Hypnosis is a method widely used as therapy to treat psychological conditions such as phobias and anxiety states. However, not all people are equally receptive to this technique and some patients cannot reach the trance state of hypnosis. Now, a group of researchers from Stanford University (USA) has discovered that, in these people, the activity of the areas of the brain related to attention and decision-making is lower than in those who are easily hypnotized.
What happens in our brain when we speak? Although verbal expression is made up of a whole series of very complex mechanisms, an international team of scientists has managed to identify the way in which vowels are encoded in our brain. The finding could be used to develop systems that allow people who have lost speech to regain speech, or to facilitate communication in patients with some type of paralysis.
Surely, more than once, you were late for work or an appointment and it has cost you horrors to remember where you left your house or car keys. In an article published recently in the journal Cognition, Grayden Solman, a researcher at the University of Waterloo, concluded that this very common phenomenon could be due to a lack of synchronization between neurons.
A British study carried out at University College London has shown that it takes 66 days for a habit to form and to be maintained for years. That means that if during that time "you repeat something every day in the same situation, it becomes an automatic reaction to that situation, that is, a habit," explains Jane Wardle.
A team of scientists from the Pablo de Olavide University (Seville) has managed to erase memories in laboratory mice, as they have declared at the VIII Congress of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) held in Barcelona. Specifically, the researchers prevented the animals from remembering the association between two stimuli that they had previously learned.
Optogenetics is a technique used to 'turn' and 'turn off' groups of brain cells that is causing a furor in the neuroscience world. The method combines genetics, optics and virology and will allow studying the role of neurons in depression, anxiety, memory and social behavior.
Altruistic people have more gray matter in a small part of the brain that is also related to empathy or the ability to put themselves 'in the shoes' of others, according to an article published in the journal Neuron. The latest neuroscientific advances indicate that the structure of the brain is related to many personal characteristics and abilities.
While we are asleep, our brain takes the opportunity to 'assimilate' all the information received during the day. Although this is something that has been known for a long time, scientists are now beginning to understand how all this happens in our brains. A team of researchers from the Hospital Clínico de Barcelona has studied the synchrony between neurons during sleep, a process that is essential to consolidate memory, and presents its results at the congress of the European Federation of Neuroscientific Societies (FENS), which celebrate these days in Barcelona.
Danni Büchner is invited to Sam Dylan's Halloween party. But the "Goodbye Germany" emigrant has no desire for many other party guests. And find clear words.
