how storytelling style shapes the way the brain forms memories

Does the way a person hears about an event shape their recollection of it later? In a new Journal of Neuroscience paper, Signy Sheldon and colleagues, from McGill University, explored whether different storytelling strategies affect how the brain stores that experience as a memory and recalls it later.  The researchers created narratives with the same core events, …

brain training for good health

The brain is the most complex and intricate part of the human body, and yet many of us don’t recognize just how many functions it carries out on a daily basis. Inside your head, there are approximately sixty trillion neural connections (pathways between brain cells), and while the brain represents only 2–2.5% of the body mass, it consumes …

use it or lose it: neurofeedback brain training & cognitive aging

Across a human life span, changes in cognition are expected to occur as individuals grow older. Most of the changes experienced in aging are related to a decline in fluid intelligence, defined as the capacity to solve problems and articulate ideas, to navigate new situations, and to acquire knowledge. On the other hand, crystallized intelligence, …

in sync brainwaves predict learning

Students whose brainwaves are more in sync with their classmates and teacher are likely to learn better than those lacking this “brain-to-brain synchrony,” shows a new study by a team of psychology and education researchers. The findings, which appear in the journal Psychological Science, offer new insights into the learning process.  “This is the first study …

managing emotions better could prevent pathological aging

Negative emotions, anxiety and depression are thought to promote the onset of neurodegenerative diseases and dementia. But what is their impact on the brain and can their deleterious effects be limited? Neuroscientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) observed the activation of the brains of young and older adults when confronted with the psychological suffering of others. …