MIAMI, United States (AFP) — A study of women in India who learned to read in their 30s shows the human brain’s incredible capacity to reorganize and transform itself, researchers said Wednesday. Researchers recruited women in India, a country with an illiteracy rate of around 39 percent, to see what they could learn about the areas of the brain devoted to reading. At the start of the study, most of the women could not read […]
Tag: brain
Facebook gives peek inside unit studying brain-to-text technology
CALIFORNIA, United States (Reuters) — At Facebook’s annual developers conference on Wednesday (April 19), the company revealed a secretive unit headed by a former chief of the Pentagon’s research arm, which was studying ways for people to communicate by thought and touch. Facebook launched the research shop, called Building 8, last year to conduct long-term work that might lead to hardware products. In charge of the unit is Regina Dugan, who led a similar group at […]
Marmite may be brain food, study says
by Richard Ingham PARIS, France (AFP) — In a world bitterly divided into pro- and anti-Marmite factions, lovers of the tangy British spread have found support from an unexpected quarter: brain science. Experiments found that volunteers who ate a daily spoonful of the dark-brown yeast extract seemed to have higher levels of a vital neuron chemical associated with a healthy brain. The reason could lie in Marmite’s high levels of vitamin B12, the investigators say. […]
Brains of ‘super-agers’ don’t shrink as fast as others
by Kerry Sheridan MIAMI, United States (AFP) — As we age, our brain shrinks, but a select group of elders known as “super-agers” lose less brain volume than regular seniors, which may help them stay sharp, researchers said Tuesday. The findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association show that super-agers, 80 and older, have a significantly thicker brain cortex than people who are aging normally. The cortex is the largest part of the […]
Fruit fuelled evolution of a bigger brain: study
by Joshua MELVIN Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Humans likely developed large and powerful brains, researchers said Monday, with the help of what is today the simplest of snacks: fruit. Eating fruit was a key step up from the most basic of foodstuffs, such as leaves, and provided the energy needed to grow bulkier brains, the scientists argued. “That’s how we got these crazy huge brains,” said the study’s corresponding author Alex Decasien, […]
Brain damage in former players fuels soccer ‘heading’ fears
LONDON, United Kingdom (Reuters) — Scientists have found signs of brain damage that could cause dementia in a handful of former soccer players, fueling worries about the danger of frequent knocks from heading the ball or colliding with others on the field. The small study was the first of its kind, involving post mortems on six men who died with dementia after long careers playing soccer. All were skilled headers of the ball. The study, […]
Sweating in sauna might help keep brain healthy – Finnish study
HELSINKI, Finland (Reuters) — Regular visits to the sauna can help lower the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as well as dying of heart ailments, a Finnish study suggests. Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland found a link between sauna visits and memory diseases after following more than 2,300 middle-aged Finnish men for more than 20 years. In the study, men who went to the sauna four to seven times a week […]
New development stage found in baby brains
(Reuters) — Baby Grace is just 16 days old. She eats, sleeps, and passes a lot of gas. Until now, it was thought that most of her brain circuitry developed before birth. But new research suggests it’s still very much work in progress – and will be for months. Scientists have found a previously unknown stage of development where tiny neurons believed to form deep in the brain migrate to the prefrontal cortex, which plays […]
Alzheimer’s stemmed but not stopped, say experts
by Mariëtte Le Roux PARIS, France (AFP) — Soaring rates of population growth and ageing have long been seen as portending a global explosion of Alzheimer’s, the debilitating disease that robs older people of their memory and independence. But an unexpected, and hopeful, trend may be emerging. In rich countries at least, recent data suggests the rate of new cases has slowed or even reversed — a tantalising hint that quality-of-life improvements may protect against dementia. […]
The digital age and its effects on the brain
TODAY’S teens are digital natives; a generation of children who have grown up with video games, computers, touchscreen tablets, mobile phones and virtual reality. While their brains have adapted to this ultrahightech environment, they might find it harder to resist impulsive behaviour and to engage in free and independent thinking. For millions of years the human brain has adapted to the challenge of writing, reading and more recently digital communication. Today this adaptation is […]
Brain Health
QUEZON City, Philippines (February 15) – The brain as part of the nervous system is responsible for memory, consciousness and voluntary actions. It also controls the maintenance for respiration, heart rate, digestion and blood pressure. As the master control of our body, it is important that this organ remains healthy. To maintain good health, the body has to exert physical efforts and maintain supplements. The brain needs cognitive effort to maintain good health. As we age, our brain […]





