new study finds that young men who had experienced lots of stress early in life carried a lasting legacy — changes in the size and shape of their brains.