Feature Channels: Cognition and Learning

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In a study of rodents, scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai discovered that a part of the brain traditionally thought to control typing the old habits may also play a critical role in learning the new actions. The results, published on August 25th in Nature Communications, suggest that this process involves a delicate balance in the activity of two neighboring neural circuits: one dedicated to new actions and the other to old habits

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Rutgers School of Public Health assistant professor, Shauna Downs, has received a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development to study behavior change communication strategies to improve infant and young child nutrition in Senegal.

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One of the biggest marketing trends in the online shopping industry is personalization through curated product recommendations; however, it can change whether people buy a product they had been considering, according to new University of California San Diego research.

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People with mentally stimulating jobs have a lower risk of dementia in old age than those with non-stimulating jobs, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

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Expert Q&A: Do breakthrough cases mean we will soon need COVID boosters? The extremely contagious Delta variant continues to spread, prompting mask mandates, proof of vaccination, and other measures. Media invited to ask the experts about these and related topics.

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We live our lives in real time, watching events unfold moment by moment. To make better sense of the world, however, our brains automatically predict how some events will unfold moments into the future. New research published in Psychological Science explores the brain’s “prediction machine” capabilities by examining how we experience music.

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It’s long been believed that advancing age leads to broad declines in our mental abilities. Now new research from Georgetown University Medical Center offers surprisingly good news by countering this view.

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There is a strong association between high levels of physical activity and the ability to maintain cognitive function among breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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People born blind have never seen that bananas are yellow but Johns Hopkins University researchers find that like any sighted person, they understand two bananas are likely to be the same color and why. Questioning the belief that dates back to philosopher John Locke that people born blind could never truly understand color, the team of cognitive neuroscientists demonstrated that congenitally blind and sighted individuals actually understand it quite similarly.

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Most children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) don’t outgrow the disorder, as widely thought. It manifests itself in adulthood in different ways and waxes and wanes over a lifetime, according to a study published Aug.13 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

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Research from the lab of Deanna Barch and Joan Luby shows a lasting relationship between childhood poverty, brain development.

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A new study shows that artificial intelligence networks based on human brain connectivity can perform cognitive tasks efficiently.

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In a sample of over 400 older adults in Argentina who had recovered from COVID-19, more than 60% displayed some degree of cognitive impairment, a researcher from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio reported July 29 at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

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The COVID-19 situation may have restricted people’s space, but not their imagination. A Chula lecturer has given recommendations to parents who need to spend more time at home on select social activities to enhance children’s development in a safe and age-appropriate way.

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A new study shows that people who eat a diet that includes at least half a serving per day of foods high in flavonoids like strawberries, oranges, peppers and apples may have a 20% lower risk of cognitive decline. The research is published in the July 28, 2021, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study looked at several types of flavonoids, and found that flavones and anthocyanins may have the most protective effect.

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Positive trends in global education access are expected to decrease dementia prevalence worldwide by 6.2 million cases by the year 2050.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have shown that frailty contributes to neurocognitive decline in young adult survivors of childhood cancer.

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Keeping your brain active in old age has always been a smart idea, but a new study suggests that reading, writing letters and playing card games or puzzles in later life may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia by up to five years. The research is published in the July 14, 2021, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A previously unknown kind of human brain cell appears to help people center themselves in their personal maps of the world, according to a new study from neuroscientists at Columbia Engineering. This discovery shed light on the cellular mechanisms underlying navigation and memory in humans, as well as what parts of the brain might get disrupted during the kinds of memory impairments common in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.