Tag: brain activity

Study Finds Brain Activity of Coders Isn’t Like Language or Math

“When you do computer programming, what sort of mental work are you doing?” asks science/tech journalist Clive Thompson: For a long time, folks have speculated on this. Since coding involves pondering hierarchies of symbols, maybe the mental work is kinda like writing or reading? Others have speculated it’s more similar to the way our brains process math and puzzles. A group…

General anesthesia and normal sleep affect brain in an amazingly similar way as consciousness fades

What happens in the brain when our conscious awareness fades during general anesthesia and normal sleep? Scientists studied this question with novel experimental designs and functional brain imaging. They succeeded in separating the specific changes related to consciousness from the more widespread overall effects, and discovered that the effects of anesthesia and sleep on brain… Continue reading General anesthesia and normal sleep affect brain in an amazingly similar way as consciousness fades

Your eyes can reveal your decisions before you’ve even made them

Deciding whether to complete a task that requires physical effort can trigger a change in your pupil size and brain activity, and these signals can reveal your ultimate choice Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2260194-your-eyes-can-reveal-your-decisions-before-youve-even-made-them/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Elon Musk and John Carmack Discuss Neuralink, Programming Languages on Twitter

Friday night CNET reported:
With a device surgically implanted into the skull of a pig named Gertrude, Elon Musk demonstrated his startup Neuralink’s technology to build a digital link between brains and computers. A wireless link from the Neuralink computing device showed the pig’s brain activity as it snuffled around a pen on stage Friday night. Some reactions from Twitter: – “The…

We can train our brain to access our unconscious for a cognitive boost

People who were rewarded whenever they acted according to their unconscious brain activity were able to learn a rule for answering questions correctly, without consciously being aware of the answer Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2253166-we-can-train-our-brain-to-access-our-unconscious-for-a-cognitive-boost/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Study With Jazz Improv Musicians Sheds Light On the Source of Creativity In the Brain

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Technology Networks: According to a popular view, creativity is a product of the brain’s right hemisphere — innovative people are considered “right-brain thinkers” while “left-brain thinkers” are thought to be analytical and logical. Neuroscientists who are skeptical of this idea have argued that there is not enough evidence to support this idea and an…

Sticking fish in VR lets us study their brains as they virtually swim

Watching brain activity in fish as they try to “swim” in virtual reality helps us understand their perception abilities and how they interact with other animals Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2235876-sticking-fish-in-vr-lets-us-study-their-brains-as-they-virtually-swim/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Brain activity can help predict who’ll benefit from an antidepressant

A machine-learning algorithm can predict who is most likely to respond best to an antidepressant by analysing the brain activity of people with depression Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2232792-brain-activity-can-help-predict-wholl-benefit-from-an-antidepressant/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Humans Placed in Suspended Animation For the First Time

Doctors have placed humans in suspended animation for the first time, as part of a trial in the US that aims to make it possible to fix traumatic injuries that would otherwise cause death. From a report: Samuel Tisherman, at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told New Scientist that his team of medics had placed at least one patient…